Master Mi

Yeah, I know - but what I hear depends also on the device (speakers & the sound in the room, headphones) I'm listening to. At my speakers and headphones, both was fairly okay - at your headphones or speakers the harp might have been a bit too loud. That's why I never fully trust what I hear through my headphones and ask the spectroscope additionally. For the next version I think I'll try a little compromise for the loudness of the harp between your as well as my acoustic perception.

Recently I was totally in the mood to make some remixing stuff for the good ol' beat ' em up series Battle Arena Toshinden for the very first Playstation generation - one of the few fighting games which haven't had just good gameplay, cool characters, great special effects and a pretty interesting background story - no, the Toshinden series have also had really awesome BGM tunes which are really made for fighting. So, I decided to make a little remix for Sho's Theme from Battle Arena Toshinden 2. Here it goes... Original game track: >>> ---------------------------------------- Newest version of my remix: 1.2 >>> >>> https://clyp.it/3dj3to2t All the other informations are in the description of the uploaded content of the Youtube version. Enjoy & give me some feedback.

So, for the orchestral drum ensemble I think I will add some reverb to let it sound less hard (actually forgot to make any reverb there - it's 100 % dry - sounds much better with about 10 to 15 % reverb into wet scenario). After listening to my remix a few times, I don't think that the snare drum in this area is a big problem (there's really no extra distortion or stuff like that - maybe it's cause of some drum buttons in this VSTI make pretty heavy sounds - but it's mostly because of the absolute dryness of the drum ensemble - will fix that in the next version update). Another (much bigger) problem I'll fix in the coming update is the shaker sound in this area - this is really far too monotone - could be much more rhythmic. Would totally bother me if the happy southern island people would be stiff like that. Maybe I'll also try some variations in the drum and lead melody section.

I actually hear a lot of new stuff within this orchestration compared to the original and I always wanted to listen to a orchestrated version of this soundtrack which is a lil bit more closer to the original. So for me it's really a lovely grab in the honey pot - just spoken as a hungry bear. Maybe you could make this track much longer. Do you remember the intro of the following Secret Of Mana game (Secret Of Mana 2 or called Seiken Denetsu 3 in Japan)? >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEBpLMSw_Os Would be great if you could enlarge your orchestrated masterpiece with some stuff from the Seiken Denetsu 3 intro theme - I think there would be much better opportunities for some nice variations and completely different melodies. --------------------------------------------------------------- Besides, "Goomba" is not my nick name in this forum - it's just a ranking which depends on how much threads/comments I've posted. My nick name (Master Mi) is shown above my ranking name. So, your nick name is Ganaé and your ranking name has changed from "King Hippo" to "Chocobo" some days ago, because you got a total of over 20 posts then.

I think, the guitar part is pretty fine. Just the piano stuff got worse compared to the previous version I think. It's too dominating now - like Rozovian I think that a little bit more reverb & less damping of the piano for a lil bit pad-like sound would fix that. I also liked the lil bit off-timed piano notes in the previous version - had definitely style. But, hey that's just a small pigeon poop on the cleaned balcony. The track is radically awesome and a very great reinterpretation of the original tune!

Your orchestrated remixes are absolutely great. Try it and give 'em to the judges. )) Besides - just like me you obviously master your tracks pretty close to EBU R 128 standards (program loudness about -23 dB at maximum) and without any (or much) compression/limiting, don't ya?

Awesome stuff!

