Julien Mulard

Hello everyone! It's been too long Please find the track here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GTEvznqO1Fhu58Nw3jC5PcICJlCkSPBG/view?usp=share_link The intent: I wanted to remix some Nier songs for a few years, and I've been working on and off on this track for a year. I also wanted to make a good, Carpenter Brut -esque track for a while, and even though I'm not there yet, I feel the song is ready to be shared to the internet to be picked apart and criticized to the ground. As always, I tried to change the vibe of the sources. Nier being quiet the depressing game with the matching soundtrack, I aimed towards a hard yet groovy feel. Oh, also, even though the soundtrack is vocal heavy, I opted for a instrumental only track (just to set your expectations right). Please note that I used the Nier Replicant soundtrack as a reference, as I discovered the game after it was cool (i.e. on Steam rather than on PS3) The track (section by section): The track start with Snow in Summer, with a heavy high pass first, then the full spectrum. I really like the bassline, changing the vibe of the song from "I want to cry" to "bopping my head around" Then we get to the meat: Song of the ancient (yes, it's the fate version, also finding Nier soundtrack on Youtube is a nightmare so this is Soundcloud). I tried to get the duet feel with the two synth going back and forth, and I may have changed the melody and the harmony a bit (nothing crazy though). In the replicant version of the fate variation, there is this orchestral fill that I REALLY liked, so I used it in the chorus reprise (start at around 2:12 in the linked original version above). It's finally guitar solo time! Not sure about this one, I may have been too heavy handed on the effects? The underlying harmony is not referencing anything, just here for good "drama" ^^ Then last chorus, with some underlying guitar arpeggios referencing Grandma, as it's almost working out of the box. I did have to go from triplet to quadruplet and tweak the harmony to fit the chorus first half. Final thoughts: Not sure about the mix, it may still lack some oomph. Maybe the drum samples are not adapted? Also the ending might be a bit too abrupt? Well, I guess listening to it too much is not helping, so I hope YOUR fresh ears will help me getting on the right track ^^ Hope you've enjoyed the ride, and feel free to leave a feedback Have a great day!

I'm still on Kontak 5, so I need to upgrade to 6 before hand, but you're right, there is no SPECIFIC Kontakt upgrade for this plugin. I should have been more clear in my initial post, my bad ^^ And I agree with you, it's really not that expensive for the quality, and seems more multi genre oriented than something like Shreddage. I hope someone will chime in and give you a better insight on whether or not this plugin is really worth it. And I'll be reading with a lot of interest as well Cheers!

Hello everyone! I worked on that track a few month back, I like it very much, and I thought maybe you would like it too! Introducing "Ninja Kitten vs the Killer Bots", a track alternating between high speed synth metal shred galore, and anime like / Touhou inspired melodic chorus (seriously, I don't now how else describe the mood). It all started as a sound design project. I was looking to reproduce the "floppy disk" sound from Master Boot Record ( you can here it right at the beginning of this album ), and I built around it. No guitars, including VSTs, were used in the making of this track. In my head cannon, this is the opening cut-scene track of an action packed 2D platformer in a dystopian future where a ninja cat fight against an omnipotent high tech corporation (I know, it's the most original idea in the whole history of video games ^^). Hence the title. The story would go like this: The shreddy part would be the evil corporation robots wrecking havoc, the chorus is our hero appearing to kick some metallic butts, then robot counter-attack on the shred part 2, theme on the piano is the hero, wounded, having like a flash back (of his familly being captured by the said evil corporation, of it's mentor, or anything else cliché enough to fit your bill), then second wind of the hero, fight, fight, and the bots lay broken while the intro riff play back and is tape stopped. I think it's a really fun track with a lot of energy, but what do YOU guys think? I hope you'll like it, that's for sure!

That's a really impressive library, indeed! I've been using Shreddage 2 for a few years now, it's my go to plugin for anything rock/metal related. I was thinking about buying the V3 version, because some of the lead articulations of the V2 felt a bit underwhelming for the high speed shred I want to implement in my tracks, but now, I'm wondering about getting this one instead, mostly because I don't know which Shreddage 3 guitar to get... Plus the effects seem really high quality, which is always nice! Sadly, there is no demo in the genres I produce on NI website, so I'm not sure if it totally fits for what I'm looking for. Plus the Kontakt upgrade needed, it a high bill to pay for it. So I'm looking forward to actual reviews of this product before taking any decision! I cannot give more than an Guitar VST enthusiast point of view, as I'm not in any capacity a professional guitar player. I just feel that this VST has a lot of smart articulations, and I like it Thank you for the shootout, I would have miss it otherwise!

