zircon

http://snesmusic.org/v2/profile.php?profile=set&selected=1650 mmx-05.spc - "Zero 1" mmx-06.spc - "Zero 2" Pretty cool mood through the intro. Very sad. Then the sole acoustic guitar synth type instrument comes in playing "Zero 1" but it just seemes kind of sparse, especially considering it is a synth rather than a real guitar. It is sequenced realistically, but overall there's not a lot of stuff going on, and the actual interpretation of the source tunes is pretty direct. Not a lot of variation. At 2:41 some beats come in which really sound out of place. None of the sounds fit the atmosphere of the song. The clap sounds like it belongs in a trance song and the kick + hats sound like a Sean Paul reggae kind of beat. The overdriven guitar sounds about as good as the one in the original source tunes, which is to say, not very There is a level of variation and interpretation on the themes, but considering how sparse most of the track is, I don't really think it's enough. Needs more meat, and more arrangement ideas to fill up the 6 minute space. Revise the percussive parts and find a new e.guitar lead as well - they definitely don't fit as is. You'll be on the right track if you do this. Don't forget to use the Remixing and WIP forums. NO

Wow this is great! The bass around :55 doesn't sound like its fitting with the chords though (off by a half step or two?) Aside from that, killer.

This sounds a lot like a straight-up cover from the original, from the instrumentation to the arrangement... did you just use a MIDI for it? The sound quality throughout is usually worse than the original version as well. Production aside, you need to think about how you are really personalizing the original theme - don't just sequence it or play it back with little to no changes. Vary up the style, the tempo, the rhythms, the melody, add new chords, solo on top of existing chords, etc. Good luck.

THis isn't really a topic *about* anything... before you post you should decide if there's something specific you really want there to be a discussion about.

There are RAR unpackers for Mac if you just Google around a bit.

Hey, you're welcome to do a piano arrangement. That could be really cool actually, though I'm not sure if the pieces really lend themselve to do that.

Except many of the projects WERE sourced, but just not by print magazines, so WP morons wanted them all gone. Verifiability wasn't the problem, it was notability. Even though the album guidelines say that albums by notable artists are notable, and OCR could be considered the artist of these albums, they ignored all that. Another problem with WP is also that there are tons and tons of articles violating the guidelines that no one seems to care about.

Hey everyone - since I released my third album Antigravity earlier this year, I've gotten a bunch of requests from people asking if they can remix some of the tracks. So, here we are. I've compiled remix packs for two of the songs, "Mindbender" and "Warhead", and you can download 'em for free here (plus the original songs): www.soundtempest.net/zircon%20-%20Warhead.mp3 www.zirconstudios.com/Warhead%20Remix%20Pack.rar www.soundtempest.net/zircon%20-%20Mindbender.mp3 www.zirconstudios.com/Mindbender%20Remix%20Pack.rar Even outside of the actual contest, you're free to create AND distribute your remixes, provided; 1) There's no commercial interest - eg. you can't sell them. If you want to do this, contact me privately. 2) You credit me as the original artist. Most remixes have a naming scheme like this: "Original Artist - Song (remixer name/remix)", eg. Fear Factory - Cyberdyne (Junkie XL Remix), or The Crystal Method - Name of the Game (Hybrid's LA Blackout Remix). If you'd like to enter the contest, simply email me (admin at zirconstudios dot com) a link to your finished remix. You can do it in whatever style you want, and you can use as little or as much of the original audio files as you want, provided the end result is still recognizably "Mindbender" or "Warhead" in some fashion. On February 1, 2008 I'll pick the best of the bunch to be featured on my next album, and the winning producer(s) will of course get a cut of the sales as well. If there are too many entries, or I simply can't decide, I'll open up the voting to the public. Post questions, comments, feedback here... and happy remixing! NOTE: You can enter more than one remix! --- PRIZES 11/23 - Urs of u-he software fame has graciously offered up a copy of my favorite synth, Zebra 2, as a prize in this contest as well. I'll also be throwing in all of my custom presets including my two current commercial banks (128+ sounds.) Considering it's my weapon of choice, it seemed only appropriate. Please give a big thanks to Urs for his generous donation! 11/25 - Thanks to IK Multimedia and eSoundz, I have another excellent prize to offer: the T-Racks mastering suite! T-Racks is my mastering software of choice; I've used it on virtually every remix and original track I've ever made since 2005 and it's just awesome. It consists of four low-CPU, analog modeled plugs - a compressor, limiter, EQ, and channel strip with all of those. This software is produced by IK Multimedia, one of the top VI developers in the biz, and distributed by eSoundz, a big audioware retailer which has a massive selection and fantastic deals for loyal customers. ALSO included are 50 free loops produced by Sonic Reality, another company I love. I used R.A.W. material all over Antigravity, including on Mindbender. Even if you don't win, definitely hit up both IK and eSoundz next time you're looking to make a purchase, you're pretty much guaranteed to find some awesome, innovative gear at sick prices. --- This contest is also posted on... Nu Skool Breaks KVR Audio Reeemix (vote it up!) Laptop Rockers

