XPRTNovice Judges ⚖️
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Posts posted by XPRTNovice
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[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]
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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.
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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.
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I guess that leaves me with a bathroom or closet. Same issues there? I know Weird Al recorded his first album in a bathroom - can't be too bad.
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.
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[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]
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Posting in response to your PM:
You took care of all of the issues I had cited in the previous version. The noise at the beginning still sounds a bit more like pink noise than water to me, but the fact that it's so much shorter makes it easier to get in there and start enjoying the music.
I'm not totally sold on the way you edited the splash sound effect, but that's artistic. The first version I could tell what you were trying to do - dive under water, and the music EQ changes to reflect that. This doesn't sound like a splash, so I didn't "get the joke."
That's it. The ending is vastly better and smoother, and overall the mixing has tightened up considerably. This is definitely an example on how to take feedback and get better
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Everytime someone says something about "hurting the industry", what they're really saying is, "stop charging less than I do so you have a better chance of getting the job than I do!".
I quoted that guy a large amount of money that will be easily undercut by anyone bidding competitively. So, no. Not even close.
There's a big difference between doing something for nothing or next to nothing and bidding competitively.
EDIT: Nase, somehow in my moderator fatfingering I've deleted your follow up post and can't seem to recover it. Sorry about that
I do want to apologize for coming off hot-tempered, and I appreciate your second post saying you understood where I was coming from. -
I dropped the 3 "work for free" posts into this forum, where it is more appropriate to discuss. I was out of line, I think, in starting it in his thread.
Now that we are here, though,
scuse me, i'm here for the music...i wasn't aware of any commercial guild-like structure on this amateur site.if you didn't notice, i want payment in the form of enthusiasm. money ain't my currency.
Composers have a hard time paying for things in enthusiasm. The guy was offering money on a game concept that was deeper into development than most games we see posted on OCR.
I don't know what you do for a living, but I'm not sure you would be saying money ain't your currency if someone who does your job as a hobby offered to do one of your projects for free. OCR isn't exactly a fount of employment, but the jobs that do come through here are still jobs. Maybe I'm in the clouds, but I expected OCR to be a sort of "safe zone" for musicians, where we support each other's art and getting what we deserve for that art when people want to use our art - not saying "I'll do it for free" after several musicians say that they're interested in being hired.
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O
Much though I'm hesitant to pay $200 an hour for ANYTHING ($200 ain't chump change where I come from), that probably would be something I need as I fucking hate auditioning in general. I hate it enough in just doing music, I have zero concept how to apply myself to that in acting.
Don't go there yet. Do yourself a favor and go to Voices.com, get a free guest membership that allows you to browse jobs, and just start reading copy out loud to yourself. Go to the top favorites and listen to demos of the top booking talent. Just listen and read and eventually you'll pick up a rhythm. Then when you're confident, buy yourself a month for $40 and audition for every single job every single day....see if you book.
If you want to test out some reads before you start paying for membership, email me some mock auditions and I'll let you know how you're doing.
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sounds fun. i might enjoy working on this.
not to sell myself cheap, but if i get enthusiastic about your project, i can do it for free.
I do not understand at all why you would make this post publicly after all of the discussions we've had about how musicians offering to do work for free hurts the industry for everyone involved.
EDIT: Further discussions about working for free should not be in this thread. If you want to undercut musicians, do it privately.
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sounds fun. i might enjoy working on this.
not to sell myself cheap, but if i get enthusiastic about your project, i can do it for free.
I do not understand at all why you would make this post publicly after all of the discussions we've had about how musicians offering to do work for free hurts the industry for everyone involved.
EDIT: Further discussions about working for free should not be in this thread. If you want to undercut musicians, do it privately.
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This was Neblix's first year doing the mixing panel and he only had about 2 hours to prepare; it was a very last minute thing. Being able to produce something on the fly and also talk about it takes a lot more practice. It's something that zircon can do pretty well and he's done a little more demonstration-style stuff before, but even in past years we've generally followed the same format of General Discussion/Q&A alternating with seeing what the mixer is doing. Arranging on the fly in a short amount of time requires a lot of focus, so it's better to let the mixer step back from the panel and do their own thing while the rest of us talk.
Neblix did a great job coming in at the last minute like that.