Nice track, quite well produced. I love your sound design and the overall atmosphere! Right now, I feel the track is a little short. It's like you have a great intro, but it stops when I thought it would really begin. The huge bassy sound at the end is really great, and I was expecting the song to kind of explode at that moment. Maybe you could try to use those growly tone to build a more aggressive variation? I also like the glitchy vocal sound at the beginning, and I think you could use more of those texture too. I think if you manage to add a more intense variation on the theme using more of the dark electronic textures you use in the first section, you could have a very good candidate to be published. I'm no mod though, so maybe I'm wrong? I'm also leaning more towards aggressive/intense genre of music, so if it's not your thing, don't feel compelled to work in that direction. Whatever, I hope to hear more from this track, it a very nice arrangement! Cheers!

Hi Souperion! Nice to hear feedback from you once again! I'll have a coffe, thanks, it's morning here, and I slept waaay too little. Regarding the guitars, I see you point. I don't know what I can do about it yet (morning, coffee, yada yada), nor if I should do something about it, but I'll think about it. I tend to not automate EQing that much during my tracks, and it's probably something I'll need to implement more in the future. Are your ears getting tired from the guitar sound? Do you have sections where you feel the guitar could feel differently? As I said in my first message, I've been listening to this track regularly for the past 2 years, so any drastic modification feels super weird to me, so if you could give me any pointers, it'd be very useful! I will obviously try stuff on my own though. I think the section before the bell break could use a bit of a variation in the soundscape, maybe? As we've been listening to a relentless guitar storm for more than 3 minutes already. Or something else, I don't know (coffeeeeeee). Glad you liked the track though! And thank you for your feedback

Hey there HoboKa! I'm not familiar with the source, but I like your remix energy! You already pointed out the obvious, but to get it out of the way, the track is not finished, it just two loops of the main arrangement, and it just stop abruptly. It needs I find the choir stab in the first half of the theme (0:05 to 0:31) to be too in your face. Mostly those on the second beats of each measure. But I love the choir you use ^^ Is it a Roland patch? I swear I have the same "Doo Doo DAAH" patches on my Roland keyboards! During that section you also just hold the same note/chord all along. It might be a personal thing, but I don't like it, it's giving to much tension for my taste. It makes me feel the section is in a kind of statis, and is not getting forward as it should. Still on the same section, you could throw more variation in the main melody, as it's being repeated 3 times in a very similar way. Overall, maybe the lead is a bit too much in front, mostly on the later parts of the theme. And when looping, the intro part between 0:59 and 1:01 feels suddenly very empty. It's not a bad thing per say. You could elaborate on it a bit more to give a nice breathing room in a very intense remix. That's my thoughts, hope you'll find them useful! Have a great day!

Hello TorchForge! Nice mood! Love the more industrial feel with the really heavy drums and the small percussive bits. The track is a bit on the short side, but the source can be quite repetitive, so I think it's a good thing in the end. Plus you had limited time, so it makes sense to make a short piece. I'm quite impressed with the result you got in such a short amount of time! I tend to spend 40+h on tracks, so kuddos to you! I don't know how much you are open to feedback here, but there are a few things I'd note about the track though, as I think it feels over-compressed and a bit cluttered: You drums/percussions are very loud. A bit too much in my taste. The kick is feels fine, though I do hear a lot of pumping, mainly on the bass I'd say. When the bass "grows back", right before each kick, it kind of takes over the other instruments. I get that you are going for an oppressive feel, but maybe change the eq a bit during the track to leave some room for the rest to get through? The first synth playing the melody is nice, but a bit too aggressive and ear piercing during the long notes. Maybe eq it a bit more, or dial down the reverb/delay on it to avoid having too much feedback on the long notes? Overall, maybe turn down the reverb/delay wetness or decay time a bit? I know it's an underwater track, so it makes sense to have a lot of reverbs and delays, but it feels like you over did it a bit, which adds to the soundscape being cluttered. I don't know though, I do tend to mix very dry, so maybe I'm in the wrong here? Have a great day!

Hey WassupThunder! Thank you for the feedback! I'm glad you liked it, and happy to see the instrumentation variations were to your liking. I remember spending soooo much time making that bell sound right ^^ I struggled a bit with the last section, after the harpsichord bridge, because I couldn't get the kind of energy the rest of the track had. The harmony changed too quickly, and adding "orchestral" background was a challenge, and forced this part to be a bit drier. I even thought about dropping it almost completely. I'm glad you found it to be still working well with the rest of the track! If you can think of anything that you didn't like, regarding production or arrangement, be sure to let me know! I'm very happy you liked it, as it's one of the tracks I'm the most proud of, but your negatives would be of great help to make the track even better! No pressure though ^^ Thanks again, and have a great day!

