Master Mi

With this picture you can get a better idea of the purpose of the recently painted over-door construction for the electric guitar mount that I designed and built some time ago. ... As you can see, it is located on the living room door, which I have permanently blocked because I didn't want to move my home studio, including the rest of the furniture, too far back into the room - mainly for reasons of space, but also for stylistic reasons with regard to the ambience of my living room, which I like to have a little more airy and light-flooded in the area of the transition to the balcony out of habit, as in my previous apartment, and I therefore didn't want to squeeze the furniture so far into the back corner of the living room just to be able to open and close a single door that I don't actually need or that I didn't have in the same place in my old apartment. But I tried to make the best of the space available in my new apartment. And the result is a solution that I really like. Because apart from the resulting, rather spacious walkthrough-room connecting the living room with the bedroom, and which now lets in even more sunlight, the previously rather annoying door is now the future carrier of my first electric guitar. ))

If hackers already have huge rabbit ears, this is often a sign that their ears have already been pulled a few times. But no, I never had any problems with viruses, malware or any hacking attempts even after the official Windows 7 updates expired (I still get some from time to time - but they are mainly antivirus updates for Windows Defender). In fact, this has somehow felt like the most malware-free and computer-performing time in my entire life. If I have caught some nasty bugs (like some guys of the Verfassungsschutz with the stern-looking upper-lip beards who obviously still worship the ill-humoured leaders from the 30s and 40s leaders), then it's probably because I've commented "too positively" on the powerful, fanfare-like brass playing in a well-known workers' hymn: But now that you are as good as in the club, comrades, the donut hackers from the Committee Against Communist Activities will have to increase their human resource capacities enormously. That buys us all time to work on the next soundtrack against Shin-R... erm, a soundtrack for love, justice, fluffiness and a future worth living. )) (I'm just imagining how weird the story would be if Trump, Biden, Elon Musk, George Bush and Dick Cheney transformed together like a rusty Decepticon Transformer into some 5-headed mech hydra with Skynet surveillance to go into the final boss battle with their crusty elitist propaganda chants against the based beats of OC Remix >>> "Me, a god - versus you, a piece of shit." - until the hair-shifting OC beat drops and Donald gets even balder than his biggest enemy of all time, the bald eagle...... Hahaha...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7_OWYrLVOU)

@WarezWolf Ah, 'kay, I didn't realize at the time that "live user" referred to Ableton, which was the name I knew the DAW by. I also didn't know that even Ableton (just like Samplitude and all the Native Instruments VSTi products) was developed here in East Germany - really interesting. But once you've been working with a good, stable, properly equipped and smooth-running DAW for a long time and you've figured out, learned and internalized all the functions, I would really stick with this DAW in the future. If this CLAP software architecture proves itself in contrast to the well-known VST interface - and the opportunities and application possibilities already look promising - then after a few years the majority of other DAW developers will also follow suit and implement this system. On the other hand, Steinberg could also develop an upgrade for its VST-based system, which will then also enable multi-dimensional plug-in parameter and envelope chains such as CLAP. So, no reason (hehe) for fitful sleep 'n' apocalyptic "the composers without the newest features die first" dreams. ... "Patience is the key to paradise." (Arabic saying) ... So, new developments like this don't really knock my socks off too much. I'm always a few years behind the times, so to speak, and I'm still completely satisfied with good old Windows 7 Professional, my still really powerful PC environment (Intel i7-6700 quad-core processor system, 32 GB DDR-4 RAM, a pretty energy-efficient GTX 750 Ti as a still useful oldtimer graphics card and a still pretty much free 2TB HDD) and of course with my DAW Samplitude Pro X4 Suite, which is 4 versions behind the current Samplitude version (all this saves a lot of time, money, nerves and you avoid those really annoying Windows reinstallations or Windows upgrades - including required mainboard and other hardware upgrades und reinstallation of all the software after every few years). Since I've already got all the software and hardware stuff I really needed and wanted during the last years, I'm really content with that. I'm much more focussed to develop some legendary composition skills and to finalize my (during the last years conceived and especially during the last 2 years further developed) dynamic mixing concept I named "Life Force" (I'll show the results with a remix I might already finish towards the end of this year). ))

If you are looking for your first DAW, also check out Samplitude Pro X(8) Suite if you own one of the newer Windows versions: https://www.magix.com/int/music/samplitude/suite/ It comes with: - an incomparably huge amount of high quality content - a really logic and intuitive interface for a good learning curve, with some of the best metering devices on the worldwide DAW market (this also includes several stereo and surround metering devices, vectorscope, spectral measurements, spectral editing and sophisticated peak and loudness metering - or a tuner for instruments) - also a kinda flexible and user-friendly interface you can put together like you wish and also save it as a preset - several skins (would recommend the dark Carbon Skin, which looks really stylish) - one of the most complex MIDI editors - around 80 GB of really good VSTi (lots of them in the great Independence sampler) and synth content for nearly any kind of music genre (no loops - just around 80 GB of pure sample content) - and besides the standard plugins, Samplitude Pro X Suite also comes with some really outstanding plugins like Independence FX (this plugin collection alone is huge stuff - from normal reverb, plate reverb, convolution reverb with a visual interface to place sound signals within the selected room as you wish, several kinds of delay, chorus, flanger and phaser, compressors, filters, gate and distortion plugins, equalizers, preamp, cabinet and mic modelers or even a vinylizer), Analogue Modelling Suite, Vintage Effects Suite, Convology XT Complete for a large amount of impulse response presets, or the good ol' Vandal: Virtual guitar and bass amplifier plugin, with which you can form your real electric guitar or one of the included VSTi electric guitars (would recommend the excellent electric guitars with lots of articulations and editing options in the Independence sampler) into kinda any possible guitar sound (if you really want to go "rockin"). Usually the enhanced Suite version of Samplitude (if you go for Samplitude, always go for the Pro X Suite version with around 100 GB of content - it is far bigger than the standard Pro X version with just around 20 GB of content) is around 600 bucks (Bitwig Studio is around 400 bucks and comes with around 12 GB of content). But at the moment (until December 8th) there 's a special offer for the enhanced Samplitude Pro X8 Suite for just around 200 bucks. There's also a free trial version in the link if you want to check out the interface and some core functions of the DAW.

