Villainelle
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Posts posted by Villainelle
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Fishy, I dig the other stuff I've heard from you, so please understand that this is said with respect.
This isn't bad, but it's bland. One thing about dance, trance, and similar heavily pattern-based styles of electronic music: for me at least, a good deal of the emotion and interest comes from the production--specifically, intelligent sound design and use of effects.
For example, I was listening to some stuff by SGX (<- link) earlier today, and was really struck by how his use of effects and production tricks is so damn musical. The effects are frequently more complex, dynamic, and sometimes even more musical than the actual source sound they're processing. It's basically ear porn, imo.
To me, your track isn't there yet. Like Hemophiliac mentioned, the gating on everything gets a little tiresome. I think it'd be better to automate this and other effects in and out gradually, which will help create tension and release. Throw some filters on stuff during transitions to heighten the drama, or resolve things more satisfyingly, etc. Another thing I noticed is that when you have instruments come in, they seem to be fully loaded with effects already, and then just stick with what they've got. You could build up the energy in the track better if you start some things off simpler, have them fade in or come up from a lowpass filter or whatever, then move to more complex, morphing layers of effects.
You know the ending needs work, but I'd like to mention the intro. It's a bit risky coming in with one of your main drum patterns like that, because it kinda sets the bar high--I'm expecting an even higher level of energy sometime soon after that, but it doesn't quite manifest. But like Hemophiliac said, I also really liked the 2:12 transition, and the wind-down then build-up from there was great.
Hope this has been helpful, looking forward to where you go with this.
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Might want to allow MP3 downloading on that track. It's hard to tell if some of the distortion in the song is from the poor quality of the stream or is present in the actual mixdown. In case it's the mix, hey! There's some distortion in there.
Sounds like you've got some muddy bands of frequencies bunched together in places. Not bad, though I don't remember the original so no comments on rearrangement yet, but the drums...um...missing a kick there? -
You should submit this to OLR.
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Your first mix and musical endeavor...using Garritan and thinking about "acquiring" EWQL...? Just a tip--you don't want to discuss "acquiring" stuff here. Besides which, there are tons of free soundfonts and plugins that other remixers have used to make beautiful mixes that passed (see DarkeSword). Amazing sample libraries aren't going to make a bad mix better--they're just tools; it's how they're used that counts, etc. etc.
K, that said, hey! This is a cool unexpected choice of song to mix. I've got the FFVI OST memorized from childhood so I recognized this one right off.
This sounds like...a stiffly sequenced MIDI playing with some decent samples. You need a lot more human expression in the notation, a lot more skillful use of your sample library which contains multiple samples for different velocities and articulations...a lot of work, bud. Imitating an orchestra is pretty difficult; I'd suggest you listen to orchestral mixes on this site, esp. stuff by Dale North, to get a feel for realistic imitation that is acceptable to this community. And even then, think twice, and maybe start with something simpler instead.
Regarding the arrangement...I saw your Chrono Trigger thread, but luckily wasn't around to rip you a new one.
I understand you like more conservative arrangements, but I think you need to broaden your definition of "conservative arrangement." You've got a start here with the new material you added, but it's not enough--this still follows the original song from start to end note for note, with some new stuff on top. At the very least, a new intro/outro and some bridges are needed.If you're just starting out, don't obsess over getting something posted on OCR right away--just keep practicing and posting your WIPs. And don't obsess over "acquiring" samples/plugs/etc. to make your mixes better--DarkeSword et al prove that free stuff is perfectly good enough to make excellent music. Did you know ziwtra used to do all his stuff on Linux with a tracker?! That still blows my mind.
Anyway, that's my essay for today. Hope some of it was helpful.
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Not bad, but the incredibly weak and stiffly sequenced piano doesn't fit at all, and it's used to carry a lot of sections of the mix. The Orichalcon's recent Pictionary mix had a rigid piano as well, but he embraced it and worked it in in such a way that it seemed to become a matter of taste, while the piano here just strikes me as struggling and out-of-place. The electric piano flourishes from 2:40~ to 3:00~ suffer similarly but not quite as badly. The drums also don't quite seem to fit, especially the dance kick--the jazz-pop patterns are fine, but during high-energy sections there are some uncomfortable spastic patterns that seem to be in the wrong song.
Overall it's a solid foundation with a lot of minor flaws (although I'd argue the piano is a major issue) and I agree with the judges who asked for a resub. Live guitar wins again I guess.
