XPRTNovice

I remain. I'll have a WIP by 12 Sep.

Do make sure you fill out the typeform, which automatically queues it for me to record

Hey guys I dunno if you knew this yet or not, but I sold a trilogy of sci-fi books to Simon and Schuster last year, and the first one is coming out next month. To promote the book, we're combining my voice acting with my writing to start a cool contest that we're calling "Voiceover Mad Libs." Anyone can enter, regardless of whether or not they pre-order the book (though that would be awesome). You can find all the details here: https://joezieja.com/2016/05/03/mechanical-failure-contest-voiceover-mad-libs/ Basically, you get to fill in the blanks of a commercial or a trailer script, and I will record and produce it, then upload it to SoundCloud. At the end of the 2 week contest period, we pick the funniest and you get prizes. Come have fun!

FoxCeption

No but they totally should have been.

Thanks guys. And yes, I'm only the dude in the animated vignette.

Valentines day would be an awesome release date.

Waltz for the Moon and Drifting please I'm up for collab on my instruments too. SAx clarinet guitar piano vocals some trumpet mandolin kazoo

Well, I would try to first stop thinking of us as "pros" and start thinking us as a community of people who live and grow together musically. OCR isn't just a showcase, the community forums are here specifically for this reason. Other than that, I can't offer too much other than platitudes about failure being the only form of success. It all boils down to: chill out. Try things. Ditch what doesn't work and keep what does. Love music.

I majorly fell off the bandwagon after my move to LA. I got so wrapped up that I was working out maybe once a week. But now I joined a crossfit gym and go to that 2-3x a week, plus parkour once a week and some stage combat. I'm feeling a lot better, though I am still scraping off rust rather than improving, especially in parkour. We must do the lifts at the MAG.

MMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG

I prefer the Kindle Paperwhite, because it's not a retina display, so it's much easier on the eyes, but it IS backlit, which means you don't have to rely on ambient light to be able to read properly. Cost effective and smooth to operate. I mostly read novels, though, so I can't speak for the PDF functionality.

Thanks @timaeus222 (hurhurhur I didn't know we could do that in the new forums.) MOD REVIEW Alright, cool. Huge improvements over the original version of this without a doubt. Lots of clarity in this, not as much mud at all. I like the interpretation of the source. and the breakdown at 1:39. Very chill. The snare coming in at 2:00 sounds like it needs some EQ adjusting (it has too much low end to my ear). The swell at 2:20 ish gets a bit noisy, in that there's just so much going on that it feels like it's slapping me all in the face. That could be fixed easily with just some level adjusting, but be careful you don't overcompress that section (I feel like I heard some pumping in there that wasn't supposed to come out). I'm sorry I don't have anything dramatic for you, but, hey, Mod Review is supposed to be when it's good enough for judges. Overall, I gotta say I really like the take on the source and what you did with it. It's a nice driving arrangement. Dance music is absolutely not my forte, but I enjoyed this. I think it's leaps and bounds better than your original crack at it just by virtue of mixing. The mixing was the real problem in the first one, and now that you've clearly improved your ears it might be a good time to give this a second pass with the judges. END REVIEW

Was moving to MR this because it was marked MR, but the OP says "see latest post for newest version" and the latest post doesn't have a latest version.

[BEGIN THE REVIEW OF THE MOD KIND] Hey there. My first listen of the track really didn't yield much feedback, honestly. The mixing is pretty damn solid (though I am not a dance master, so my feedback is not as nuanced as it could be), your transitions are relatively smooth (I see you've been working on them) and everything sounds balanced. It seems, overall, like a good arrangement. Cool groove, solid beat, etc. Nothing really stood out to me as wonky. My only real comment on the first listen was that the ending felt like it just kind of fell off. That's a stylistic choice, so you're free to make it; it just stood out to me. After listening once, I took a listen to the source, because I saw some of the other comments on here critiquing that you stuck too close to the source. I know that you worked on that, but I still feel like it basically sounds like the source with different instrumentation. My prediction is that they will nail you on that, but I'm not a judge and I'm typically pretty forgiving when it comes to sticking close to the source. I can't tell you for certain what they'll say. In short, your mixing skills are definitely where they need to be. It might be time to start trying to expand your interpretation of sources a little bit, which might be as simple as switching genres. This source was already pretty dancelike, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to head in the direction you did. Good luck! [END MOD REVIEW]

I gonna be there.