By the way, I forgot to mention what really good soundtracks the Dissidia Final Fantasy series had to offer. As this is one of the core topics on OC Remix, I just wanted to share a few outstanding Dissidia soundtracks that I remember particularly well (I tried to get some high quality versions of the soundtracks that might not have always the English title in the video link - but I will provide a proper translation of the song titles in my text): 1) Prelude (or rather "Prelude - menu -", a remix of the famous opening theme that shows up in kinda every Final Fantasy game in many different versions) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In my opinion, it's one of the best Final Fantasy Prelude themes ever composed. But there are many further arrangements of themes in the Dissidia games that might sound very familar to you. 2) Sprouting (or rather "Sprouting - arrange -", a really nice arrangement of a well-known track from Final Fantasy 10) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beautiful soundtracks like these can be heard in the first two Dissidia games (this one is from the very first Dissidia Final Fantasy game), for example, when you play the story mode for a certain character in the dungeons or on the overworld. You'll even have to play the stories for the individual heroes from the various Final Fantasy parts several times, because there's a lot to discover, unlock and buy (from what I remember, apart from new characters or antagonists from the Final Fantasy series, new outfits and original soundtracks, there are also things like new weapons and equipment, rare items, espers that can support you in battle, etc.), depending on how well you play the dungeons in the story mode. The bonus stuff you get at the end of a dungeon depends on how well, tactically clever and in how many moves or with how many points you complete the dungeons. But you also want to explore the dungeon on the first try to get all the visible and also pretty valueable treasures in there. However, anyone who thinks that the game is already over after completing the prologue and the character-related story parts is very much mistaken. That's when the interesting part of Dissidia's story really starts, which unfolds in further, non-character-related story complexes, where you also have a free choice of character, if I remember correctly. 3) Battle 1 (or "Battle 1 - arrange -", an arrangement of the Final Fantasy 9 standard battle theme) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since the Dissidia games (at least the first two parts) are story-based beat 'em ups, you will of course listen to a lot of pretty cool battle and boss battle theme arrangements during the fights. 4) The Decisive Battle (or "The Decisive Battle - arrange -", an arrangement of the boss battle theme from Final Fantasy 6) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the arrangement of a famous and pretty driving boss battle theme you know from Final Fantasy 6. ... But there are also possibilities to unlock some original themes from the Final Fantasy series as well and listen to them in some sort of a jukebox or during battles, for example: 5) Omen (or "Omen - original -", the legendary opening theme from Final Fantasy 6) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Even as an original theme from the past days, this composition still has its charme. 6) The Landing (or "The Landing - original -", a theme from Final Fantasy 8 that plays the first time during the attack on Dollet) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is one of my favourite themes from Final Fantasy 8. For those who don't know, there was an early version of this theme called "Raid on Dollet" for an official demo (I think it still was in the PC version of the game I bought as a present for a friend back then), but it was obviously removed due to some similarities to a soundtrack from the movie "The Rock" - I assume they mean the soundtrack called "Hummel Gets the Rockets" (the part after minute 0:51, for example): ... But in Dissidia Final Fantasy, you also have a lot of really dynamic and soulful arrangements, for example the following two tracks: 7) A Moment of Rest -------------------------- On the first sight, this kinda sad piano composition seems to be a new soundtrack exclusively composed for Dissidia Final Fantasy. But it's an arrangement of the Game Over theme from the very first Final Fantasy. 8) Find Your Way (or "Find Your Way - arrange -", an arrangement of a Final Fantasy 8 theme) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I really love the mystical vibe in this arrangement of a well-known Final Fantasy 8 soundtrack. This one is from Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy (spoken "Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy"). ... There also some really good soundtracks that were exclusively composed for the Dissidia Final Fantasy series, for example: 9) Cosmos -------------- This is the theme of Cosmos, the goddess of harmony, who opposes Chaos, the god of discord. She is supported by the Warrior of the Light and the other heroes from the different Final Fantasy series, while Chaos rather brings the villains and antagonists of the Final Fantasy series into the battle. 10) The Messenger ------------------------- I can't really remember at which point this soundtrack plays in the game. But since it has a similar compositional structure (just in the form of a heavy rock version) and a similar spiritual message like the Cosmos theme, I think this could be a soundtrack related to Chaos. 11) Massive Explosion (Arcade Version - or "Massive Explosion - arcade -", a soundtrack from the arcade game version of the new Dissidia Final Fantasy from 2015, which was later ported to PS4 and got the game title "Dissidia Final Fantasy NT" that also included this version of the song) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The name of the track might sound like a movie title from the kinky hardcore porn movie corner. But in fact, it's one of the heavier Dissidia Final Fantasy NT hard rock tunes I really love. 12) Massive Explosion (Arranged Version - or "Massive Explosion - arrange -") -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In addition to a few other interesting versions (also some really good instrumental arrangements) of this track, this one was exclusively composed for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT. For the vocal part in this version of the soundtrack, the game developers have apparently even hired a real opera singer, namely the Jamaican-Indian lyric soprano singer Nadine Benjamin. There's also a really epic strings version with vocals of this theme in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT: ... To summarize, you could say that the Dissidia Final Fantasy games are worth it just for the excellent soundtracks alone. But the story, the really good fusion of beat 'em up and convincing RPG elements as well as the extremely large amount of content, bonus content and unlockables (especially in the first two Dissidia games) make this game series an extremely worthy and extraordinary Final Fantasy spin-off. So I would be really happy if a next-gen title of this series in the style of the first two Dissidia games were to be released for Playstation 5 sometime in the near future.

The painting of the over-door construction for the electric guitar mount in a matt white is now finally finished. And I'm really satisfied with the result. )) ... The master painter who carried out the work and who had quoted me a price of 100 to 150 euros for the paintwork after my previous inquiry, subsequently even lowered the price to 90 euros. But out of sheer joy at the good craftsmanship and as a small token of appreciation for a job that wasn't easy and that I might have ruined on my first attempt, I added another 20 euros and paid 110 euros. I always do this with such commissioned works when I notice that people make a real effort with their work and obviously don't just see the quick buck, but have passionate dedication and high quality in their focus or even go about their work with a really blatant spirit of perfection. Because it is precisely in superficial and lifeless societies, where the focus is increasingly shifting to quick money, profit maximization and other forms of selfishness, that quality, longevity, a genuine spirit of innovation and valuable content (both in products and services as well as in people themselves) often fall by the wayside. ... As you can see in this picture, I have already attached furniture glides in matching colors to the wooden construction, which should protect both the door and the electric guitar from scratches and other forms of accidental damage.

