ambient
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Awesome, Undersea Palace remixed in dubstep!
I have not listened to your previous versions, but I can definitely hear the source in your latest version. The very first seconds of the intro are kind of weak, but that is quickly remedied and I am really digging the intro from 0:09 and on. I think you bass synths are great, and the beats are pretty pumping. Maybe your snare can be a bit more pronounced/harder? The lead coming at about 0:38, is kind of lo-fi and dry, and I would swap it for something more interesting. I would also change up the melody a bit more and make it funkier. How, I can't say, since I would just play around with it and make it rhythmically more interesting for dubstep. The dynamic change at 0:53 is a good idea. However, once again, I would say the lead synths could be more interesting. That transition to Magus's theme starting at 2:10 is pretty cool. At 2:53, I would bring the track back to full power (something like you have in the intro 0:20-0:30) and maybe go through a funked up main undersea palace melody one more time before the ending.
All in all, I think the intro and the magus theme transition are the strongest and most interesting parts of the mix. Other sections could definitely use some work to make this mix really shine. It's not that it's bad, au contraire, I like it. I just can see more potential in it.
I have remixed Undersea Palace before, but your mix gave me some ideas and I might actually do another version of it.
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How do you think half the people here learnt this stuff, at school? Pfft. You learn through experimentation. When someone says, "the low end is really cluttered, perhaps use an EQ", you go try and find the "EQ" setting in your DAW. You play with it, see what sounds it makes, perhaps Wiki it to see what's going on technically. With any of these criticisms you simply Google words you don't understand, perhaps ask for clarification if you're really stuck and just experiment.
You're not good right off the bat, it takes time.
Totally agree with everything ProtoDome said. Experiment, look up stuff on the net, there are a million tutorials out there, even on youtube you can find a ton of useful stuff. I actually constantly refer to different tutorials I find on different sites. I use Reason, so don't really know what the links to FL tutorials are. But I am sure you can find plenty of them very easily. Plus, if you spend more time in the community, log into the IRC channel, participate in a couple of remixing competitions on the site, you will pick up all the terminology and you will find a lot of people who are really good at teaching you better techniques and giving practical advice or are simply willing to share what they know.
Definitely keep on doing it and don't get discouraged!
P.S. Sorry, started drafting this before psychowolf made his post but didn't get to post it due to connection issues.
EDIT. zircon has a few tutorials posted on his site:
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This made me think of one of my early attempts at remixing - Fields of Time from Chrono Cross. Sounds just as sparse and yet cluttered at the same time.
Dude, love your fancy post with images and all. But your remix needs a lot of work. First of all, you are obviously using one loop (and chopping it occasionally) that sounds a little wrong for either of the BPMs. I like that you are at least trying to break up the track into different sections, have a bit of a drop, that's cool. But it is still very close to the original. Production is weak as well - drum loop is very lo-fi, instruments drown in reverb and yet still sound low quality.
Keep at it and ask peeps for more feedback!
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ONE thing. It is way too conservative.
I think Rockos is being diplomatic here. This is at best a cover, and at worst a midi-rip. Same point applies to your Zeal theme cover posted on the forums. It is really hard to judge and give constructive feedback since what you have posted shows no indication of the level of your rearrangement skills. What one can tell from the mix, is that you can cover the source (or import a midi into a DAW), layer some drums in there, then loop it for several minutes. But right now there is almost no originality in your work.
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Nice work! This is mix has really promising parts and some that can definitely be improved. I am digging the direction, but I think the structure, some instrument choices, and drum variations can be improved. And personally, I would love to hear the source's main theme being a little more obvious. Liked your ideas in the breakdown section too. I think your mastering is solid. Drums sound good, but for OCR they could use more variations, perhaps some more fills and more interesting fills than you have now.
It's a bit late here and I am tired, so, my apologies but this will have to do for now.
