Monobrow

Hmmm... Okay this is the basic jist of what this song gives me... It is nice, it has a pretty decent atmosphere, but it could be better. The slow arpeggiating muted... plucky synth is okay, but I think you could work on its sound. Maybe put a little more reverb on it, maybe put a SLIGHT delay effect on it. It's a bit detuned but I don't know if that honestly helps it sound better or not. I think the pads you bring at about :30 ish in in the beginning are kind or boring. They just don't have a meat to them that could help the soundscape. Honestly this song should be all about soundscape, and in some ways you do a nice job, but others, like those pads... Just kind of don't add that much. I'd work on beefing them up, or maybe putting chorus on them, adding a tiny tiny bit of delay, work on panning, or try some filters and compression... Anything to put meat into them. The tinkly bell thing with the delay fx on them... Just too much delay for my taste honestly... I'd either bring the volume down on that instrument in general, and make it background, and put another lead over it... Or I'd decrease the delay being on it the WHOLE song, or I'd reduce the amount of times it has the echo (or lower the volume of the echoes, and pan them better... There is potential for the song to have cool delays all around the ears, you know... Just work more at it) I kind of recognize the source, but I think you need more, but don't quote me on that since I kind of forget how it sounds... I think the song needs to build more, it kind of drags on... Since it's a "slow" mix, I would work more on the dynamics of the piece. Bring elements in, take them out, introduce newer ones, combine them in interesting ways, have "small sound" parts to chill everything out, and then build into a climax. You kind of do this, but not enough... Right now, from my first impression, I just feel like it's a meandering noise-fest... When it could be this detailed and complex um, musical adventure... Just think of drama, use your music in a way to make a point about it. It's like you should be telling a story. Anyway I hope I didn't get too abstract there, or once again, sound too harsh. The drums and percussive fx are pretty cool... The saw bass helps, but it could be more complexly written, needs more beef to it anyway. One thing I REALLY liked was that little solo you had going with the phased synth (saw?)... Needs more of that plz Anyway good luck!

Honestly, it's really hard to tell exactly what I think from the quality of your upload, but here's to trying From what I hear, I think some of your samples are poor choices. Those orchestral hits (or whatever they are?) just really make the song sound kind of weird and add this wall of noise (take away from the melody)... The sax sounds really fake. I would recommend trying to find a live instrument, or taking a LOT of time to make it sound better (you'd probably have to get a new sample)... But honestly I think you would have better luck trying something else as the lead. The drums are pretty cool... They are ambitious and are trying to give the song some needed excitement, they are like Phil Collinsesque... But the problem is, I don't really think the rest of the instrument choices sit with anything else. They also are very repetitive. You have a nice beat going, but do some breaks in there, do little nuances. They are also very overpowering with the snare, but I don't really feel like they are helping drive the mix, more like just forcing the beat in there (but are competing with the bass and orch hits) It's hard to put my finger on what is wrong with your song honestly... It's basically like this... Your instruments don't make much sense in the scheme of the song... They are competing with each other instead of working together to make the song be more than a sum of its parts. Even when the choir comes in, it's just overbearing and kind of a "why is there a choir here?", in what it conveys. Just when you make a song, think about your instrument choices, you really just want them to make sense when they are all played together. I know you are pretty much just starting out, but maybe you should update your samples or try to push for as much realism or a "legit sound" out of what you have. Pick an instrument you really like, and ask yourself: Is this the best instrument I have to represent the song I am remixing, and do I have other samples to compliment it? Build your song's soundscape around it, making choices kind of like fitting pieces into a jigsaw puzzle... Make sure the drumkits you use, the bass you pick, and everything else, is used to help highlight (in terms of contrast or compliment) what you want to convey throughout the song, as a whole. Anyway, other than that, there really isn't much arrangement going on... It kind of sounds just like the original with (arguably) updated samples and a little more complex beat. I am sorry if I sound harsh, but I hope you can take the good out of my advice and work on it more. Keep plugging at making music please! You've already got great taste for picking such an ambitious source material. I can hear things being "there" but I just don't know if I can say much more until I hear a more cohesiveness as a whole. For now it just sounds like a wall of sound.