I've finished the newest version 1.3 of this remix. Check it out here: >>> >>> https://soundcloud.com/master-mi/star-tropics-the-fire-of-the-southern-cross-master-mi-remix-version-13-wav In this version 1.3 I've made a few new things. First of all this was my last remaining soundtrack I wanted to master at EBU R 128 loudness standards without the use of compressors and limiters for the best dynamic range, the best hi-fi sound quality and - of course - for keeping all the characteristics of clean, organic and natural sounds. On the other side you can also save a lot of time by getting away from futzing around with compressors and limiters which are actually not necessary for making good music. You just have to put some time in the mixing stuff instead - but with much better and cleaner results. So, now all my remixes are mastered at these pretty cool EBU R 128 standards - there aren't any more problems with annoying loudness differences between my songs after getting away from the peak-level-based mastering to a mastering style that goes for a fixed program loudness (at EBU R 128 the maximum program loudness is about -23 dB) where the peaks play no longer a major role you have to carry about the whole time. Besides - if we talk about the disadvantages of compression we should also talk about the disadvantages of compressed sound formats. Before I had created this remix update I've exported my music projects only as MP3 files with a bit rate of 194 kbit/s. But this time I recognized that this can mess up the sound at some points of the track - and if it's only one single messed up high drum note - you will hear it with a good sense of hearing. So I decided to upload my music projects based on uncompressed WAV files from now on. Secondly I've created some overlappings in the strings section. Not the big deal - but sounds quite better now. And lastly - the probably biggest improvement of all - I've made this remix about nearly 1 minute longer. Therefore I've added a very big and natural sounding drum ensemble that really fits the lovely southern island atmosphere and that goes together with a slightly changed flute into a nice finish. I'll keep working on this track - hope you like the improvements and changes I've put into this version.

Pretty nice arrangement/cover. Sure you don't want to make a whole remix out of this track or at least add some instrumentation?

Awesome shit, dude. \m/ Like the contrast of the calm piano-pads-&-synths parts and the heavy guitar stuff (love how the electric guitar goes berserk mode at 2:47). Do you record your electric guitars live or are those well-automated VSTI? And don't worry about some untimed piano notes - arabian (off-beat) style, sounds great. I totally like your music style and what great tune you have made out of the original game track. ------------------------------ A little fine tuning and the track is finished. Maybe some guitars could have a little more reverb/delay at some points to go for a nice walk with the upper instrumentation (maybe some reverb/delay automations).

Thanks for the detailed Feedback. Of course I will progess with developing the track - the next step will be several automations - but this might take some time. So for the rest... 1) At first - the piano part will guaranteed remain as it is from the structure - maybe I will include some less dominant, supporting and natural sounding pad sounds - but not much more there. Never thought about making this intro too complex - cause I think it might kill the silent viola solo afterwards. I would rather prefer to bring in some piano chords in the parts after the viola solo plays - might fit as a middle man between the harp and the bass. The pause in the piano part at 0:18 was not intentional to fit the video. Never thought about making a video when I was creating this track several months before starting to make a movie with ingame scenes. I just played this piano part just by trying to feel the melody - and I felt a about 5 seconds lasting pause there. Could be a good part for a light pad to bridge this smartly and in a decent way maybe. 2) The viola will be definitely volume-automated und maybe gets some tougher velocity varieties in the next version. Though I still like the sound of the sample without further automations. 3) The thing with the harp's a bit strange. My metering device shows me, that it is about 1 to 2 dB more silent the the piano part at the beginning and nearly the same program loudness of the single guitar lines afterwards. Maybe it's because of the stronger peaks of the harp, the strong reverb/delay and the bigger velocity differences within the harp part. The problem is, that if I turn the volume of the harp about 2 dB down, it totally perishes within the bass. Automating the bass in attack, volume or velocity doesn't seem to bring too much useful effects. Not quite sure what I will do there - I definitely want to have a calming harp part in the beginning - maybe I'll try to play another octave or smooth the velocity differences of the harp a little bit. 4) For the electric guitars I will try some velocity variations and volume automations in the next version - not sure how I will do the pitch stuff without imitating some heavy fingernail blackboard scratches - but I'll try a few things. I will also automate the timbre of the acoustic guitar chords for the next versions. Let's see what I can do.

