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Dafydd

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Posts posted by Dafydd

    RWS 1-2 - ReMixing With the Stars: Season 1 Episode 2: Origins of Home Gaming

    in Competitions

    Posted

    I reckon I've found the issue; a corrupted wav file on my desktop that Windows was trying to generate a preview that was essentially creating a very local denial of service attack ha ha. Here's a PSA people; friends don't let friends use dirty wav files.

    I had that problem once and it took me forever to figure out. It's unbelievable how an OS can let a failing preview generation of a corrupt file bring your whole machine down to its knees! :whatevaa:

    RWS 1-2 - ReMixing With the Stars: Season 1 Episode 2: Origins of Home Gaming

    in Competitions

    Posted

    WillRock pointed me to the criteria here since he has a dilemma on his hands, and I took a look at it - that second criterion is near impossible. There are 0 songs on OCR that satisfy that criterion for reference - that's an incredible hole, and I would think it isn't for lack of trying. I can't even find a game that would satisfy it.

    Don't you mean the first criterion?

    I found a small number (less than 100) of NES games that were released before then by searching Mobygames, but technically, I guess those were FamiCom rather than NES releases... maybe. They'd still count as home gaming titles though (it's called FamiCom for a reason).

    http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/nes/1983/

    http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/nes/1984/

    http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/nes/1985/

    Life Force - Various Stages

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    I think it probably makes a big difference whether you're on speakers or headphones. Hard-panned stuff sounds weird on headphones because instead of sounding like something is coming from the left, it only plays in your left ear, never reaching the right ear, and it just doesn't sound... right *puts on a second pair of sunglasses*. You could try using stereo imaging, maybe?

    OCR02524 - Donkey Kong Country "Where's the Ocean, Andrew?"

    in ReMix Reviews & Comments

    Posted

    Some could call it safe
    That about sums the important points up, yeah.
    The great thing about this is that any changes we make will be included in future live performances, so the possible flaws of the posted mix are not necessarily detracting from the song forever. [...] The more we practice and perform as a group, the tighter our a) timing B) tuning and c) chemistry will be. It may be hard to live up to the expectations that our credentials as musicians imply as we're fused together, but we're gonna keep pushing for it! I'm sure I'm about as sensitive to timing as others are to tuning, so I can understand the hypersensitivity being an issue.

    Because it's a live track that you're going to be playing again and again, it's bound to also be a work-in-progress to some extent, but at the same time, it's an OCReMix, and the one posted here won't change over time, unlike your live performance. It almost sounds like you're apologizing now, and in the way you'd expect to see in a WiP thread, and it makes me feel a little bad. When I comment on mixes in general, I nearly always have something less-than-positive to say, and the reason I share my views isn't so the mix can be improved (too late for that when it's already posted) but to give the ReMixer something helpful to think about in the future, although I admit I don't often word it in a way that can be understood as such, especially when in juxtaposition to the often limitless praise that many others give... anyway, this time, what I first said about the tuning was more a reaction to the fact that no one else seemed to have noticed what I thought, at first listen, was a pretty big issue.

    That said, I'm looking forward to hearing you grow tighter as a band, as well as future recordings of this very piece, where, hopefully, both soloists are on a longer leash! I understand what you're saying about the Floyd vibe (though afaik they're notorious for, if nothing else, their long and elaborate solos), but if I were you I'd get bored playing this exact arrangement for long, and you did leave plenty of room for more... fun :)

    I can kinda sorta see where some people are hearing a violin tuning issue, but it's a product of it being a live performance.

    It's hard to say this without sounding like a complete asshole, but, well, a live performance is no guarantee for tuning issues. I'm sure it won't be long until it's no longer an issue though, live or not! It's hard to say this without sounding condescending, but, while the violin is as tricky a wooden box as they come, history has seen a number of people nail it eventually (and they make tens of thousands of dollars a night, if not more, which is saying something). And again, hardly anyone seems to have noticed it wasn't perfectly in tune, so I should probably just shut up about it.

    I'm sure Amy will read this and start mentally kicking herself for not being perfectionist enough about her violin performance
    Or she can leave the aforementioned pain, and the perfectionism, to me. I mean, perfectionists are good to have around sometimes, but they're typically horribly unproductive. And they make poor band members.

    OCR02524 - Donkey Kong Country "Where's the Ocean, Andrew?"

    in ReMix Reviews & Comments

    Posted

    Obviously I dig it, but w/ regard to the "out-of-tune" comment, I *will* say that I think some vibrato on the solo violin would have 1. sounded nice and 2. avoided any real OR perceived pitch issues. Then again, I love me some vibrato, so maybe that's just my answer to everything...

