DrumUltimA

So Kung-Fu master is the only game remixed here? Do you have a clip of the source that I can here? If you're looking to submit to OCR, there has to be a substantial amount of that theme--overbalancing the other three influences you have listed up there. This is pretty silly

I've done that a few times. I know things would get nuts if everybody did it, but I'm sure once and a while couldn't hurt.

STRUCTURE [x] Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough) [x] Too repetitive [x] Abrupt ending PERSONAL COMMENTS (positive feedback, specifics on checklist criticisms, any other thoughts) So certainly a cool idea, and the production of this over is pretty good--definitely your strong point. I'll run through this chronologically (LOL CHRONO LOL) I like how the zeal ambience and the actually zeal motif don't line quite up, which was something I thought I wouldn't like at first--but it gave the track a cool washy feel that I certainly dug. However, I do think that there is too much of the zeal motif. Dropping it out at 1:28 was a good choice (and the transition into it was great!), same with dropping your drums earlier--but up until 1:28 I still think it's too much. Most of my frustration comes from the fact that it's only one one chord--it goes through like 3 or 4 other chords in the original. I think a bit of harmonic variation will help you a lot. When the drums drop out at 1:06, it sounds like you're trying to make a return to this motif--except you're not returning to anything, you've been there the whole time. The drum stuff at 1:28 is pretty sweet, but I'm mad that the zeal motif comes back after hearing it so much. Putting it on a different instrument would help a lot, if you want to keep it there. I'm not crazy about the instrument playing the melody, but that's just me. Perhaps using velocity to create a better flowing phrase would help? I think the organ at 2:26 is another good choice, but I would like to hear some more dynamics with this. 2:51 is glorious on it's own, but once again I think the effect is spoiled by the repetition of the zeal motif. The speech is cool. What's it from? 3:41 hits and I'm not really hearing anything I haven't already heard. Once again, having the drums drop out leaving the organ around 4:45 is cool. Neat speech again--but I can hear the white noise in the background cut off abruptly. Unless this is the effect you're looking for, I would say give it a quick fade out. I really believe repetition is your biggest crutch here, my friend. The drums were a bit repetitive for my taste, but I can manage that based on the style, and you did make small embellishments throughout the mix. But 1:28-1:39, 3:08-3:40, 4:36-5:03 are the only times where we don't hear that motif (and I'm counting the ambiance in the beginning as that motif) - that's 1:20 of music that does not contain that motif. Your mix is about 5 minutes long--that's a lot of time to have the same lick playing over and over again. That, combined with an overall static texture causes listeners to loose interest. You do some really great things though within this mix, between your drum programming and eq effects, and I really dig that bass line! (despite it also being very repetitive--that's the one repetitive element that doesn't bother me.) I would encourage you to be creative with how you handle your material in this mix. Once you state the zeal theme, change it up, write something original based on it. Or have different instruments play it, have different instruments play the melody. The cool stuff that you do at 1:28, 2:51, 4:45.. they all show that you have an ear for variety and that you are trying to keep the mix active. However, I do believe that this is going to need a lot more variety before passing the panel. Keep working at it for sure though, don't let this massive review bog you down! Once again your ideas are totally solid, and your production skills are great (given that I'd like to hear you work with phrase, dynamics, and velocity more). I think the arrangement itself has a good balance between being conservative and liberal--it's really just the structure that needs work. Good luck with it, and post an update soon!

