Woody mC

Thanks, CJ! "Going ham" is indeed what's going on there, haha. I still can't get enough of that particular dissonant chord, for which IIRC I used my nose to hit an extra key... :)

This is definitely not my cup of tea but thanks for the effort nonetheless!

You are QUITE welcome, and thank YOU! 

Wooody/mc, I love your stuff, mainly because it's a double-whammy for me on the nostalgia front.  The LoZ series was an awesome part of my childhood, and so was listening to classical solo organ music on my grandpa's whole-house sound-system.  I feel like I'm 10 years old chilling in his sitting room again when I hear your mixes :-)

Another good Remix by Woody/mc. I really enjoy your work.

Hey there,
as a lucky owner of a 7.2 surround setup, I was wondering how these "VR stereo tweaks" would behave on it. Would it just produce stereo sound on two speakers or also trigger the extra back/surround/etc. channels?
My home setup consists of a Yamaha RX-V 773 7.2+2.0 (2 Zones) A/V receiver (=AVR), a Jamo S626 HCS3 set (FL/FR/C/BL/BR), a pair of JBL Control One (SL/SR), and two LFEs -- a Teufel S-6000SW front-firing into the room and a T-4000 down-firing underneath my couch. Below are two captured screenshots from the calibration program of my AVR, which show the speaker distances and levels that have been detected during the automated calibration process (some levels, though, were manually fine-tuned afterwards).

 
Well, here's what I observed:

Watched the dearVR promo videos first -- these were mastered for binaural listening through headphones. As I'm pretty sure this will sound brilliant with them, I skipped listening through headphones and went on straight to listen on my room setup; first, I used a "straight" 1:1 speaker mapping, i.e. a stereo signal will only be sent through the FL and FR front speakers (frequency separation by the amplifier to fire the LFEs is INACTIVE).
-> L/R panning was fully notable while F/B (front/back) panning was recognizable, but sounded a bit flat (surprise...) on only two speakers. In other words, this is exactly why one should wear headphones for binaural playback...
Next was a preset on my A/V receiver called "7.1 stereo", which outputs the L stereo channel on all left speakers of the system (FL/SL/BL), the R stereo channel on all right speakers (FR/SR/BR), provides a 50/50 mix on the center (C) -- probably with a weighted or even calculated volume depending on the L/R intensities -- and performs frequency separation to the LFEs (low frequency emitters / subwoofers), which are adjusted to take over at around 80~100 Hz and below.
Now that the "stereo plane" was greatly stretched in depth, the speakers acted much like some sort of headphones! No idea whether or not the AVR does some extra processing since I could follow along with only my ears and no extra equipment, but the "back" portion indeed seemed to travel behind the listener's head and thus resulted in a much more impressive F/B panning depth, just like I would expect to hear it in a binaural playback with headphones. In absence of any indicators or other measuring equipment, I'm unable to tell though whether or not the F/S/B portions of a side receive the same signal (leaving the spacial impression "processing" to only my ears and brain vs. "helping a bit" with F/S/B zone volumes being somehow calculated/separated and differentiated by the AVR). At least, pumping the YouTube audio out to the AVR through a VoiceMeeter virtual audio device showed that only the FL and FR channels received a signal before leaving my computer's HDMI port.
Still no extra decoding used on my AVR so far, although it features a Dolby ProLogic-II decoder with various decoder modes (Game, Movie, etc.). Since the "output format" section in the dearVR plugin demo indicated that you're not just limited to binaural output, I think that digital codecs might still be an option for non-headphone/in-room use if the hardware setup provides more than two channels/speakers.