Relaxing, but from the horrible quality of your Youtube (not recommended), I think the piano is too piercing and doesn't have enough release, needs more pedal, and probably doesn't need to be struck so hard every time. I'd add little nuances to the piano writing, if you intend to keep doing like 1 note every measure progression, just do little chords with your left hand, subtle ones, and maybe slight (echoey) subtle notes after some of your piano notes (way softer)... Also not much more to say since it is 1 minute. Needs more source tune and needs to go somewhere. Good luck, it is pretty.

Thanks and noted. Yeah Brandon, the volume is pretty low atm, and I can see where some compression could help too. As for the bass, yeah it needs some work. Thanks for pointing that out as well. Yeah the lead is a rhodes too, someone else has complained about it being overpowering at about 1 minute so that is some confirmation I needed on it. Sources for your reference. And yes the end is very WIPish atm... It just needs to friggin come together somehow. I also think the drums need tightening up somehow, but not sure which direction to take them, maybe more electronic, more compression? Thanks for the comments so far guys, please keep them coming, anything helps :U

Arcana has claimed DQ1 Battle Theme, more yays!

Again... YAY! Seriously, never have I said it so much in such a short period of time. Yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay!

Yay Well I guess this means I need to redo my song If I get some other priority songs out of the way I would love to claim another track. We will see though.

http://www.songportal.org/katie/robos/wips/FFIVCLEANER_82.mp3 Hey guys. I released this originally as a BONUS TRACK for the FFIV Project. I have been off and on redoing it since then. The original was severely rushed to be a bonus for the project, I got Ari to do drums for me overnight, over a disjointed and unfinished song. Anyway for the most part his stuff is gone, and I am redoing it all myself. My questions are as follows: 1. If I fix it up, do you think it is OCR worthy? Why or why not? 2. What do you think about certain instrument choices? What do you like, what bothers you, and do you have any suggestions? 3. Some things may not get the point across as clear as I hear, so what feels "empty" and what needs more meat to it? 4. What do you think of the drums? 5. How is the mixing, does everything sit well? 6. Anything else come to mind? Thanks ahead of time :J P.S. DOES THE RHODES BOTHER YOU IN ANY WAY? How about the resonance on the rhodes? Are any FREQ too high for your ears or bothering you? Thanks this is REALLY IMPORTANT!

Yay, get 'em while they're hot.... and cakes!

Yes, the soldier from DQIII will be a big breasted woman *_*

Okay dudes I have another slight announcement to make. I'm going to take on the CRAZY task of doing the artwork for this project. For those of you who don't know, my major in school was animation. I am not a bad artist, so don't worry! I am thinking about doing a more traditional, fantasy (American) type artwork, nothing in the style of Akira Toriyama. Sound like a good idea?

I think it is awesome and I am not biased at all! Also I want to give special thanks for dhsu for that... bass... thing... And Posibolt for giving me a midi that I ended up not using but it was still really nice of him to do!

Added norg to the list for DQ3 Credits. Things are coming together :J

Ari has a good solid updated WIP done already, but he is trying to finish it asap too. He deleted the last two minutes he had and is going to try again *_*

hahaha, that was one of the funniest ones nothing beats McRoll though

My song for MWW is like five years old now: Basically for it to become project material, I would definitely have to redo it, and I probably wouldn't make a song like that, or take it in that direction... That being said, go ahead and listen to this old song http://www.songportal.org/katie/robos/wips/Monobrow%20-%20(dream%20within%20dream)1.mp3