whew that's for sure

This is interesting... I've always followed a sort of unspoken etiquette about reviewing wips--if someone with a wip comments on mine, chances are I'll go take a listen at theirs. A reward system could be nice, it would encourage people to review more, though that may result in more stupid reviews... I've been more active in the wip forums now that school's done, but I don't really go around reviewing lots of wips--I normally review a few, and get really specific. I'll listen to the track at least 5 times while writing the wip, and I keep my eyes on that thread as more people reply/the remixer posts updates. I know it can be frustrating to not get reviews for a wip--I find myself bumping myself a lot For those not experienced with remixing or even reviewing--use the checklist!!! The checklist is very useful for everyone, but especially if you are relatively inexperienced with the process. Everyone can hear the things they like and don't like in a remix--but the checklist will help you categorically organize your thoughts so that they would be most beneficial to the remixer. Also, saying what you don't like isn't always as helpful as why you don't like it, and how you think the remixer should fix it. Reading the judges forums can also help with writing reviews for prospective OC Remixes--that, combined with the checklist, really helps you get into the mindset of the judges--which is the most helpful thing you can do for somebody who's trying to get a remixed passed by the judges.

thanks guys, keep me posted on the interest! small update--worked with strings and orchestra parts a bunch. Also, hosing on a different server because googlepages yelled at me for using bandwith http://drumultima.home.comcast.net/~drumultima/warinthecorridor.mp3

Nice man! The stuff you did with the chorus out caught me totally off guard! Very cool, I felt like it sort of brought a unity between the original track and the original stuff you put in the middle. Good good. I also like how you varied up the bass line. The only thing I'd like for you to change now is the one sonic and knuckles (is that the right game? lol) quote you have in the very beginning--I like the idea of that there, but can you hide it under a bit of reverb, and eq the upper frequencies off of it? I like the idea of having an epigraph there, but right now it's pretty pronounced, and a statement that strong is perhaps a bit inappropriate when the remix is actually a different theme... but it's not a major concern. Oh yeah, and I'd still like to hear another crash cymbal in there Myspace does make things sound really lo-fi, so it really isn't fair to be judging production values when you play an mp3 through the myspace player. Can you host this mp3 on a different website? edit- never mind, i used the download option and this sounds much better--I would encourage the wip listeners here to use that function. As far as I can tell, this sounds really good. However, at the very end of the .mp3 file, there is a glitch where it sounds like it starts playing another track. So make sure you don't accidentally submit it with that in there!! What do you use for your lead "guitar" synth? I'd like to get my hands on it Nice work!!

I've updated the mp3 to replace my crappy drumming with sequenced drumming of a better soundfont . So now perhaps it'll be easier to tell what's going on. Edit-also split up the string stuff into violin/viola/cello/bass patches, among other things http://drumultima.googlepages.com/warinthecorridor.mp3

This is something I started like, two years ago. But I'm now reviving it because I am interested in it again! So basically it's sort of a dueling ROCK MUSIC VERSUS ORCHESTRA MUSIC type of thing. It combines two tracks from cave story, hero's end and scorching back. So my idea is this: what if like, everyone on ocr who plays an instrument did a track on this! On this track i'm playing drums (two years ago)... it's not so great. But of course, I'd love to be able to play drums and timpani if I can perform/record well enough. Failing that though, I'd like to get some of the community involved. If you play an instrument and wanna get involved, then that would be cool! Especially the guitars and violin, which are pretty crappy samples right now because I'm really counting on (hoping on) finding somebody. But yeah, if you're interested, can play for real, and have recording equipment, let me know Sorry about general muddiness... but, it is a wip, right? I'll be sure to clean a bunch of that up, especially in the middle (i can't listen to it without exporting it) http://drumultima.googlepages.com/warinthecorridor.mp3

Right now due to tendonitis I'm not playing anything But optimally I would be playing all of my percussion rep for the summer--so snare drum, vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, timpani, multiple percussion setups, even some orchestral accessories... but probably some piano and drumset in there too for fun :>

alright man, i'll give you my advice: what you've got written is good. I think the beats you've got work very well, you have a good feel for tension and release, and I know you're not totally comfortable with fills but what you showed me was exactly the right idea. What you need to do with the drums now is all in the production stage--mixing the levels of each drum, eqing each drum (snare, kick, toms, hats, cymbals, etc), and using compression to make the drums more dynamic. This will give your drums the "energy" that they are lacking now. Good mixing of percussion can make or break a track. Your sequencing is solid, any advice I give would be redundant. Unfortunately, I'm not very good with this stuff. I recommend you do what I did, and go to zircon, who knows infinitely more about the production values of percussion than I do. I don't consider anything I do finished until I run it by him first, and I've never left him without learning something. I just hope you haven't completely burned that bridge yet.

