Julien Mulard

Evaluation:
Very enjoyable track, even if it's quite busy and muddy.
Arrangement feels like it's in a good place, and I'm definitely getting a source dominant track.
Compositionally, we have distinct beginning, middle, and ending.  Good, take us on a journey and tell a story.
Production is where I feel another look needs to be taken.
The bass is huge and some EQ to sculpt it could help a lot, I'm thinking the high end of the bass synth needs to be reduced some.  Might help to do this to create space for all of the other parts going on above it.  There's a lot going on above the bass to be causing mud too.  Definitely look at cutting frequencies out of other parts as well to make space.  I struggle to really hear the arps at times, especially when the guitar is going because they both share a lot of the same space.  Also pumping compression will also probably help too.
The reason why you feel it lacks "Oomph" as you say is because there's no space in the mix for the parts to breathe.  When you can adequately make space with ducking or EQ it will let the other parts come through better and feel stronger just because of contrast.  Right now it's a bit of a sound sausage and it's all peaks on the waveform, no valleys (except the intro because of the low cut)
TL;DR look at production to find a way to make space in the mix for all of the parts.  Nice work so far!
 

Whoa, I really like this one. From the very beginning, my eyes went wide. I felt like if I didn't pay attention to all that was going on, I'd miss something. So much cool action-packed energy here! As I listened, I could picture a ferociously cute cat dressed in black like a ninja, turning those killer robots to scrap metal. Anime style? Definitely. (If there's ever a reboot of Samurai Pizza Cats that could be produced, this track should be included in the soundtrack.)
I unfortunately don't have the the time or patience to make animated videos, but I hope someone does come up to you and ask if they could make an animation to go with the music!
The synths sound so fun. That peaceful sounding break in the middle, that's pretty and interesting of a part. Great work!

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!

 

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!

MOD REVIEW
Well, sort of. It's more train-of-thought than I'd like, but it should get the points across.
- The right-panned guitar starting at 0:08 is piercing around 2700 Hz, but also sounds alike to the left-panned guitar, just with added flanger-like effects. Part of me wants you to try replacing both lead guitars here with synth leads to add a sense of progression when you transition at 0:26 into the heavier section where guitars are more justified. (The guitars make more sense at 0:42 - 1:06, although the piercing nature of the right-panned guitar there also stands.)
- At 0:26, there is a very piercing left-panned synth lead (just low pass it above around 11000 Hz), because it has a metallic quality to it above 13000 Hz. Same at 1:27.
- At 1:27 - 1:42, which is similar to 0:26 - 0:42, you're definitely putting too many high-frequency instruments in the same spot. Consider that you're probably just using too many instruments there, and take the time to decide what you want to lead, what is arpeggiating, what is doing rhythm, what is doing bass. Think about the question, "if someone were to attempt to recreate this by ear, how feasible would it be?", then adjust accordingly so that you can distinguish most of the notes and what is playing what.
- At 1:42 - 2:06, consider again that you could replace the two lead guitars here with synth leads (preferably two different ones from each other), to add meaningful variation across sections. No matter how much I like guitar, this is too much guitar noodling in these first 2 minutes.
- I do like how 2:06 - 3:06 sounds. That should be the kind of feel you shoot for.
- Within 3:06 - 3:48, the church bell sounds off-tune (maybe sharp). You could just use a tubular bell soundfont and it would probably fit the role better. Also, you could probably remove the church bell sound by the time you get to 3:48. At that point, 3:48 - 4:10, it doesn't add to the soundscape, but just puts another sound in the background, basically adding extra clutter and, at the moment, extra dissonance. Also, the guitar coming in at 3:24 - 3:48 is nice, but I would suggest maybe starting out with full chokes, leading up to lighter palm mutes to add more of a sense of progression.
- For 4:43, I'd say you don't need the hits there; it sounds like you were about to finish the ReMix there, then you decided "oh hey, let's add more", and then proceeded to add more without changing how that transitions. Without those hits, you could let the guitar chord ring out from earlier, which should lead more smoothly into the harpsichord.
- Around 5:38, maybe refine that transition a bit more to be less sudden. Could just add a double kick hit plus a snare beforehand, instead of immediately slamming the listener.
- 6:16 - 6:40, same remark as for 1:42 - 2:06.
- 6:52, similar remark as at 4:43; it sounds like it's done, but then you added more. So try simply making that part seem like it's about to end, but not like it's already ended, because you have the last bit right afterwards.
- And last bit at 7:04, maybe just take off the lead guitar there and have the rhythm guitar end it. Just something to consider.
---
Overall...
Main concerns:
- Overused guitars to do lead parts when synth leads could do them (which leads to this being tiring to listen to over time). A good mix between synth-driven sections and guitar-driven sections will be the key to this really working.
- You have multiple sections with drastically different dynamics but lacking progression between them (making this seem longer than it is, other than it already being 7 minutes). You basically have step-ladder dynamics, rather than a dynamic curve.
Other concerns:
- You often have too many instruments playing at once, in the higher registers especially.
- Smooth out some of your transitions (considering this is a medley, this is still important), and some select parts that sound like endings but aren't actually supposed to be endings.
Here are some recommended references to listen to that I feel match what you are going for, and/or have been approved before.
SSH (a bit lower quality than I'd like, but it's the only video with this specific version I can find) -
ocremix (HeavenWraith):
END OF MOD REVIEW