I recently stumbled across a kinda mystical soundtrack from Final Fantasy 14 with a pretty famous melody from Final Fantasy 1. The track is called "The mushroomery", which is a really immersive remix of the soundtrack "Matoya's Cave" from the very first Final Fantasy. This not only gives you the power to manage your all-important house cleaning without magic brooms that do all the swish-swish-aroo. It is also - together with a bit of good ambience ala soft light, candlelight and the scent of incense - a really pleasant soundtrack for studying (not only for studying the arcane arts). In this case, I'd recommend a radically extended version of this track: I guess this is my contribution to a Happy Halloween. ... PS: If anyone has a good tip for a really terrifying horror movie (not some blunt splatter stuff - rather something with an interesting story and some subtle psychological horror that goes straight to the core), let me know. ))

Mi was highly ambitious 'n' got somethin' new for ya. )) This time, I really went straight into the acoustic guitar section and put the mighty fire of dynamics and articulations in there. It sounds soo much better and really vivid now - and I did it without completely butchering the virtual steel strings (kinda fits my Life Force mixing concept as well). I didn't even thinkt that I could get surprising results like these out of the VSTi. So, huge thanks for mentioning this stuff as a guitarist, things I wouldn't even have recogized in the whole mix. As a bonus, I also composed a completely new and kinda heroic part with french horns (as well as lots of other new stuff that is not in this little part - but I still have to keep some secrets as a music wizard for the coming track ;D). ... Here's the audio sample (you might have to play it and reload the site to listen to the full sample with the length of 1:07 minutes - same goes for all previous samples): CC - FF7 (Excerpt) - Acoustic Guitar Next Level.mp3 I'm really looking forward to your guitarist's opinion on this (after a good amount of nightly sleep, of course). The next upload for my Crisis Core: Final Fantasy remix "Wings Of Freedom" will be the full track with a length of around 4:21 minutes. ))

It would be great to see the Playstation 5 dream come true with another Dissidia Final Fantasy installment of the story-driven beat 'em up legacy: https://noisypixel.net/tetsuya-nomura-wants-new-dissidia-final-fantasy-game/ I was not a too big fan of Dissidia Final Fantasy NT for PS4. Although it was technically really good, it had far too much focus on just a challenging arcade gaming experience and no big focus on a big story, additional gaming content and unlockables. ... But the first two Dissidia games for PSP were awesome - really innovative gaming experience, each main character and antagonist can be levelled up and equipped like in a real RPG including learning new special techniques, magic etc., good story that unfolds more and more over time, lots of content, new and pretty interesting gaming modes, new difficulties, tons of unlockables and up to 500 hours of playing time. Here's a little preview of the first minutes in the very first Dissidia Final fantasy game for PSP: ... And here is a little video review of the second game, Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy (which also contains a whole overworld map, a new story plus the content from the first Dissidia): It would be great if the developers would just make a next-gen remake of Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy for PS5. But let's see what the future holds. I'm already looking forward to another Dissidia game. ))

Over-door construction with electric guitar mount ------------------------------------------------------------- This is the electric guitar holder construction for a door that I designed and built during my recent vacation. It's basically the side view of the raw construction, which is lying on the floor here and which will be painted a nice matt white by a master painter in the next few days. ... The main reason for building such a construction was that I had slightly different spatial conditions regarding my home studio after moving into my new apartment a few years ago - conditions that were actually quite advantageous after a lot of space planning. And in the new apartment of my cooperative housing association, I wanted the home studio to be in the largest room, the living room, again - especially to ensure the best possible sound propagation in terms of optimal music enjoyment and the best possible mixing potential. The living rooms in both apartments were even similar in size (about 3.5 to 4 meters wide and about 6 meters long). But whereas in my old living room there was a pure wall in front of my home studio, in my new living room I have a door leading to the bedroom at this point. I therefore had to move the studio a little way into the room to ensure an unobstructed passageway. However, as there was still a small table with a printer, radio and an ocarina to the right of the studio (and I wanted to keep it that way), I simply blocked the door behind the small table as a permanent solution and effectively turned the two rooms into a continuous walk-through room. The advantages of this are that the room now looks noticeably larger and more spacious, natural sunlight can shine into the room from both sides, you can also let your gaze wander into the distance from time to time and ventilation is better and quicker. A larger room with additional sound-absorbing elements such as carpet, wallpaper and furniture is also guaranteed to absorb unwanted sound reflections. And as the door to the right of my studio is now virtually permanently blocked, I thought to myself that there could hardly be anything more funky than having your very first electric guitar always visible and within easy reach just to the side of your studio so that you are always reminded to practise regularly. On the other hand, this way you have avoided drilling holes in the wall and entrusted the functionally deprived door with an almost sacred, spiritual task. ... Well, actually I would have preferred to buy a ready-made solution like the guitar holders from DoorJamz Guitar Hangers here: https://www.guitarhang.com/ But as these are probably designed more for American doors with different shapes and dimensions, apparently can't be ordered completely in white and there have already been isolated reports from buyers where the mounting elements have discolored the guitar, there seemed to be no more obvious way for me than to get down to business myself, armed with a small arsenal of tools. ... The planning and design of the construction, all the shopping and the building itself took me a good 2 days in total. The construction turned out really well for the fact that I mostly finished it outside in the dark evening hours with a flashlight, as it would have rained heavily again in the following days. I used whole, unglued wooden slats made from cheap, very light and easy-to-work spruce wood from the DIY store. For the guitar mount, I opted for a white wall mount from K&M because not only do they look nice (they go really well with the white body of my electric guitar and my white door), they are also very sturdy and the flexible brackets, which fit almost all electric guitar models, have stoppers at the end to prevent the electric guitar from slipping out unintentionally: https://www.thomann.co.uk/km_16280_white.htm A good friend gave me the really helpful tip of using sleeve nuts for a good and secure screw connection of the guitar mount to the wooden construction. These are available with flat heads, look pretty inconspicuous in terms of design, fit snugly and securely in a drilled hole in the wood and can be tightened very well from both sides in connection with an appropriate screw. On the back of the wood (the opposite side to the K&M guitar holder, so to speak), I drilled a small recess in the wood with a Forstner bit so that the screw head and washer disappear into the wood and don't leave any unsightly marks on the door. The rest of the construction consists largely of glued wooden elements screwed together with ordinary wood screws. In terms of length, the construction (approx. 70 cm long) is designed so that the top part of the headstock of the electric guitar (which is almost 100 cm long) resting in the holder is almost flush with the upper edge of the door, while the lower part of the electric guitar on the body is once again really well supported and stabilized by the extended piece of wood and protected from excessive swinging or hitting against the door. When the paintwork is finished, I will also attach a few furniture glides in the appropriate places to cushion the loads and forces exerted by the wooden construction on the door and the electric guitar. ... I was actually thinking of doing the paintwork myself (for cost reasons alone, especially as painting the small wooden structure will cost another 150 euros). But as I don't have much experience in painting (especially not in a way that would make it look really professional), I don't have a suitable space for painting (especially for this really unpredictable time of year), I didn't want to stock up on new equipment and tools for this one-off project that I would probably hardly ever use, and above all I didn't want to mess up my construction for a daring attempt at painting, I decided in the end that it would be better to shell out the cash. As a result, I was able to do some final housework at the end of my vacation, such as cleaning the windows and my bike, which means I'll have a bit more free time again in the near future and, above all, a clear head to finally devote myself to the things I'm actually passionate about - namely composition, mixing and sound design. ))

