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100_PERCENT ROEMER   Members

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Posts posted by 100_PERCENT ROEMER

    My ears are bleeding so I need a fresh set of ears to critique my work

    in Post Your Original Music!

    Posted · Edited by TorchForge

    Right now I'm rocking a super budget pair of Samson SR850s, although lots of people swear that they are the best bang for the buck for mixing on a budget.

    I have a great set of M-audio studio monitors but I can't use them currently... Oh well.

    Anyway, here's a playlist of all of the tracks I've finished up for the game - they don't have to be great, they just have to be good enough to get the point across... At least that's what I keep telling myself ;-)

     

    My ears are bleeding so I need a fresh set of ears to critique my work

    in Post Your Original Music!

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, HoboKa said:

    Often, yeah.  Also depends on the quality of the E/Q filter.  Some cause phasing issues.

    But yeah, a 12-band E/Q seems to be the best way to go, unless you're working with top-notch samples that are already pre-recorded near-perfectly (even then, that's subjective).  7-band and below just don't cut it for me. 

    I'm still rocking FLstudio10 so it looks like I'll have to make do with 7 band EQ tools for the time being.

    My ears are bleeding so I need a fresh set of ears to critique my work

    in Post Your Original Music!

    Posted · Edited by TorchForge

    4 hours ago, Master Mi said:

    That's it, dude...

    ... far more pleasing to listen to the new mixings of the tracks.
    The soundtracks sound much more organic and "breathing" now - so, radically keep it this way. ))

    Keep in mind, that - if you turn off all the compressor/limiter plugins of your single tracks and your master track - you have to set up a new mixing in most cases (since the compression effects like the perceived loudness of an instrument or synth can be quite different, depending on the level of compression for each track and - of course - depending on the instrument, VSTi or synth you used compressors/limiters on).

    Using compressors will also modify the sound (frequencies) of an instrument/synth a little bit.
    So, if want to get back the old sound of the compressed instrument or synth (related to the frequency spectrum of the perceived sound), but without the lowered dynamics, the annoying pressure on your ears and without the less defined "compression mud" caused by using compressors, you might have to use a good equalizer plugin on that instrument/synth and modify the frequency curve a little bit until it sounds similar like before.
    But to me, the new sound of the synths without the compressor plugins is really nice - nothing to change there from my point of perception.

    What I'm really interested in is the question how your track with the accordion will sound like without any compression effects (if you have even used a compressor on this soundtrack) - because using compressors on dynamic acoustic instruments (in my opinion) is an even greater sin than using it on electronic synths.



    Besides, how is that track connected to Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ('cause you used the same track with a picture of the anime) - was there an original melody of you accordion version?

     

     

    So for RECCORDION I just got an accordion from a coworker, spent a few hours figuring out how to make it work, and then made that recording in one take.

    I used three effects on the master after splitting the mics into left and right channels with a little cross-panning. The three effects I used were Parametric EQ, Soundgoodizer (which is a type of compressor), and Reverb.

    I found that without using the compression on that track the accordion didn't sound even and there were a number of "hiccups" due to my inexperience in smoothly pumping the bellows. Compression seemed to fix those discrepancies and make the track sound much more "grand" overall but I also hit my limiter a lot. My recording levels and mixer gain were a little low as well so as to reduce the sound of the mechanics of the accordion operating so compression helped to bring those levels up but then again... I keep hitting the limiter. I went ahead and removed compression from the track and remixed it to see how it sounded and personally I felt it sounded more amateurish although the sounds were clearer in parts (which is true as I am a total amateur with the accordion, lol).

    The Naussicaa track was based on the theme from the movie, there is a track with children singing that it was based on although I just played it by ear as best as I could.

    I'm really happy with how the tracks sound now though, removing compression and remixing was definitely the ticket - thank you for your help!!

     

    EDIT: Here is the uncompressed version of RECCORDION:

    https://soundcloud.com/100_percent_roemer/reccordion-1

     

     

    My ears are bleeding so I need a fresh set of ears to critique my work

    in Post Your Original Music!

