antiPLUR

I am writing/producing a song called "Spiders". I have most of the mix done (At least I think so. I'm sure the more experienced people here will have some suggestions on improving it as usual:P) however before I record the vocals for the verses I want to make sure the vocals to pop a bit more so they can be understood more clearly. here is a link to the WIP: http://soundcloud.com/aaron-dictor/spiders/s-IXSdC Again only the chorus vocals are in this version, but it is the busiest part of the track and if I can get them working there I'm sure it will be smooth sailing on the verses. Any suggestions about the vocal issue (or any other suggestions about production/mixing) are welcome and appreciated. Thanks **edit** I think I solved a big part of the problem. I had a noise gate that was chopping off the consonants.

LOL thanks michael that was a song I wrote for joke for a set that I was doing. Its not a remix per se but it does use starfox sounds as samples. I haven't been getting updates to my email about when people are posting something must be wrong with my settings. Ive moved on to another original project for the time being, but if you are interested in hearing the metroid mix PM me. Again thank you to everyone who replied I learned a lot of things that I can apply to my tracks now.

That feedback part in the beginning will teach me to keep my speakers at a courteous volume I like it very much but I'd almost like to hear a subby kick (like an 808) under that kick drum in the beginning to make it sound freakin huge. I know thats not typical for rock stuff but I think it would be epic. I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds; just a suggestion. Otherwise awesome. Could be longer though as previously mentioned.

My least favorite final fantasy 7 soundtrack and you effing killed it (in a good way). Nice work man. Also voice over is hilarious. I wish I had something more constructive to say but you are using real instruments and thats out of my territory.

First of all, I really like this. As hard as that friggin game/level was, I would play it again if this was the background music! I agree that the high end is a bit bare. If you aren't low passing it, have you tried using a harmonic exciter on the hi hats? Or if you don't have one perhaps a tad of distortion/overdrive? From the sound of your track you are more experienced than I am but I'd be curious to see if that works if you give it a shot.

I dont really play video games that much. That being said, I am familiar with the source material here and this sounds more like a cover than a remix. Nothing wrong with that if thats what you intended, however there are some great remixes on this site (Passing of the Blue Crown is my favorite OCREMIX last time I checked) so it would be nice to hear a bit more creativity. Also, my experience is in electronic dance music and electro-industrial/synthpop (so take this with a grain of salt) but I feel this mix has too much sub bass. Tone down the sub 100hz range (I don't have a spectral analyzer that works outside my DAW so I cant tell you the precise frequency) All things considered, it still sounds pretty cool. Megaman FTW.

@Chimpazilla Yes that makes a lot of sense. I did check this mix after I tried Timaeus222's widening method and it does seem to sound acceptable in Mono. Of course in mono the whole mix feels a lot less "Spacey" which in my opinion defeats the point of a Metroid mix is there any way to get that "space" in a mono mix? Like I said it sounds acceptable as in I can hear all of the parts and whatnot but it doesn't feel as "big". I suppose in a club there would be a sort of pseudo Haas effect because the speakers would all be a different proximity from the listener. Anyway I've been producing for a while and yet I feel like I've learned so much in this thread. This is a really cool community; thank you everyone who responded.

@Timaeus222 I think I resolved all of the issues you mentioned (took all morning *whew*). I removed all of the EQs and compressors and redid them. In short there is a lot more EQing and a lot less side chaining. I went down the list you made and resolved the other issues as well. It should sound a lot cleaner. Thanks for your suggestions. @Tesselode I agree there is something off about the transition you mentioned. Its like the track isn't powerful enough after that pause. I will see what I can do. In the meantime the sine should be more prominent as I increased the volume. I don't want it to overshadow the Phendrana theme that continues from the previous section though so it may not be as loud as you might expect. I'm changing the status back to WIP as there are obviously more issues present than I had initially been aware of http://soundcloud.com/aaron-dictor/shadow-hunters-metroid-remix

One more thing Timaus222: regarding your stereo widening trick. I have heard of this effect before but I never use it. I try to check my mixes in mono and pay attention to phasing issues. I also have a plugin that will check stereo field and phasing. If I set the right delay to 1ms and the left to 10ms and the wetness to 100% I do indeed get a widened stereo effect, but the instrument reads as out of phase. Is this ok? if not what can I do to combat it or what am I doing wrong?

