zircon

As opposed to the original game, which was also a generic anime look, except super deformed.

IMO using analyzers isn't worth it - your mileage may vary, but simply looking at a spectrum is more useful in seeing frequencies in the subs that shouldn't be there than actually determining if your balance is 'good'. You simply need to listen to more (and better) reference music, and get better headphones/monitors, and/or tune your room better.

I'm not sure if this can be called a "remake" at all - if it's a new story and completely new battle system, it's more of an "inspired by" than a port or remake. Still, looks exciting.

Not touching the master fader is usually a good idea - certainly, you never want to turn it UP. That being said I often put a fader *plugin* on the master track if I need to control the level of my sum going into the mastering chain. It's also nice to give myself more headroom before I do any mastering. In any project I usually start with a fader plugin set to -6 or -8 dB, then turn up my headphones by exactly that amount.

Here's the only answer you'll ever need - "clipping range" is irrelevant except on the master track. It doesn't matter if your kick is +6 or even +50db on one channel. If your master track has a fader going -100 dB then the track won't clip, period. Everything is bussed through the master, therefore as long as you don't exceed 0 dB there you'll be fine. It's really almost irrelevant to look at dB meters on any tracks except the master for mix/master purposes - you just need to hear the relative values. The only reason why you wouldn't want to put stuff above 0 dB is simply because if your fader is maxed out and you need that part louder relative to everything else, you then have to use plugins. Better to reduce the volume of everything relative to each other, giving you more "headroom" with the actual faders.

http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=36434&page=2 My Accursed suggestion is one vote away from being Popular. Someone vote on it!

And in this episode of "Ridiculous Late Games", we lost 66 minutes in, but the items were just silly. Our enemy Accursed was carrying - he had a Runed Axe, Elder Parasite, Hack n Slash and fully upgraded Riftshards. As Wildsoul, I had Iron Shield, Fort bracer, Greaves, Abyssal Skull and H&S on myself, and Mock + Steamboots on bear. Nobody can stand up to that kind of pain - with my two buffs we were doing something like 500 damage every combined attack. Oh yeah, and I had about 38 armor / 3000 HP. Sadly, when Pestilence is on the other team with a Daemonic Breastplate, it's eventually gg.

Can I get more links to the "ballad" kind of hip-hop? Like that Derulo one.

I didn't think this one was excessively loud. Beatdrop and bLiNd have both had louder tracks. I love the production here and the small touches to vary the original, but as some of the other judges have said, there's just not quite enough here. Again, great production and the arrangement is close, but more personalization would put it over the bar (some original melodies, maybe new chords, less repetition, etc.) NO, resub

It's pretty cool, but a lot of the notes and chords are wrong (not the same as the original song.) It's more of a loose interpretation than a cover, not that interpretations are bad Also, the drums aren't 909 drums but rather sound like a basic acoustic kit. You might try actual 909 samples or possibly NES drums.

It's not that I didn't have fun, but a LOT of HoN is waiting around for those big teamfights and tactical decisions. IMO that endgame was the high point but I didn't get to see it through. So, it was frustrating - that's all.

FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUu I just played a game to the 70 minute mark. My team was Tempest, Predator, Valkyrie (left at ~30 minutes), Corrupted and Sand Wraith (me.) Enemy team was Lego, Kraken, Pesti, Nympho and Arachna. It was really intense - they had nearly defeated us but we won a huge teamfight thanks to double Tempest ult and pushed two lanes (vs. one lane for us.) We were about to push the final lane - we already had one rax down - when... the game dropped. For such an epic game, it was a really crappy ending

Yes, that is the old-school hip hop sound. Several of the tracks I've posted use sampled breaks and drum loops in that style. I'm trying to make a variety though, and that includes the dirty, nasty, almost minimal style of drumwork used by artists like David Banner.