    Posted · Edited by TorchForge

    10 hours ago, Master Mi said:

    That's another effect, what compression in audio projects and listening to tracks at higher volumes over a longer period of time do to your ears - it will literally make them bleed and you as a composer kinda deaf.

    It's much easier to listen to dynamic and fully uncompressed soundtracks for a longer time withing getting temporarily deaf.
    So, the original soundtracks from the 80s (not the annoying and often also highly compressed remasters) are much more pleasing to listen to than many modern electronic, pop or metal productions which are often heavily compressed.

    I'd also train your ears to listen to your tracks at lower volumes to make mixing decisions, switch between headphones and studio monitors sometimes - and just for the final check you may listen to your track on a slightly higher volume.

    -----------------------------

    So, for the tracks...

    I'd say that they are already pretty well mixed (except the compression I generelly don't like very much - but by listening to your tracks an a lower volume I can bear the compression effects more easily).
    From the view of the composition I'd say that "voidSearch" and SendingHelp" in their momentary state have the greatest potencial to become great soundtracks.

    But you should compose a few breaks, build-ups and more alternations to draw the attention of the listeners through the whole soundtrack - like if they were thrown into a magic audio river with lots of different exciting passages and say things like : "Alright, here comes the big one" several times.
     

    Thank you for your helpful input and advice. If you don't mind me asking, what are the biggest advantages and disadvantages of using compression in tracks? I've found that without using compression I can't identify all of the sounds of my arrangement but with using it I do feel a fatigue when listening for long periods of time.

     

    EDIT: I remixed all of the tracks I'm working on to eliminate the use of compression. I see what you mean now, it's a big difference and a GOOD difference.

     

    If you get a chance:

     

     

    FL-Studio10: Boosting volume on specific beats of the drum sequence?

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    7 hours ago, Master Mi said:

    I'm only a little bit used to the functions of FL Studio.

    But in relation to the mixing stuff in your question, I'd give the following advice:
    If you can't boost the volume of a certain track in your mix (like drums), you can still lower all the other tracks instead...  with quite the same effect.

    Since mixing is much more about balancing (balancing out the volume/loudness of the tracks against each other) than boosting, I'd also recommend to begin mixing with a really safe headroom.
    So, I generally take the track which I think will be the loudest or most assertive one in the mix (mostly the drums track) and set the volume of this track in a way that its greatest peak in the track may be around -10 dB.

    From this point you can easily set all the other tracks of the whole mix.
    And if you compose another track later (maybe another drum element) which might have some few stronger/louder impulses/peaks, there shouldn't be too big problems with the headroom.


    Coming to the mixing quality of your track, I'd say it 's already pretty well-mixed.

    Thanks for the response. I ended up muting all of my channels and just bringing them up little by little until it was fairly close to what I was hoping for.

    If you get a chance, what do you think in comparison?

     

    FL-Studio10: Boosting volume on specific beats of the drum sequence?

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted · Edited by TorchForge

    In the fourth beat of the main drum measure in this sample, there is a distortion effect from grossbeat that engages a set of claps to create a pow effect. I can't seem to raise the volume for that particular beat while retaining normal levels afterward. Have I run out of headroom in my workspace or is something else going on? Any thoughts?
     

    EDIT: See track in post below

     

    What the Closed Eye Sees WIP 1

    in Post Your Original Music!

    Posted

    With mixing and mastering this will really boom. There's a lot of distortion in general you might want to tone down or utilize panning/reverb effects along with stereo separation to really give it atmosphere.

    As for the theme though, I think you've more or less nailed it!

    If you get a chance, let me know your thoughts on my crap. My ears are toast and I've been listening to the same loops over and over for the past week 8O

     

    $500 - 600 DIY computer build suggestions for FL Studio?