except he's not a baroque purist and you're not miles davis

I'm flattered, but you realize I love "bastardizing" this music...? One of my favorite things to do is change up the chord progression. Hell, I have one mix in line for posting that sounds nothing like the original! Hopefully nobody will call me out on this! I'm pretty sure I changed up a bunch of stuff in moon rhapsody too, though not as liberally as I normally do... Dude, you need to calm down. I get feedback from judges I don't agree with ALL THE TIME. If you really think it's wrong, just say thanks, ignore it, and move on. The more defensive you get, the more I question your motives for posting in the wip forum in the first place. But feedback should be nothing but appreciated, getting picky with what you want to hear and what you don't is not that different from the homeless people in baltimore who ask for food, but get picky when you give them a bag of chips they don't like.

hey hey hey wtf man i'm spending 40,000 dollars a year to learn to play that shit

but JILL WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITHOUT YOU WAAAAAAAAAAH

as a 20 year old, I played my roommate's wii all the time. Until our friend fell on it, crushing it beyond repair. Oops

Nice man! It's definitely much improved. The solos help a lot, and I like what you did with the drums! Personally, I could still use a little more variation, but I'm not going to press that any further--I'm just glad to see an improvement like this The fadeout at the end seems a little long... Perhaps start it later? I thought the music was going to end, and then it just kept going at like, half the volume! I would say fix up the timing there. Nice work man!!!

4 Rotations for Marimba ...oh wait, we're talking bout vidja games? In that case, um...well, check my sig.

Nice man! Good Good Good. I have things to say. First of all, I would love to hear this as the mp3, not playing through the myspace music player. I think some of the quality may be lost when playing through that. I agree with the comments about the drums--right now they are way too soft, and are not giving enough support for the rest of the mix. I'm digging the 80's epic sound on the toms, but I'd like to hear a bit more thump in that bass drum, and have that snare come out a little fuller. I can't really hear your hi hats very well, and it sounds like you only have one crash cymbal sample. Try to get at least one other crash cymbal sample, so it doesn't sound quite so robotic. So bring the overall volume of the set up, eq up some of the lower freqs in the kick drum, some mid to highs in the snare, and get more cymbals! I would love to hear more arrangement of the source tune. I love your introduction, and the way you go into the original tune at :35 is KILLER. But the melody here is basically a direct transcription of the original. There's a lot you can do with arranging this, especially with that bass line. Come up with some original harmonic riffs, counter-melodies, anything that would keep the accompaniment from sounding exactly like the original--that would help keep your arrangement fresh. I do like the original content before the drum solo. Completely original sections help with the level of variation of the overall mix, but part of the appeal of the remixes here is seeing how one can interpret the original source track itself. You haven't actually arranged inside the source music, but rather have given it an intro, an original verse, and an outro. Solos count as arrangement for sure, but the accompaniment to your synth solo still sounds as if you've sampled the original track and just replaced the melody with a new one. So I implore you--get creative! Change up that bass line, use different sounds than the original, anything you can to create a better balance between sega's arrangement and yours! I like your lead instruments--is there any chance of you using both the lead you used in the beginning and the lead you used for the solo for the chorus out (2:59)? Speaking in terms of the continuity of the arrangement, it's fine to introduce a new sound in the middle of the piece (which would be your solo synth)--but it's not fair to your first lead (the one that plays the melody in the beginning) to just cast it aside. I think you should keep it's role as a lead in the chorus out, and have the solo synth join it. Not a major concern, but I think it would round out your arrangement a little more nicely. Also, the pitch bend in the beginning--it is a little awkward, but I like the idea. I don't believe it's catch that high C fast enough-- is there any way to speed it up a tad? That way, your high C won't sound quite as out of tune. What you've got so far is really nice, I think you could do good things with this. Is there any chance you can find another place to host this mp3? Right now it's sounding kind of lo-fi and I'm wondering how much myspace is at fault. Good luck!!!

thank god we got the women off the panel no offense, jjt. JUST KIDDING it was a good run guys! Thanks for the NICE WORK!!!

the clap, hi-hat, and bass . But I like it when it switches to snare!