On to Master Mi's demo videos, I did the same comparison procedure with "straight" and "7.1 stereo" output modes and ended up with "7.1 stereo" being the more "realistic" one. Output to the AVR was still limited to FL and FR signals, so both the "2-channel surround editor" (left portion of the screen) and the "Independence FX plugin" (right portion of the screen) were both operating on unencoded stereo output. While 2CSE just seemed to work with some sort of position and distance loudness, I'm convinced that Independence heavily utilizes convolution reverb parameters to fake a 3D room impression -- which feels WAY MORE REALISTIC AND NATURAL, such as you wouldn't move a 2D plane in space (2CSE sounds like this) but catch all the changing reverb details of a point audio source in 3D space instead. If I had a choice to make, I'd definitely go with Independence FX.
Regarding the deviance in L/R levels which Master Mi was wondering about, my best guess is that -- because all the simulation and calculation stuff seems to boil down to psychoacoustics -- there are beating wave and cancelling effects in the "reverbed" signals that may cause spikes or drops on a particular channel at a discrete point in time.
For the "Goldfinger" THPS remix, I was hinted by Master Mi that there should be some "encoded" signal in the stereo stream for the "back" speakers -- but it wasn't. Neither did I recognize differentiated signals from the F/S/B speakers in 7.1 stereo mode, nor did the S/B speakers produce any sound at all in both 1:1 passthrough mode and with an active AVR surround decoding preset. IMHO, there are two possible reasons for this to happen: Either there was no "real" 5.1/7.1/whatever signal (or 2.0 signal with encoded 5.1/etc. information) produced by the DAW, or this information was simply just a victim of conversion and recompression when the video was uploaded to YouTube. In other words, listening to this track on a standard stereo setup, a surround system or just headphones would make no technical difference. However, regarding the psycho-acoustical difference and spacial impression, the clear winner would be headphones -- directly followed by a surround system that's able to perform 7.1 "upmixing" by replicating FL+FR channels to their respective S+B pairs. Still, the signal would just be plain stereo with some (unencoded) psycho-acoustic voodoo magic inside.
Listening to the track with that "7.1 stereo" mode active at least "felt" like being in the center of it, even with no "real" surround sound. Instruments could be clearly distinguished and located -- and I had a hard time indeed to figure out that this trumpet was equally present on my FL/SL/BL speakers although seemingly sounding from somewhere between the FL and SL speaker. Aside from that, recognizing Pachelbel's pattern of descending fifths near the end of the theme inevitably put a smile on my hobby organist's face!
 
In summary, I think that mastering the way you did it in the THPS track works pretty well and -- without having the "flat" version as a reference -- can only enhance the listening experience. The good news is that no listener would need special hardware for that since it's just all about tricking the brain with some psychoacoustic modeling and nothing else; the bad news is that you cannot provide "real separated surround" using this method (like encoded stereo formats do). Even with just two speakers and no upmixing, the result still sounds impressively "live and vivid", however I'd still recommend headphones for the full listening experience.
Mi, if you could provide the raw audio track stereo export from your DAW as a WAV or FLAC file, this could help to find out whether or not encoded surround information was dropped during the YouTube upload and its subsequent conversion processes. According to the output still sounding convincing, I think this might not have been the case; but this way, we could be able to find out the truth.

I'm surprised we don't have any more Zelda games tossing him FAR into the future...Not like BoW, but like couple of millennia or so.
 
 

Oh, coooooooooool! Was always a fan of that theme, and always will be. I'd definitely want to see this pop up in the YES-es of the judgement board!

In fact, it's both of them: A real pipe organ, perfectly sampled with its own reverb, and the SIR impulse response reverb VST, which I used to apply a fragment(!) of the world's longest reverb profile that was ever recorded (Inchindown, https://youtu.be/CzMVJkTjKNc features an interesting on-site report). The former produces low freqs down to ~16 Hz, the latter turns the already huge acoustics into a tremendous "spacey" vastness.
Your idea of recording the show is indeed a great one! I already thought about it, but more for the purpose of a personal memory instead of selling it. I guess that wouldn't be a thing either, since the presented material is published under the CC license, so if any of this would be visible in the recording, I would by no means be allowed to charge any money for that. Second, if I'd turn the camera so attendees are on film, this would need to be announced to get their consent and preserve their personal rights (according to the law here in Germany). It's a tricky tightrope walk if done for a public/commercial release (which isn't my goal), but thankfully not a problem for a personal souvenir.

