H36T

Well, it went through the uhh process I suppose! The beginning isn't different at all sans the EQ done to the whole track. Mostly was done with automation to target some of that midrange and boost the highs a bit. Still an amateur though so I'm unsure if I got where it needed to be or even went overboard. The middle part is much different I'd say. I had a hard time trying to find out something to replace the vibraphone (honestly, I'd still be find with it just being its own kinda pedal tone and always there) but I think this has its own unique flavor as well! The drums come in a bit more to help assist with the new feel and a guitar helps out where the vibraphone used to be. The vibraphone comes back at the end though. The only thing I'm pretty sure of is the cymbals are too loud right now (edit: that should be fixed). They could go down a few steps or so in velocity. Besides that, sometimes I think the song is too busy but I've always had that issue as a composer personally. The ending section is supposed to be a cacophony of sound though so I think maybe it suits it well. Anywho, those are my thoughts and maybe this will be the final version besides a few things to clean up. I'd still appreciate another review and/or other thoughts right before I submit it though! Thanks much. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_VsUAV2W8v3XAUaYAEMkxf9wh_sb_hTi/view?usp=sharing edit: needed to fix a few things here and there that were obviously weird.

I honestly had no idea what to expect with this library until it dropped and man....I wish I could get it haha. Maybe later this year but I think this is just super inspiring sounding! I don't do hardly any work for music professionally so the stuff I get is usually only to just...make things so for me, a great library needs to be able to just work. I don't mean that you don't need to do any extra programming or work after you play or insert notes, but I think when you sit down and mess around, you should feel like you can start making music just by fiddling with things. I guess its why I like/often buy phrase based libraries (mostly for voice). Anyway, spitfire libraries often give me that kinda feel where I can just sit down and write. What do you guys think of Solstice? Is it something you are interested in using for remixes here or in other creations?

Ahhh, a portable set up. Well regardless of the approach you take, you should be proud of the initial results here. It has a great vibe to it. I do have a SoundCloud but it's just whatever I post on YouTube for the most part or little demos of things that will eventually go on YouTube. Mostly so I don't have to make a whole video just to share/get someone's opinion. I do have some original pieces but I haven't had enough time recently to really dig into making my own music. Here are some things I have on YT though that are original.

I think as far as general direction, it's fine but I think you need more of the original's theme in there personally. Like it is almost so ambient that it lacks a relationship to the original imo. This could actually just be a result of the repetitiveness of the remix though? Like there isn't a lot going on it seems. There seems to be something trying to build but if often backs away once it's gone and done its thing. As far as production values are concerned, I don't think the instruments or sounds themselves are the problem so much as they seem to be massively clipping. Is that on purpose? I think overall it just seems there is a lack of overall direction in the remix. Just kinda...is? I think there is more to be pulled out of there. Like to see what you can do in the future. Cheers!

Ah okay, well at the end of the day I think whether you choose to expand or not is a personal choice. I was just feeling it and was sad to see it go so soon. Whicg 808 do you use? In general I've found them to be a bit cumbersome to work with because they don't always respond the way I think they should.

Reactions as I listen Okay chillin vibe. Coolin relaxin vibin Like the sound of the piano. Reminds me of Spitfire's soft piano. The guitars sound really alive. Are you playing? The 808 (I assume) is a nice little touch but may need some control. Oooh digging the accordion! I wanted more though! Nice little effects added after the transition. Is the accordion a sample so you couldn't expand on it? I think this was a very nice little track overall. I'm unfamiliar with the source but I enjoyed the vibe this had. Think you really captured what I imagine chilling in Animal Crossing is like.

I think at some point I stopped looking at this as more of a remaster project and more something I wanted to take to a more remix level. Not really sure what to do though? But I definitely would like to do more with this in the future. It loops once so after the first run through its the same song. If you have any ideas I'd appreciate any feedback!