The lead is a Sine wave with an LFO modulating the amplitude to create an eerie vibrato effect. There was no filter being used initially so there shouldn't have been any resonance afaik. I did hear the annoying resonance like effect though, and when I low passed it the effect went away. It may have been something in the reverb, although the reverb comes after the filter and as I understand it a sine wave consists of a fundamental with no harmonics. Spooky indeed. I will try turning up the velocity on the cymbal. I hear it but maybe thats because having written the part I know where to look (listen?) at 2:30 there are some Toms added that also have delay. I like the effect but perhaps it is too much. I am using Ableton LIVE. I have a spectral analyzer called "Spectrum" although it is not tied into the EQ. I must admit that I am a little jealous of that FLStudio EQ that ties both together I found LIVE's workflow to be more intuitive so that's what I use for production but as with anything it has its ups and downs. Also you are correct about the side chaining. I often say it in reverse because of the method used in Ableton LIVE to implement sidechain compression. Regardless, the result is that the sub bass ducks out of the way when the Kick hits. I will try the notching method and see if that yields better results for the snare; the kick is awfully sub-y at this point and I fear that notching will destroy my sub bass entirely but I will look into that as well. I am headed to bed atm but I will definitely attempt to implement your suggestions when I wake up.

@timaeus222 Good ear! Low passed the lead so it should sound less resonant Not sure what you meant by the "cymbal". I think you may be referring to the pitched metallic "CHEE CHUU" noise which sounds a bit like a cymbal. It was that way in the source material (credits to Metroid Prime: Hunters) and I kinda liked it so I recreated it using a noise oscillator and a filter. Let me know if its something else. Snare was wider than it should have been; changed it to mono. Snare delay is the same at 2:18 and 2:30 so having trouble isolating that one. Added some reverb to the snare (while keeping it Mono) Tried to clear up some of the clutter by removing an unnecessary/redundant part at the end As for checking the low end, is there a way I can do that with a spectral analyzer? I don't currently have a sub-woofer. Am I looking for phase cancellation? My sub bass and kick should be the only things down there and the sub bass is side chained to the kick and snare. The revised version can be found at the same link: http://soundcloud.com/aaron-dictor/shadow-hunters-metroid-remix Thanks very much for your detailed feedback!

Just a quick update: Kicks are now more thumpy. Transitions are now slightly more dramatic. Climax is now more apparent. Status changed to finished. If there are no further criticisms I will submit it. Thank you to those who left feedback. (The original link should still be good but here it is again http://soundcloud.com/aaron-dictor/shadow-hunters-metroid-remix)

Thank you for the feedback. I took your advice and gave the kicks a bit more thump in the low end:). As for the jarring part I must ask, do you listen to this genre often? It is quite characteristic of this type of Breaks and other "bass music" to have what is called a "drop", or sudden explosion of sound, then a "breakdown" (or mellow part) and then another "drop". Forgive me if I sound patronizing, that is not my intent; I just want to make sure you arent being put off by the genre rather than my composition. If this is not what you were referring to, please elaborate. Its really nice to get feedback from an objective, unbiased community that actually knows what they are talking about rather than people I know who just say "sounds good bro"

http://soundcloud.com/aaron-dictor/shadow-hunters-metroid-remix Tracks sourced: "Credits" (Metroid Prime: Hunters) "Phendrana Drifts" (Metroid Prime) "Title Screen" (Metroid Prime: Echoes) The intro was inspired by the intro to super metroid feedback/comments/criticisms welcome and appreciated