Oh, I THINK I need to reORGANize that! ?

remix:
source:
Formerly titled "DK Shat His Spoopy Man Panties"...yeah...that wouldn't fly on my YouTube channel probably. 

Nice track in general, however I agree with @Rukunetsu in terms of mixing/presence. IMHO (well, I'm not very experienced with mixing DOs and DON'Ts) another approach could be to shift volumes/presence between individual instruments to change the focus. On my "personal weapons of ear destruction", namely pipe organs, this would be dubbed a "dialogue", often executed by playing similar phrases on different keyboards/manuals with different registrations (=timbre). Could work out for this mix as well, I think.
Another thing that came across my mind was that long, repetitive intro of about a minute. It well builds up tension for the first 1-2 iterations, but then drastically lets that go by adding more and more repititions without anything new to happen. For that part, my suggestion would be to either shorten it or to integrate some other ("glittering"?) arpeggiated stuff or similar. Just an idea...
Would love to see that track evolve!

thank you so much for your comment! ? I always loved the Tomb Raider themes and i finally wanted to share my tribute.

If so, I think I'd need @Sam Dillard's permission to do so --- and you could help me to convince him by leaving your upvote in the comments.
The more, the better! I'd really be hyped if people in this community had an interest in a successor to Metroid: Organ Transplants and to let me build this 1h45m monster!
IMHO, Sam's work is just BREATHTAKINGLY PHENOMENAL. However, sometimes you can add even more cherries on top of the sundae... ^^
Let's make this the world's most buttered and sugared icecream milkshake candybar piece of soundtrack awesomeness on this planet!
 
EDIT  I'm talking about his most recent album, Metroid Cinematica Recharged, which was released just a few days ago on July 1st 2020.
Watch his release trailer here:
 
 

Funny tuning! This has a bit of "honky-tonk saloon style" --- in a good sense, since it supports the lightweighted part of the theme in a perfect manner, I think.
I've always loved that theme...and your version adds a completely new touch to it.
Thanks for sharing!

https://youtu.be/o_vGCof-kRw
I put considerably more time on the production (EQ, panning, levels, sound balance) than any other so far. I felt I was getting behind in my skills of production so I really tried to fix some crucial issues I've had in the past.
This was one of my greatest hypes in gaming history, I was in the 6th grade and one of my best friends from the 7th grade got this during spring 1999 (it was released in EU in december 1998). We've read a lot about it in video game magazines already and man... I remember it so clearly, when Navi tries to wake you up in that tree house, and then the moment you step outside into the Kokiri forest, it's a timeless, unforgetable memory that holds so many good feelings and excitement.
So one thing I'm mentioning right off the bat is the "Hey!" sound which is an original voice from OoT, and of course it's from our little fairy Navi. I had some laughs experimenting with her voice in different pitches and amounts of reverb/delay, but this sounded the most serious and fit the best into the production in my opinion so...
Speak of production, please give me some feedback on what you think about the EQ, levels, panning and such during this remix. I really want to level up in that aspect, so all feedback and suggestions for improvement is most welcome!
Another sound effect coming straight from the game is the whistle blow you can hear at 1:25 which is originally from a castle guard or a Gerudo guard.
I also hope I managed to catch a bit of nostalgia from the original song, which is always my main purpose with all remixes. 
The main core I used here is pure synthwave, with short breaks of an 80s funk style that always hit my nostalgia trigger
hard. There is plenty of sidechaining, plucking and that classic 80s synthwave bass, and in the middle of it all a moment of classical harmony passing by like a deep blue river in a sunset of the Hyrule kingdom
Nearly every chord in this remix is changed or additionally harmonised, but I think you will recognize it despite that.
Thanks for listening and reading!
/Neon X

The classic Tomb Raider series and Lara Croft were a big part of my childhood and I still love to play the classics this day. I tried to make a different approach on the main theme of the first game solo on the piano :).
 

