Slimy

Bump. If no one has any objections, I'll submit this.

I felt it was relevant, since I think everything but the melody was consistently mixed too quietly, and you said it better than I could. But if you think I was wrong, don't hesitate to say so. Actually, the mixing sounds different now that I've just woken up, so either the OP replaced the file with an update, or I was completely off my rocker yesterday.

It's much better than the previous versions, but I still think the mixing needs work. Even though it's the melody, the trumpet sounds disproportionately louder than everything else, (and everything under it sounds disproportionately quiet,) making it hard to hear any of the chords, rhythms and counter-melodies underneath it. It all just sounds like noise currently. At 1:36, the electric guitar could be much louder than it is currently. I assume you wanted it to be playing an exciting rhythm under the melody? But it's too quiet to make out, so it's not really adding much to the song except a quiet texture. Are the strings playing the exact same thing as the trumpet when it has the melody? If so, I don't think it's necessary, and it's just making it muddy. You could try having the trumpet and strings alternate between carrying the melody, and have the strings play chords when they aren't needed as the melody. The drum kit, (not the taiko(?) drums at 0:15,) is still mixed very quietly, and could use some compression to make it punchier and have more energy. For reference, you can hear how loud it is in the original song. The bass could be much louder too. I don't mind the orchestra being more subdued overall when the chiptune melody comes in though. At 0:52, the trumpet sounds out of tune? General imperfections will make the song sound more like a real orchestra of course, but it's an important melody, (my favorite in the source actually,) so it's a distracting part of the song for the trumpet to suddenly become sloppy. At 0:52 and 1:08, the trumpet also becomes messy in general. I imagine it would be a hard part of the song for a trumpet player, so I don't think the notes should be played as legato as they are. I also think the notes might be blurring together because of an overuse of reverb, or because the strings are playing with the trumpet and they don't have as much clarity. Perhaps you could try putting less reverb on everything, then listen to the song again to see if it sounds better?

Making mistakes in my DAW often gives me fresh ideas. Well first of all, if by "pro," you mean me, then look no further than the critique I got on my most recent remix: Anyways, here's my sins laid out for all to see. I have two suggestions for new composers - Study and dissect midi renditions of songs you like in your DAW to see how they work and why, and try writing some songs for piano because it's simpler.

I just found out that this is a remix that exists. Guess I'm done making remixes then.

Your first attempts at writing music aren't even close to being as bad as my first attempts. No really, I could post examples if anyone wants.

The file in the OP has been replaced for (hopefully) the last time. Replaced the instrument at the beginning of the song with a rhodes piano sound - I like this the best Changed the bass at 0:35 to be less rhythmic Changed the bell chords at 1:54 so that it wouldn't sound like a wannabe lead Shortened the length of the white noise sweep at 2:16 Changed the counter-melody at 2:33 Added some variations to the drums ~2:16 - 2:38 Added a pad at 3:02 Added a gap at 3:08 and made the one at 3:20 more obvious, "because it would sound cool" Beefed up 3:09 - 3:20 Improved the transition at 3:34 The closest thing to a lead I want there is the fake guitar, so I tried to make those chords stand out less. Those low piano chords were there before, but the pads fade out faster now, so I guess there were covering it up before.

The new chord at 0:12 sound much better. I still think the drums at 0:15 could be mixed louder, and possibly be more bassy? At 0:24, when when tuba comes in to start playing the main motif, I think some new instruments should play over the strings for variation's sake. 0:32 - 1:20 sounds extremely messy. The trumpet seems to be playing everything early? And the strings at 0:56. Or maybe everything else is being delayed with an overuse of reverb? I can't hear anything underneath the melody. And the drum kit that comes in is mixed very quietly, and could use some compression to make it punchier. At 1:02 and 1:18, you've taken a part that was originally a pitch-shift, and transcribed it into half-steps. I assume you're doing this because everyone who made a midi of this song wrote it for piano? The half-steps don't sound anywhere near as good as the pitch-shift did in the original. I suggest you have the instruments that could realistically slide pitch do so, or cut out the half-step and just have a whole step there. The half-step compromise doesn't sound as good. On it's own, the chiptune-melody at 1:48 sounds pretty good, but I'm worried the orchestra under it has the same problems that it does at 0:32, and I can't hear it because of how loud the melody is mixed. The new ending is better than a fade out, but it still feels anticlimactic.

