Master Mi

Of course - your mixing and mastering skills are radically important for the clarity and definition of your soundtracks. For example, with my new/actual studio equipment (Yamaha MSP 3 studio monitors + Fostex PM-SUBmini 2 subwoofer and Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro headphones + Lake People G109-P headphone amp) I can hear much more the unclean passages and acoustic problems in my tracks and see much more the potencial to improve my previous tracks just with a better mixing and mastering. But if you also use free accounts on Soundcloud and Youtube just like me, the reasons why your soundtracks might sound better or cleaner on Soundcloud than on Youtube (which is kinda the opposite of my experience with both platforms) could be probably the video export settings and the quality (bitrate) of your audio file you use in your video program. I only use uncompressed WAV audio files of my DAW music project for further processing in my video editing program to avoid unnecessary data compression chains (for example one of the worst case scenarios: first bigger audio compression process during the export of your audio file in your DAW project - maybe at a bitrate of 192 kbit/s or even lower >>> second audio compression process after video editing with your video editing program >>> third audio compression process with the upload on the online platform at which you finally share your track). I also avoid the use of compressors/limiters in my DAW because these tools also lower/degrade your sample quality by destroying or even radically cutting the signal peaks right in the DAW project file. ... All those kinds of compression in multiple process chains might decrease all the exciting information in your music stepwise and in an accumulative way into something with less definition, clarity and "life" (dynamics) within - so, I'd try to avoid as much of it as possible.

In the meantime, I've found another really good video and audio streaming platform where free accounts are possible and very useful. It's a Japanese platform called Nico Nico Douga (or simply called Niconico after 2012). It might not have the big and useful interaction and commenting features (allows only pretty short comments) like Youtube has to offer. But you can still navigate through an English interface for your account and the main features of the platform in English language. And - this is important - you might be able to upload and stream files in a much bigger quality than Youtube allows (possibly files with around 192 kbit/s, 320 kbit/s or maybe even lossless audio files) with a free account. The funny and for Japanese developments pretty iconic thing is that your account develops like a RPG character - with specific points and level ups, depending on your feedback of the community and things like that. I still haven't made it past LV 2 there - but I won't give up so easily. ^__^ Definitely a platform with very great potencial - so, feel free to check it out: https://www.nicovideo.jp/ ... And just for hearing the differences in the stream from the worst to the best audio quality at Soundcloud, Youtube and Niconico, check out my Star Tropics remix I've uploaded on all three platforms (watch out for the point after 1:25 in the remix where the drum parts - especially the hi hats and cymbals - kick in): 3) Soundcloud (kinda sloppy sounding hi-hats and cymbals - streaming quality of the audio might be around 128 kbit/s...) 2) Youtube (pretty good-sounding hi-hats and cymbals - streaming quality of the audio in the video might be somewhere around or just a little bit below 192 kbit/s...) 1) Niconico https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm34221065 (maybe just my imagination, but I think the hi-hats and cymbals are just a little bit cleaner than in the Youtube stream (make sure to choose the best settings in the video options) - so, the streaming quality of the audio in the video might be really at 192 kbit/s... but just because it's the maximum audio bitrate my video editing program can export, since I still use the Windows Movie Maker for video editing...)

What do you think - could this be the future of three-dimensional panning for stereo and surround mixes? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some days ago, I've seen a pretty interesting VST plugin for kinda realistic three-dimensional panning which obviously works for stereo mixes as well (seems to be similar like the 2-channel surround mode I use in my DAW for quite some time now): I know, the plugin might use only the well-known parameters from classic audio productions for creating an image of depth or certain positions in a virtual room - just those parameters I've mentioned before, like volume (sound pressure) level (gain staging), frequencies (EQ adaptation), time difference between perceived (or received) direct sound and its first stronger audible reflections (initial time delay gap - or simply the pre-delay settings) or the proportion between direct sound (dry signal) volume and reflections/reverberation (wet signal) volume. But with the help of those tools you might set a specific room position of a sound source much faster, much more precisely and in a much more visual and intuitive way than just with cold numeric values within the oldschool way of music production. And - of course - the three-dimensional panorama automations could be done with much less effort, calculating, in far less time - and with much better results for realistic three-dimensional staging and without the need of being the supernatural professor of physics who has already internalized even the finest aspects of sound propagation of sound sources in relation to the position and the whole constitution of the listener. The interesting fact about this plugin is, that you can not only set a sound source between left and right (width) or front and rear (depth) positions. You can also set the height of a sound source (up and down) - which might be also useful for the surround formats of the future where speaker units might be completely around the listener as if the listener was inside a sphere full of speakers surrounding him alongside all three axes. I don't know where those panaroma plugins might go in the future - but I'm sure that they'll also add another component of specific sound directions and spherical angles for sound propagation in relation to the position of the listener. But just the momentary possibilities of sound creation and separation of sound sources in a three-dimensional room within a normal stereo recording already seem to be gigantic, as you can hear in the following sound example obviosly created with this plugin: So, what do you think - is it worth to go for such kind of a three-dimensional panning plugin or is it rather redundant for audio productions?

Just a little final notice... This free VSTi seems to remain free further on for everybody who got it within the time limit until January 31st. I've just checked it out - and it still seems to work completely without restrictions or things like that. So, good luck and lots of creative fun with Yangqin for all the early birds who caught the big 'n' tasty worm. ))

VSL or Vienna Instruments also contains some of the best high-quality VSTis out there - although the VSTi interface couldn't look much more boring and loveless. But it also seems to have a pretty nice virtual room editor where you can obviously place your VSTis and other sound sources directly on a stage with precise directions, distances and sound propagation - which is quite an amazing expert tool as it seems. Some time ago, I also bought VIENNA WHISTLER - which is a very good and professional whistling VSTi from VSL... But, what is really annoying about VSL and what me keeps from buying more stuff from VSL... ... is the fact that you are forced to use an USB dongle and you always have to connect this USB stick to your PC in order to use the instruments from VSL. But I always want to have all the stuff I need for composing directly on my internal harddrive. If every VSTi developer company comes with its own USB dongle, your PC might soon look like a jenga tower which you could crush easily with any false movement. And if you have a dog, a cat or a hungry bunny at home, your VSTis might get kidnapped or eaten alive within the blink of an eye without even noticing it. So, I admire the high quality of the stuff they create as well as the useful information for music production they provide. But in the end, I'll definitely stick with the much more user-friendly content from Native Instruments, Kontakt-based VSTis, the great collections from Eduardo Tarilonte and all the nice stuff for the Engine 2 sample player.