I'm not sure what you mean by sampling the drums. All the drums I'm using are sampled. 100% of them are either drum machines sampled to vinyl/tape/MPC and exported back to digital audio, or acoustic shots ripped from vinyl. I don't use any multisamples or kits at all. As for track 4 sounding too sequenced, it's funny, because Palpable said the opposite. That to me means I'm doing it right. Speaking of, track 4 is supposed to be the same kind of beat as this;

Inspired by the DJ Premier stuff, here's another one, this time with a much lighter mood. I threw a Beastie Boys acapella on top just to see if it would mesh http://www.zirconstudios.com/music/wips/HH%20Track%205%20Beasties.mp3

Vinnie: Actually I'm not using any swing... but check out this revamp: http://www.zirconstudios.com/music/wips/HH%20Track%204.mp3 I dunno, I'm ready to get crunk. The only problem is that the bass is pitched so low I can't hear it on my computer speakers... Radiowar: Awesome links! Thank you. The J.D. track is particularly excellent.

http://www.zirconstudios.com/music/wips/HH%20Track%204.mp3 This one is more directly influenced by guys like David Banner, 50 Cent. More of that nasty club stuff. Close?

But this is a team game, and heroes have roles. It's like saying you're going to build Legionnaire with a Wingbow. You could do that, but it's stupid, and it hurts your team's chances of winning severely. Kraken's best ability by FAR is his ult. If you don't use it, he has basically nothing to contribute to a teamfight. And guess what? We lost that game, and it was extremely frustrating, because the other team was using THEIR heroes properly. There is a lot of skill even in characters who are rather simple. Look at Legionnaire. He is basically supposed to do one thing - portkey in and Taunt. If what YOU are saying is true, anyone could be a good Legionnaire. But that's not true at all. There is an enormous spectrum of skill in playing that character. Knowing WHEN to use the portkey. Knowing WHERE to blink into, and where to wait beforehand. What to do after your Taunt runs out. Who to chase. Who to execute (and when/if.) etc.

Well again keep in mind this probably is supposed to be dancy commercial hip hop (but I don't really know for sure.) When I listen to the beats I'm making here, I'm hearing the same kind of rhythms you guys are linking me to. Normally rhythmic stuff is my strong point, so if I'm not hitting that goal for other people... I gotta know what to do. Believe me, I appreciate all the advice so far though.

That may very well be true, but more specific advice would definitely be appreciated. It's funny that you say the first one sounds better than the other two, whereas most people here seemed to like the second two better. To me, any kind of music can be broken down into theory and analyzed. Hip hop to me is a form of music with relatively simple rhythms (which I can do easily), a certain kind of jazz/movie score-influenced tonality (which is tricky) and well-crafted rhythmic timbres (this is a challenge, but doable.) Keep in mind I'm NOT talking about the rap portion of hip-hop... just the instrumental part. If I'm missing something, I'd like to know what it is, so I can improve.

That's the #1 complaint people have about my music; it's not gritty enough How about this? http://www.zirconstudios.com/music/wips/HH%20Track%203.mp3 A little more laid-back and dirty. Again, thanks for all the advice, folks! It's been very helpful.

2.15 patch notes; Most significant: TDL buffed (again?!) and Scout nerfed.

Vagrance: Yeah, I'm not 100% on the drums either... here's a revised version. http://www.zirconstudios.com/music/wips/HH%20Track%202.mp3 Palp: I gotcha!

Vagrance & Palp: I gotcha. Also, I don't want to come across as a sellout or anything. I know it sounds kinda cold to be writing strictly for the money, but I actually really enjoy making beats, even if I'm just essentially selling them, and like Ronald Jenkees says, music is fun Although the benefit of what I'm doing is that I'm planning on licensing these not selling the rights, so in theory someone could end up using them for an actual track. This is the new beat I'm working on: http://www.zirconstudios.com/music/wips/HH%20Track%202.mp3 Trying to get it a little closer to Top 100 kind of stuff.

Wow, absolutely great guys. Keep 'em coming. I'm soaking it all in! Now I'm working on a more mainstream track, closer to 50 Cent or something.