Was 0:12 supposed to have a dissonance? I ask because it didn't really feel like an appropriate place to have a dissonance. The drums at 0:16 are mixed too quietly to have much of an impact, to me it feels like a waste of their potential, just having them in the background. The chiptune aspect of it sounds extremely bad, sorry. It doesn't mix together with the orchestra at all. It's very dry, whereas the orchestra has lots of reverb, and it seems off pitch? It's tone clashes with the entire orchestra. Frankly, I think you should just get rid of it up until 1:47, and probably change it's tone too. I can't really comment on the orchestra until 1:20 - it just sounds like mud underneath your chiptune sound. I think ~1:26 could have more interesting chords, it seems to just be octaves now. The chimes at 1:31 are too dry and loud compared to the rest of the orchestra. And the trumpet sounds too quiet. But I do like the transition to 1:48. Why the fade-out ending? It's disappointing, you should have a climax instead.

Are the clothes supposed to be FF-inspired? If so, I hope they do Tidus next.

I don't play guitar so the analogy went a bit over my head, but the DAW you use has very little to do with the kind of music you're making - it has everything to do with what you find most convenient to work with.

I feel that at 1:12, the sheer loudness of everything was drowning out the melody and counter-melody, which might otherwise sound very good. Same at 1:44. The guitar sound doing rhythms isn't the melody until 2:32 - it's background, and yet it sound overpowering whenever it plays. I think the song overall can afford to be not-so-loud at times. I've never been to university though, this is possibly the blind leading the blind. Did you arrange this as well? If so, I think the drums could have some more complicated writing, but I like the arrangement overall.

If you liked GarageBand, you may like Acoustica Mixcraft 7. I tried using GarageBand when I first started writing music, and I didn't like it personally, but I've heard that it and Mixcraft have a similar learning curve. I bought Mixcraft 5 for ~$60 several years ago, and paid ~$20 later to upgrade to version 7. It's had everything I've needed in a DAW so far. It comes with several instrument sounds that are admittedly of low quality, but I found them very useful before I bought more expensive VST's. You might get some use out of the drums kits and synthesizer presets. (And you shouldn't really expect any DAW to have quality sounds out of the box.) It also comes with some synthesizers you might like, (like a virtual Minimogue!) But if not, there's plenty of free stuff you can get. If you want an authentic 8-bit chiptune sound, I think Famitracker is your best bet, but it's not really a "proper" DAW. Was it Synth 1?

Higher quality EQ plugin than Fruity Parametric EQ 2? I don't think such a thing exists.

I guess being an "anti-hipster" is a thing now? I see the exact same backlash against Pony Island.

The file in the OP has been replaced again! Made the gated reverb on the drums more reverb-y Beefed up 0:35, 1:23, and 1:54 Added white noise sweeps at 0:58, 1:23, 2:16, and 3:20 Added stronger leads at 0:47 and 2:06 Made the counter-melodies a bit stronger so they aren't buried under the new lead Improved the vibe arpeggios at 2:20 and 2:32 Changed the instrument playing at the beginning Added reverse cymbal at 0:32 and 1:00 Made 2:39 less awkward - simply by not letting it drag on for so long Added reverb and slight vibrato to the pulsewave at 1:01, and changed the wave shape slightly every other note Added transition to 1:39 Changed the lead at 2:48 Made the transition at 3:32 less awkward Is there anything specifically wrong with the lead? And which part, 0:06 & 0:23, or 0:12? I did change the instrument at the beginning to a synthesized vibraphone though. I tried to connect the two parts better. I don't want I remove the rhodes&bass ending if I can help it, because I think it's much better than a simple fadeout. I think it will fit the style better if I use mostly synths. Thanks for the offer though! The other remix would definitely sound better with real instruments.