I just have read that this VSTi is "available for free until January 31st". But I'm not quite sure what this exactly means and if it remains free stuff for everybody who got Yangqin within this time limit - so, also for the time after January 31st for everybody who got this VSTi in the time before. Or if it's rather free use until January 31st - and after this time, everybody has to buy it (no matter if he/she got this VSTi in the time limit or not) if he/she wants to use Yangqin any longer. Maybe somebody knows which variant is correct or maybe somebody has got some experience with the marketing of VSTi developers, why they would put out such a professional VSTi for free for a certain amount of time.

Good news for all fans of tradional Far Eastern (virtual) instruments. )) Since I've bought my first VSTi from Native Instruments some weeks ago (a very good electric guitar VSTi called Electric Sunburst Deluxe - will definitely write a little feedback about this one in the topic I've already started some time ago) and I was pretty satisfied with this great stuff, I read their newsletter much more carefully. And just a few weeks after, they pulled another big one out of their deep waters - a Chinese hammered dulcimer VSTi called "Yangqin". And it's completely free - with a size of around 1 GB. After reading that it's free stuff, I just thought that it can't be that great, it won't have lots of articulations and that I probably won't waste my time with free stuff. But... WAYYYY off the mark, dudes! It's another professional and very sophisticatedly sampled high quality VSTi from Native Instruments which offers a really beautiful sound, some useful interface settings (one-click automations of parameters also possible), different presets, a nice velocity range and lots of articulations (many key switches for short and long played notes, different kinds of tremolos, octave, resonance and varied playing techniques, glissando up & down and stuff like that). Here's a little introduction video for this really awesome free VSTi: I always wanted some ancient Far Eastern stuff like this - maybe for movies score compositions... but definitely for a Breath of Fire 4 remix in the future. But before talkin' ya straight into your beds, here's the direct download link for this VSTi: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/celebrate-the-holidays-with-us/ If this is your first VSTi from Native Instruments or your first instrument for Kontakt or Kontakt Player, you have to install Native Access (it's free and it just registers and maintains your Native Instruments & Kontakt/Kontakt Player VSTis) and at least the newest version of the free Kontakt Player before. Here are the links in the correct order of installation: 1) Native Access >>> https://www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/native-access/ 2) Free Kontakt 6 Player >>> https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-6-player/ 3) Yangqin VSTi >>> https://www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/celebrate-the-holidays-with-us/ 4) Don't forget to set the correct VST path in your DAW to use Native Intruments/Kontakt VSTis - (for the Windows version) you should find the correct path for using the Kontakt Player under >>> C:\Programm Files\Native Instruments\VSTPlugins 64 bit And then, it should work after opening the Kontakt Player in your DAW. Merry Christmas & some recreative 'n' creative holidays. ))

Pretty close to the original tracks - but nice chiptune tracks with a decent amount of swing. )) Cool stuff for which I'd radically take the Bananas outta my ears.

Never really heard from the Evolution Strawberry electric guitar VSTi by Orange Tree Samples before (at least I can't remember). But to tell straight from the sound of the samples, this one seems to be also pretty great stuff - in my opinion, it leaves the other two electric guitar VSTis in the video completely behind.

I guess, many people (including me some days before) haven't noticed this VSTi since it's kinda new on the market (march 2020, I think). ... The newer Shreddage versions are definitely some of the better electric guitar VSTis with which you can create some pretty realistic guitar sounds with lots of articulations, effects and many tuning options/settings. But for me, one of the most important thing is the raw sample quality of the sound (the recorded samples without any further effects) with which you can evaluate the realism of the VSTi in a much better way. Delay and reverb effects or articulations can improve the realism of the VSTi pretty much - but with well-recorded raw samples and articulations the additional effects will bring ya much closer to guitar heaven. So, if the raw samples already sound realistic because they have been recorded with real electric guitars, you can do pretty anything with that VSTi stuff. And especially when it comes to things like this, Native Instruments with their Electric Sunburst Deluxe VSTi seem to be some of the toughest rocks on the coast at the moment. What also really impresses me, is the complex real-time control of the articulations in this VSTi - like you can see in this in-depth-demo at minute 13:00 (besides a really good demo for getting most of the functions and interface settings explained): That seems to be really advanced stuff I've barely seen anywhere in VSTis before. ... And no - you don't need an additional upgrade for Kontakt to use this VSTi. As the description says, it's fully compatible with fee-based Kontakt AND with the free Kontakt Player - just look at the system requirements down below: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/guitar/session-guitarist-electric-sunburst-deluxe/ The description only says that you will at least need version 6.2.2 in both cases (fee-based Kontakt or free Kontakt Player) to make the VSTi work with your system. So, if you decide to download the newest version of the free Kontakt player, it will be fine, too - and you will be able to use this VSTi after buying and installing it without further restrictions or additional costs for Kontakt stuff. I also work with the free Kontakt Player for using VSTis like Shevannai, created by Eduardo Tarilonte - and it fully works in free Kontakt Player without restrictions. But you always have to read the descriptions of the VSTis carefully - because some VSTis work fully with free Kontakt Player, others will only work with the fee-based Kontakt without restrictions and just work in some kind of a demo mode in the free Kontakt Player (as I remember, there is some kind of a time restriction of the maximum music project length in demo mode). If you want to read more about the difference between fee-based Kontakt & free Kontakt Player, check out this link: https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2020/04/23/kontakt-demo-mode/ If you mean the upgrade option for the VSTi itself after clicking on the Buy button, it's not for you - it's only for those who already own the previous version of "Electric Sunburst Deluxe" called "Electric Sunburst". In this case, you have to buy the full version of the VSTi (which also contains the presets of first version as I remember correctly seeing this in a walkthrough video). The full version of Electric Sunburst Deluxe normally costs around 145 euros (around 173 US dollars) - but at the momentary Black Friday Cyber Season Sale special offer (which ends on December 7th) it's only half the price around 73 euros (or about 86 US dollars). For this kind of quality stuff, I think it's not anywhere near expensive. Since you already seem to have a quite decent electric guitar VSTi, it might be a much more difficult choice for you. But for me, it would really be some kind of an upgrade when it comes to VSTi-based electric guitars. I'm just waiting for some more feedbacks or suggestions for other outstanding electric guitar VSTis before striking the Buy button.