T_____T noooo I don't wanna go back to the pro tools session. Not the EQ! Anything but that! Haha, jk, I appreciate all of the perspectives and advice you have given. It's always interesting seeing these evaluations and hearing things that passed my mind but either I had no idea how to do or I chose not to do for some reason. For the former, I just don't have a good handle on how to unmuddy some things and prevent certain types of clipping. I thought the problem was the highs but I'm guessing the mids are the ones being overloaded? Concerning the latter, I actually wondered if I should bring in a bass guitar midway through but I felt that the Corridors "motif" was needed more so I can still say I'm staying faithful to the original so I decided to leave it out and emphasize the vibraphone more. However, I also find it really helpful when you guys say things that never even passed my mind. Like how taking away the vibraphone to relax the ears from the motif that everyone knows and provide some more personalization. Maybe I'll check out the track with the bass guitar that I deactivated. I have some midi rhythms I keep around so maybe I'll search through for some ideas of what may sound good with the bass. Thanks for the help! While it feels kinda sad that I need to go back into the lab a lot more, I'm happy I came with a full product so that you could give me quality advice. Thanks again.

Thank you so much for your kind words. I hope I can bring more to you and others.

Hmm, I think this has a lot going for it. I absolutely adore the synth used for the melody. I think the synths for the harmony do it for me for the most part. I think they could have used some more layering at times? Like some high bright bell like synths maybe? Sometimes I was a bit frustrated by the harmonies used. Like my ear was expecting 7th chords sometimes. Especially in the beginning but hey, that's a personal choice really. Still, sometimes I think things are almost too pure. But there are some really gorgeous moments here. My favorite is not just the chord but the timbre and tone of 1:37. Like there was something really really sweet about that. I think I wanted some more of that kinda tonality! Overall though, I digged it man. Good job!

Welp, I think that's how I want to end it after all. Here is the review version in all that it is. I'm sure there is much to do but this is what my heart feels. https://drive.google.com/file/d/14MiNtpjYw4pEa6xaxjhqZiCyapZzGzPK/view?usp=drivesdk

Edit: I actually updated it one more time after making this original post and this is where I'm at. I think the ending is not near done but it will end something similar to this. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GeTufQtNo1s4SEQyMn5xSxA7o0ggEEYU/view?usp=drivesdk

Flavor wise I think you hit the nail on the head. I think the only thing I was personally looking for was maybe kind of a break from the main motif from the violins. But honestly, I think how you have it hear comes across as authentic to my ears. Good job!

Maybe that's the case for this track and you need some more experience. But from what I can hear, you got at least a good ear on you and a musical mind. I hope on your journey you continue to find what moves you! Looking forward to hearing more.

Hey man, even though it probably isn't different enough to become an OC Remix song, beauty is still beauty. There is a lot of really nice work in the dynamics here imo. The flute is nice too even though like you said, there are some ornament issues. I guess it was accidentally triggering them? What VST is that btw? Im wondering though, even though it is straight up and there are many other orchestra Terras on the internet these days, what could be done with a rather moderate arrangement to really make it standout? Maybe once you are done here, you can do some soul searching and find out how to make this really something special despite being moderately arranged?

I think all the percussion here is from Damage 2. Except the Windchimes that is. I really think if you are just casually making music like me with only a few other projects on the side, then Damage 2 is kind of just...an all in one solution for cinematic percussion. I mean, some of my other percussion works well but they came from packs of other things or were just nice free stuff I picked up along the way. Some people say Damage 2 isn't very versatile because of the heavy industrial sound but I somewhat disagree. It just needs some taming and loving and care if you want it to do other things. Perhaps one of my favorite thi gs is the amount of loops and loop stems it has. I suck at rhythm but having lots of HQ loops has made me want to use more and more! It's just super fun. Definitely in my top 3 for money spent on a VST. It was the last thing I got though and will be for a long...long while hahaha. Check it out!

Okay~ time to put my fox in the fray!