This is a little remix of one of my favourite games from the Final Fantasy 7 series I'm working at since a few months. "Wings Of Freedom" is my interpretation of the OST "The Price Of Freedom". I wanted to create a remix which is a bit more feeling, but also goes into a stronger rock ballad later on - a good track for combining some genres without getting lost of the soul und background of the track. It begins with a little live recorded piano solo (played this just by ear - it contains also a nice melody that only appears about one time in the whole game), followed by a calm viola part which goes over into a part with a harp, guitars, bass and drums and which leads into a stronger, soulful rock ballad with several electric guitars towards the end. The rest of informations that might be interesting for listeners and remixers is in the description of the Youtube upload. It's also the first remix I've created a video (with ingame scenes) for. Hope you and especially the fans of Crisis Core - Final Fantasy 7 enjoy it. Original game track: >>> -------------------------------------------- Newest version of my remix >>> 1.2 >>> >>> https://clyp.it/vx2pp4xy

@ Kat: The tambourine makes a lot of the rhythm in this track. Can't leave this. Butt I'll try a few variations with a this in the next versions. I don't think it's too loud according to my headphones - what do the others think - is it too loud/dominant in the mix? Yeah, the end of the track will be improved soon - like the rest of the remix. EBU R 128 is just a loudness standard - it doesn't mean, compression is "forbidden". But it means that compression and limiting for gaining loudness is not necessary anymore. ---------------------- @ Slimy: What do you mean with a "thin soundscape"? Instrument sounds are not solid (dry) enough or does it rather mean that there are not enough instruments playing/not enough variations? The orchestra version at the link is pretty lively and has a great loudness range - not sure how to bring this into a half-electronic, half-orchestral mix (don't want to make the track too orchestrally). But I'll try out a few things. ---------------------- @ Garpocalypse: Compression at acoustic instruments makes them sound artificial - those instruments (like flutes, horns, strings, guitars, trumpets, saxophones, even drums) have to breathe to sound natural. Instead of going for compression I can put much more effort in mixing, playing with the velocity and creating a lot of automations - yeah, that's what I'll do next I guess. What do you mean with "That guitar around 7:50 sounds like a synth..."? You mean the sample itself sounds fake or rather the way of playing the instrument sound fake? It's a power guitar with distortion and I'm sure the sample was recorded with a real guitar. It's this one here >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZdphDZk3_o What do you think here - sounds still like a fake synth? And yeah - I will keep on working at this track. Guess it will take a few years to push my skills this far that I can make an outstanding remix out of this.

Out of my first attempt of making a Maniac Mansion remix I've finally made a little bit more complex one. Check it out here: Original game track: >>> -------------------------------------------- Newest version of my remix >>> 1.1 >>> >>> https://clyp.it/y0v1j0f1

Has a nice, smooth sound - pretty enjoyable. I would try a rocking bass guitar and some heavier drums to make some gains for the second loop.

1. Make sure your PC/Notebook is not working on energy saving mode. 2. Tried an audio interface instead of a soundcard? >>> can make a much better performance of the DAW and minimizes the usage of CPU 3. Freezing tracks (DAW function for reversibly changing midi in audio tracks) might help a lot to increase the performance of the DAW as well 4. Close other programs (especially browsers - eat also some neceassary RAM) 5. Close or deinstall all firewalls and anti-virus/malware programs which are not a part of your windows system (can use a lot of RAM and CPU) 6. Set your ASIO buffer size at a higher value (maybe 2048 instead of 512 samples) - if it's too low it might crash your engine or create strange noises while playing 7. Maybe try other sound drivers for your DAW. 8. If all this doesn't help I guess you really have to increase the capacity of your RAM - with 16 to 32 GB RAM you should be fine, also with the greatest high-end-sample libraries

Finally I've mastered this version at EBU R 128 loudness standards, too. I also removed every compressor in the remix and pushed the dynamic values to the maximum - makes a far better sound quality. But at the top of that I've created some really interesting stuff that makes the soundtrack over 3 minutes longer. I've added a few new intruments like strings or flutes at different parts of the track and I've created some really new parts. I really like the one with the Native American flute which calms down the atmosphere of my remix a little bit. I guess this part could totally represent the character Red XIII, his connection to Cosmo Canyon, the connection to his father, the great warrior Seto and his tribe as well as his deep connection to the planet as a spiritual, living being that fights on the side of life. I also created some really nice rocking parts with a heavy power guitar and a decent piano as a reminiscence to the powerful and orchestral battle theme "On The Verge Of The Assault" from Crisis Core. Hope you like it at least as much as I do. For the next updates of this track I think I will create a short outro for this song. I also want to create a few more variations of the drums and basses - maybe a silent part as well. Man, this track is really made for squats and training - and of course for fighting! )) You can listen to version 1.4 of my track here: --------------------------------------------------------------- >>> >>> https://clyp.it/shlstgxb ---------------------------------------------------------------

Just watch this and you might understand what I think about the problems of increasing compression for just gaining loudness and the possible solution of the EBU R 128 standards.