Although I'm planning to buy a real electric guitar in the near future (I guess it will be one of those really lovely Yamaha Pacifica models), I think it has to wait some more time 'cause I don't want to buy any new hardware stuff until my forthcoming relocation (in around a year or so) has been successfully done (just to avoid breaking new stuff at the transport - I'm pretty sure I will carry my previous studio equipment on my very own and won't let anybody lay a finger on my gear :DD). But in the meantime, I'm still looking for a very good electric guitar VSTi that provides a very realistic raw electric guitar sound, all the necessary articulations sampled with different MIDI velocity layers and especially one with which you can emulate all the crazy guitar playing techniques of a professional guitar player in a useful way without a too complex use of programming and editing features and without bending your fingers on the MIDI keykoard much more than a real guitar player would bend a string with ease. So, I'm looking for an electric guitar VSTi you will still use for remixes and own compositions after you learned to play a real electric guitar in a professional way. I'm pretty sure that some of these VSTis can keep up with realistic electric guitar sounds and playing styles and that those VSTis might be really good for working on little details within a composition and changing things pretty easily without playing whole passages with a real electric guitar over and over again in front of the mic, with the guitar amp or straight in the audio interface. At least it can't hurt to be able to work with both solutions - a real electric guitar and a realistic electric guitar VSTi as well. For a long time, I have been looking for such kind of a realistic guitar VSTi, like electric guitars from Shreddage, Ample Sound, 8dio, EastWest Sounds etc. And there has already been some pretty serious stuff amongst those VSTI developers (especially the Shreddage series contains pretty tough stuff) - but somehow nothing convinced me completely to be a round 'n' sound thing. In most cases, it was the (less convincing) raw sound of the electric guitar samples, the lack of playable articulations and playing styles or the lacking possibilities of playing more complex guitar techniques with ease via MIDI keyboard and with the help of a clear, intuitive VSTi interface that have led me away from the desire of getting additional electric guitar VSTis (since I always had some quite decent guitar VSTi stuff in my Independence Pro Library). But today I got a mail with lots of special offers from Native Instruments. And within all the offered stuff I've noticed an electric guitar VSTi that really draw my attention after hearing the first samples and after looking for a walkthrough video a few minutes later. The VSTi is called "Electric Sunburst Deluxe" and I would say that it's one of the most impressing electric guitar VSTis I've ever seen and listened to - and at which quite everything seems to fit for my purposes and desires. Just have a look and two attentive ears at this one: Although I'm not a too big fan of the Kontakt sample player (Independence Pro sample player & Engine 2 sample player are much more intuitive and more user-friendly sample players with a much higher level of integrated complexity concerning editing and sound design possibilities and without annoying restrictions for several other third party VSTis - where especially the free Kontakt player can cause some issues). But the VSTis from Native Instruments - especially this electric guitar VSTi - look 'n' sound kinda impressive and generally seem to have a good reputation. Since the Electric Sunburst Deluxe VSTi seems to fully work with the free Kontakt player and it has a special 50% off deal at the moment, I am thinking about giving this one a try for a highly anticipated creative Christmas present to myself. https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/guitar/session-guitarist-electric-sunburst-deluxe/ But before I'm going to buy this one, I just wanted to ask the community what the VSTi geeks and professional guitar players think of it... So, what's your opinion about this electric guitar VSTi? And do you know further electric guitar VSTis that can keep up with this one maybe?

Just had to smile some time ago, when some members of the public broadcasting section in my country were making a pretty nice cover of the Big Blue theme from F-Zero. Never knew those guys could be such dedicated nerds grown up with decent SNES stuff. I guess videogames and videogame soundtracks have become really popular throughout larger parts of the society.

I use and really love the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro (Black Edition) - which are some of the flattest (neutral sound/linear frequency response) high-end studio headphones which sound reproduction is very analytic and rich in detail. With them you also hear pretty well when you overdo reverb just a little bit or if the staging/room information (stereo and depth) is or is not correct/good. They can also reproduce a large frequency range from 5 to 35000 Hz - which is more than enough, even for those listeners with the best ears/sense of hearing. https://www.thomann.de/gb/beyerdynamic_dt_880_pro_black_edition.htm?ref=intl&shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6IjQiLCJsYW5ndWFnZSI6ImVuIn0%3D Except for the peak at 6000 Hz (according to the frequency graph in the following link) those studio headphones seem to have some of the flattest frequency response graphs. https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/beyerdynamic-dt-880-pro.php#gsc.tab=0 Make sure to get a good high-end headphone amp like the headphone amps from Beyerdynamic or Lake People (I use the Lake People G109-P) which are specially made to drive such kind of high impedance headphones. With a good high-end headphone amp you'll be able to to see (or hear) the true potential of these headphones (especially when it comes to the - much better - definition of the bass, lower mids and trebles). If you connect the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro to a good audio interface (at least it should be not one with just a USB current supply - you'll hear that in the bass which will sound a little bit more cloudy/muddy or less defined... so, it should be at least an audio interface with a good current supply) you might get good results as well. My former USB audio interface Steinberg UR22 gave some moderate results with the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro, my momentary audio interface (separate current supply) provided a little better and crispiers sound with those headphones - but my Lake People G109-P really gave the best results and also a really tight and well-defined bass. For a beginner with untrained ears the differences in the sound wouldn't be that big - but for somebody with a good sense of hearing, trained ears and lots of listening experience, the differences might be similar like for gamers playing Shadow of the Colossus with the graphics of the original PS2 version (equivalent of the DT 880 Pro driven with Steinberg UR22), the PS3 remaster (equivalent of the DT 880 Pro driven with Steinberg UR44) and the PS4 remake (equivalent of the DT 880 Pro driven with a Lake People G109-P headphone amp)... ... just for the case you don't know what I'm talking about >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGPEipZOBOU Unfortunately, the Lake People G109-P (around 500 bucks - but probably the best of the G-series) don't seem to be sold anymore. But the G103-P (just around 300 bucks) should also provide a crystal clear, very detailed and faithful sound in combination with the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro. https://www.thomann.de/gb/lake_people_g103p_phoneamp.htm?ref=intl&shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6IjQiLCJsYW5ndWFnZSI6ImVuIn0%3D

