DarK PurPLe   Members

I have an M-Audio Radium 49 keyboard that works occasionally. Funny enough, I now mostly use its "new" replacement, a 1986 Ensoniq ESQ1 which works like a charm.

Well said. I've been using Lexicon Omega and been quite happy with it. With the add-ons aside, I find it perfect for home studio set up. Has USB which is perfect for portable set up with a laptop. MIDI in & out, SPDIF (does anyone still use that anymore?), 4 line ins, 2 line outs. a handy "instrument" (guitar/bass) port on the front, 2 XLRs, and individual knobs for each input and output. Plus it's pretty small, easily fits in a bag or briefcase. Oh, and the price is great too. https://www.google.com/search?q=lexicon+omega&hl=en&tbm=shop&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=yoSIUKCGBIe69QSPtoHQBw&ved=0CA4Q_AUoBQ&biw=1177&bih=683 That Behringer is pretty cool, though seems to cater a little more towards live performance. Price is about the same. In a live setup the EQs, compressors and send channels, as well as multiple outs would definitely be a plus, but all modern DAWs have those built-in and more, so unless you use it for live performance all that stuff is mostly unnecessary. EDIT: Old card was M-Audio Audiophile USB which constantly gave me problems. Staying away from M-Audio going forward.

Well, just relaying my own experience. The PC was by all means quite a bit older. If they are equivalent and just a matter of preference, so be it! Just saying they have worked well for me so far.

I'm not a Mac fanboy per se, but many professionals will tell you their design is more fit to audio, video, science and other such (non-gaming) applications. What it seems is that for the same processing power, the Mac just seems to "use it better" for the lack of a better term. This may just be personal preference, but seems like most of the industry is on Mac. Perhaps there's a reason behind it. In any case, I don't recall the exact specs of my previous Windows PC, but it was barely chugging along with Sonar 3 and Reason running together with as little as a dozen tracks (all mastering and effects included). I had to give up on my previously mentioned project because the computer simply could not handle it. Oh and I only paid 900 for this rig and been working great for 3 years or better.

C Major is essentially the same as every other scale. It's just easier to visualize on a piano because it's all white notes. C D E F G A B ... That being your scale, you build the basic chords with 3 notes, skipping one in between. They are identified by roman numerals. Such as: I = C E G = C major II = D F A = D minor III = E G B = E minor IV = F A C = F major V = G B D = G major VI = A C E = A minor VII = B D F = B dim and so on... For minor scales, it's all the same as major, except you begin with VI instead of with I. For example, A minor is also all the white notes, but you begin with A instead of C. Everything is determined by the number of semitones between each note. For instance, a major scale (where 1 is a note and o is a skip) 101011010101 So as soon as you find your root note, you can easily build a scale and then chords in major or minor scale. There are more variation but this is the basic theory.

Chiming in a little late. I say don't get too hung up on chords and other theory. The stuff is really quite simple, armchair math at best. I say get the melody and the bass down, and build on from there. Let me know if you want me to break down scale & chords theory in one post, I'll be happy to. Like I said, it's all just numbers. Once you know the basic chords and the scale, it's easy to build instruments and counter-melodies and such.

Just a thought... Maybe get a Mac? Just throwing that out there... I have a 22 minute mix of hifi orchestral tracks and other samples and synths (25 simultaneous tracks in total) running with Reason+Record package. 3-year old MacBook (not even the Pro) handles it just fine... No telling how much better today's Macs are for this kind of stuff... I used to have a PC for music and it just plain sucked. Talked to some pros and went for a Mac, best decision ever.

If this is a one-man gig it is well done for sure! You might benefit from having a second pair of ears/hands who is more specialized in arrangements and mastering. Overall very enjoyable though very guitar-focused. A good technique for a balanced mix is to bring all your faders down. Then raise your kick to about -10 dB on the Master meter then balance the other drums. Then bring up your lead(s) (in this case guitar) up so you can hear it well but not over the drums. Then bring in your other instruments one by one in order of importance, starting with the highest importance. Use L/R pan for instruments in similar frequency ranges (e.g. lead guitar and strings, hi hat and cymbal, etc.) for more definition. Great job overall!

This is a very cool remix! Being a fan of the original I had to check it out. I'm not sure what software you used, but as crypto_magnum pointed out it is slightly muffled-sounding. It may be due to MP3 compression ratios lower than 192kbps or perhaps just the mix. If you can, use a high shelf EQ around 3-4 khz and boost maybe 1-2 dB. The drums seem like they are a little too compressed, but that might be desired on your part to give it a SNES-like feel. Otherwise, I think it is a nice upgrade on the original. Fun to listen to and well made. Kudos!

Hey thanks a lot for your comments. The kick is purposely a little high and short because I wanted to leave plenty of room for the bass guitar and lower instruments like the contrabass and trombones. Just a little sacrifice made for the good of the whole, I guess... I would love to have more distortion guitar but I didn't have a session musician on hand, and it is so awkward to try to make a sampler guitar sound natural. I did try to get a little bit of a lead into the FF VIII intro with some variations on the original melody. Thanks again!

Greetings fellow remixers! Here is a medley I have been working on for a LONG time (started in 2004-ish...) and I finally called it done tonight, and hoping for comments and hopefully you will listen, download and add it to your favorite Final Fantasy playlist! I am not submitting it to OCR judges because it is obviously a medley. First off, here is the link to listen/download on SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/dark-purple/final-fantasy-the-battle And here is some background info: Mix is about 95% sequenced by ear and by hand. I used MIDI files very seldom for some very tricky segments, specifically the very last battle theme before the ending. Otherwise it's all home-baked. Made using Reason+Record on Macbook. Orchestral instruments, percussions, and choir voices all from Miroslav orchestral suite (well-worth the investment; huge bank of fantastic samples for less than $200) All comments welcome, either here or on the post. Cheers!

Hey everyone, I made this ReMix a long time ago on FruityLoops. Glad some of you liked it! Since the new, completely remade version went down as VG Mix did, here it is: http://soundcloud.com/dark-purple/super-mario-bros-2-the-dark I hope you get some enjoyment out of it! Sincerely, D.P. (aka Phrancis)