Well, with sequencers, it's kind of hard to post examples because you can literally do any kind of music with them. You know? For example, all of my remixes are done in FL Studio, but then again, so are the remixes from the following artists as well: * Disco Dan * tefnek * Rellik * Tyler Heath (aka Unknown) * Darkesword * TO * sadorf * Big Giant Circles * Beatdrop * GeckoYamori To name a few. Here are some mixers that use or used Reason: * sgx * Star Salzman * Protricity * Quinn Fox * Red Tailed Fox * AnotherSoundscape * sephfire * ambient etc... With regards to Komplete, again, there is such an insane amount of material that you could devote a whole CD to just a handful of patches from Kontakt (one of the included plugins) alone. Your best bet is to go to the Native Instruments site and listen to demos.

Wow, the source is very long... no shortage of material to work with here. Unfortunately, while the interpretation is pretty solid, the production is not. The sequencing is pretty mechanical in a lot of places, especially with those repetitive left hand chords early on. If you know you're working with mediocre samples, you should make an effort to write around them. A lot of the writing here is rather plain and simple, especially prior to about 1:54. At that point, things got considerably more interesting. I would revise the first part of the piece to be more like that in terms of rhythmically and melodically interesting material. As of now, it kind of plods - and there are other places in the mix like that too. However, I'm getting sidetracked, as my main issue is the production. Too much reverb; frequency balance doesn't sound so great.. try another sample, or failing that, ask someone in the community to perform it for you, or even just ask them to run the MIDI through some of their piano samples. Lots of people would likely be willing to help if you asked in the Remixing forum. Cool mix though - I encourage you to keep working on it AND submit new material. NO

The opening sound is kinda cheap-sounding IMO, w/ very little low energy, a stretched out sample, and a lot of high end. However once other stuff starts coming in, it's really no big deal. I love the bassline here; really nice syncopation and sequencing. This is also a great example of how you can incorporate source material successfully into a trance build without being too generic or too liberal. I admit when I heard the source I didn't really think it could benefit from a trance overhaul, but you've done a great job here. I'm always impressed with how you interpret the melodies using a combination of melodic arpeggiation and cool rhythms. I don't have a lot to say on production, except that it's good. Well-produced, nice and pumping, with a strong selection of sounds. Nothing too far out, but not a lot of cliches either. Great trance mix. YES

I'm assuming you're referring to Propellerhead's "Reason" software. While excellent, it is a closed platform - you cannot add new plugins to it. That being said, if you're looking for a pretty comprehensive solution with a wide variey of sounds, and don't mind that you can't record audio in, then go for it.

Bounce down reasonably high quality MP3 or WAV audio parts to approximate the sound until the very end, when the person doing the final mixing collects the WAVs of the tracks. MIDI files are always useful for drum parts, and if you have the same plugins (eg. free stuff) you can share presets. Don't bounce down whole tracks if you can avoid it; if there's a lot of repetition, just bounce loops. And again, MP3/WAV will save a LOT of time.

Someone apparently created a Voices of the Lifestream wikipedia article! Check it out here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voices_of_the_Lifestream If you have sourced additional information and/or corrections to make, I encourage you to do so. I think this time around we have more than enough sources and notability for the article to stay, unlike the previous OCR projects (which, believe me, I fought for.) Additionally, VotL was reviewed positively in the largest Finnish gaming magazine, "Pelit" on page 19 of their November 11th issue. Here's a scan, and a translation: http://www.soundtempest.net/IMG_1836.JPG http://www.soundtempest.net/pelitreview.txt *coughsomeoneaddthattothewikiarticle* Congrats again to everyone who was involved!! I would email you again but I've spammed you enough already.

Komplete 5 does not include any sequencing/tracking software. But MIDI is MIDI so you can always change the instrument being used.