Yeah, thanks for the answer. )) Maybe it's really just a modulated synth made with the creative art of sound design for making a sound from another world, but which is also close to the imagination of our real world. Some of my first thoughts were that it could be a synth which represents some kind of a special percussion instrument or something like that.

major clinical depression - potentially reversible insomnia - potentially reversible dad has cancer - potentially reversible divorce - could be painful, but also the best luck ever dead kid - obviously not reversible and maybe the only thing I would be truly sad about for a longer time I don't know if these are the true reasons behind your depression (since there seem to be a lot of people out there who are deeply depressed without recognizeable reasons from the world around them) - or if your depression lasts much longer than those incisions in your life. A really great impact on your mental state, your health in general and your feelings towards life makes the life force (or maybe call it bio-electric energy potential, Ki, Chi or Mana) inside you. If your life force is radically low, you will need no special reason from the world around you to be depressed. And you are not just depressed in this case, you might be also in a physical state pretty close to death. So, if your life force inside you is critically low, you will also feel that way... which should be a warning for ya - because if your energy level drops to zero, you will die. One of the best ways to get your life force, your joy and state excitement (which is kinda the opposite state of depression, right from the feelings and inner view towards life) back or radically increase your life force, is by making wise decisions within your daily lifestyle which consists of many important choice - like the food you eat, the water you drink, the air you breathe, your sleep behavior, your connection to living nature, the amount of sunlight you get or by leaving time and room for possibilities to create and express yourself truly and honestly without constrainsts... ... and of course by avoiding all the things that damage your body (your physical structure) and lower your life force (like smoking or breathing too much big city air, drinking alcohol, taking pharmaceuticals or other drug chemicals). Of couse, I also wouldn't allow venomous snakes to be at in my home - wild birds, rabbits, bunnies or Golden Retrievers might be much better choices for the well-being of your body and the fluffyness of your soul. But one of the best ways to increase your life force and get back into a state of joy, intensity and excitement in the long term is by supercharging your body with proper natural food - so,... 1) Avoid processed and conventional food from the food industry (things like bread, cereals, pasta, pasteurized dairy products, ready-made meals). 2) Add more and more raw, unprocessed and species-appropriate food in your diet - real foods like: - raw fish (maybe in the sashimi style), not the aquaculture stuff - only fresh wild fish caught with nets, fishing rods or by hand-line fishing in the ocean or clean, natural inland waters - raw organic eggs (4 raw organic eggs a day already keep many doctors away) - maybe a few raw organic dairy products like raw milk or raw curd - raw organic plant-based fatty foods like avocados, olives, okra, nuts and seeds - raw, fresh and organic vegetables, leafy greens and wild herbs like lamb's lettuce, dandelion, ashweed, leafs from the limetree, cucumbers, celery, kohlrabi etc. - some raw fruits like bananas, watermelons, apples, peas, oranges, maracuya, durian, jackfruit etc. Don't get trapped by the (unfortunately) pretty dominant vegan movement in the raw food world - the vegan lifestyle might "work" for years and you might feel really good with a plant-based diet for a longer time - but in the end it will deplete your body in essential things like vitamin B12 (really important for your nervous system, your metabolism and your mental stability). So, you can straightly go for the raw omnivore diet or keep at least the ovo-lacto vegetarian style (works too - although with raw fish you can achieve a much higher body and muscle mass, a higher energy level and a greater flexibility of your body). If your health and life force rises, you will also have a pretty different view on life and see more possibilities than hindering obstacles - and you'll get more courage, motivation and joy to go a new path. This might be a good base for starting life 2.0. If it works for you like it worked for me and other people, don't forget to tell your dad... before pharmaceutical medicine finishes him off with chemotherapy, radiation and other kinds of physical mistreatment. ... Since you obviously have nothing much to lose, try it out at least for a year and tell us, if and how it affected your life. Maybe I'll write a little bit more about this pretty interesting health topic and my own experiences with an omnivore raw food diet in a separate thread at OCR someday. Until then... Good luck, dude. ))

Sorry for the late response - totally forgot about this topic. Your mixings with the Neumann KH 120 sound indeed radically clean and tight - good job with the compositions as well (especially like the Saga Progressive track)! I guess that 's why I've put the Neumann KH 120 in my top 7 list of good bigger studio monitors. I've listened to your tracks with two devices: 1) my headphone solution (primary device for mixing) >>> Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro (Black Edition) + Lake People G109-P headphone amp 2) my momentary studio monitor solution (secondary control device for mixing) >>> Yamaha MSP 3 (borrowed from a friend for mixing tests) + Fostex PM-SUBmini 2 subwoofer And your tracks sounded great on both devices. So, radically keep your Neumann solution. If you got some proper mixings on your Kali Audio studio monitors, feel free to post the links straight here. I'm looking forward to listen to the mixings you'll do with your Kali Audio studio monitors and compare the mixing quality against your mixings via your Neumann studio monitor solution.