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    I'd be happy to put together a full build list if you like (because I like doing that sort of thing), but here are a few of my general guidelines:

    - ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI tend to be the ones with the best motherboards these days, as a general rule of thumb.

    - I'd probably recommend going with Intel, since you'll easily have room for an i5 in that budget, which should be a huge amount of horsepower for what you need.

    - Don't underestimate the need for quiet parts--skimping on CPU cooling, the power supply, and the case can come back to bite you later on.

    - Make sure that the motherboard you get still has at least one PCI slot (as opposed to PCI-E), as you'll need it for that M-Audio card.

    I've been building PCs for 10 years now, work as an IT technician, and tend to stay up on part reviews and build logs, so I think I'd be fair in saying that I know some stuff.

    Thanks for the reply! I used to know a lot about the latest tech, but that was 6 years ago :P

    Any thoughts on a good CPU/MB combo that gives me what I need? I was originally planning to go with AMD, but I'm leaning more towards Intel now that I read what they've been doing lately.

    I also was thinking of going with a SSD to install my OS and FL Studio on, and then using a standard HD for all the files and crap we need to store. I've never worked with SSD's before, so any thoughts there?

    As for RAM, I'm hoping to get 16gb in this build. Is that overkill??

    $500 - 600 DIY computer build suggestions for FL Studio?

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    Hey All,

    I'm doing a music production directed study with two of my students and we've been working on building a decent studio. So far we have everything we need for audio production (mixer, monitors, microphones, keyboards, drumpads, etc) but the computer we have been using is pretty much worthless for audio production at this point since it's over 7 years old and struggles greatly with FL Studio.

    I can get funding for $500, maybe $600, of new computer hardware and I don't need a soundcard since we already have an M-Audio Delta AP 192. We've got an awesome dual-monitor setup too and all the normal peripherals are taken care of.

    Any recommendations on a decently priced and no-nonsense build that is strictly for audio production? Any CPU/MB combos that work particularly well? Am I overlooking anything important?

    Good soundcard recommendations?

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    One of the things we'd like to do is use both a laptop and a desktop for our production, and the advantage of going external for our soundcard/whatever is that added level of versatility.

    Any recommendations for mixing gear that would work for that purpose in the $300 range? The old m-audio card doesn't have new drivers or support unfortunately.

    Good soundcard recommendations?

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted · Edited by SILVERWOLF

    Hey All,

    I'm looking to help one of my students rebuild their music-production rig and one component that is sorely lacking is a dedicated soundcard. We're using a mixer that has 1/4" outputs so ideally we would have a soundcard that could accept a jack of that size.

    I have an old m-audio Audiophile 192 in my ancient desktop, and it always worked well for me ( http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-US41750-Audiophile-Hi-def-Card/dp/B00064ABSG/ref=pd_sim_e_3 )

    Is this card still considered to be decent? I've never had an issue with it when I was using it and it's definitely affordable. We're using FL version 11 on our current rig.

    Thanks!!

    EDIT: Would it be possible to bypass the soundcard issue entirely and just use a nice USB-compatible mixer like this one instead?

    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ProFX12

    Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ReMix Project - On Hold

    in Projects

    Posted · Edited by SILVERWOLF

    I'm interested in doing a ragtime-styled solo piano remix for the mini-game theme, if no one else is interested. I don't have any WIP to submit at the moment, but considering I just got out for summer (being a teacher is an order of magnitude more difficult than being a student, btw) I should be able to throw something together in the next month.

    First WIP will be some shitty midi sample, but the final product will be mic'd and recorded live on my piano.

    Looking forward to contributing to my first OCR project (assuming of course that my WIP gets the green light) :)

    Sale/Want 3.0

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hmm, been awhile since I've posted on OCR..

    Anyways, lookin for an old copy of Link's Awakening. I managed to extricate my old gameboy pocket from a massive pile of junk in my closet and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic as of late. Anyone have a spare copy they would be willing to part with? I sold mine years ago to a buddy cause I could never get through turtle rock, lulz.

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