https://youtu.be/Cso-oqInw5k
This is my very first remix of a theme that's originally from Game Boy. Since my last two remixes (from Earthbound and A Link To The Past) I kind of got stuck in combining more than one song in one remix, it put much creativity into works and makes it a bit more challenging. This remix contains three songs from Kirby's Dream Land, and I have built the remix as follows:
0:00 - Mt Dedede intro
0:38 - Roasted Sweet Potato Shooting & Title theme variation
0:49 - Title theme variation
1:00 - Mt Dedede
1:11 - New solo part (based on the Title theme)
1:33 - Mt Dedede
1:39 - Title theme variation
1:54 - Mt Dedede outro
About the remix itself. It's has the highest bpm of any of my previous remixes: 179 bpm. Very fast and high paced, which in turn makes it quite intense. That is why some the parts in there plays in half tempo to calm things down a bit. I'm always true to the original pace which in this case is based on the theme of Mt Dedede. 
The bass line from the original was really awesome, so I put some work on it and developed it a bit further, then took it down to something more groovy and funky for the solo part and outro part. And speak of the solo part, I took some time to modify a new variation of my signature lead synth at 1:23 which I was really hyped about. I will use it much more in future remixes.
Oh I forgot to mention the initial "crash" sound. That is an original SFX from Kirby's Dream Land which plays when you're flying on the star towards Mt Dedede and crashes into the castle at the top of the mountain. 

An arrangement of "To Zanarkand" for piano trio (piano, violin and cello) titled "Yuna at Zanarkand, Her Mind on Lost Friends". It was a lot of fun and a great exercise to bounce the melodies between the different instruments to give them all their spotlights. Spinning counterpoints from previous melody snippets is such a great cheat.
All instruments are modeled (i.e. synthesized on the fly) and don't use samples. It's amazing not having to fight them to get them to do what I want or wrestle with sampling limitations and inconsistencies. The downside is that you have to explicitely tell them what to do in excruciating detail.
Update (16.06.22):
Changed the attachment to the current WIP. The second part is done, so at least all notes are put down. Now to the ardous task of humanization...
Update (30.06.22):
Updated to somewhat final version and decided on the title. The realism can probably improved a bit more, but for now I'm out of ideas. I'll let it sit for a few days to listen to it again with fresh ears, but I think the mix should be fine.
Update (10.07.22):
Some finishing touches here and there. Ready for review!
Update (25.07.22):
Updated with the submitted version.
Original song:
 

20220723.mp3

Hey @Woody mC,
Cool that you liked it! Tried to make the drums the most Portnoy-ish I could, lol!
Cheers!
 

Hello,
I'm trying to get a few takes on one of my new mixes and would love some feedback. Trying to figure out what I need to bring up or take down or if anything seems missing. Thanks!! 
https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14441889
 

Hey guys!
This one gave me a LOT of work, but it was fun! I went for a Liquid Tension/Dream Theater vibe (minus keyboard stuff), I figured it would sound great since it has all these different sections. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, hope you like it.
 
Let me know what you think ?

If so, I think I'd need @Sam Dillard's permission to do so --- and you could help me to convince him by leaving your upvote in the comments.
The more, the better! I'd really be hyped if people in this community had an interest in a successor to Metroid: Organ Transplants and to let me build this 1h45m monster!
IMHO, Sam's work is just BREATHTAKINGLY PHENOMENAL. However, sometimes you can add even more cherries on top of the sundae... ^^
Let's make this the world's most buttered and sugared icecream milkshake candybar piece of soundtrack awesomeness on this planet!
 
EDIT  I'm talking about his most recent album, Metroid Cinematica Recharged, which was released just a few days ago on July 1st 2020.
Watch his release trailer here:
 
 

Nope, quite the opposite.

Your surround mix (or your surround recording) appears to be better in clarity and staging for some reason.

Or let's say the clarity is almost the same - but the panorama and staging catches my attention much more.