I've drawn basically hundreds of nude poses. I have sketchbooks full of them. Art colleges usually commission people to come in nude (or partially nude, we had a couple dudes wear thongs etc.). They stay anywhere from 2 to 4 hours usually, and get paid about 50 dollars per hour. They usually do it once or twice a week, depending. People draw nudes because the human body is basically the coolest thing, and you are only really going to learn the nuances of muscle and bone and lighting and how things connect and what they look like when you twist and turn them by drawing them over and over. Sometimes nude models will stay in a pose only for a few seconds and the artists will try to sketch these up as fast as possible to get loose, and practice getting basically the most important information down from the pose. This is called gestural drawing. Some poses last longer, ten, twenty, thirty minutes. I once drew a man and he posed for about four hours, with a couple breaks. When he came back from his break, we had to talk him back into his pose, and adjust what had changed. Basically, any good artist, especially in animation and character design, should have drawing from life to reference. The best artists can remember, but its always good to have a reference, especially if you are making cover art for a game and making $$$$$. /end

Yeah dude, there's no rush right now on hotels. When we know the "official" hotel that most people have agreed on to stay in, we will update the first posts and let you know. Not that you have to stay there, but if you want transportation, and for to not be a hassle to meet up with you etc. (some of us have cars) it would be best to wait and see what we pick first. Flights, I am not sure how far ahead you can book. You can start looking any time, and I think the dates are finalized for the most part, but it still is about six months away... So I think it's best to wait just a bit. I recommend: AllegiantAir If you live in one of those towns that goes to Vegas, you're in luck. If not: Try SouthWest Airlines

That's pretty damn cool!

Hey guy :J

Yay, we have two more mixers today. Anyway DiggiDis has joined and has claimed the track "Heavenly Flight" from DQ3 And ilp0 ALSO has joined and is claiming the DQ3 "Dungeon" theme. Good luck guys! Please keep me updated with your progress! Make sure you read page one, and if any of you have not yet joined the KNGI FORUMS, please do so and post your WIPS accordingly (talk in the shoutbox to let Kyle know you're on this project)

HarmDis, what program do you use if I may ask?

Hey. Hmmm, honestly this sounds kind of crazy lol. Very interesting... I think your music in general needs to sound tighter, more cohesive. This is like a midi rip with very weird instrument choices and crazy all over the place drums. The intro with the sax and flute is cute, the drums sound okay but not stellar. Then there is a banjo too... haha... When the guitar comes in, it sounds out of tune. The drums get cool but then kind of go into that little highhat snare riff... And they feel out of place for that portion of the mix. The writing is fine, I just don't think that's the place for that type of drumwork. You kick it up a notch and the song gets heavy. The drums are pretty cool here, they fit the type of music you are making. Your electric guitars (synths?) have a kind of annoying tone to them. The higher one is just too overpowering and ear grating, and like I mentioned before, out of tune. The lower guitar sounds okay, but it overpowers a lot... I don't think I like the tone of either of them honestly. I can't tell if there is clipping but I am sure there is, I have the volume turned down atm because I don't want to wake anyone up with my headphones lol. There is a weird trail off, and then the acoustic guitar part comes in. It is kind of unnecessary, and it doesn't really sound like an acoustic guitar part, it's played more like a harp. I'd look into the way you are writing for it. Overall, you have some cool drumwork, I think when it works it really works. But when it doesn't, it takes so much away from the song. Also your song, as weird as it sounds, I think sticks too close to the source material, it really just sounds like a midi rip with crazy instrumentation... Try to take the song in a new direction, solo over parts, add your own progressions... But do it in a way that honors the original... That's kind of what OCR is about nowadays. You seem to be kind of going for some sort of progressive rock sound. It's not quite there yet, but keep trying okay? If you make your writing and sound tighter, I bet you could come up with some cool stuff. Watch the clipping, and try to make sure your instruments are all together, trying to accomplish the same goal. Sorry for the harsh advice, keep it up okay?

You're on, go for it and get me a WIP as fast as possibleh!