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Anyone who doesn't mine their own metal to build a bike, to generate electricity, for a custom made synthesizer, which was hand crafted, programmed, and put together by themselves, and hooked up to a custom built computer, with a custom OS, and a custom DAW, with a custom firewire interface to record said custom synthesizer, to a custom sound format and put it on a custom internet is a noob
Unless you've done that, you suck at making music.
End of discussion
ROFL!!! I actually busted out laughing!
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Some people might be surprised that I actually use a lot of presets in my music. I'm very capable at designing my own sounds and know my way around most kinds of synthesizers, but there's almost nothing more inspiring to me than picking up a beautiful analog patch from Omnisphere, or a gorgeous guitar instrument and just playing away. Sometimes, getting mired in programming kills my creativity, or I just spend hours on a patch that doesn't sound all that amazing to begin with.I do not hate presets, on the contrary: I love them and I need them.
I am by far not proficient enough to set everything up from scratch - be it a reverb or a compressor or whatever. I am happy to have presets that I can use. Of course I need to adjust them to the task at hand, but it is always a good basis to start working with. For me, at least.
More voices of reason right there.
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I wanna argue against your point of it being counterproductive, since knowing how to tweak patches or make your own helps you tweak or design more fitting sounds. As useful as presets are when they fit, they're easily used when they don't fit, leading to problems mixing/getting a cohesive sound. Even when just a little editing would be enough.
Agreed. I think maybe we are now arguing about the degree of tweaking the presets.
Also, Mustin, thanks for your post, now I know that other remixers share my point of view and I am not just crazy.
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As someone who prefers to at least tweak ALL presets I use and filter or otherwise mangle whatever loops I use, I might be able to answer the OP's question.
I don't like having other ppl's footprints in my art. While I can't make everything from scratch (presets->synths->DAW->computer and OS->electricity), I prefer not relying too heavily on other ppl's work when creating my own stuff. That means I sometimes make my own sounds from initialized patches on the synths I use (which is a great way to learn how the synth, and synthesis in general, works), and when opportunity comes to use them, I do. That way, I can also provide a bit of continuity between songs. You'll hear the same fake shaker I made for Beyond Velocity in some of my other tracks as well. Same with the bass drop I found and modified for Braincooler. I based Aurora Australis on the sounds of Aurora Borealis.
While I don't spend as much time designing my own sounds these days, I do want to modify whatever sounds I wanna use to make them more my own. Same with loops. Most of the drums in Eye of the Storm are from a single GarageBand loop. They're just filtered to keep them from being too recognizable, and for me to be a little more creative with them.
I guess that's really what it comes down to - creativity. If you build your own sounds, your sound design is more yours than someone who just uses presets and loops. You probably don't wanna hear the same presets in every song by everyone.
Maybe it's also a skill-related thing. Even if there's a thousand synths out there, most ppl will use the default ones that came with their DAW, or a handful of big names. Recognizing presets tells you what they're using, and reveals that they didn't design their own sounds. Maybe they don't know how. If I know, then I'm "obviously" better than them.
idunno, I just like sounding more like me than like Omnisphere's presets.
I don't want to come off as an ass, but it is kind of strange saying things like "I don't like other people's footprint in my art" when the discussion is taking place on a remixing site. Perhaps we can also suggest designing your own hardware and then programming it to achieve the desired sounds? Why not take it that far?
Also, presets mostly annoy only other music makers, as they are the ones who would recognize them. A casual listener would not know the difference. Hating on presets just because they are presets makes no sense, as long as the end result is a solid sounding track. I mean, after all, no one bitches that live bands use the same instruments all the time. An instrument is an instrument, and a patch is a patch, as long as you use it well and it fits.
Most of this attitude towards presets hangs on the fact that certain people in the community who are into synth design, hate on those who aren't, and consider themselves superior. It is unwarranted and often counterproductive, as it encourages messing with samples and patches for no other reason but to make them sound different to avoid ridicule and condescension. And that is not how creative process should take place. You take different sounds and you make them fit together. Do you need to program your own synth to achieve the result you are looking for? More power to you. Does a preset fit exactly as you want it to in your mix? Go for it.