I'm coming from East Germany. And at the moment, this articial Corona hype as a much more blown up successor than the avian and swine flu doesn't affect my life too much. I'm pretty glad I got the chance to downshift at my work as a landscape gardener this year right into my desired 30 hours weeks (4 full days working, 3 days weekend). My line of work got no special restrictions. So, I usually work from 7 a.m. to 15 (or 16) p.m - every day in the nature. After this - if the sun shines - I often take a full body sun bath & nap at my balcony (always one the best parts of the day and for getting relaxed and recovered). Then, after having a shower, I mostly prefer to have a large feast - something like a raw 7-course-dinner right into the evening hours. At the same time I often read something or check some content on Youtube. Later in the evening, I often watch movies, rare animes, get into music stuff from time to time - or play some retro games with my best friends during the week sometimes. The weekends also haven't changed too much for me in these silly Corona times (hope these suckers of politicians and lobbyists won't fuck up my mood in the summer time when I love to go swimming and enjoying the summer at a natural lake at the outskirts of the town). Training, domestic work and buying lots of organic food and still water for the whole week - so, the usual things most people have to do. At the evening hours of the weekends, I try to organize at least one gaming evening or gaming night with my best friends, going to cinema (maybe not this summer), watching some movies at home or grow deeper into one of my compositions and remixes. That's it. ----------- Since I never was a too big fan of "shopping" or buying lots of stuff I don't need or which I can't really enjoy in the long term, I'm still kinda fine with this annoying Corona bullshit. I also don't wear those silly masks in the bus or tram (except for some grocery stores where they won't let me in without this nasty stuff - there, I just wrap a normal shirt over my mouth and nose) and I also don't give too much on some sneezing or coughing people around me, as long as I can breathe without restrictions. On the other side, I kinda enjoy the dead city atmosphere - not too big traffic noise, fresher air and not too many city suckers around who could radically piss me off. Just went berserk and knocked somebody in a group of three German guys down some time ago after they tried to be the cool 'n' arrogant gangster dudes in my humble neighbourhood by taking a bottle of water from my bike trailer without asking and doing some shitty boss stuff after I had approached them. Indeed, they 've been the cool guys... until I finished one of them with a jab, a foot sweep and a fatal knee strike to the head until his blood was dripping on the streets and he and his cowards of friends were running away like slapped bitches who forgot their makeup before going out - at least to look like imitating boss monsters. In times like these I'm kinda free to ask myself, if viruses and microorganisms can be really that bad compared to such sneaky, shady 'n' pretty loveless human-like looking creatures that often dwell in the big cities of this world. But I won't complain - because besides that my life is kinda peaceful, healthy, joyful, vitally alive and pretty exciting. And I live in a pretty green and natural environment which gives me some additional inner peace. So, I often see natural stuff happening in my corner of life. For example, the offspring of the bluetits (often flying from a little forest on the other side to my balcony for getting some organic food or for feeding their offspring in one of my nest boxes made of wood concrete) was hatching some time ago - and I guess I'll have to support at least one of those fluffy mini Chocobos with some flight hours for not feeling to much at home for a too long time at my cozy balcony. Yesterday, I saved the life of a baby rabbit getting caught and hacked by a crow. Although the baby rabbit was randomly hopping in my direction aftwards, I'm sure the rabbit mom was kinda happy and relaxed after having her little fluff pouncer back. I guess this is what legendary bunny knights and true heroes do in real life - no matter who big a "crisis" might be. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm not sure what those politicians, lobbyists and shady families and shareholder jerks behind the big profit-over-life companies are conspiring within this artificial Corona hype. Maybe it's just about money or simulating some kind of a Great Depression to weaken society and bring fascism back into the capitalistic society (those useless power-hungry assholes and greedy money sniffers can make much more money if human rights are no big issue anymore). But if it's mostly about the influence of pharmaceutical companies trying to force people to buy and take their worthless or radically dangerous products like pharmaceutical medication and vaccination, I'll consider this as a war against my health. I don't need and I radically boycott their unpredictable pharmaceutical "health care" products - and I really want those profit-over-life companies to break down and vanish from this world. Besides, fresh air, fresh water and sunlight, I just need food for my health... raw, natural, vital and highly nutritious food. So, if their shady pharmaceutical "scientists", junkie promoters and money-driven doctors come to me with their nasty needles and act tough like M. Bison, they should be prepared to fly through the air like some opponents of Mike Tyson. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stay safe, stay at home, but load devastating ammo in your studio microphone. Heavy ammunition between 20 and 20000 hertz fired in the direction of Merck, Bayer, I.G. Farben and shady carrierists like Friedrich Merz. Pigeons coo it from the roofs with pleasure, precisely like a sonar, thick neck, insatiable battle rap masher: "Coo, coo... Corona". Son Goku gathers his last powers for a final Genkidama against the apocalyptical, pharmaceutically induced Corona propaganda. (just for the musical interaction - a small part of a battle rap poem I was breeding in my mind some days ago)