For $1000, get the plugin Nexus (~$300), Zebra 2 (~$200), and Colossus (~$400). Nexus is a ROMpler, like a hardware keyboard, but oriented towards modern dance sounds. Very high quality stuff. Zebra 2 is a powerful modular synthesizer that is regularly updated and was recently voted in Computer Music magazine to be the #1 softsynt hever. Colossus is a 30gb collection of basically all kinds of instruments, from orchestral sounds, to ethnic stuff, drumkits, pads, and everything in between. Alternatively you could try to get Komplete 5, by Native Instruments, a set of about a dozen plugins and sample libraries; at least 60gb worth of stuff, all the power you could ever want. But it's really daunting as any ONE of the plugins you get could take awhile to really master.

Just started working on a new CD. After scrapping about 5-6 WIPs and track ideas, I came up with something I am actually happy with. It's nu-skool/progressive breaks in the style of Hybrid, who I've been really into lately. They seem quite popular on the WIP boards here lately also Anyway, here's what I have so far. http://www.soundtempest.net/system.mp3 Enjoy!

You know, though I could see where Larry is coming from on the production value of this one, I really like this sort of tape/vinyl sound on the drums and recording. It's not ultra-clean and polished, no, but it doesn't sound poorly produced to me, and I don't think that aspect hurts the remix as a whole. I did notice the guitar performances not being tight at all times, but that's not a big deal to me. I would compare this to MM3 "Blue Balls" in terms of how the arrangement plays out and how things are approached. The main thing I didn't like were the (often) weak transitions. However, when I weigh the pros and the cons, I think that this just about passes our bar. A borderline YES

Haha, wow, the level 1 thing is really impressive. How did you do it? Did you just rip the sounds from the SPC or did you actually create them from scratch and tweak them to match the original?

I like the groove foundation for this but it's not quite as interesting when you have Stylus RMX and recognize all the loops used... In general my issue with this is that it really sort of simplifies the original harmonically. Besides the fact that the melody isn't really varied from the source much, and that it's generally repetitive, you basically stripped down the chords and harmony rhythms from the original to basic sustains, which makes things a lot less interesting to listen to. You can get away with less harmony parts if the individual part writing is more engaging, but in this case, it wasn't. As Larry said, this has a decent base, but it's fairly bare and simple, not only in arrangement but in the sounds used. Beef it up. I strongly recommend listening to the various FF7 mixes we've posted over the last couple months from "Voices of the Lifestream" to get an idea of where our bar is at. NO

Oof, yeah, that drumloops really don't sound so great here. The tempo is fast enough for drum n' bass to work, but the loop just sounds kind of cheap. I would use it for an intro, or maybe an additional layer, but it's definitely not strong enough right now to provide a solid rhythmic foundation. Plus, it's rather reptitive. I also noticed some sort of high end.. buzz or distortion, for lack of a better word, that I think has to do with the first drum loop (maybe a vinyl effect). Filter out the very high end freqs to get rid of that. The level of energy throughout the remix was fairly low, with lots of soft sounds like flute, synth pads, and orchestral elements. It was a weird contrast with the fast jungle-style drums. Some elements, like the stabs at 2:48, were just drenched in reverb, making the whole thing kind of muddy and indecisive. Pick a style and stick with it - what you have here sounds more like the intro to a song rather than a standalone track in and of itself. If it were sgx, he would add some huge distorted drums and crunchy synths. If it were a rock/metal remixer, they'd bring in a heavy acoustic drumkit and some burning guitars. If it were SSH, he'd focus on the synth leads... so think about how you want this to sound and then develop the sounds and the arrangement to reflect your concept. The interpretation of the source tune itself is solid enough, in that it doesn't just directly rip everything 1:1, but your variation and original writing needs to be in the context of something that is musically interesting. That is just as much a part of our standards as simply interpreting the video game tune. Work on that, plus improve the drums, and fix up the mixing so it's not as muddy and washed out - you'll be well on your way. NO