Yeah, that's a good fill! Go with that. I think I liked the old kit better though, so I think you should just bite the bullet and use two sets. I hate doing it too but it's worth it.

Yeah man, I'm really digging this now! I forgot to mention that I really like what you do with the harp around 1:30 or so, very cool. The added dynamic activity in the piano makes it really cool, I also like all those reverse notes you use. Nice work!

It definitely gets better as it goes on, I like this. I'll used this new fangled list thing again. PRODUCTION [x] Unrealistic sequencing STRUCTURE [x] Too repetitive PERSONAL COMMENTS (positive feedback, specifics on checklist criticisms, any other thoughts) First of all, I actually think your instrument choice for the lead is a good choice, I like it. However, people are right to say that it sticks out/sounds too harsh, etc. It doesn't really blend with the texture of the rest of your mix. I think just putting a bit of reverb on it will help a lot--not so much that it sounds washy, but just enough so that it sounds like it's in the same room. Perhaps try shaving back some of the high frequencies too--but not too much, of course. I REALLY like what you do with it at 2:08, so I wouldn't want to mess that up. I think I could make a similar comment for the piano--I would like for it to sit back in the texture a bit more. I'm not as concerned about this, but I think it could help. One thing I noticed about everything on your mix is that there's not much velocity work, on all instruments--bells, synth, piano, bass, etc. I guess this works due to the way the Secret of Mana tracks are composed, but you may want to play around with a bit more phrasing. Once again not a huge concern, but I think it would add a new dynamic to your mix, and support such decisions as the one you made at 2:08 The last thing is the level of repetition going on here. This mix is over 6 minutes long, and as it's been addressed before waaay over the file size limit. However, in this six minutes, you basically repeat the same melodic material over and over, using layering as your only motive of variation. While the way each instrument interprets the melody and harmony is really well done, you don't have (from what I can tell, I'm not that familiar with the source) enough original content. 1:15-2:34 is basically all of the melodic content we have, counting the lead melody and the piano counter-melody. When the bell-steeldrum-whatever-synth comes in, I consider that to be purely accompaniment--and that figure even repeats four times by itself before the same melody and counter-melody we already had come back in. And then 4:20 is just a combination of the piano and bell accompaniments we already heard. The piano playing it's version of the melody is a nice touch, especially with that cool quartal harmony. That being said, there's this big ol' section in the middle, from 3:00-4:45 where nothing new or interesting really happens. The result is that this track begins to sound like background music, and the listener loses interest. Personally, I suggest shortening that section by a good verse or so, and perhaps putting in either an original melody or a solo there. The arrangement of this track outside of the realm of melody (percussion, accompanying lines, chords, etc) is fantastic, however. I think your drum writing is very nice for this style, the samples sound great in this texture, and your use of reverse cymbal and delay is really tasteful. The warm pads set up a great atmosphere, and I love your use of the in game sound effects. I'm not crazy about the texture dropping out behind the piano melody at 4:45, though--if there's going to be a dropout, I prefer a more drastic one, percussion included. But it's not a major concern. I think there's a lot of GOOD STUFF in this track, but right now it is too long given the material provided. Good luck with everything!!!

here's the source: http://omikron.bluelaguna.net/ctmusic/43%20-%20Rhythm%20of%20Wind,%20Sky%20and%20Earth.mp3 I don't believe that "melody" always needs to involve pitch