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!

Julien! Good to hear your work here again. This thing takes the listener by storm, gives me a combination of vibes from Mega Man X and Tales of Symphonia (is that weird? That's kinda weird.) Stellar performance. You did good with those variating segments (organs, harpsichords, oh my!), it nicely breaks up the soundscape of the guitars and synths.
Perhaps it is an element of the genre, but I wonder if it may be beneficial to try changing the guitar's sound through the piece, as it is fairly consistent all the way through (the actual timbre, not performance. I like the performance.) The mid-high favoring lead is slammin, but it does hang around that mid-high for most of the piece. Maybe there's a segment that could do well with a lower tone (drop an octave, EQ the 'tar to favor more towards the mid for a part, something like that.) Of course, I'm about as much an authority on guitars as Aristotle was. Still an awesome piece, go get yourself a milkshake. Or smoothie or something.

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

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!

Hey man! Fun song there!

I hear a lot of pumping though. It feels like you have a limiter on the master track that is really working hard to keep everything under control. The most apparent time it's happening is between 0:41 to 0:51, when the low brass (tuba?) is playing the melody. Every time it plays a note, the rest of the instruments just drops in volume. It's happening almost everywhere the tuba plays, but in other spots too.
If you're using FL Studio, the limiter shows when it's working. Just look at the white line, and when it goes down, it's limiting. No idea for the other DAW, though.

To avoid that, you could deactivate the limiter and lower the volume to avoid clipping. You'll lost a lot of loudness, but you'll be able to mix more clearly.

I also feel your drums lack presence. The kick is felt through the limiting more than it's heard, I think. The snare is also a bit thin, but it might be the genre, I don't know. Try adding compression on them to make the attack pop more, maybe?
Your 3D model is really impressive BTW!
I hope you find someone to work with you, I sadly have no Tuba/Accordion players in my contact, nor any Yoddeler.
Have a great day, and happy music making!

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!

Happy new year! Gonna take a listen.
My first impression is that the arrangement is really solid. There isn't really much I would change in terms of the notes written or the structure. The mixing is definitely where I would take another look. Some mixing references I would be comparing this to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAjIbPJ_dt0 (overall)
https://soundcloud.com/isworks/shreddage-2-some-other-song-by (the kick doesn't have to be as strong as here though)
What comes to mind:
Minor nitpick, maybe the bit reduction went a tad far around 1:36. Not a big deal, but I thought I'd mention it, slightly bothers me because in general it generates harsh upper frequencies.
  I'm guessing you're actually using Shreddage, but (like at 1:48) the guitar seems to be very thin, lacking frequencies below around 300 Hz (to the point where it sounds like FL Slayer?). Also, it appears to be sequenced with fairly unchanging, high velocities so that you're mainly getting the hammer-ons/pull-offs instead of palm mutes. I get that it's playing fast, but it's sounding more like a distorted electronic arpeggio than an actual electric guitar. At the very least, I would not high pass the guitar nearly that much (if you are), and I would also try using MIDI CC automation to turn on Tapping Mode so that it's hopefully more smooth playing that fast.
  The kick drum is clicky enough, but I'm missing that low end thump (around 40~80 Hz). Try layering on another kick sample that has those frequencies. (I'd recommend using the Layer tool for that.)