Ibanez Gio GRG140-WH - finest Japanese electric guitar technology with flawless sound, solid build quality, nice features and a really stylish design ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I kept putting it off, but in August 2024 I finally got down to business, ordered the long-awaited electric guitar from a well-known music store in my hometown - and in the last days of August this year, the extremely hot Japanese baby finally arrived at my home. Of course, my eyes lit up like those of a child who gets to celebrate his birthday, Christmas and New Year's Eve in one go. ... The Ibanez Gio GRG140 offers the following core features: - volume pot (to control the volume or to create volume-based effects such as tremolos or swells) - tone pot (for controlling the tone color from icy cutting to comfortably warm, full sounds or for creating wah-wah effects based on them) - T102 tremolo system with tremolo lever (should actually be called a vibrato or pitch system or lever, as this allows you to influence the pitch of a played string by changing the string tension and to create really cool electric guitar effects) - 2 Infinity single-coil pickups (for cutting, treble-heavy sounds) - 1 Infinity humbucker pickup (for powerful, warm and voluminous sounds) - 5-way pickup switch for controlling individual and combined pickups according to the following switching behavior from neck to bridge pickup: 1st stage >>> 1st single coil 2nd stage >>> 1st + 2nd single coil 3rd stage >>> 2nd single coil 4th stage >>> 2nd single coil + upper coil of the humbucker pickup 5th stage >>> both coils of the humbucker pickup Further features of this electric guitar can be found here under this link: https://www.thomann.co.uk/ibanez_grg140_wh.htm ... If you're interested in the background and history of Ibanez guitars, or if you're wondering why a Japanese company chose this rather Spanish-sounding name for its world-famous acoustic and electric guitars, you can take a look at this Wikipedia link here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibanez … As this is my first electric guitar, I naturally read through the instructions and notes on operation, care etc. first. And since I had already practiced using my Rode NT1 studio microphone via my audio interface and my DAW, connecting the electric guitar (which can be connected to the audio interface via the Hi-Z input with the higher electrical resistance) was no big deal. I made a few settings in the DAW and added my guitar amp plug-in Vandal to the corresponding track and after a few more settings I was able to get some nice 'n' smooth clean electric guitar sounds as well as heavier leads out of it, depending on the settings in the amp plug-in. Tuning the guitar using the integrated tuner in my DAW Samplitude Pro X4 Suite was also completely uncomplicated, quick and precise. Nevertheless, I still have to learn how to play and master such a stringed instrument properly over the years. However, as I already had some previous knowledge of electric guitars and had also written the one or other remix composition with electric guitar VSTis over many years, after a few hours I was already able to play my first small melody with various playing techniques such as legato, hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides, alternating between the index and ring fingers on the fretboard and using my right hand to strum the strings. However, I was still unable to play a beautifully shaped vibrato in the first few hours of playing with my raw beginner skills. But maybe I'll let you hear something from my first beginner lessons in a while. … The most difficult task so far in dealing with my first electric guitar was - no kidding - removing the protective adhesive foil from the pickguard without leaving pieces of foil sticking under the pots, which then make such annoying rustling and crackling noises when turned. I hadn't expected such obstacles - it's probably like the idiot test for electric guitar beginners. I watched a few tutorials on how to remove the foil as completely as possible, with the useful advice that you can sometimes unscrew the pots or, in the case of my guitar model, remove them straight away. Fortunately, I had bought some electric guitar accessories some time beforehand (see utensils in the small box on the right), including various picks of different shapes and degrees of hardness, guitar sliders made of different materials with different sound characteristics and some fingerpicks, which all can be used to implement additional playing techniques and create versatile sounds. I then used the finger picks to carefully lever up and remove the pots all the way around, remove the last remnants of the foil and replace the pots in a uniform position. … However, I haven't yet built the planned guitar holder construction for the door in front of my home studio at my new home, which in retrospect I'm actually quite happy about, as I can now take proper measurements with the electric guitar on site. That will certainly take a few more weeks before I even get around to it. But when it does, it should be good. I had an extremely suitable electric guitar holder with movable brackets and integrated stoppers at the ends (see right-hand side of the picture) to prevent the electric guitar from accidentally slipping out, which I would like to install in the planned wooden construction for the door, delivered directly to my home together with the electric guitar. The local music store Musikhaus Korn in Dresden's Neustadt district also made the delivery of the goods very easy, quick and relaxed. In addition to the original manufacturer's product packaging, the delivery also arrived in additional, very robust packaging made of fairly thick cardboard. … Now I basically just have to learn to play the electric guitar professionally. And somehow I'm really looking forward to it, especially as the next short vacation is just around the corner. But first comes the work and then the pleasure (or maybe a healthy mix of both). ... If everything goes well and I practise diligently, there could be another little rock star here in 5 years' time. ))

Thanks for the helpful tips. I'm sorry that I haven't found the time to improve the soundtrack in the meantime - but I'll keep it in mind for the next update. I wouldn't have noticed the acoustic guitar chords - but now that you mention it. I actually only left the MIDI velocity dynamic range there at around 15 out of 127 parameter points. I even had a larger MIDI velocity dynamic range in this guitar passage before, but somehow it drew too much attention to the chords and somehow it sounded really weird in places, especially since from a certain velocity level onwards a rather prominent articulation of the instrument was triggered almost as if without a smooth transition. But maybe I'll get something useful going if I just accentuate a few chord notes with a much stronger or weaker MIDI velocity dynamic attack or - as you roughly said - add an occasional gentle slide. ... Incidentally, my first real electric guitar just arrived a few weeks ago. )) In a few minutes, I'll post a picture of the guitar stuff with some text in an earlier thread of mine on this subject.