    It's funny, because this was my only gripe with "A hint of blue", where the long, nearly vibrato-less notes felt kind of dead, which was a shame. By contrast, the violin does have vibrato nearly all the time. For some reason though, it seems to be a volume vibrato (as on a vibraphone) moreso than a pitch vibrato (I don't know how that's even possible on a violin, but there it is)... The guitar here has much more vibrato than does the violin.

    By the way, "Riptide" is 5 years old already? 8-O Feels like it was on the front page only last year or so. Jesus.

    OCR02524 - Donkey Kong Country "Where's the Ocean, Andrew?"

    in ReMix Reviews & Comments

    Posted

    Beg your pardon? What sounds out of tune? If by mutes did you mean bends, the strings being bent out of note and back in for effect?

    No, by mutes I mean palm mutes. Those are awesome. It's the lead guitar and violin that, here and there, are almost painfully out of tune (this is coming from a fairly hypersensitive person, I should probably add). I can barely hear it in my headphones, but on speakers, it's very noticeable several times during 1:20 - 1:40 and elsewhere, and especially at 1:29.

    Also, while by design this style was not supposed to be something that's never been heard before in music, it was something I feel has not been fully captured in other Aquatic Ambiance remixes (the lush pad backing, the violin/guitar interplay, the inclusion of Life in the Mines, etc.). So I guess I'm wondering what you meant by "never heard before".
    Well, I think I was mainly referring to how most mixes of this theme seem to keep roughly the same genre, same semi-ambient feel as the source, the same tempo and so on. Most people are perfectly fine with that, and I for one don't mind mixes that stay true to the original in general, but it's almost like Aquatic Ambience is becoming the new Ice Cap Zone (I've probably heard a bunch of WiPs that sound similar to this as well, so that, while none of your fault, might be why I'm so jaded). And to exaggerate somewhat, for the majority of this mix, it's the original theme with drums and a violin on top, and for the better part of 0:50 - 2:30 the entire arrangement besides the two lead instruments is as if on autopilot (an issue I've seen several judges take with a lot of submissions through the years), and even the lead instruments mostly don't really do anything interesting.
    I'm also wondering what everyone's comments about the "lack of confidence" or "tacking on" of the violin are based off of. Would really like to hear more explanation of that so that Amy and I can potentially change the part for our live performances if that specific criticism is commonplace.

    I think part of the problem is the long notes, and how it sounds slow even during the faster parts. Something more marcato would probably have been fitting there. You know that little, decorative extra note the lead guitar plays at 2:22? Some more of that would have been nice, especially for the violin (it does it at times, but too rarely). The lead guitar has little fills and ad libs, like at 2:06 and 2:33, and 3:12, and the violin plays straight, long, easy notes like at 2:17. The one time the violin tries to show off is at 1:45, and it needs to do something similar more often. Something more complex, inspired or ostentatious here and there would have really made a difference, I think.

    I'm not trying to counter criticism, but I would like to know more so that we can improve if it is something that merits attention :-o
    If someone had issues with a mix of mine as foggily described as mine were with yours, I'd be equally eager for them to elaborate. Considering how most other people are euphoric about this mix, though, whatever issues I have with it can safely be ignored. Part of my reaction has to do with the fact that my expectations were through the roof knowing this was the work of 3 panel judges and one additional established mixer.

    This is all intended to be constructive criticism, btw, and I hope I'm not coming off as unfriendly or anything...

    OCR02528 - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time "Royal Treasure"

    in ReMix Reviews & Comments

    Posted · Edited by Dafydd

    I actually am rather taken aback that so many people are as surprised as they are.

    This is hardly the first time I've heard chippy sounds outside of a chiptune, but I wouldn't have thought they would meld so well with orchestral instruments. Which is stupid, because, now that I think about it, this actually reminds a lot of the Super Mario Galaxy OST, where iirc that same combination was used with similarly great results. For some reason, though - maybe because I read the writeup before actually listening to the track - it sounded like an odd combo in writing before I actually listened to the track. If I hadn't read the writeup first I might not have been so surprised.

    I also half-expected an OLReMix, which this very clearly isn't. :P

    RWS 1-2 - ReMixing With the Stars: Season 1 Episode 2: Origins of Home Gaming

    in Competitions

    Posted

    I'm gonna go in full inverse from last time and be a star ONLY if there is a shortage of stars, and I'm NOT interested in participating as a novice this round.

    By the way,

    I have to assume there's some reason they're not OCR-posted yet.

    I can't speak for anyone else, but as previously mentioned

    I have serious and chronic difficulties with production and mastering

    [...]

    I totally suck at production skills [...] (I can never make anything sound as professional as I want to be).

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