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Added percussion in the break, more effects on various things, slightly tighter production...piano still meh but any other thoughts?
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I disagree here. I've always found that cubase has a rather nice bussing system, and if you get clever with your group/fx and send channels, you can route most anything into anything else. It's not obvious at first, but it's there.
Well, just for the sake of comparison, look at Reason--granted Reason is a closed environment, but you can plug almost anything into anything else in a very intuitive way. And then there's stuff like eXT and Logic's environment, where you have a flowchart-like diagram where you can route stuff. I guess I mean more that Cubase's approach to routing is a little archaic in comparison, and when something is hard to use, you tend not to use it as much or as freely, like you mentioned about FL's automation vs. Cubase.
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Sound quality (sound engine, I like to have a nice airy organic sound)
Midi editing (the only reason i've really stuck with FL, i do everything in midi)
Workflow/Intuitiveness (this is where Sonar lets me down)
Rewire Capabilities (this is big too)
(Just FYI, I use Cubase SX3.)
1. This really isn't an issue...people come up with these bogus theories about one DAW's sound engine sounding better/worse than another, and other people come up with tests to prove they don't. The only thing I know of that is truly different between hosts' sound engines is the way they handle panning law, and IIRC the setting can be changed in all of them anyway. What makes your sound is how you mix and master, not the DAW's sound engine.
2. Cubase has great MIDI editing...I've demoed Live, and wasn't anywhere near as comfortable with its MIDI. Live is just completely different from every other sequencer, but if you like its workflow aside from the MIDI editing, you can always Rewire another sequencer in for that or use a sequencer plugin.
3. Again, if you like Live, there's nothing else really like it. Cubase has a simple elegance about it. I find it most comfortable for MIDI editing, but when it comes to things like modular connections of instruments/channels/etc., it completely fails, which is a little frustrating for someone doing electronic music where sound manipulation is key.
4. Almost everything is Rewire compatible, or will be.
Keep in mind...Live and Cubase are not the only options out there. There are 3 up-and-coming hosts you should also check out before you buy anything (and these are far cheaper than the big boys):
Tracktion
http://www.mackie.com/products/tracktion3/splash.html
(not out yet, v2 here: http://www.mackie.com/products/tracktion2/splash.html)
energyXT
REAPER
I've played with energyXT, and it's awesome--the environment is totally modular, you can hook up anything to anything else, and it's light and fast--it loads in like 2 seconds, compared to double-clicking the Cubase icon and going for a smoke.
And Tracktion3 looks kickass, maybe the closest competitor to all the established sequencers. Only thing is...none of these have MIDI editing on par with Cubase yet. :\ETA: One thing maybe worth noting...Cubase is the only sequencer WITHOUT a free downloadable demo. So if that's what you think you'll go with, make sure to try it out somehow first. I'll say again that for electronic music, it's definitely adequate because of its great MIDI editing (try out the logical editor stuff, macros, etc.), but if you're a plugin fiend who likes to really manipulate sound, it's falling behind modular hosts like energyXT (and even the way that Reason is modular with all its devices).
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Okay...never heard the originals, just critiquing this as is.
Cool sounding percussion at the start. I think the percussion is the strongest part of this piece. Kinda reminds me of Adhesive_Boy.
Overall, this doesn't have much cohesion--meaning, no sense of being held together. It sounds very spastic and all over the place. Apparently the source tunes are film score-like cues so I don't expect a rigid structure, but I'm not finding anything to grab hold of--it's like a bunch of bursts of disconnected music.
I'd suggest you listen to some remixes by Adhesive_Boy, and GrayLightning. Adhesive_Boy seems most similar in style to this, and GrayLightning is a master of ambient soundscape stuff.
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I also can't come up w/ a good name for it...any suggestions?
WiiMix?
...
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Haha, thanks.
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Not too familiar with the original, but I like this. It kept me interested melodically, though I think you could push it and do some pad swells or the like to add some tension/release. The drums are still very repetitive in the latest version though--even subtle pattern changes would do a great deal to make them less monotonous, run them through some effects like highpass/lowpass sweeps (like your lowpass at the end), pan them around, etc. There's lots you could do to vary them up and make them interesting.
I dig this, has a kind of old-school sound with tons of reverb/delay. Keep at it.
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http://leah.johnsandford.org/music/mp_tallon_remix.mp3
"Electronica" remix of the second Tallon overworld theme from Metroid Prime, tentatively titled "Jackson Break."
