Hale-Bopp

You guys have awesome ideas. I think I might do the scientist thing. hmmmm, maybe a zombified scientist. or a scientist turned vampire. hmmmm....

What sort of costume do you guys think would go well with a guy with glasses?

Most of the time, I play the drums live through my MIDI keyboard, which triggers a drum kit that I'll have loaded as a VST in Sonar, and record as I'm performing. I'll do a measure at a time, maybe more, playing the snare and kick alternately, or maybe even perform through most of the song (after having rehearsed it a number of times) and then do any cleaning up that's necessary by mouse. Then I'll go back and do the same with the rest of the kit, such as the hi-hat, toms and cymbals. I'll then do some minimal quantizing if necessary and usually leave most notes as is as far as velocity is concerned, to maintain a human aspect to the performance. I usually clean up any unusual notes that might not have been "hit" the way I want them to sound. Sometimes I'll just perform an entire song on my V-Drum kit via MIDI cables hooked up to my sound card. That works best when I'm looking for the most realistic performance possible, but also it's just a lot of fun. I usually perform to a metronome as I record my performance so that it's easy enough to work with when I go to layer on all my other tracks.

Just got back from this. Wow. What a roller coaster ride!

Sakuraba's best work?

Very nice! I definitely hear the Lion King influence and I'm digging it. When the vocals first come in, I kinda get goosebumps. So cool.

I gotta say that I'm all about modernized, super produced arrangements of classic rock/pop songs. Beatles tunes are especially perfect for this. The way they're written leaves them open to so many kinds of interpretation. I get excited just thinking about it.

Sweet! It looks like Moulin Rouge meets the Beatles. I can dig it. EDIT: I was playing some clips for my wife and it looks like we're gonna go see it this weekend. I totally have to experience this movie in a theater.

Yeah, and I thought of that some time after I made my post. I figured someone would mention it. A buddy at work just suggested a couple of places I should go to get some deals, so I'll probably have to check them out. I would definitely feel safer hearing what I like right then and there. Of course, then I'm limited to their selection, so we'll see how it goes. Well, it also has to sound full, warm and bright on its own too for whenever I just feel like jamming. But yeah, a good mic for recording purposes helps. I think my KSM44 should cover that hopefully. I'd eventually like to have both. For now though, my focus is steel strings.

I'm looking for something real sweet in the $300-400 price range. I've been shopping around, but there's more options than I had originally imagined there'd be. I've never owned my own acoustic guitar before, so I thought I'd get some opinions before I make a final decision. I've been gawking at this one for starters: http://www.zzounds.com/item--IBAAEL20E It seems to have what I want (based on reviews and the main description): - 6 strings - pickup - built in EQ - low action (I hope this is true) - deep bass, but with bright high ends (full range sound with lots of body) I want something I can rock out with, play softly, whatever and of course I want to record with it as well, so it needs to hold up well in a studio situation. Any suggestions?

You have my old headphones. <3

Musicians: read zircon's last 2 posts. *thumbs up*

These days, isn't it most lucrative to work on your own as a song writer/producer/whatever by getting a reputable publisher (or publishing yourself) and maybe joining ASCAP or BMI? I've only read up on it a little, but it would be awesome if someone here with actual experience could talk about it openly. I keep toying with the idea of doing this myself, but I'm not even sure where to begin. From what I think I understand, is if you're willing and able enough to be diverse, you can make a half-way decent living writing jingles or whatever for sound libraries that dish out your music to commercials, radio, tv, etc. Can anyone confirm this?

haha, thanks guys. This one's finally done. Next...

This could very well be the final version: - bass/boom reduction on entire song - guitar level tweeked in spots LINK: http://hale.voidaudio.net/music/mario_kart9.mp3

Yet another excellent suggestion. The guitar has something to say there and I wasn't really letting it have its say. After boosting it a couple of decibels during that part, it actually makes so much more sense. You guys are awesome! I'm learning a ton as I go along here. I think I'm just about done with this track.

k, I thought I'd try out some of your suggestions, so I implemented the following: - less reverb - compression (4:1) - lead vocal slightly more mono LINK: http://hale.voidaudio.net/music/mario_kart8.mp3 EDIT: oops, posted this just after Moseph's post. I seem to remember some bass issues actually when I listened to the song on a different setup. I might have to try your suggestion as well.

For the longest time, I feel like I've been struggling with getting my vocals to really sit in the mix on any one of my songs. I listen to vocal mixes by other remixers here and for the most part, they sound spot on. I'd like to achieve that as well. I'm asking for anyone with experience in mixing vocals to help me out here. Take a listen to my latest track and see if you can tell me what I need to do to get my vocals to sound like they're part of the song, and not out there floating on their own. LINK: http://hale.voidaudio.net/music/mario_kart7.mp3 The chorus seems to be where the vocals stick out the most. I try messing with the volume, but I'm not feeling it. I play around with EQ and I only mess it up more. What do I need to do? Are there tricks, tips or secrets to making vocals sit in the mix? I feel like I can only experiment so much until I'm even more lost than I was before. Please help!

This is rockin' my face off. Good shit. \m/

I think I'm going to upgrade from 5. The new Pitch-to-MIDI function in V-Vocal looks like it'll be fun to play around with. I'm also in need of those new mastering tools. They appear rather intuitive/visual and I like that.

Happiest of Birthdays.

As I continue to listen to all the tracks, the thing I've been impressed with most is the vast amount of originality spread out amongst all of them. This track is certainly no exception. Unless I don't listen to enough remixes, I have to say I hardly, if ever, hear mixes likes this. Sometimes it feels rare when you get to hear a new remix that's both original sounding and cohesive. Variety seems to be the key word as the years pass on at OCR. Variety in musicianship, collaborative efforts, people involved, styles and the unique flavor each and every person brings to the table. There's sweetness in this track. The rhodes is an especially smooth and tasty addition. I really wish I could hear this performed live. To be there and soak in the surroundings. A cup of coffee and Short Skirts. That about sums up my morning, I'd say. Good stuff.

Wow. I really can't say much else. I'm just gonna go ahead and put this on loop for a while...

Oh Kyle, you say the cutest things.

haha, holy crap, welcome to Christmas in September. This is the first of many tracks from the project that I'm about to listen to on my studio monitors, kick back and have a lovely time listening. Unfreakinbelievable stuff. Did pixietricks perform all of the vocals, or is any of it sampled choirs? I can't tell.