Oh my God this whole time I was wondering why nobody even looked at the link haha. I never even put it there *sigh*. I feel so bad for wasting people's time! It is there now.

If they are wav files you should be able to just drag and drop em or go to import and import the wav into your session. That's how I would do it in pro tools anyway and it tends to be way more fickle than logic lol

Took a break from my more uhh, finicky projects to try my hand at Cid's Theme. I think there are some rhythm issues that I could never get fully quantized but it mostly works out. Mostly though I wanted to do a little quiet part and then bring it really big haha. Thankfully YouTube saved me with compression to hide some of the faults with my EQ abilities. I hope you enjoy it!

Hi there! I'm not big into the super loud epic stuff but I wanted to try some stuff for a request I got on my channel. One problem I'm always running into is getting things as loud sounding as I want or present as I want without clipping hard or just jacking up the sound stage. In the track in question I think I've come a long way from where I was at. Mostly doing easy automated eq panning with the solo instruments and lowering/raising the volume on certain instruments when I need them to back off or come forward. Still, I know if I wasn't an absolute EQ noob I'd be able to free up some of the soundstage here and there. Any tips for EQ settings or even just simple panning that may help? Listen to Suikoden 2 - Neclord Battle Remaster (Preview) by 先輩王子 on #SoundCloud https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/zoGFb

Thank you for the tip! Problem I'm running into is I'll definitely need to make decisions on the loops I'll keep so I can freeze em. If I want to change something later I'll need to reload and change stuff. I think though for the percussion since I solely rely on loops (I kinda suck haha) I'll make executive decisions and freeze em up! Long live my ram space~. Thank you for your thoughts and tips!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tTI2jiT6mbB7F2idA63X-PxT3C6Rk3q7/view?usp=drivesdk Think I've just reached a point where I'm currently lost. I've also heard some feedback about the transition being out of sync with the guitar which I don't hear but maybe because I'm too deep in my mind is playing what I want to hear as opposed to what is being heard. I also haven't done the proper EQ (which I'm bad at anyway) and balancing yet so maybe that would help. Regardless, I'm not really sure where to go from here. Maybe I need to take some time away from it or something. I kinda have this slow part in my head as a brief pause before kicking the harmony back in but I can't bring what's in my head to the actual program. I'm also having problems making the harmony pop more without just doubling parts :/. *Sigh* this won't be easy haha.

Started to dig more into part 2 and trying to flesh out the direction I'm going. New link in the original post.

Thank you for the lovely comments! I'll keep working to try and make this something I can be proud of going forward. As far as vocals are concerned I really like searching for new vocal packs and goodies. I think primarily I use Heavyocity's Vocalize 1 and 2 and 8dio's Jennie for solo female stuff. For full choirs I use 8dios studio sopranos and Strezov Sampling has a few choirs I like. I think personally I get way more bang for my buck on vocal libraries than anything. There are a few more I want but money is tight and I am not able to really demo things to determine whether it's worth a dive. But yeah Heavyocity's Vocalize series is just gorgeous. Lots of cool pads too which I always like to fiddle with! edit: https://www.asoundeffect.com/sound-category/instruments/vocal-instrument/ I forgot these! All of these are super duper fantastic and highly usable. I tweak the settings some, and in my head many times I think I want a certain type of vocal sound. Then if its a legato type phrase I'll mostly try and do it on my own with those patches but if I am feeling somethhing more virtuoso then I just spend some time listening to different presets they have and when one I like stands out, I program it in with timing, filters, etc. I'm a vocalist myself (though I never use my vocals on my tracks lol) so I can imagine a lot of stuff and this helps me get through the plethora of settings I think. You also thhough need some theory knowledge because sometimes I'll play a song in one key but the presets dont have that key. So try to find a nearby key or at least a phrase that can scoot in nicely in whatever given chord progression during the point in the music. Takes some getting used to and maybe not the best workflow but I like it enough!