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Had to cancel at the last minute, but there's always next year.
You're joking. He's joking, right? Ha, ha, ha. Oh, man. Wait, you're joking, right?
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I'm trying to get there as soon as I can today guys. Lots of work stuff getting in the way
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REVIEW OF THE MOD KIND
- The kick drum seems panned to the right? That's a little distracting for me. I kept wanting to turn my head to get it centered.
- I could stand to have a stronger melody at :35 in the mix. It seems buried, especially by the arpy-thingie going on up top. It's nice and strong at :52 though.
- Again at 1:09, the melody could come out just a touch. I'm being nitpicky, but that's my job.
- The transition sound at 2:19 is a little strange. I see what you're trying to do there, and I appreciate it, but it's not quite working. I might try to fade out that noise a little quicker or pick a different sweep.
- The whole piano section feels out of place with the rest of the piece to me, like we've transitioned to another song entirely. I can't decide if I personally like the electronic/new age piano mix. And that idea doesn't really continue, it just seems more like an out of place interlude that, if you dropped it, might not harm the track very much.
- Aurally, there seems to be something not very full about it. It feels like it's not complete to me, and doesn't really draw me in as a listener.
- the ending from 4:00 on was just too empty for me, and the cymbal swell that closed it out seemed sort of tacked on. For such a bombastic piece, I felt like it needed more of a balsy ending.
In general, the mixing seems pretty solid, aside from the melody issues and the kick drum thing that I mentioned at the beginning. It's some of your arrangement choices that had me scratching my head, and the overall lack of oomph that I think comes from the way you filled out the parts.
Good luck!
MOD REVIEW IT IS OVER
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Please get some feedback from the community before switching to mod review. 24 hours is probably not enough time. I've switched this back for you - thanks!
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This is quite cool album. I like it Damn, just listen to XPRTNovice's track... I was not prepared to hear such track from him. I thought it would be some acoustic jazzy jam. Damn...
Not doing my job if I don't keep you on your toes...
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I just wanna pop in here and say that the Shure SM7B is a fantastic mic for voiceover purposes, especially since it tends to be MUUUUUCH better about rejecting background noise than any condenser mic, yet still has a great "deep" sound to it. I've used it to record in a noisy room with several computers going, etc., and couldn't tell that they were there at all when I listened again on headphones.
SM7B was my mid-range mic; I moved from the MXL 990 to the SM7B, then hung out on that for a long time before I made my next purchase which was expensive.
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Hey MX, I'll do my best here.
I would probably want to start with about $500 investment capital, but you can do less. You'll need a mic, a DAW, an IO interface, and, ideally, a good place to record and a way to block room reflections.
You can skip the IO interface and just use a USB mic for now if you'd like. I know people that have success with that.
You also need the startup capital to "pay to play" if you want to audition for jobs outside of a place like eLance or Fiverr, both of which are bottom feeding and not worth it IMO. I recommend Voices.com; I can probably get you a free month or a discount if you'd like, but the going rate is $40 per month, which gives you access to 20-50 auditions a day. DO ALL OF THEM. If you book ONE gig a month on Voices.com it pays for the membership; no job on Voices.com is worth less than $100. They also handle payment for you in an escrow system, so it's much friendlier than some of the other sites I use to generate business.
As for room reflections, when I was starting out I would do most of my recording under a blanket. You can get high tech and buy some stuff - I would say you could isolate yourself for less than another $500 - but you can start with a thick blanket and sweat until you raise enough money. I'd be willing to give you some feedback on your audition takes (or I can coach you for $200 an hour
) and we can work on getting your auditions good enough for low end jobs. -
I love this mix. It was one of my favorite interpretations from the album; totally unique.
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I seriously love watching the forums, and I figure it's time to dive in. I haven't felt like I "belonged" because I was out of commission, musically speaking, for months, but this seems like a really supportive community and I'd love to be part of it.
ONE OF US. ONE OF US.
Seriously though don't be afraid to chime in and hang around even if you don't have a musical bone in your body. People who listen to music always belong with people who make it. Unless they're jerks. Then they don't belong with anyone.
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You might want to put that as your New Years resolution for 2021. Although my reference so far is that the publishing dirge is a bit more forgiving now than it was even a few years ago, you really need to work your way further up first.