Got some smaller (but still kinda interesting) news on the progress of the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-7-remake-part-3-director-says-the-jrpg-sequel-will-be-one-of-the-most-loved-most-popular-games-in-the-whole-history-of-video-games/ As I had already suspected, the developers want to create a real milestone in the RPG sector or one of the best RPGs of all time with the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy, especially with the 3rd and final part, in a similar way to what they already did with the original Final Fantasy 7. ... But since we are a video game remix community, I wanted to talk about a few soundtracks for the current 2nd remake part Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which has some very interesting new musical compositions and remixes to offer. Here's a small selection: 1) Jungles of Gongaga ----------------------------- This soundtrack has some really exotic flair with some kind of an indigenous children's choir. It somehow fits in with Zack Fair's laid-back mentality by representing his home region. 2) Battle on the Big Bridge - Rebirth --------------------------------------------- No joke - apparently this really is an official remix version of the corresponding soundtrack from Final Fantasy 5 for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. That's a really interesting feature as a connecting element in the big Final Fantasy universe. 3) Midgarsormr ------------------- This is a fairly long, versatile and continuously building remix version of the Final Fantasy 7 battle theme Those Who Fight, in a not entirely dissimilar vein to what I once had in mind with my own remix version of the battle theme. I haven't worked on it for many years now - but I would have a few ideas to give this long track a proper makeover in terms of composition and mixing if I could find the time. And I was really blown away when I heard a similar melody in this Rebirth remix (from minute 3:26 - the powerful brass instrument) as in my remix Fighting Fantasies (from minute 7:58 - the lead with the electric guitar): ... But then I realized that a similar line has already been in the original battle theme Those Who Fight (from minute 0:55 - the brass): ... Beyond that, however, I'm totally hyped about a completely different thing. My first electric guitar (Ibanez GRG 140) finally arrived at my home around two weeks ago. But I'll talk about this in a much more fitting thread as soon as I find the time. ))

I've found new trailer and preview content for Visions of Mana that you might have missed in the last few days, weeks and months. ... 1) The official Japanese trailer -------------------------------------- I think the Japanese developers really know how to appeal to fans of the Mana series through the magic of childhood memories. And I have to admit that I kinda like it. ... 2) The official gameplay trailer -------------------------------------- This short trailer primarily provides further impressions of the battle system. ... 3) The launch date trailer -------------------------------- This slightly longer trailer mainly gives some impressions of the story and the characters. ... 4) The official tourism guide trailer -------------------------------------------- It shows some locations and regions in this game. ... 5) The demo announce trailer -------------------------------------- This trailer gives some impressions of the recently released demo version of Visions of Mana. ... 6) A full demo playthrough video ----------------------------------------- This is a little extra video content for those who want to dive a little deeper into the recently released demo version of Visions of Mana and be passively guided through the entire demo. ... Have fun and good night for now. ))

Made some progress with the electric guitar part in my Crisis Core remix, by the way. As a guitar player, what would you say about guitar playing techniques, composition and mixing for this part? CC - FF7 (Excerpt) - Clean Electric Guitar (Improved Version).mp3

Thanks, @paradiddlesjosh. Man, that was an even more detailed in-depth answer than I had expected. And somehow it triggered a sense of déjà vu in me, as if we'd had a similar conversation some time ago. It would certainly be more interesting to see to what extent such plug-in settings in delay and reverb can be used to acoustically recreate even more complex room structures, different types of surfaces or even temperature differences. But my main concern was how to set primarily the stereo delay in such a way that it has a realistic effect in terms of panorama and depth. ... So let's say you have the stereo filter delay settings as in my picture in the main post - the activated stereo delay with the 250 ms delay on the left and the 500 ms delay on the right (as well as the other parameters in this filter delay). Is this basically a stereo delay setting that would be panned rather to the left or right side in the panorama (so that it would conform to the laws of physics and not come across as unnatural)? And how would you change all the parameters in the stereo delay accordingly if you then moved the signal to the other side of the panorama in mirror image (for the same room reverb, of course)? Or how would you change the parameters in the stereo delay if you wanted to move the sound source more into the foreground or more into the background of the room (I'm not quite sure whether you can work with the integrated low-cut and high-cut filter in the stereo delay in the same way as with the reverb, or whether the psychoacoustic effect would be different in a pure delay plug-in)? ... I mainly ask these questions because I often use similar stereo delay settings with similar parameters without really considering the panorama (panned more to the left or more to the right side) or the depth level (sound source put more in the front or more in the back of the room) of the sound source. And I guess that's not the way to use a stereo delay in the best possible and most effective way (especially not if you want to create a realistic and natural room ambiance).

Guess I had a good nose for some of the most illuminating 15 minutes of the video, skipping through the whole video content like a passionate and fiercely investigating hobby detective. ;D

Nice one. )) Without seeing the whole video with the length of over 4 hours, I would say the following things are crucial to bring some VSTi/VST-based electric guitar magic in the soundtrack: 1) a realistic electric guitar VSTi with a good amount of faithful articulations/playing techniques 2) a nice electric guitar and bass amp VST simulation that features lots of settings and effects 3) a good understanding of electric guitars and performing special guitar techniques in the DAW (so, everything about the technical things going on when playing a real electric guitar and how to translate it with all your DAW tools like the electric guitar VSTI interface, the MIDI editor and further plugins) 4) and lots of mixing experience On the other side, even a real electric guitar in the mix can sound like a Goomba stuck in the sewage pipe if the guitar has bad pickups, you stole the fishy guitar amp from a grumpy octopus at the bottom of the shore or your playing and mixing skills just passed the toddler difficulty. ... During this week in the first part of my summer holiday I also tried to implement a nice clean electric guitar into my coming Crisis Core remix composition - and I got pretty much inspired by the soundtrack "Everytime We Touch" by Maggie Reilly: For the clean electric guitar that I've played more or less via MIDI keyboard in my DAW, I might have to do some work concerning timing and articulation. But it already sounds like something I'd definitely go for in the coming remix version. Here's a short audio sample of my early results: CC - FF7 Remix (Excerpt) - Clean Electric Guitar.mp3 You might turn up the volume a bit because I uniformly master my soundtracks at EBU R 128 loudness standard at around - 23 dB (LUFS).