Maybe it's a regular anvil sound detuned and stretched to somewhere around a B-flat 3?

If you're not going to revise it, why are you asking for feedback?

I believe he's referring to the pitch bends on the main motif, starting at 0:20. It sounds midi - like you just bent the pitch of the notes, rather than sounding like the strings are playing their notes that way. I also can't really picture an orchestra being asked to play that way - I think it would sound more appropriate if you tried emulating grace notes. Your brass instruments sounds very nasally and unappealing. You might be able to EQ some of the tinniness out of them, but the best solution would be getting better brass sounds. I think another reason this sounds very midi is because many instruments lack reverb. The chior, percussion, and harp have reverb, but the strings, brass and woodwinds sound very dry, and they also play too cleanly. Your cymbal sounds weak, it doesn't really have an impact. You could try mixing it louder and giving it a sharper attack. It also sounds like your mix has lots of mids and lacks bass, and is mixed a bit too quietly in general. But I'm not that experienced of a mixer, so if someone else could confirm this, it'd be nice. Maybe you should add more bass instruments? I don't hear much going on down there except for the timpani.

Sorry then, they weren't clones in the original trilogy, and I assumed it was the same in TFA with more brainwashing involved.

It's bulverism because you're pinning their reasons for disliking TFA on rascism/sexism, rather than addressing any actual arguments. But, good to know you weren't completely serious. Also - to anyone who would say otherwise - the stormtroopers haven't been clones since the prequels, (they'd all be 60 years old,) so of course they're going to be a mixed bag of races.

I liked TFA, but I feel obligated to point out that this is embarrassingly obvious bulverism.

The file in the OP has been replaced! Added Synth Bells Emphasized 8-bit pulsewave with a reverb-y saw Tried to clean up the pads - is it still muddy? Changed the piano/rhodes combo a bit to made the countermelody clearer and reduce muddiness Removed delay filter on piano Added variation to the bassline sound - the "mission select" part of the remix sounds much better Added compression and gated reverb to the drums and mixed them louder Eliminated the pause at 0:34 and 3:22 Replaced some of the reverse cymbal sounds So, assuming the drums are mixed well now, is there any problem with their arrangement? This song doesn't have any horns in it, but there is this other remix I made with a horn focus, but I want to make sure that arrangement is up to snuff before I start collaborating.

I may have been subconsciously worried that mixing the drums too loudly would cause the "fakeyness" to stand out. But if the drums really sound that dire, I guess I could try collaborating with a drummer. That was supposed to sound just like the 8-bit pulsewave in the original - like it was ripped straight out of the original, albeit in a different key. I like the contrast it brings. But if no one else notices what I was trying to do, I could replace it with a reverb-y saw wave, like AngelCityOutlaw suggested. In fact, I might do that anyways to add some variation. Can you tell me which samples you think aren't great? I might be able to replace them. Are there times where you think it's specifically worse than others? At 0:34 and 3:22, I could simply have the drums keep playing. But if you think 2:39 - 2:44 is bad, I'll have to think of something more clever. And if it's 1:39... I sort of like that one. I'll try playing with some Roland Juno-60 VSTs to see if I can get a better sound. But I like the general sound the song has currently, especially when the pads come in, (minus the muddiness, I'll fix it!). So I probably won't go "full 80's," but there's definitely room for improvement, so I'll try your suggestions. Edit: I've already replaced a bit of the baseline with a Juno-60 imitation, added saws, synth bells, and gated reverb to the drums, so your suggestions aren't going to waste! Thank you all for replying!

This is for the callout! Originals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M77093Txe-c&list=PL918478793D2E4C44&index=1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XAvPSS9nTQ&index=2&list=PL918478793D2E4C44 I'm not too familiar with arranging for genre's outside of orchestral, (what genre is this,) so if I'm doing something terrible, your feedback would be appreciated. Also, how about the title? Am I allowed to use "game" as a verb?