You would do better to amend it as "1. Have solo novel manuscript accepted by indie publisher and market the hell out of it." if you'd like to stand a better (i.e. actual) chance at realizing the majors. Major publishers don't "buy" novels from authors whose biggest accomplishment yet is getting on an anthology at a failing business (unless I'm mistaken and Barnes and Noble took a huge upswing last year that I wasn't aware of).
I respect the success you've made so far in your endeavors, and it's BECAUSE I respect that that I'm telling you to focus better and get more realistic sights ahead. It kinda sounds like you're trying to be an expert at... everything... in twelve short months when you've only fully accomplished one of your seven goals from 2014. Ambition only goes so far, the real world has other plans.
Little doubt do I have you could accomplish them someday, but only if you save a bunch of those items for future resolutions. Focus first, one goal at a time, and forget the time frame. That will be how you check off that list.
Oh man, if publicly telling me I can't do this isn't a good inspiration for me to accomplish all of these, I'm not sure what is. I appreciate your cautionary advice, but I plan on hitting most of these this year, and I listed them because I have good leads on all of them.
But re: publishing. Indie publisher? Yuck. That's how to get yourself stuck in low-end publishing for the rest of your career and work your tail off to get 1/100th of the exposure a major pub house can offer you. Nobody I know in the industry started there and ended up at Tor. There's a big debate going on between traditional/indie publishing right now, but as of right now the big pendulum swing hasn't happened.
Maybe I'm nitpicking because I have ego issues, but Barnes and Noble is just a distributor. The publisher was Baen, one of the biggest fantasy/SF publishers in existence. Citing B&N was just me wanting to walk into a place and be like hey, shit, I wrote that.
But you're right in that most of the big pub houses don't buy direct from authors (Tor does, but it's rare. The others simply don't accept manuscripts from authors direct). They buy from agents. Which is lucky for me, as mine also reps Brandon Sanderson
Love you, Meteo.
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Last year I said:
1.) Get a book on the shelves at Barnes and Noble (that's only me, not an anthology) - Nope. I did get a book on the shelves at B&N, but it's part of an anthology.
2.) Level up in Parkour to a red wristband, possibly become an instructor. - Didn't get my red band, but I did become an instructor.
3.) Land at least 3 video game OST gigs - I landed 2 small time gigs and one SFX gig.
4.) Write the first draft of at least 3 more novels - I wrote 2.
5.) Win a Hugo award (bahahah) - Hahaha no.
6.) Learn a whole lot more about music production and these sample libraries I have. - I'm still a moron.
7.) Expand my voiceover business and quit my day job. - DONE AND LOVING IT.
Now for 2015:
1.) Sell a novel to a major publisher
2.) Get my red band in parkour (think of it like making "advanced")
3.) Land a national TV commercial for voiceover
4.) Land a high profile video game gig as an actor
5.) Release an album of original songs.
6.) Decide where my family is going to settle
7.) Complain less, be more positive, and try to serve others more
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Hi everyone. Here's a list. Nothing too sexy, but I want to get rid of these and giving them to gamestop makes me feel like a bad person. Unless otherwise stated they have cases, but probably not the manual. Shipping is $2 via media mail. PM me with offers. Yeah, I know some of these are old and crappy and nobody wants them. I'm just listing them. Payment via PayPal only and you have to eat the fees.
PS2:
Digital Devil Saga
Digital Devil Saga 2
Dirge of Cerberus
Echo: Night Beyond
Enter the Matrix
Final Fantasy X-2
God of War
Guitar Hero III
Indigo Prophecy
Legacy of Kain: Defiance (no case)
Metal Gear Solid 2 (no case)
Metal Gear Solid 3
Odin Sphere
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within
Shadow Hearts
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
Transformers (no case)
Tsugunai: Atonement
PS3:
Eternal Sonata
Guitar Hero 5
Heavy Rain
Infamous
LA Noire
Metal Gear Solid 4
Rock Band 2
Rock Band: Beatles
PC:
Baldur's Gate 2 (w/throne of Bhaal)
BioShock
DragonAge Origins
Star Wars: Empire at War
Thief: Deadly Shadows
3DS:
Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Goodbye Fi - a Skyward Sword Remix
in Post Your Game ReMixes!
Posted
[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]