I'm kinda the aficionado and slow player who tends to enjoy the atmosphere a little longer. So I'm still hanging around at around chapter 4 with my real "exploration save file" where I also listen to all the NPCs and their little stories they tell or at which I try to impress Jessie with my rad motorbike driving 'n' highway fighting skills (I guess it 's also some kind of an achievement) and put Wedge on the second place at the dart mini game... ...but couldn't wait to get a bit more into the further story line with another save file where I have been arrived at Sector 5. And already in this early point of the remake I radically like it how they converted or rather transcended the original masterpiece Final Fantasy 7 into the next generation console gaming experience. Besides the very interesting story telling and whole atmosphere, I really enjoy the new active battle system which is quite always fun, always a little bit different or at times even something like a big challenge. The dynamic battles remind me a lot of playing the Battle Arena Toshinden and Soul Blade or Soul Calibur games in the times back then. At the moment, I only have 2 little points to criticize or things that could be improved. 1) I miss some scenes from the original - for example where Barret gradically goes on fire at the punching bag in the Avalanche hideout and blows Biggs (maybe accidentally) through the air by his anger coming from the Shin-Ra news and Clouds cold behaviour. 2) The summon materia could be so much more than just an isolated 1-star materia. It could be a mix between the original (in which you could grow a summon materia up to 5 stars, before it got divided like most of the other materia, and combine them with all the other materia in the connected slots), the FF 6 esper system (where you could also learn new magic spells from espers) and a new system where also the summons can evolve like the characters (similar like in Final Fantasy 8, with new attacks and abilities or where they could slightly transform like in Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals like the capsule monsters). Maybe something like this is planned in the future parts of the remake - but I really think that the summons should play a much greater part in the battle system and in the whole story. But besides those kinda smaller things that could be improved, I'm radically digging this awesome masterpiece of a remake. ----------------- And, yeah - please try not to spoiler anything important of the remake storyline or something like that. I already clicked on a video that unfortunately spoilered some parts of the ending or maybe parts of the game - and I really don't like that. The original of Final Fantasy 7 back then was a still game I started playing without having a clue of the game - in kinda blessed times without online tutorials, spoilers and walkthroughs coming right after the release of the game - really blessed times, where you really had to play the game to get right into the game, its story and secrets. And - despite all the opportunities of the modern times - I still try to keep it this way. ))

Really awesome first part of the remake for Final Fantasy 7!!! I was playing the first hours of the highly anticipated remake of the game yesterday together with two of my best friends - and I was really diggin' the new battle system, was totally blown away by the pretty much enhanced storyline and the really great atmosphere - couln't even leave out the casual conversations of the many NPCs in the lively Midgar and of course I've examined the detailed areas for hidden objects (already found a kinda hidden key item like a Moogle Medal in the first reactor mission - can get it if ya don't leave out any destructable crates) and easter eggs. But I'll take a few days off, get some sunshine for not going to play through the whole game within a few days or weeks, and I'll continue the game rather on the rainy days. It's because I couldn't stop playing the game throughout the whole night until 7 o' clock in the morning - although I didn't even want to play the game on a separate save file without my friends - but it was really dragging me into the amazing world of Final Fantasy 7 once again. For this masterpiece, I've even transferred my little studio monitors Presonus Eris 3.5 from my studio environment to my cosy console gaming corner (also ordered some stands for keeping the speakers there) with my bigger LED TV and the PS4 - because the outstanding soundtracks, the sound effects and the whole audio atmosphere are soooo good that it would be a radical waste to enjoy this game only with the integrated LED TV speakers. The remake 's a really outstanding experience if you can handle it not to rush through the whole game, leaving some time for the atmosphere, the whole bunch of details and exploring the quite large amount of possibilities the game has to offer - even at this early part of the remake without the open world map. Enjoy the remake of Final Fantasy 7, dudes... ... like an excited Golden Retriever would enjoy playing an excited Golden Retriever. ))

I've tested a few bigger and smaller studio monitors in a store (or/and at my home) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some time ago, I had the chance and the time to check out a few bigger and smaller studio monitors in a music store (or/and at my home) for many hours and noted my impressions and results of the tested models afterwards. Maybe it could help some of the newbies or all those who are still looking for some pretty good and affordable studio monitors. ... The studio monitor models I've tested intensely around 3 hours were the following ones: - Adam T5V (far too bass-heavy and too much/too sharp trebles) - Adam T7V (similar like T5V, but a bit more relaxed and balanced sound) - Adam A3X (were standing too close together to evaluate them properly, similar like Adam T7V, but with a slightly better sound definition) - Focal Shape studio monitors (guess these were the smaller Focal Shape 40 - nothing special about them, kinda average sound in contrast to the big opinions of the customers I've read online - I also remember that I didn't like something about the sound of these monitors compared to the sound of all other studio monitors there) - Presonus Eris E4.5 (really good, clean and balanced sounding studio monitors - just the bass seems to interfere a little bit too much with the lower mids, but they have some acoustic tuning options on the backside where you can shut down the bass a little bit) ... and here are my absolute winners of this contest: ----------------------------------------------------------------- - M-Audio BX8 D3 (I guess these were the new D3 generation and not the former D2 - despite the big size with the fuller bass range they still sounded very clean, rich in detailed, pretty relaxed, very balanced and with a pretty nice separation of bass, mid and higher frequencies) - Yamaha HS8 (excellent large-sized studio monitors with a quite perfect frequency balance and a high sound definition, despite the full bass you can also perceive the mids and trebles really well) - Presonus Eris 3.5 (not only some of the best smaller studio monitors in general, they can also keep up with the other bigger studio monitors pretty easily and sound as big like these, very clean/crystal clear high definition sound - you might fall in love with the very well-presented mids and trebles, very low level of inherent noises - only perceivable if you go with your ears pretty close to the tweeters, also excellent for listening at low volumes from a closer distance below 1 m, pretty nice acoustic tuning for trebles and bass, just for the lacking sub bass I'd recommend to add a little, separately controllable subwoofer like the Japanese Fostex PM-SUBmini 2 to the system to get at least from the moderate 80 Hz bass right down into the 40 Hz sub bass frequency range, kinda nothing will beat the price of around 100 bucks for both monitor speakers, the radically awesome design, the rather small weight or very low power usage of around 50 W for both studio monitors altogether, safe choice for untreated rooms) Yamaha MSP 3 (tested at my home >>> kinda similar like the Presonus Eris 3.5, but with a much more solid building quality and a bit greater frequency range within the bass and the top end frequencies (65 to 22000 Hz), maybe the best sound definition and separation of frequencies I've ever listened to, some of the most silent studio monitors I've ever listened to when it comes to inherent noises (you won't hear noises like these - even not from closer distances/sitting positions), also have some nice acoustic tuning features for trebles and bass, excellent for listening at low volumes from a closer distance below 1 m, likewise pretty low power usage of around 30 W per speaker) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, if you have a special producer room which is treated with enough bass traps or things with good absorber materials (like a couch, wall units, a punching bag, thick wallpaper, carpets and/or floor covering), you might go for some larger monitors. If not, try out my recommened Presonus Eris E3.5 (or Yamaha MSP 3) studio monitors + Fostex PMSUBmini 2 subwoofer combo - with which you could also achieve an even better separation of frequencies, especially when it comes to the separation of mids and bass frequencies (similar like with a 3-way studio monitor system, although this studio monitor & subwoofer combo is technically rather some kind of an enhanced 2-way studio monitor system).