This question has been on my mind for some time now whenever I use stereo delay effects, for example when I want to work mixing-technically with a filter stereo delay in combination with a cathedral reverb as in this visualized example: But first to the basics of delay effects. You often have the choice between synchronized or BPM-related (BPM = beats per minute) delay times and non-synchronized delay times, where you can set the delay precisely in milliseconds. It's possible to convert the values between both delay modes - just take a look at this helpful link: https://sengpielaudio.com/calculator-bpmtempotime.htm The synchronized delay time can be more interesting for electronic music (or maybe also for avoiding too much phase issues), while the non-synchronized delay time can be more interesting for a natural and organic soundscape due to some irregularities (for example, by using settings such as 195 ms instead of 250 ms). To have more freedom, precision and a better understanding of the delay time I'm using when setting the values, I often use delay effects I can set in milliseconds. So, in my case with the non-synchronized delay settings of this image, a played note of the track with this delay plugin will get its echo(s) on the left side after every 250 ms and on the right side after every 500 ms. ... The feedback value, on the other hand, indicates how strong or how loud a sound event transitions to its subsequent delay or echo or how quickly it loses intensity/volume over time. With a feedback value of 50%, for example, the subsequent echo will be half as loud as the previous sound event and the delay will flatten out relatively quickly as a result. A value of 100 %, on the other hand, would create an endless echo with the same loudness as the original sound event. With a stereo delay, the whole thing is obviously a little more complex, which is why you would have to set the feedback values on both sides to 100% for such an endless echo (and the signal must also not be absolutely dry). ... The pan value is easy to understand and sets only the panning of the delay effects of course (panning of the source signal won't be affected by this setting). Just like for reverb sends, I would also recommend hard pannings for delay effects to avoid an accumulation of sound mud in the center area of the mix. ... The dry/wet value is the ratio between the loudness of the source signal and the loudness of its echoes/delays. So, extremely wet settings with very silent source signals and much louder echoes might sound pretty wild - or weird. ... And since I used a really sophisticated filter delay with a low-cut and high-cut filter in this case, I can also set the frequency range for the delay effects. In my case with the settings in the picture, the delay effects below the frequency range of 500 Hz will be filtered out or radically reduced loudness-wise. ... But now my core question. How do you use a stereo delay effect plugin like this in a mix to create a natural and realistic spatial impression for a certain purpose? Let's say that the source signal is located in a big cathedral (cathedral reverb activated) and might be used in 7 different situations, after you (the listener) just entered a large cathedral: 1) In the first situation, the source signal should play pretty much in the center of the cathedral (no special heights involved here - sound source should be at ground level or at the height of the human ears). 2) In the second situation, the source signal is still in the horizontal center of the cathedral, but it's shifted much more to the front side and towards you standing in the entrance area. 3) Similar case, but this time the horzontally centered source signal gets shifted towards the back of the cathedral. 4) In another situation, the source signal should play on the left side in the back of the cathedral. 5) In the next situation, the source signal should play much more on the right side in the back of the cathedral. 6) In the following situation, the source signal should play just a little less far on the right side and a little less in the back of the cathedral. 7) In the last situation, the source signal should play on the right side in front of you around the entrance area of the cathedral you just entered. How would you set and change the delay values (especially the delay times for the left and right side, the feedback and the dry/wet parameters for the left and right side) for these situations in order to create a realistic and natural spatial impression (maybe also in connection with shifting some of the reverb parameters)? Maybe somebody also knows how to create a further impression of height above the ground level for a sound source in a cathedral just with delay effects like these. Might be a tough question even for professional audio engineers and die-hard physicists, but maybe someone already geeked out into topics like these.

Dude, this sounds more like a broken 8-bit lawnmower engine than a NES soundtrack. But I can well imagine how this "track" came about: --------------------------------------------------------------- CEO in the game development team: "Guys, the release of the game is tomorrow, but we still have to compose an extraordinary boss theme." Staff: "Boss, our schedule is filled to the brim - we have no capacity." CEO: "Heya, intern - we're relying on you. We need you to create something special in less than 30 minutes that even posterity will be talking about." Something special that even posterity will still be talking about: ...

Heyo, this one might be a more difficult mission for the almighty IT mage @DarkeSword... The problem is this: If I want to reuse an audio file I've already uploaded at OC Remix (and which is stored as an attachment under "Other Media" >>> "Insert existing attachment" at the lower right corner of the comment field when you are writing a comment) in a new comment, the audio file will be inserted in the comment, but you can't play it. It totally works with other uploaded attachments such as images and even movie files, but not with audio files. ... Maybe you can use some sort of IT Esuna magic to fix this issue. You can check out the specific problem in this thread at the audio file number 6 towards the end of my very last comment from May 05, 2024 (I've tagged you there): https://ocremix.org/community/topic/52614-cleaning-up-the-low-end-and-low-mid-sections-in-a-mix-with-single-track-eq-master-track-eq-eqed-aux-effect-sends-and-other-methods/