Good ears, dude - changed the thing with the drums which were obviously a compressed preset of my Vita²-Drumkit. My DAW showed me just "Acoustic Drum Kit Ro(ck)" on the screen. But after checking the full name of the drum set cause of the compression you mentioned I found out that my drums were still at the previous "Acoustic Drum Kit Rock Limited" preset - obviously a limited/compressed version of the rock drums. I changed this and uploaded the fixed version with the uncompressed drum samples. Here's the new version with the uncompressed rock drums: ---------------------------------------------------------------- https://soundcloud.com/master-mi/lufia-2-tyrant-breaker-master-mi-remix-version-15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The soundtrack is so quiet compared to most modern music because I make my new tracks at the EBU R 128 loudness guideline for maximal dynamic range. There you don't try to get the true peaks and the (often program loudness, too) just close below 0 dB - instead you have a target/maximal level for the program loudness of about - 23 dB and the remaining headroom above in the master track you can use totally eased for the true peaks - so, no worries about using compressors or limiters for gaining loudness. If EBU R 128 becomes an international standard within the next years all broadcasters will send their programs at this loudness standard - maybe it will also be like this in the internet/youtube etc.- so you can leave your volume wheel turned up all the time and enjoy the rising dynamics in the produced music you may listen to - just like in the lovely decades ago. At the basis of EBU R 128 all tracks/programs could be uploaded and normalized at the same program loudness level - would be great if youtube and other internet providers would handle it like this - 'cause you could fully concentrate on the best dynamics instead on the "best undefined loudness". Could be like this (if you're interested in the pretty smart and well thought-out EBU R 128 guideline) >>> ------------- Besides - what do you mean with the low end clutter at the piano stuff? The pad sounds which are part this piano preset, maybe? Makes the piano a bit more stronger and remaining in the hall as a contrast to the pretty strong bass lines. And yeah, the composition of Zircon is absolutely awesome - but even there you can hear a pretty heavy compression of the drums that doesn't sound really clean/natural. Compressed drums nearly always sound a bit dull and lifeless in a track (in relation to the sound quality).