Since I only own my very first Playstation, my PS2 and PS3 as consoles and skipped the PS4, I plan to play the first episode together with my best friends and go straight for PS5 afterwards - because there might be a PS5 version for the FF7 remake episodes as well: https://comicbook.com/gaming/2019/06/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-ps5-playstation/

Yeah, it's really interesting to see or hear in which many different ways you can alternate soundtracks to get certain psychoacoustic effects for a different atmosphere or how you can merge different soundtracks with the help of vital transitions (to get the impression that it was always one coherent soundtrack). Besides... Since you have mentioned "music" in this context... There's already a Youtube video which contains some of the soundtracks of the first episode of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. I guess these soundtracks could be the tracks which are on the mini soundtrack CD within the Deluxe and the 1st Class Edition of the remake.

I've never listened to the first generation of M-Audio BX-8 studio monitors. But if they are nearly as good as the third generation of this studio monitors and if you are really used to work with them, totally keep them, master the skill of working with them and work with those monitors in the future as well. But just to correct one of my own statements a little bit. I wrote that using EQ plugins should be one of the last options (mostly for the reason you shouldn't overdo it because of the pretty strong phenomenon of inurement which can really be an issue during mixing over a longer period of time). But EQ plugins can also have a really useful function - the creation of depth in a stereo mix. With a gentle cutting of the higher frequencies of a certain sound source, for example, you can create the impression that the sound source comes more from the background or from the rear of the room (caused by a phenomenon called dissipation - so, higher frequencies will be damped much more over longer distances than lower frequencies). So, really use EQ plugins for cutting frequencies to get a really well-structured staging with different sound sources that might be perceived as closer in the imagination of the listener and sound sources that might be perceived as much more distant in the mix. Cutting lower frequencies on the other side might be also useful for cleaning up the mix in the lower section a little bit. But if you do it, do it smartly and only if it's really necessary.