This game frustrated me to no end when I was first playing it in the early 90s.. I tried picking it up again recently but didn't have much more luck. The source tune you arranged here really drove me crazy... I love the ambience and the mood that you create with your selection of sounds in the intro. I was able to recognize the source within the first minute without too much trouble, though it could have been more prominent - it really is buried pretty far back underneath reverb, pads, sweeps, and general ambience. At 1:31-2:03, the piano interpretation is nice, more obvious, and fits well with the somewhat dissonant pads in the background. After this point, I was not hearing the source at all. The general rule of thumb I go by, which I've adapted from Larry, is that any OC ReMix should arrange the source material in some audible manner for at least 50% of the duration of the song. Here, it can't have been more than 20%, which doesn't cut it. Some of the original stuff you added as the mix progresses is really nice, but you need to focus much more on actually using material from Metroid II. With regards to production, some of the drones and sustains got a bit excessive over time. I would have liked to hear some atmospheric break with less pads in the low/low-mid range and just some ambient plucks, stabs, hits, and/or noises in the highs. Something to contrast all the low stuff. On a side note, since I have Stormdrum I can hear how you used it a whole lot here. I'm glad you didn't use the loops from it, but instead did some creative sequencing. Just thought I'd give you some credit for that Anyway, bottom line; needs more source tune! NO

Yeah, I think the issue here is basically a lack of interesting writing and orchestration. It seems like there's not a lot of thought given to the dynamic and melodic contour of the different instruments. Each individual part should sound at least relatively musical by itself. In other words, the goal is not just to have block chords underneath a melody, and above a simple bassline. Add more rhythmic motion to the different parts, and don't be afraid to build things up more; I felt like you kept coming back to a very sparse, plain texture of long sustained whole notes. That's easy to write and sequence, but it doesn't sound good, and I think that's what Larry was trying to get at. Production-wise I didn't really have any major problems, except that due to the massive usage of whole, sustained notes, things sounded fake more often than they should. After all, real orchestras rarely are gonna play like that. Use more automation or even a bit of EQ/filtering within a note to increase/decrease perceived 'brightness'. Your samples are good enough though, and none of the voicings were really unrealistic. I would point out though, at times the reverb does sound rather metallic. If you could improve that and make it sound more lush and smooth, that would be great (try adding a little bit of chorus to the reverb wet signal only, not the dry.) The arrangement is well-done in comparison with the original, though it kind of sticks to the same mood and style. This ties back in to my suggestions regarding writing, but you could definitely add some new material and vary the source up to make it even more dynamic and powerful. As it stands, the way the source melody moves, it almost sounds more dramatic than your remix, which is pulled back nearly the entire time. Go above and beyond! One other small complaint, as I couldn't find a good place to put it: the bass drum at 1:25 is just out of place. Doesn't add anything at all, and no one would write like that. Use low brass if you want to reinforce the string marcatos, or add more marcatos on smaller subdivisions of the beat (eg. 8th note) but at lower velocities, so it sounds more intense. A good effort, and while it has a ways to go, I've heard a lot worse today. Keep at it. NO

Oh man, the guitar + drum stuff is so hot, you gotta get some better orchestral samples! The intro is awesome with the ethnic vocal stuff and synth pads, but then the cheap strings come in and sound really out of place. Likewise, the brass are really weak. Which is a HUGE shame because I love the arrangement here - very creative interpretation of the original theme - and the performances are otherwise quite good. Some other stuff; * I think the bass could be a little louder here - it's audible in the midrange but could use more presence in the lows. * The speed guitar section kind of dragged a bit considering not all that much was going on otherwise... I would turn down the volume on the guitars there and maybe add some lead sweeps or some synth lead things on top to keep things more interesting. * The orchestration, samples aside, could have been a little more full and interesting in the first half of the mix. In the second, it's good, but earlier on it tended to be on the sparse and minimal side, and was not nearly as engaging as the other parts. All in all, very cool, but the orch. stuff needs to be improved. There are a few other tweaks you could do as well, as I outlined above. I would really like to hear this resubmitted and I think lots of people on this site would enjoy it. NO

I agree with Larry in that this could definitely be expanded. Consider writing an original introduction of some kind rather than going directly to the source tune right off the bat. However unlike Larry, I didn't think this had much interpretation at all; it seemed to stick fairly closely to the style, mood, and instrumentation of the original, with no major changes to any chords, melodies, or harmonies. More of a sonic upgrade with a little bit more of an orchestral texture added. Unfortunately we need much more than that. Really try to personalize this mix and make it your own. Give it a new tone, do something exciting rhythmically, change time signatures here and there, bring it into some new keys, add new chords and melodies, and so on. The production isn't too bad but the brass need some work. If you can re-orchestrate things so they're not as exposed that would help the sound of this. Maybe try some different samples and/or articulations as well. NO