If you're worried about the kick clashing with the bass, that's where sidechaining comes in. I think you know how to do that, but in this case just a little bit is fine, just so that the kick and bass can play at the same time but the kick still can be fully heard. (Maybe you're already doing it, if it's as subtle as I'm suggesting.)
  At 2:57 - 4:14, you have a very busy, cluttered soundscape, definitely overcompressed. I think compared to version 1, you did improve this aspect, but the issue still remains. As far as the instruments go, the bass, guitar, and kick drum interaction with the Limiter is the main culprit. The default Fruity Limiter, if that's what you're using, is hard to work with if you want to write music where you could end up with a waveform sausage. I think you have two major options.

1. If you want to keep using it, I'd recommend lowering the Release a bit so that the compression doesn't stay too long, and maybe raising the Ceiling a bit so that you aren't running into overcompression as much. In this case, consider checking the sidechaining of the kick with the bass to adjust for this change in the Limiter settings.

2. Or... I don't know how much this will make you go back to check the mixing, but I've been using TLs-Pocket Limiter for years, and it's a free soft-knee limiter which has not given me any overcompression issues since I first used it back in 2012-2013. You would have to be careful about clipping, but it will let you basically hear what you give it at face value. I think that about covers it. The guitar is missing low end frequencies, and has fairly unchanging, high velocities, making it sound more electronic than electric (if that makes sense), and would benefit from Tapping Mode over just playing the notes without prior UI tweaks, just so it has smoother note transitions. The kick is also missing low end thump. And then at 2:57 - 4:14 the soundscape is super cluttered because of the kick and bass competing. The arrangement itself sounds good to me, and I'm behind that.
End of Mod Review

You're welcome! I like reviewing stuff, but I seldom have the time to do it properly (and I rarely visit the forum when I am not anxiously waiting for reviews myself ^^)
So, to answer your questions:
lib = library, as in sample library. In this case, Ministry of Rock 2 Exactly. Copy paste from another post where I explained it better: "To double track, play the same riff twice, with slightly different effect chains on each take, and hard pan one to the left and the other to the right. It'll fill so much more space! ". I personally use Revalver HPSE, but I got it free with Shreddage (which is a great guitar library for Kontakt, but rather costly). I'm not exactly sure what to recommend you, I'd suggest you try to find some reviews only for free amp sims (or not free, as you wish) and see which one you like best. I talked about it at the end of my review, and I suggested you worked first on the few "bad" notes (which should be rather quick), and then work with Ministry of Rock 2 to try and make your guitars sound better, both by playing directly with your plugin, and by working on your articulations. Have a great day!

Hey Souperion!