If you use compressors/limiters just as a tool for sound engineering (to create new, interesting sounds) it might be okay. But just for gaining more (undefined) loudness it doesn't make any sense to use any compressors/limiters if you want to make high quality music - compressors/limiters ALWAYS cut a bit of your sound quality, the natural sound of your VSTI or real instruments. If you produce music at the basis of EBU R 128 guideline and loudness level there's not even a necessity of using compressors/limiters - these are just loudness tools, weapons of mass destruction, primarily created for the loudness war to destroy the good ol' high quality music with just loudness. Just listen to my newest version of my Lufia metal remix - it's based on the EBU R 128 loudness and has been produced without any limiter/compressor - it has the full dynamic range and still lots of further headroom (about another 8 dB) for even stronger peaks. https://soundcloud.com/master-mi/lufia-2-tyrant-breaker-master-mi-remix-version-15 For those who are interested making music at EBU R 128 standards make sure to read my little text I've written about the EBU R128 guideline in the description of my track: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "In this version I removed all the compressors/limiters completely and mixed the track again to give the track its full dynamic range without losing a single piece of the sound quality of the instruments. The standard volume of this track is about 10 dB quieter now. It's because this track will be my first one which is produced at EBU R 128 standards, a pretty well thought-out technical guideline of the European Broadcasting Union developed by professional sound engineers and other engineers of different broadcasting stations and broadcasting institutes. With this guideline the main goal of music producing is not to bring the sound peaks as well as the programm loudness of a track close under 0 dB for maximal loudness - because this often results in in a much smaller difference between peaks and programm loudness by using compressors and limiters which cut or really destroy the natural sound of instruments as well as the loudness range/dynamic range and the sound quality in general. But good music has to breathe as much as it can - while hard limiting or compression is more like gasping or the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease of music. At EBU R 128 standards music production is not primarily peak-based - it's primarily based on the programm loudness which is also a much better indicator of the perceived loudness of a soundtrack or other kind of programs. There the target level of the program loudness is - 23 LUFS (dB) +/- 1 dB. So, the program loudness is not allowed to be louder than this limit. But I allow myself to be much quieter within my track if I want to keep important loudness differences - so, if one of my tracks has an overall loudness difference (loudness range) of about 5 dB the quietest part of the soundtrack will be around - 28 LUFS (dB) and the loudest part of the track will be around - 23 LUFS (db) then. That means that you'll always have a lot of headroom for the peaks of your music. At EBU R 128 it's determined that the true peak level shouldn't go over - 1 LUFS (dB). Based on the maximal program loudness of -23 LUFS (dB) this makes a lot headroom for the peaks (range of at least 22 dB just for the peaks). So, you don't have to worry about the peaks like a shareholder and there is no basic necessity of using compressors and limiters just to gain the last piece of undefined loudness out of your track anymore. And if the EBU R 128 loudness becomes the new standard within the next years all those will be fucked who rather produce music at loudness standards with lots of compression. But those who make totally uncompressed music with the full dynamic range will be blessed. Because with the EBU R 128 standard the uncompressed high quality soundtracks will sound as loud as the compressed and hypercompressed stuff (so, EBU R 128 would be a great international loudness normalization standard)- and it might sound so much better, clearer - like a musical adventure that tells a big story. I'll produce all my further soundtracks, remixes and updates on the basis of this very smart EBU R 128 loudness guideline - so, make sure to turn up the volume a little bit." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, here's my newest version (1.4) of my Lufia Remix - Battle #3/Sinistral Battle theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xSniBKvU6I https://soundcloud.com/master-mi/lufia-2-tyrant-breaker-master-mi-remix-version-14 I've decided to produce this remix (as well as all my other remixes, soundtracks and music updates in the future) at the program loudness level based on the EBU R 128 guideline (maximal - 23 LUFS (dB) +/- 1 dB) where you have more than enough headroom for the true peaks (maximal - 1 LUFS (dB) - it's also a pretty smart international loudness normalization standard. Cause of the great peak range over the maximal program loudness compressors/limiters are not a necessity of gainining undefined loudness anymore. So the changes in this version 1.4 are: - new standardized loudness based on EBU R 128 >>> just turn up the volumes of your speakers/headphones a bit (about 10 dB) - removed every kind of compressors/limiters in this track (compressor-plugins as well as VSTI-internal activated compressors by default) for the very best dynamics and the best, natural sound of the instruments - at the VSTI I could change the dynamic settingsI have set those values to the maximum (had to compensate the decrease of dB cause of the higher dynamic settings by measuring the program loudness and turning up the volume until I got the value of the previous program loudness, but with the best dynamic settings) - mixed the track again - got much better dynamics and really cristal clear sound for this track I'll definitely keep following the holy path of EBU R 128 - it's a pretty smart and well thought-out guideline for broadcasting and loudness normalization which makes the highest sound quality levels in things like music production possible. Because: Compression can't be my confession. Just give me a lil' blessed medal for radically uncompressed metal.

