zircon

My music industry blog, www.soundtempest.net, needs an update - I'm using a generic template right now. The format should be about the same as it is now in terms of navigation and placement of stuff, but the current artwork makes no sense. I'd like a new, unique design that is creative and would fit the theme of the music industry (w/o being too gimmicky with things like music note GIFs.) An example of an EXCELLENT blog design I like is the Consumerist (www.consumerist.com), but I prefer my navigation more Additionally, there should be space for some banner ads somewhere. Light color scheme preferred. I need this within the next month, willing to pay $150. This should be a really simple job since the site is basically all designed already, you're just tweaking wordpress.

This reminds me of old-school OCReMixes for some reason, perhaps due to the highly synthetic nature of most of the sounds. The arrangement is pretty cool overall, treating the source in a fairly creative way while integrating some nice original material as well. I just have two issues. One is the intro, with the high-pitched synth and drum fill leading into more parts. Considering the 'cheap' quality of the drum samples it just sounds kind of cheesy. Also, the break starting at 2:48 through 3:53 was awkward. A drum/bass break doesn't work unless you have really high quality samples or the sequencing is absolutely amazing (or both.) Unfortunately, while I heard what you were trying to do here, it just didn't sound so good in the end - overly sparse, with not enough energy to hold the attention of the listener. The drum samples in general could be improved if at all possible. You can hear a lot of repeating samples, and the tone of each hit is basically exactly the same. Perhaps some more acoustic instruments could be used to balance out the highly electronic textures, too. A lot of the sounds are very basic subtractive synths - no FM or additive sounds to provide some bright contrast to all the squares and saws. In short, I think the production could have used more variety. Even additional synth processing would have helped, such as filter sweeps, PWM and vibrato. This one just isn't quite there yet, IMO. The weird intro and long break section combined with a few lo-fi/cheap sounds puts this one a bit below our bar. Keep at it. NO, resubmit

I'm not listening to this on the greatest of sound systems, but I don't think the production here is bad. The piano sound is nice, as is the reverb and frequency balance. The main issue is the quantization as Vig pointed out. The dynamics are good but the timing and note durations are really mechanical. Simply getting a live performance of this would really improve things overall. Arrangement is solid, albeit simple. I would have liked to hear some jazzier chords and denser sections - a lot of the chords were very basic, and most of the left hand movement consisted of easy arpeggios. I think the arrangement is passable in its current form, but would't mind some more intricate and challenging writing. A more human performance is my main request here to get this one up to the bar, as well as ensuring there are no pops/clicks in the render. Nice work, though - please come back to this! NO, resubmit

Yep, Harry Fox is the way to go. If you're selling remixes, that's what you need to do. If you're releasing them for free, no need to worry about licensing.

IMO it's stupid to install your games. I've tried it myself and there has been NO noticeable drop in load times at all. A waste of space. The only benefit is not having to switch the game discs or listen to the noise of the disc spinning, but those are really minor.

Moved to appropriate forum.

I don't really buy the "key = emotion" connection in terms of pure music. I never care or pay attention to what key I write in and I don't think my music ever suffers for it. I really like writing funky, smooth stuff in F# minor for example which doesn't make any sense given those descriptions. The only time I really pay attention to key is if I'm writing for live players or if I'm trying to ensure the low notes of a bass part don't go below, say, C. Scales and chords are more important IMO but I don't really even think about scales much either, compared to chords, which are definitely key to my works. Where I think key plays more of a role is when being in one key really elicits a different tone than another key from particular live instruments... eg. a French horn that has to play in a higher range than they normally would.

Mmmm... pixietricks....

Mmmm... OCR-Tan.

Don't get EWQL's Symphonic Orchestra. It uses PLAY which is a horribly inefficient engine. I've never seen so many complaints about a single VSTi.

NO, RESUBMIT means that we feel the mix is below our bar, but that with a reasonable amount of effort, the ReMixer is capable of putting it above the bar. NO also means that we feel the mix is below our bar, but that in order to pass, the mix would need major, time-consuming changes. In other words, it's pretty far off - you might be better off doing a new mix than trying to rework a NOed mix.

Wow, uh, that's really disgusting. Why would anyone watch that, let alone want to film or be a part of it?

CONGRATS Chad! My favorite Engineer.