I'm glad to here some your stuff! You comment to almost everyone on the board, and I wanted to return the favor
So, the first thing that I heard is the low quality of the sounds you are using. It sounds like a glorified SNES track, which may be what you are aiming for, but I suspect will not be good enough to be publish (if that's what you're going for). Just for you, I watched a presentation of Minsitry of Rock 2 on YT, to try to understand if the lib is the problem, or if it's what you're doing with it. And I'd say it's a mix of both.
Regarding the lib, it's main problem in my book is the fact that guitar have distortion pre-recorded. On a real guitar setup, the distortion will be applied on all the notes played. Given the intervals you have, it'll sound more or less noisy. It's why most of the time, when playing with heavy distortion, people limit themselves to single notes, octaves, or power chords, and don't play the full chords, as it may sound too rich and noisy (exceptions are plentiful obviously). On the other hand, if the distortion is applied on each note individually, when you play multiple notes together, you'll get the impression that each note is played by an individual guitar.
Okay let's breakdown your track and see what you could improve! Spoiler alert, there is a lot to take in.
The synths arpeggios are fine and the little sample at the beginning is cool.
The rhythm guitar clearly needs some more articulation, as it sounds really robotic right now and makes weird gaps when it stop. Try adding more effects on it! A bit of compression, maybe some light reverb, to make it feel less midi like. If you have such a plugin, try some amp simulation (with little overdrive to not overdo it). You should also lengthen the notes and play with velocity. Some patches seems to have "chugs" when hitting low velocity notes, and it would feel more appropriate and realistic. It doesn't feel too mono, so maybe you already have it double tracked? I can't tell, but if it's not, you should definitely try it! You should find tutorial online to do that with Ministry of Rock. You could also add some variation, and play some legato single notes and not only power chords?
Bass lack some oomph. I generally use amp simulations presets, but I guess you could obtain good results with a compressor, light distortion and EQ. Or try other patches, the demo I watched showed some cool sounds.
Same for drums. Your lib seems to have individual mixer and effects chain for the most important groups of sounds (kick, snare, toms, overheads), so add stuff (mostly compression, again), or try other patches.
The trumpet sounds really out of place. It has a lot more reverb than the rest but is in front in the mix, which sounds weird. Plus you play very short single notes, which don't sound very realistic, sadly. It also lack articulation (which is generally what makes this kind of realistic instrument sound bad). You seem to have wrote your trumpet lines as if it was a single instrument, but you have overlapping notes, which is physically impossible on such instrument. You could maybe re-write your brass parts as if it was an ensemble? Pick a few different brass/horn sounds, write pure solo line for each but build the harmony! Also, try to respect the range of each instrument (tuba shouldn't go as high as a trumpet, this kind of thing). And remember that horn players are supposed to breath sometimes ^^
You also have this single string note lurking on the background. It doesn't sound very nice as is, and I'd suggest either getting rid of it and build around the brass section, or expand it and play full chords. Be careful to not overlap too much sounds around the same pitches, as your track can quickly become very muddy (more so if you expand your brass section). Space your soundscape
Your lead guitar has the same kind of problems your rhythm guitar has. It sounds fake and robotic. So same kind of advice, add some effects (distortion, eq, compressor, delay/reverb) to expand your sound, and articulate! Play with the velocity, add vibrato on long notes, do some bends! The problem right now is that it has always the same attack on each note. Explore your lib to see if you can make legato sounds. And don't play power chords when playing melodies.
The piano section at 1:10 is weirdly written, with sudden burst of notes (and the section right before it has the same kind of weird sequencing). Try rewriting it maybe? Same for the last section.
There is some section where I hear notes out of the harmony, mostly during the guitar solo from 1:38 to 2:30. The worst offender is this long A around 2:02, which should definitely be an Ab IMO. But you have some minor/major clashes during some of the shreddier parts, which can be palatable, but feel rather spicy right now regarding the overall writing. As far as I understand the harmony of the track, you go from F to G to Ab (all major). It's rather ambiguous, as the arpeggios stays on suspended seconds and never really plays the third as far as I can tell. But it sounds rather major to me, and you play sometimes in major scales, and sometimes in blues scales (which are minor). You could manage it with more articulations, like bends.
I hope I have not crushed your spirit with this ridiculous amount of feedback (I know it happened to me when I posted my first tracks on OCR). You seemed willing to explore the possibility of Ministry of Rock 2, so I suggest you start by working on your guitar sounds and explore this plugin furthermore. To me, this is clearly the most important thing to do right now, as it's the most defining aspect of your soundscape. Try to not add effects right of the bat, but work on sequencing and articulating to make it sound more realistic, and see were it gets you. That, and bad notes.
Hope to here back from you! Have a great day, and a happy new year!