Some things are obviously unfinished...going to add percussion/sound effects to the ambient breakdown similar to the original, run the drums through some effects to soften them up, try for cleaner/clearer production, etc. etc. The electric piano is rigidly quantized, I know...how bad does it sound? And I'm still not sure about the opening melody...there's a modal mixture thing going on that sounds a little dicey to me, but I like it...or my ears have grown used to it. *shrug*
The original is really sparse, so I took a lot of liberty trying to flesh this out. Ending is unfinished, it's not meant to be such an abrupt transition.
Any comments appreciated. Thanks!
edit: cleaned up some awkward kicks, blah blah
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Are you using Slayer for the guitar? It sounds really fake and is very distracting. It actually works nicely as the background in the last minute or so of the song, but before that no. If you want to keep it then I'd suggest working on humanizing it (which is going to be hard for guitar) and writing more dynamic parts for it, like a real guitarist would play. The drums are also lost in mud whenever the guitar plays; it has way too much low-end and overpowers the song.
This song goes in a nice direction in the last minute. I feel like it's too long of a monotonous build-up to get there though. Some breaks/change-ups on the way could dice up the monotony.
Besides that guitar (ouch
) this isn't bad, but it needs more work before you submit. -
looks like I might actually listen to a remix
Yeah because a trance remix of J-E-N-O-V-A is something new? That's what it takes to get your precious attention?
Don't get me wrong, <3 bLiNd as said above and the clip sounds awesome, but the comments are getting kind of retarded.
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And yeah, we need more trance, dance, and techno.
Agreed--stuff that has the quality level of bLiNd, zircon, ziwtra et al.
If you're not hearing stuff you like getting passed, one productive thing you can do is comment on stuff in the WIP forum and help others make the kind of music you want to hear. There's some excellent electronica by the likes of cthonic, strike911 and others that could benefit from appreciation and criticism.
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I'm interested in what you FL guys think of the new pattern clips...I like FL, but the lack of true linear sequencing has always put me off.
And I'd love to hear what kind of phatness you can get from the new Love Philter.
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I'm just going to flat out disagree with your generalization there, bucko. Every mix currently on the front page sidebar shows either at least a high degree of musicality, or a high degree of production knowledge - some both! Whether or not you enjoy the particular stylings of a mix or the interpretive direction it takes is something else entirely, but they all display a level of quality that IMO has become progressively higher since OCR00001.
It's also pretty telling that you didn't or can't articulate exactly what aspect of the mixes is "declining in quality," so I'm guessing it's either styles you don't like, games/songs you're not familiar with, or something similarly trivial and subjective.
*shrug*
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Very cool to watch you play.
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Uninstall Vista, problem solved.
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lol @ duck synth
This is happy.
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This was really fun, glad to be a part of it. Congrats to everyone for remixing that crazy source material, and Rexy for her well-deserved win.
(And yes, I'm a chick. )It was strangely relaxing and stress-relieving to take this sort of semi-ridiculous source tune and just try to mess with it for fun. Looking forward to the next PRC. Kudos all!
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This is great! Agreed with Avaris, good advice. Leads need to be brought up more. I also agree that there should be a climactic solo at some point, because while the arrangement is gorgeous, it does kind of meander around without much direction. And regarding production - besides the leads needing more definition/presence, I also think you should accentuate the groove between drums and bass to bring up the energy.
It sounds like this is unfinished so that's not the actual ending, right?
And I believe Soundclick strips off the ID3 tags whenever you upload since it re-encodes to different formats.
So yeah, this is hot stuff. You've got a winner here, keep polishing it up. And peace to the Windy City, I miss it.
OCR01552 - Chrono Cross "Dreaming Still"
in ReMix Reviews & Comments
Posted
Her voice is such an important tonal element of the mix, why would you strip it out? Lyrics are lyrics, their enjoyment subject to personal taste.
Personally I really liked the almost drawled delivery, it made it easier to focus on the voice as instrument and not analyze the lyrics. Good comparison to Björk on the write-up--this also reminds me of the obvious Sarah McLachlan's ethereality. And the delivery of the line with the word "otherwise" (and the way each verse ends--some kind of bluesy or RnBish cadence or something?) reminded me a lot of Morcheeba, specifically, the song... "Otherwise." Very cool.
Lots of small beautiful touches in this, like the whispering. The layering of vocal tracks results in some downright haunting harmonies. Gorgeous, gorgeous song. OCR needs more trip-hop, plz and ty.