Yeah, see the point in adding some further expressions/automations to the flute and strings - will also try some overlappings at the strings. But hey, no chance with compression/limiting in this wonderful track - even not in the drums. Think they're loud enough since t's not a metal track or something like that. I could make the drums louder and more pumping just by lowering the volume of the other tracks and rising the volume of the master track - or just by doubling the drum track. Would make the same effect without taking away the natural dynamic range of the drumset with compressors. Maybe I'll give a small amout of dB to the drums, but not a lot - since just a few dB make a big difference between joyful drumming and disruptive pumping. I'll create another part in this track where some exotic orchestral drums will have a dominant part together with the legato strings where the louder drumming will fit much more. Thanks for the hints and the feedback, dude. ))

I've uploaded a version of my newest remix without any compressors/limiters (not in one single track, not even in the drums and of course not in the master track). It may lack in loudness - but I like it much more and it's much clearer than in the version with limiters/compressors. Here's the previous version 1.1 with compressors/limiters (not in the master track - but in the flute and drum track): >>> https://soundcloud.com/master-mi/star-tropics-the-fire-of-the-southern-cross-master-mi-remix-version-10-uc Here's the version 1.2 without any compressors/limiters: >>> https://soundcloud.com/master-mi/star-tropics-the-fire-of-the-southern-cross-master-mi-remix-version-12 I created this version pretty close to the EBU R128 standard - had still about 3 dB unused headroom in my DAW/master track. Just the LUFS in my track was a bit louder and had a far bigger range (about 4 dB or +/-2 dB instead of the recommened range of 2 dB or +/-1 dB) between the loudest and the quietest part. In R128 the absolute LUFS has to be around - 23 dB +/- 1 dB. The absolute LUFS of my newest track is between - 21,5 dB and - 17,5 dB, so a bit louder - I just wanted to use as much safe headroom and "natural, uncompressed loudness" in my DAW as possible. I don't get it why R128 only allows a loudness range of 2 dB between the loudest und the quietest part - doesn't make sense at all because I also like classical tracks where you obviously have differences of much more dB between silent parts und the heavy swells, the louder parts sometimes.

I've just uploaded Version 1.2 - this time without any compressors/limiters, not in the master track, not in one single track (not even in the drums - and I really like 'em as they are now). Although the track has not the loudness of the previous versions but the full range of dynamics sounds so much better now. I think we should definitely get rid of compressors and limiters just hunting for some undefined extra loudness. Check that track: >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K5oF9Cmy0c >>> https://soundcloud.com/master-mi/star-tropics-the-fire-of-the-southern-cross-master-mi-remix-version-12

Heya, guys - in the last time I've read a lot about topics like loudness war, compression, limiting and have made my own experiences with this at my DAW. I think most people here know that compression and limiting can increase the loudness of soundtracks within the production process a lot - much more than all the single tracks and the master track could bear it by just turning up the volume (dB) - without causing clipping sounds. Compressors and limiters make it possible to give a soundtrack much more loudness without clipping - I guess this is one of the main reasons for the ongoing loudness war, better compressors >>> higher loudness possible. So, many radio stations, television broadcasting transmitters, commercial broadcasters and of course music producers started to increase the loudness of their audio stuff because they thought (and still think) that a bit louder audio stuff could attract much more listeners than the competitors at the global market. And I guess they were right when it comes to the habits of the mass of listeners - they obviously liked the slightly louder (but more compressed) audio stuff often more than the quieter audio stuff of the competitors. But the problem of this phenomenon is a continuously worsening of the audio quality of soundtracks - 'cause of the increasing compression or even just by cutting or emasculating the peaks with limiting. Some fans of high quality hi-fi music or hardcore audiophiles criticise this - and I guess they're absolutely right. I also think that it's pretty nonsensical to do nearly everything (even cutting down the full range of dynamics which is often really beautiful to listen to - without taking anything away from this) to increase the perceived loudness like a mad hatter who just wants to be the winner of the loudness war. I think we should move away from the war of loudness back into our ambition to increase dynamics and music quality to the upper limits - yeah, without limiters. Maybe we don't even need any compressors/limiters for creating the best soundtracks if we just edit and mix/master them right - or at least we would use compressors only then if we want to just give some pressure to drums/basses. So, I guess we need some kind of loudness rules - what do you think of EBU R128? https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/r/r128.pdf I have a loudness metering tool in my DAW (Samplitude Pro X2 Suite) based on this standards. What with your DAWs/loudness metering tools? Would be cool if the remixers of OCRemix would support the idea: "End the loudness war - let's back to the roots of full range dynamics instead". What's your opinion about this topic?