A few major further steps to improve the clarity and spatiality of the sound by cleaning up the center area of a stereo mix from less relevant or counterproductive audio information -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although I haven't been able to continue working on the composition of my Crisis Core remix for the last few months due to a whole lot of work, both in my private and professional life, I was able to achieve a real breakthrough in my mixing concept shortly after my last post in this thread. The result was a kind of improved LCR mixing method (LCR for left-center-right), which not only brings more clarity, more spaciousness and width to the mix, but also allows much finer panning for the spaces in between (instead of just simple LCR), with considerably fewer steps compared to doubling the tracks for processing a hard-left and hard-right side of a single instrument or sound source and with the aim of a mixing result where the sound is also completely convincing on a normal stereo system (and not only on studio monitors and or studio headphones), ... ... which was an important core concern of mine in this thread, as I was previously able to perceive audible qualitative differences in comparison to a really professional mixing and I didn't know why this was the case or why it was so clearly apparent on a normal stereo system. I've also put in some audio samples around the end of this comment to show the further improvements in the sound quality of the mix. … I would almost call this audible problem I've especially experienced at standard stereo systems the "overloaded center effect". The center in the mix (please correct me if I'm not quite right in my definition) is probably something like the crosstalk between the left and right sides of a stereo system (it is said that the center is the sum of the right and left channels divided by 2). If you remove a large part of this crosstalk in the most sensible way possible (i.e. you remove as much irrelevant or counterproductive sound information as possible from the center area - especially concerning the reverb), you can achieve considerably more clarity in the mix and a better assertiveness of the individual instruments. ... I guess in professional terms it's called "mid-side processing" where you remove certain audio information like instruments, synths and effects from the center to bring it to the sides. A good traditional way to do it is by hard left or hard right panned signals and a counter signal on the other side (for a realistic stereo image without involvement of the center area) like in the LCR mixing method. As soon as you use a softer panning (let's say, the pan knob ist only at -10 dB on the right side), you get also crosstalk of the sides with the center - which isn't the evil of mixing (it also can provide some interesting spatial information), but you should not overdo it in order to get a clean mix. If just a few sound signals like drums and vocals/lead instruments fill the gap between center and sides, while the bass plays only in the center and all the other instruments are fully panned to the sides, it might be really beneficial for the mix. Of course you can also mix the bass a bit more from the center to the sides and put the drums fully to the center and/or the sides depending on the music genre and your personal taste, but always keep in mind that you should not produce too much mid-side crosstalk, especially not with many instruments or other sound signals in the same frequency range, because it can cloud and clog up your mix much faster (especially in soundtracks with lots of instruments and various audio information - in comparison, this stuff won't matter too much at a solo piano part in terms of mixing quality). … In my DAW Samplitude Pro X4 Suite I use my integrated 2-channel surround feature (which simple encodes spatial information in a standard stereo signal in connection with a visual interface) not only for getting some more depth in the mix, but also for the regulation of the center/side ratio of the instruments, effects and all the other audio information. It looks like this in my DAW: In this screenshot you can see the spatial settings and measurements of a harp playing together with its very own aux reverb send. In the right part you can see my setting of the instrument within my 2-channel surround panner (just left and right channel are involved, center is completely left out), the aux reverb send of this instrument has a similar panning. And in the lower left part with the vectorscope, you can see once again, that the harp with its aux reverb send is out of the center and widely panned. Just note that this metering device is loudness-based or volume-based - this means that the louder the measured signal gets, the bigger the expanse of the graph will be. So, if you want to check how far the signal is panned to the sides or how much it is in the center, you have examine the ratio beween width and height of the graph (big height und low width means, the signal is more in the center, while equal height and width means that the signal is on the sides - and a bigger width than height means, you are probably cheating with a stereo enhancer - but don't worry, tools like these doesn't sound good 'n' natural either). … Here's another screenshot which shows the panning of the new trumpets (including the measurements of the aux reverb send of the trumpets, which is exactly panned like the trumpets) in my Crisis Core remix: As you can see, the center is not involved again (same thing goes for the aux reverb send, of course), and I've lowered the volume on the right channel by 7 dB. This means that - with the help of the 2-channel surround editor I can set up a pretty fine stereo panorama without any center involvement and in only one track (plus one more track for the aux reverb send, of course)- with the conventional LCR mixing method I might have needed one track for the left side and one track for the right side (with different volumes and/or delay effects for each side) to create a similar stereo panorama (plus one or even two more tracks for the also hard panned aux reverb sends). … If don't have something like a 2-channel-surround editor in your DAW, just stick with the mentioned LCR mixing method to clean up (especially the center of ) your mix. There might be also another solution for easily reducing the center volume of a track in your DAW. Your DAW might also have some kind of the stereo editor for each track (in my DAW, I get into the stereo editor if I do a right mouse click on the virtual pan knob in the track editor on the very left side - after this, the window with the stereo editor for this track opens up, and there I can reduce the center volume under "Kanalabsenkung Mitte (dB)", but only with 6,02 dB at the maximum - don't ask about this kind of precision in a volume value, I really dunno why): ... In the next screenshot, you can see how I panned the electric bass in this track (measurements only show the electric bass with deactivated aux reverb send, where the aux reverb send is fully panned to the sides, but at the same depth level like the instrument): Here you can see, that the electric bass plays almost fully in the center without the sides ("almost", because I like it much more if the bass hops a bit around the center without being a too stiff mono center thing - so I open the bass just a very little bit towards the sides, but only towards the lower surround-information-encoding stereo channels, which can be used to put the signal source more in the back of the mix). The vectorscope and the directionmeter next to it show once again how the electric bass with the deactivated aux reverb send behaves in the stereo panorama. … And in this additional screenshot, you can see how the whole track (in the final showdown part with lots of different instruments playing together) behaves in the stereo panorama: By playing and measuring the whole soundtrack, the vectorscope shows a really wide panning (and this already with my preferred EBU-R-128 target loudness of only around - 23 dB, while with a more common mastering loudness of - 15 dB the metering graph would even shoot over the edge of the vectorscope and even over the "L" and "R" letters) with a very clean center (where mainly the electric bass plays and only a few other instrument tracks like drums, power chords and some sort of leading piano arpeggios are panned between the center and sides, affecting both with a bit of crosstalk, giving the mix a bit more spatial feel - something that could be instantly ruined if you put too much crosstalking audio information in the center or between the center and sides). All other instruments in the track are panned out of the center fully to the sides, but they still have their unique stereo pannings between the left and right side. The aux reverb sends for all instruments instead are completely panned out of the center fully to the sides without any exceptions, which cleaned up the whole soundtrack a lot. Either the aux reverb sends are panned the same (or in a similar) way like the instruments (same depth, similar left-right-side behaviour in the stereo panorama - but always without involvement of the center area, even as aux reverb sends for the few instruments which affect the center) . Or, for example, if an electric guitar is panned with a volume of - 5 dB on the right side (so that the instrument is 5 dB louder on the left side), I've panned the aux reverb send for this electric guitar hard to the right side. … So, just a final summary on the mentioned (and some additional) changes I made in the mix to radically clean it up and to improve it further: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A) I got all the aux reverb effect sends out of the center fully to the sides (maybe one of the most important things I did in this stage of mixing for improving the clarity). No matter how you do it - if by hard pannings like in the LCR mixing method or with visuals tools like a 2-channel surround editor, where you can remove the volume of center area - just do it. B) I got also most of the instruments (except bass and the few instruments that are panned between center and sides) out of the center area. C) I split the track with the acoustic drums into several tracks for the individual drum elements (bass drums, snare drums, tom drums, cymbals) - just to put different EQs on the different drum elements for improving the clarity within the drums section, between the drums and the other instruments and for additional cleaning up the area between center and the sides. D) I reduced a few annoying or slightly clashing frequencies from certain instruments with peak filters. For example, I made a little peak cut for the bass drums at around 200 Hz by 5 dB: Nothing really earth-shattering - but it transforms the kick drum from a former "bop, bop" a bit more into a smacking "bip, bip" and makes the kick drum a bit more assertive against the electric bass in the mix. I also made some peak cuts on the acoustic guitar playing the rhythmic chords: It makes the guitar sound less blocky, much lighter and more stylish, letting a few other instruments "breathe" more in the mix. E) I removed some overloaded, gimmicky and unnecessary effect plugin chains from my mix. For example, in the previous mixing version I used two different reverb plugins on the acoustic drum kit - one as a preceding direct insert and another one as a low-cut-filtered aux reverb send - just to let the kick and snare drums sound mightier. I completely removed the direct insert and only adjusted the low-cut-filtered aux reverb send for all drum elements in a way where the kick 'n' snare drums sound also powerfully reverberating - but way cleaner without unnecessary low-end reverb mud throughout the mix. F) True to my previous motto "It's all in the mix" or "Complicated masterings are just missed opportunities in mixing", I removed the master EQ plugin again. I somehow had the feeling that it was sucking a bit of the punch out of the mix in the low-end range because it was taking the range and power out of all the instruments in the lower frequency range - unfortunately also those that are supposed to play right there. So, I went back to single-track EQing and made a few more adjustments to the relevant tracks. … And lastly, I want to show ya the final audio samples, where you can finally listen to the mixing progess I've made with all these steps and compare the last version of this audio sample (the results before the mixing approaches mentioned in this post) with the new version (the results after the newest mixing approaches)... 6) Latest update of the remix section showed in the previous audio samples (former version) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) Latest update of the remix section showed in the previous audio samples.mp3 (Somehow, the former audio sample doesn't seem to work in the new posting - gotta find somebody who will fix it, maybe the almighty IT janitor @DarkeSword. But not today anymore - until stuff gets fixed, just listen to the audio sample number 6 in my previous post.) ... 7) New mixing update of the remix section after radically cleaning up the center area (new version) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) New Mixing Update Of The Remix Section After Radically Cleaning Up The Center Area.mp3 ... Feel free to join the discussion and tell me how you like the new approaches in my mixing concept. )) For the next big update, I want to compose the last few things I still have in my vision for this remix and maybe even deliver a finished new remix version of the whole soundtrack for a much bigger comparison.