Hello everyone! I started working on this a few years back after finishing Sword of Mana, but I never finished it, because my computer could not handle it anymore. It was almost finished for 2 years. New PC, a bit of free time (a few days getting all my plugins to work again), and here I come! Featured tracks, in order of apparition : Seeking the Holy Sword GBA version / GameBoy version Investigation of recollection GBA version (exclusive) Crumbling World GBA Version (exclusive) Final Battle GBA version / GameBoy version I was going for a straightforward power metal track with a few orchestral / classical elements and a lot of guitar and keyboard solos, in a style inspired by band I listened to in the mid 2000 such as Stratovarius, Rhapsody of Fire, Sonata Arctica, etc... I'm open to any sort of feedback. I have my doubts regarding drums writing and guitar articulation (mostly in the first solos and the intro riff), as well as mixing and mastering. Plus I listened to the old version regularly for years, and the recent changes I made, while necessary, are still alien to me, so a pair of fresh ears or two would be welcome! (you can also listen to it too if you have an odd number of ear(s)) Clocking at just above 7min, I know it's a fairly long track, but if you like old school symphonic power metal and/or Sword of Mana, you should have a good time! (no refund though) Here is the track! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xYGQNcIBv3IJFUHAyTObQgBRuAZ_05X4/view?usp=sharing I sure hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do! Thank you for listening, and have a great day! Edit: Passing in Ready for Review, because the more I listen to it, the more I believe this is finished and ready to be submitted. Prove me wrong mods! ^^ Edit2: More than 1k views in 5 days? Wow

SUBMITTED \o/ Also, there is easter eggs in the track, I explain them here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1B4o86pP--KYy7mTOpKp7JxvTTCMjK1vY Thank you everyone, and see you soon!

Hello, I'd like to go with "Julien Mulard" rather than "JulienMulard", it would be more natural that way, I feel. Thank you

I think I found a way to add guitars in it!!!! New version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/144o313TO7cJql9JJuTRYo57A90Qqlkku/view?usp=sharing I mostly copied all my effects from the guitar synths, put it in another track with shreddage on it, and tweak stuffs until it felt right. Then I mixed them both together. I removed a good chunk of high end from the "synthars" to let space for the guitars articulations (pick attacks and stuff), but cut the guitar low end to let the synth fill that space, because it was easier than making the low sounds good from scratch again. I'm pretty sure I broke some stuff regarding the overall mix, but I still think this version can be a good starting point for a conversation regarding all the new little stuff I'll have to change in the future, now that's there's a new instrument here ^^ Just so you know, my track is at a point where I need to export (at least 5 min each time) to get a clear picture of what I changed, because ther's so much stuff going on my CPU can't keep up at all.... I will probably try to bounce everything, but it's such an involved processed, I didn't have the will to do it today (plus I'm still making adjustments to the midi sometimes, and I won't be able to that easily). So please, let me know what you think of it Have a great day!

Hello everyone! Just a quick post to let you know that I'm currently working on a version with guitars. What I'm trying to do right now is to "merge" both guitar and synth, because the change in timbre would be too drastic for my ears right now. The thing is, it almost makes me go back to square one regarding mixing/mastering, and for now, I'm not happy with the result at all (hence no preview). Plus my computer can no longer play the track seemlesly, an boucing to audio is really complex to manage due to all the tempo automation going on. If I can somehow make it work, that's great, but I kinda want to move on to other projects and submit something for once, so if I struggle too much or if it takes too much time, I may submit the last version (V5 more bass). The quarantine is opening up a bit here in France, and I'll have to go back to work soon enough, which will leave me with way less time. Thank you Timaeus for all you've done, and to everyone else from the forums and the Discord. I'll keep you informed! Have a great day!

Hey man! It's a nice idea, but it's hard to project on a simple midi track like this, so it'll be difficult to have any feedback regarding production as it is. There is a few things I could say though. First, you should probably split your midi clip between all the different instruments, so you can easily put plugins to replace the stock MIDI sound. Second, I noticed your volume meter goes to the red, which tends to mean you are clipping. I know it's not the final sounds but you should probably pay attention to that kind of thing anyway. Third, I don't understand the format of your "submission". Why post a video and not an audio export? The only reason I could think of is because it's a demo version of FL and you can't export audio,. But even if it's the case, why disable the following of the cursor? It would make the video somewhat more interesting, I guess? You could also zoom vertically so we can see more clearly how you sequenced your track. Anyway, I don't mean any of that in a mean way. I hope to hear about this track soon, with real instrument (sample libraries could get you far). Have a great, and happy music making!