[REVIEW OF THE MOD KIND] - Kinda neat little pickup there at :50. Reminded me a little of the Fez soundtrack, and at first I thought it was going to be jarring, but then it really settled in with the beat and I love it. - the Melody that follows after that synth action gets a little lost, and then by 1:25 my ears are looking for some relief from the synth. Maybe use some automation to scale it back when the melody comes back in. It's a great supporting synth, but it's too much in front after that introduction. - piano or harp arps at 1:45 are too loud. It continues and robs the melody of its glory. - Love the clap/breakdown at 2:30 - Given how rich of an arrangement you have going on here, I would have loved to hear more development. It's within the limits of OCR's length requirements, but there is so much potential here for a really cool, unique, relaxed take on this tune that I encourage you to revisit the arrangement and draw out some more of that vibe you've got going on. Really great job here! [/MOD]

[MODREVIEW] Secret of Mana is such a great soundtrack filled with so many intricacies to play with. - Really digging that opening bass riffing you have going on up to :55 - I think the melody after that could stand to come out a smidge, but not too much more since it's very high Hz. You could roll off the highs a bit and bring it out more but it might lose the sparkle; it's up to you. - the 1:55 section is so RJD2. It's cool. I could stand to hear a little more of the sax and flute/looping or whatever that is back there. It's a supporting role, yeah, but I think it could use some more breathing room and you have the room in the mix to do it. - Same crit on the melody at 3:32. I would have liked more of it. It kicks in nice and full at about 3:45 though so I wouldn't ding you for keeping it suggestive there to increase the payoff. In fact, go ahead and keep it. - My least favorite part was the ending. It just sort of...dies, almost in the middle of an idea. Given the rest of the track's greatness, I think you can come up with something much better than that for the ending. - I think the track could use a mastering run to boost the volume a bit and fill it out. In general, a really unique take on the source and I really like your style. Great job! [/MR]

[MODREVIEW] - That cymbal crash at :40 is really out of the mix. I think it needs to come down and maybe take a splash of reverb, because it's way too upfront in my ear. - The driving kick drum at 1:07 ish is a little too forceful for my tastes and distracts from the music, in my opinion. - The high sin-wav-ish synth that is arping throughout a large portion of the piece gets very grating on my ear after a while. If it were to come back in the mix via a reduction in volume a bit and be a little more supportive rather than out in front, that would reduce that, to me. I'm a stickler about repetitive stuff, though, so some people may not mind that. - Other than that, I really don't have anything technical to say about this. It's mixed well and seems pretty solid. [/MODREVIEW]

[MODREVIEW] - Love the first section. Mixing is tight, the reverb is tasteful, and the parts flow very nicely. - At 1:33, things start to get a little confusing sonically because I feel like these players aren't playing with each other, if that makes any sense. It's too freeform for my tastes, but it snaps back in at about 2:03. Like there's this very calm feeling that gets a little unbalanced there and starts to sound chaotic. This MAY be due to the fact that you are multi-tracking the same instrument in the same range, and you have some mordents and runs that run over the other parts at the same time. Since an instrument cannot physically do that, it sounds a little off in my ear. - The piece is just barely ahead of the 2min OCR requirement. I think you had lots of room to play with this piece and since it was so pleasing to listen to I would have liked something longer and more developed. There are huge amounts of potential in here. Great job! [/MODREVIEW]

[MODDILY MOD MODDED MODDERING] - Really interesting choice of instruments (in a good way). Good vibe going on throughout. - The cello is damaging the rest of the mix, in my opinion. I think you can do better to humanize that sample and make it sound smoother, particularly when it's up in front of the mix. - I think the flute melody could stand to be a touch out more in front (but I find I give that critique a lot since I'm a melody snob, or something) - I dig the harp run at 3:25 ish - At 3:45, I do kind of lose sense of what I'm supposed to be listening to; it transitions into something that resembles ambient music and I can't find a melody in there. That's not necessarily a strike against you or anything, just a comment. - Nice ending. Overall, I really like this. That cello sample is what's hurting the most. If you could get someone to play that LIVE?! oooh, that would make this really sing. [END OF MOD]

I pretty much write in these three genres exclusively, so it's good to see that all of my tracks will finally be searchable based on how techno or not techno maybe they are.

I totally failed the strength and conditioning portion of my parkour red band test yesterday. I feel like an ass. I did worse than I did the first time (I passed this portion the first time) but yesterday I was such a shit show. Ugh.

Would not recommend a bathroom. Because you're not mixing your voice with anything, you need to be very careful to eliminate room reflections. You could buy moving blankets and hang them around your microphone area using just staples, or whatever.

[REVIEW OF THE MOD KIND] Neat source choice. Never heard of this game. I don't really have a lot of feedback at particular points, because the piece is very well put together. Your transitions are smooth, and I like the vibe a lot. The general mixing is very good. However, there are a couple of things that go on throughout: - I think the bass could use a subtle rolloff around 80hz...I get a lot of sort of whooommm coming out of my monitors. - Guitar melody could be stronger and more in front. Stylistically, I might consider adding some verb/delay to it, but that's a pure style choice. - String pads are too in my face, I think. the whole balance of the piece would be more peaceful and flowy if you let the pads do what they were supposed to do (support) rather than be so out in front. I'll be completely honest, I think that's it. It sounds great! [END OF MODILY MOD]