Geoffrey Taucer

Holy shit, just saw this one on the SA thread (not mine): This is epic win right here.

I've always thought cowboy bebop was rediculously overrated. As are most (though not all) of Miyazaki's films. Anyway, Taucer's picks: Paranoia Agent Millenium Actress Ghost in the Shell Samurai Champloo Gundam Seed Wolf's Rain Blood + (not much depth of plot, but some wicked fight scenes) The first episode of Bobobobo-bobobo (first episode is fucking hilarious -- but the rest of the series just recycles the same jokes) Things to avoid: Dragonball Z and all spinoffs thereof Every Gundam series except Seed Naruto

You mean Kitsuta?

omgyes. Joe speaks the truth.

Conceptually, this is really nice. Guitars are well-played. However, both guitars and percussion are really lacking in punch; the whole mix is quite muddy. Cut the reverb a tad, and EQ the elements so they aren't all battling for the same frequency ranges. Right now it seems like the entire mix is in the upper-mid range, with absolutely nothing of note in the rest of the spectrum. Is there a bass in there at all? The mix could really use one. Percussion is not as interesting as it could be; in fact, it's a bunch of bland 2-measure loops. Granted, it switches between a number of different bland 2-measure loops, but I still think it needs a bit more variation. Transitions are abrupt, and most of the ideas really aren't developed enough. I'm not sure if this is deliberate or not; it does sort of suit the style to have abrupt changes. However, the sheer number of abrupt, zero-warning transitions throughout the piece makes it feel like a montage of ideas, rather than a cohesive mix. The mix definitely shows promise, but work remains to be done before it's OCR-ready, imo.

Ooh, this is nice. Excellent use of effects. Piano, strings, and synths are spot-on. You have a lot going on, but it avoids being chaotic, and all the elements are distinctly audible, nothing gets drowned out. That's some very skillful arranging and mixing. My only complaint is that the bass and percussion are a bit sparse, and do very little to enhance the song. Both could really use some filling out. I look forward to hearing a completed version of this. It's beautiful so far.

Whoah, looks like somebody (seventh from the left -- sorry, I forget your name) is doing a little more than DJPing.

Three cheers for Dom, Drew, and Noah! Jamspace was an excellent addition to MAGfest.

We should be able to fix it when Ross gets back home on tues.

Erm... I'm having issues with the download; it's cutting off at the end, just after the music box comes in. Only a couple seconds missing, but there should be a fadeout there. (Not sure if it's just me having this problem or what)

Started off a bit slow, but got really good towards the end. Overall, this definitely gets a thumbs up

Instrumental Rock Neil Zaza Funk/Jazz Galactic Folk Rock Great Big Sea

Holy shit this is cool. Amazing that you can make an actual mix out of a source that's less than a second long.

What you have is fine to get started. You can get some good VSTs at www.kvraudio.com, and you can get some good soundfonts at www.hammersound.net. (In order to use the soundfonts, you'll probably need a VST soundfont wrapper like SFZ. You can get that for free as well, and I think you can ge tit from KVRaudio)

May I have everybody's attention please? The following is a public service announcement: The clouds are clouds. Nothing more, nothing less. Thank you for your time and attention.

It's back.

This mix is made of pure awesome.

To claim that one does not need any knowledge of music theory to be a good composer is ignorant in the extreme. Now, you don't need to learn music theory in a formal setting to be a good musician; you can teach yourself a lot about chord structure and melodic composition by ear. But you're still learning it. Some knowledge of basic music theory is absolutely essential. You don't have to know the proper terminology, you don't have to be able to read music, but on some level, you need to understand the concepts. The classic example is Nobuo Uematsu; he has, so I've heard, no formal training whatsoever. But listen to the Prelude from Final Fantasy. Even those simple arpeggios could not possibly have been written by somebody who doesn't understand basic major and minor chord structure, as well as a few other tricks (such as the added 2nd in the first 6 arpeggios, and the added major 7th in the last 2). Granted, he may not have known the names for those chords, but he sure as hell understood how to use them.

SOME of the tracks are orchestrated. Plenty aren't. Just wanted to clear that up.

I got it. Then I typed more characters.

I really don't think the vocals are the problem. The problem is everything else. You are fairly well on-pitch, and I like the tone of your voice. These vocals would work great in the right context. But this isn't the right context, at least not in its current state. The guitars have WAAAAAAAAAY too much high-end (though that's probably just due to recording with a piezo instead of miking it). The guitars are very heavy in the most crucial frequency range for vocals, so all we can hear is the other stuff. The vocals seem to lack clarity, but I think that's just because the guitars are covering up that key frequency range. I think a fuller soundscape with quiter guitars (miked instead of piezo'd) would help a lot. Bring in some other instruments to fill things in. Also, I'd double the guitars and pan them to opposite sides.

This just might be my favorite diss ever.

holyfuckingshitmagfestinfivedaysimgoingtocum

Count me in

One other question: how do I figure out which version I need? This is the first ipod I've owned, and I have no idea whether it's first generation, second generation, or what.