A really beautiful arrangement, nicely interpreted, I like it! The intro, outro and variation are really adding to the piece, it's really nice!

Hello everyone! 
New version here:
Even though I was really proud of my track, I felt there was still room for improvements, mostly regarding the "chorus" of the track, which was rather repetitive. I added a few variations, and got closer to the source regarding this part, with a little more orchestral parts. I also worked a little bit on the lead guitar mixing by automating the levels, in order to flatten the loudness variation between parts where only one guitar was playing and the parts where both were. 
I also added a few bpm to the tempo to get a bit more into heavy territory (nothing too fancy, going from 120 to 126). 
I know OCR is more skewed towards old school OST (and so I am, I all honesty), but I hope you'll enjoy it, even if you are not familiar with the source! 

Hey guys!
I just recently finished up this little solo piano arrangement of Song of Healing from Majora's Mask and thought I would share it with you all. I realize this is an insanely popular piece for people to remix/cover, but it's such a special piece, but I think the tune is so malleable and it was fun to try and do something different with it. I originally had made something far more virtuosic and flashy but it didn't fit the intimate feel of the original. I instead opted for something more subdued and "pretty". I added a little intro and outro based on some of the original harmonic material and I think it works as a nice framing device for the piece. At first I keep the tune fairly traditional, but ended up gradually adding some of my own personal flourishes throughout. Hope you guys enjoy it. Let me know what you think. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3NexJ5G1dg

It's really chill and lovely, and at the same time epic and sad. The arrangement and the production are on point. But damn, it's short!
Around 1:35, you start building up with your drums, and then, it just deflate instantaneously, when I was hoping for the B section (major part) to begin all bright and shiny. I find this a bit anticlimactic. You maked this as ready for review, so maybe you'll be willing to add a few more ideas in your track (one can dream ^^)? 
But except that, it still a very solid composition, highly cinematic and emotional! Good job! 
 

Hello djRyoji!
I just listen to your track, and from a pure production perspective, I have nothing to say really, it's rather solid. The arangement is on point, with an expected but well executed choice of orchestration. The source is great and you are complimenting it perfectly.
The track might be a bit quiet? But I don't quite have neither the ear nor the equipment for judging audio levels anyway, so take it with a grain of salt
Regarding the quality of your track as a remix (and I am not sure wether it's your goal here or not, but hey, we are on ocremix here ^^), it is really short and overly conservative. I think you could learn a lot from trying to build whole tracks (I am talking at least 2-3 min long here) rather than "just" playing the source with realistic instruments. The source here is really short, it's a ~20s loop, so it is a really challenging thing to do, but you could try to change the rythm, compose variations based on the original harmonic progression, mix in another song to add material, hell, compose a brand new B section, add soli (it might not be the genre here, but you could also change it), etc...
I think you are on the right track regarding production, so don't be afraid of creating new things, bend the source to your will, and you'll be quite the remixer!
Have a great day! 

Okay. I think it's time to go through Evaluation, because I want it done, and I am really proud of where I am in term of mix and composition.
Here we go!
 

tonight

I don't mean to sound impatient, but when will round 1 voting go up? Maybe it already is up and I missed it.

Okay. I think it's time to go through Evaluation, because I want it done, and I am really proud of where I am in term of mix and composition.
Here we go!
 

Hey Timaeus!
Thank you for offering to mix it yourself, I did think about asking for help on this end during the last few months. But when I see where I am right now regarding the quality of the mix, I feel I can try a bit harder and achieve something cool on my own (given some direction) 
So let me try one more time! I'll be back soon!
And thank you for the quick answers!

Ok, so I left everything (almost) untouch regarding the master track compression, but I did change compression on the choir and the horn (which I almost hard limited, foolish me learning compression 6 month ago), so now the orchestral part should breath a lot more. I may have lost something like 0.2db in the fight, but I am not a fierce loudness warrior, so it's OK for me I think.
@timaeus222 does this sound acceptable to you? 
Edit: Just noticed the file is 7min++ long, but the track stop at around 6:30. I'll fix it in the next version