I found a really impressive Terranigma remix and a radically vibin' Manic Mansion remix on YouTube lately:

Just from the point of the artistic level and the joy and intensity of a creative journey, AI is even worse than using premade loops. You might be able to get something that sounds good 'n' ready for the masses of listeners - but you'll never be able to put all the compositional details, thoughts and feelings from inside your imagination into the realization of the soundtrack. And if you don't have the knowledge and experience in music theory, composition, mixing and sound design, you won't even have an idea about what's even possible in the soundtrack you create. For the most part, AI draws on things that already exist, on things that are known or have been grasped by the human mind. A fine consciousness of a vital life form in combination with a high level of creativity, on the other hand, might be able to recognize things, energies and phenomenons that are still unknown in this world, and to create some really new 'n' unique stuff. ... Or to put it in some more romantic words of video game poetry: Creating video game music or remixes with AI technology is like feeding the plastic/wax fruit to the hungry, music-loving Green Tentacle in Maniac Mansion. Even if the Green Tentacle likes the artificial stuff and already feels stuffed after eating it, as a hungry composer fueled and inspired by true life force within and around you, you wouldn't feel vital, nourished and satisfied if you ate the stuff yourself. ))

Good visual mixing tutorial for beginners and pros to better understand the possibilities and tools for mixing and creating specific spatial images ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A few days ago, I stumbled across a really interesting and useful tutorial video from David Gibson that explains some of the really important tools of mixing in a very sound, understandable, in-depth and most importantly visual way (which really helps to understand the process, tools, possibilities and little details of mixing): The video is quite long, a bit trippy at times (and quite funny in places) and looks kinda dated (like an instructional video from the 80s or 90s) - but it's full of grounded logic and sophisticated, yet easily accessible mixing knowledge. Interestingly, the video not only provides basic knowledge about the process of mixing and imaging itself, but also goes into some physical background and the "Why am I actually doing it this way?". What I particularly like about the video is that it doesn't show you a specific way to mix, but rather gives you a fundamental understanding of the mixing basics, which opens up a multitude of possibilities to realize the mix according to the concrete idea in your head or your inner feeling. It should therefore not only be of interest to beginners who want to approach the subject slowly, but also to advanced users who have already gained years or even decades of in-depth experience in the field of mixing. ... In addition, I was also able to implement a few groundbreaking improvements in my specially developed mixing concept through a large number of experiments some time ago, which not only greatly improved the clarity and spatial range of the mix, but also finally improved the translation of the mix on ordinary hi-fi stereo systems in a way that's pretty close to how professional mixes sound on these devices. Since my job life obviously turned back to my regular 4 working days per week after a longer time of 5 or even really nasty 6 working days per week (due to a pretty high sickness absence rate in my company I didn't want to leave the remaining colleagues high and dry - and so, I could already save up some extra hours for the next winter) and the soothing fact that I could also settle the major shitload of tasks 'n' stuff in my privat life within the last months, I might have some time again to catch a recovering breath and present my results soon. Maybe I'll already write some smaller parts during the coming weeks after work and upload the whole content soon after. Since I wasn't really able to work on my music projects for around 3 months now, I'm kinda on fire to finally do some composition and mixing stuff once again. I will upload it in a new post - including some further audio samples of the latest results - in my thread "Cleaning up the low-end and low-mid sections in a mix - with single track EQ, master track EQ, EQed aux effect sends and other methods" as soon as possible. You'll also find the thread under this link in OCRemix: https://ocremix.org/community/topic/52614-cleaning-up-the-low-end-and-low-mid-sections-in-a-mix-with-single-track-eq-master-track-eq-eqed-aux-effect-sends-and-other-methods/