Sylenth is definitely amazing in its VA abilities. It is really good for trance sounds - one of the best for that. However, Zebra is certainly a lot more competitive now thanks to version 2.3 and the 11x oscillator (so you can now get up to 44 saws in one patch.) If it's Virus sounds you're looking for though, Zebra is definitely your synth. People have actually made 1:1 banks of Zebra patches modeled after Virus ones. Just browse the u-he forum on KVR to see. Here's one example, the Virus "Overture" patch mocked up with Z2: http://share.uci-gaming.net/Rat41/Klangbeispiele/Zebra/VirusOverture.mp3 The main weakness of Zebra right now is its saturation/distortion modules which are better now for more subtle drives than really biting stuff. I have no doubt Urs is working on that, though.

That's odd; on my computer it doesn't do that, it may be an issue with video codecs...

Zebra 2 was voted the best softsynth of all time. It's amazing - get it Hans Zimmer swears by it, and even Daft Punk recently bought it. I know this because they both bought my Z2 presets collection.

No, save your money for a dedicated orchestral plugin such as Garritan Personal Orchestra or Miroslav Philharmonik.

Impact Soundworks is having a sale; we've got discounts on both Sitar Nation and Impact: Steel, plus an even further discounted combo deal. Just check it out here: www.impactsoundworks.com

Congratulations on a great mix getting posted! I'm glad you tweaked this after the initial sub; the end result really shines for it.

Dhsu: I explained my thoughts on games in my follow-up post, but only in response to Chad. I didn't bring the game library up in my first post though. Also, from a cost perspective, if you plan on using the PSP to play PS1 games as well you are saving a lot if you already own PS1 games. They can be dumped for free.

"Crisis Core" was another primary reason I got a PSP, and it was well-worth it, being one of the best Final Fantasies I have played in years. I didn't bring up the game library though because it's subjective; I have no idea what Brad is really looking for. Personally, I didn't find much of interest in the DS library. I bought my DS with Etrian Odyssey, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and Megaman ZX. Etrian Odyssey is a fun dungeon crawler, but I lost interest before reaching the bottom. Portrait of Ruin is cool - I have to recommend the DS if you want lots of Castlevania games, though you do get Rondo of Blood/SotN for PSP. Megaman ZX was not very good - annoying map system, and it's not as fun as games like MMX4 or Maverick Hunter X, which are only playable on PSP. Personally, I really like great RPGs, and while there's a nice library for DS, the PS1 RPG library was superb, and the PSP has the shiny Disgaea port as well as the FFT remake, Riviera remake, etc.

I own both a DS and PSP, however my PSP is getting far more use. I would get only the PSP if I had to choose. Why? * The screen is bigger, thus even if you had the exact same games on each system, you have a better viewing area. * More comfortable for my large hands, the DS seems designed for someone with slightly smaller fingers and handles - shoulder buttons are a bit uncomfortable to me (note: I have a DS Lite.) * Can play all PS1 games. This was the main reason I wanted one. I love being able to play Megaman X4, Breath of Fire III, Suikoden II and Final Fantasy Tactics all PORTABLE! * Memory stick storage means you can have up to 8gb (maybe more, at this point) for games, saves, music, movies, pictures, etc. This is really handy - I never need to switch discs/carts. * Built-in wireless connectivity with an internet radio and browser app. OK, so it's kind of slow, but it's still nifty, whereas on the DS you have to pay to make use of the wireless capability. * You can turn off the PSP entirely and it will save WHATEVER you are doing at any given time. With the DS, you can close the top and put it to sleep, but it's still on. * USB connectivity means you can very easily stick games on to your memory stick, or even use it as a little portable hard drive. I've used this feature more than I thought I would. The primary downside of the PSP is battery life. It definitely pales in comparison to the DS in this area, so if you're really planning on bringing it on very long trips, you might need a "fat" battery pack. For me, this isn't a problem though - I use it mainly on 20 minute train rides or for 5-10 minutes while waiting for a train. However, it's not crippling, as I'd say you can get about 2.5-3 hours on a full charge.

Wow, no idea why SplinterOfChaos is being such an ass, but from what I've heard so far the music to this is a lot of fun - and the game itself looks great too. Nice job! I'll post more when I'm done listening to the whole thing.

Dude, AE is one of the most veteran ReMixers on the site. He's been around since 2000. http://www.ocremix.org/remixer/ae/

Bump because I'm updating this more regularly again. Sticking to a shorter format, more summaries + short opinion than longer posts, sourcing at the bottom Consumerist style. Here's the latest article: http://soundtempest.net/2008/12/19/riaa-to-stop-lawsuits-against-customers-focus-on-isps/ I'm encouraging people to comment more - my actual "pages", like How to Avoid Scams, have gotten TONS of comments. Check those out too, of course.