This might be interesting for all those who want add more depth to the mix and separate the frequencies of the instruments, vocals and synths much more and in a much cleaner, more realistic way. Lots of you might already have mastered the skill of creating a vital and structured stereo panorama - the skill of placing instruments and other signal sources alongside the x-axis between the left and the right side to get a clean mix. But even with a well-structured panning of the sound sources between the left and the right side, the final soundtrack might still sound kinda flat. So, a much more difficult - and highly desirable - intention might be the creation of greater depth impressions in your mix. There are quite a few possibilities with which you can do this - which I will explain in the following part of this text. A - Recording your tracks with different microphone positions ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a recording studio with 2 well-chosen microphone positions (one microphone on the more left side, the other one on the more right side - and both in the front of the room) it could be kinda easy for bands to get a good stereo recording with useful depth informations without doing too much in your DAW software afterwards. Somewhere I've read or heard that Michael Jackson, for example, created some depth impressions in his soundtracks already in the recording process by singing from various distances and positions within the room right into the microphones. So, if you have a real band with real instruments and at least two good microphones for recording within a well-pepared room, you can create depth kinda easily with a different placement of the instruments which you want to record within the sensory fields of the microphones. If you place your sounding instrument more to the left microphone, you will later hear more on the left side and less on the right side of your speaker system. If you place your instrument more in the rear of the the room, a wide variety of different effects will make an impact on your recorded signal, which create the impression in your perception that the signal is coming more from the rear of the room. These are the effects you might want to reproduce with the tools in your DAW to create an impression of depth, if you don't use microphones for recording (for example, if you are just working with synths or VSTi samples). B - You commonly reproduce those depth effects with following settings or methods in your DAW: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Volume (sound pressure) level (gain staging) ------------------------------------------------------------ Louder signals might be perceived as closer signals, quieter signal might be perceived as more distant signals (at least you will get the impression, if a signal with a kinda constant sound pressure level is moving away from you or coming closer to you). So make sure, that there are many different (and fitting) volume levels between the single tracks in your final mix. 2) Frequencies (EQ adaptation) ---------------------------------------- Another effect called dissipation is the cause for bigger frequency changes of sound events coming from a larger distance. Especially the higher frequencies of sound events from larger distances will be damped much more than their lower frequencies (just imagine a thunderstorm coming from a far distance with a bit more dull sounding rolling thunder and a thunderstorm which is really close and nearly right above your head). I guess it's because higher frequencies (higher and more directional energy source) will get absorbed, damped and slowed down much faster from the particles of the atmosphere than less energetic and less directional lower frequencies. So, over longer distances you will hear more of the remaining lower frequencies (or to be more precise: you will hear less of the higher frequencies), so the sound event from a bigger distance might be perceived as duller or less brilliant. For this purpose you might create the effect of a bigger distance by putting an EQ plugin with a high shelf filter (for cutting the higher frequencies a little bit) on the desired sound event in your mix which you want to move more in the background. 3) Time difference between perceived (or received) direct sound and its first stronger audible reflections (initial time delay gap - can be adjusted with pre-delay setting of your reverb plugins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just imagine a big wide hallway. On the one end you are standing, on the other end a drummer is performing a slow drum beat. Every time the drummer hits his percussion equipment, you will perceive the direct sound of this sound event first (because the direct way is the shortest way the sound with its approximate velocity of 340 m/s will take at normal air conditions at sea level on this planet). A short time (maybe just a few miliseconds) afterwards, the first stronger reflections from the walls (longer way than the direct sound) will get into your ears. And the bigger this time difference is, the bigger (longer and/or wider) the room must be - caused by the longer way of the first audible reflections. If the drummer in the same hallway would play only 1 meter in front of you, there would be barely any time difference between direct sound and first audible reflections, because the distance between the sound event and the listener is way too small to sense the little time difference of maybe around 5 ms. So, if you increase the pre-delay from 5 to 50 ms, it might increase the illusion of more depth. But don't overdo this one, because the pre-delay should also fit the room size of your reverb plugin for creating a realistic spatial impression within the perception of the listener. 4) Proportion between direct sound (dry signal) volume and reflections/reverberation (wet signal) volume ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Imagine a classic side-scroller for the NES - like "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link", for example. Link is just standing in the middle of the north castle where princess Zelda sleeps because of a magic spell. Suddenly, one of those small fairies enters the castle to bring back the flute to Link, the magic flute he lost in the desert some time ago. But the fairy is kinda playful and plays the flute straight in front of Link's face. Just see Link's face as the listener or receiver (you), the flute as the sound source and try to imagine a full circle around the flute (360 degrees) that always contains two angles - one angle that shows the amount of direct sound (dry signal) hitting Link's face, and the other angle, which takes up the rest of the full circle and shows the other part of the sound which will turn into reflections and will also become received as reflections back at Link's face shortly afterwards. So, by playing the flute straight in front of Link's face, the angle (and also the amount) of the direct sound (the dry signal) might be almost a half circle (maybe just 120 degrees). The rest of the flute sound will go above his head or behind the fairy, will immediately turn into different kinds of reflections on the walls, the floor and the ceiling of the castle and might come back as a various mix of perceived reflections (the wet signal) to Link's face. Link is kinda pissed off and tells the fairy to play the flute somewhere else, but not straight in front of him. So, the fairy flies around 50 meters away towards one end of the castle and plays the flute again. Now, the angle and amount of the direct sound (dry signal) hitting Link's face will be much smaller from the farther distance, and the angle and amount of the sound turning into audible reflections (wet signal) for Link will be much greater. You can also adapt this little example to a three-dimensional room (so, the former full circle around the flute will become a full sphere around the flute, the former two-dimensional angles will become solid angles, Link's two-dimensional head will become a three-dimensional head and the two-dimensional NES castle might become a three-dimensional Wii U castle). So, the proportion of the dry signal volume and the wet signal volume at a sound source can also create an imagination of distance and depth within the perception of the listener. So, simply use a reverb plugin on your sound source with which you can set the proportion of the dry and the wet signal. If you add more of the dry signal to the sound source, the sound source might be perceived as closer. If you add more of the wet signal to the sound source, the sound source might be perceived as farther away or coming more from the rear of the room. Just keep in mind that the room size setting of your reverb plugins only creates an imagination of space around the listener - but it won't create a feeling of depth or distance between the sound source and the listener. C - Using a 2-channel surround plugin to place your sound sources in a simulated room -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a pretty interesting, easy imaginable and very precise tool with which you can place all of your sound sources freely in a two-dimensional interface of a simulated room (x-axis contains the information between left and right setting, y-axis contains information between close/front and far/rear setting). I already have such kind of a 2-channel surround mode in my DAW software Samplitude Pro X4 Suite - but I never really dared to use this one for my remixes because I didn't have the comprehension of creating an imagination of depth and its benefits for the clearness of the mix back then. But these days, I'm gradually figuring out how to use this one for making much cleaner and more structured mixes with a much more spatial impression. The good thing is that you won't need a surround speaker system for this purpose - but the surround-like stereo mix you create with this 2-channel surround mode is decoded in a way that makes it fully compatible with stereo speaker systems and real surround speaker systems, according to the manual. So, all the spatial information (changes in position, loudness, frequencies and reverberation) of the placed sound sources in this virtual room will be fully reproduced on just two speakers (your studio monitors) or your headphones as well. I'm not fully sure how this system works in every detail. But I guess they might have used two well-placed recording microphones in the front of a bigger room with a certain distance to each other (just for the stereo imaging), measured the signal changes caused by various sound sources at different positions in the room (from close positions in front of the microphones, but also from more distant positions), created some kind of an algorithm for the signal changes and finally made a filter from this algorithm. And with the help of this imaginable filter (it's still my assumption that it might be a filter) you could reproduce all the room information and signal changes for all possible positions in this simulated room kinda easily, much more precisely (without calculating too much for the exact distance, the correct pre-delay or the proper damping or cutting of the frequencies for creating depth - instead of this time-consuming procedure you can easily drag the sound source with the mouse on the interface to the exact position in the simulated room) and in a pretty realistic way (less irritating information that could impair the impression of depth). So, if you place an instrument more in the rear of the simulated room, the perceived volume of the sound source will decrease, the perceived frequencies will change and the reverberation will also change - and all this complex stuff already goes by dragging the symbol for the sound source with the mouse through the virtual room at the really useful 2-channel surround mode interface. Of course you can also do automations with the positions of the sound sources, double the signal sources, vary their distance to each other for a different stereo width or shift these sound sources parallely or freely around the x- and y-axis through the simulated room. But this should be just a small impression of the many things you can do in such a 2-channel surround mode. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope, my reflections about these things might help some of the newcomers and all those who wanted to know much more about this topic in a way even I as a former ecology student (who became kinda desperate with the higher level of mathematics and physics back then because building up knowledge mostly based on ready-made formulas might be not the best way of truly understanding natural phenomenons and other essential things of life) could finally understand some of those very complex things much better. Please correct me, if I should be wrong with certain assumptions or augment my writing, if there might be some further important things deserved to be added to this topic.

Haha, just wanted to post the new one - but yeah... "The early bird catches the worm."... or something like that. Damn, I really like the huge amount of new scenes. I guess, they 've put lots of time, efforts and dedication straight in the game. ))