I am sure that most people on the site who use presets process and tweak them at least slightly, but presets do provide a good starting point. And often a recognizable sound is exactly what people are looking to include in their mix, only to get negative remarks from synth-design purists.
Rozo, this is not an attack on you, but rather a general remark about the attitudes within the community in general.
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Awesome. Love it. I can go into saying how great it is, but there are just too many good things about and I am feeling lazy. What I will share are my gripes - difficulty level feels more like SOR3 and can be a bit discouraging at first, the "star" specials seem not to work consistently so using them is pointless, in some cases players can still hit each other when playing in 2-player co-op mode (this is really nitpicky, I admit). But most of all, it seems like Axel got neutered and his "grand uppa" is not quite as powerful as I remember.
But really, this remake is great. Love all the new areas, weapons, npcs/enemies, branching scenarios, new gameplay elements, store/extras. I think it shows a good balance of new additions while still retaining the authentic SOR feel - feels as if I am playing SOR3 on Gens.
Great work!!!
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Ah Tekken. So underremixed and so underrepresented on this site. Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag had some of the catchiest soundtracks of the series, so it is nice to see people attempting to come up with some remixes. A while back I started working on a remix of Paul's theme from TTT, but never completed it, plus it was when I was just getting into remixing so it was not all that good, though if I still had the original file I would have definitely tried to finish it now.
Original:
Nina's theme from T3 is so groovy and funky, so a lot of character is lost when you take the swing out of it. I see that you are trying to take it towards a more electronic sounding remix, and it is fine if you want to take the swing out, but you have to compensate for it somehow. You definitely need to come up with something better for your drums, the samples are weak and sequencing is not very imaginative. The synths are also pretty basic, and while basic is not always bad, you need to master your track better to make them sound good. There is also not much in terms of rearrangement going on. Right now the remix sounds almost like a simplified and midi-fied version of the original.
I definitely encourage you to work on this and improve your overall skills. There are plenty of tutorials on youtube for all kinds of music making software, so if you invest another 20-40 hours in working on your skills, you should see substantial improvement.
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I see your point Shake. Bass/drums do not vary too much, but this is just an early WIP, so the variations would definitely be introduced. Though most likely it would be that the bass pattern would be changed a little in the intro section and drums would vary only a little. Otherwise you can't establish a steady groove in a dance track. If you keep on changing the beat, people on the dance floor will get pissed.
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This is pretty schway.
Schway indeed!
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Do people still consider Inception to be a masterpiece? Talk about plot holes... The entire movie was one giant plot hole... A giant plot hole within a dream, within a Taco Bell, within - well, you know the rest.
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Why don't you put a layer of "keep it groovin" somewhere in the mix? I think it'd be great!
Actually, I've thought of that, the two could definitely work together. The thing is, I just subbed a mix of "keep the groovin" to the panel, so thought adding it in here would be overdoing it a bit. But I still might
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Aight,
So here is a quick WIP of a mix that I started a couple days ago.
Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions.
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Wow. This is amazing stuff! Please make more.
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Does "off the dome" nowadays mean "straight from vgmusic.com"? Just playin'.
Whether off the dome or not, this is pretty much the original, with some minimal variations on the lead, and a slightly longer variation section around 2:10, which still is too little to call it a rearrangement. The drumloop, while nice, is just that, a loop that keeps on repeating with little variation. Instrument/synth choices are not the best either.
This is your typical "original/near cover over a repetitive drumploop" situation. If you are looking to get on ocr, I would say you need to go back to the drawing board.
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Awesome remix. Great guitars, and the piano that comes in at 1:25 is very tastefully done. One big gripe with it - why is it so short?
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Great stuff. Though, if Trent decided to go the female singer route, he should have just hired Kelli Ali.
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I meant the entire first minute. You will probably need to make it shorter and completely redo it.
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You also forgot to mention that it is too long.
Oh man, Tekken 2, loved that game to death. Blew my mind when I first saw it. However, I was never crazy about the music in this one, and to me the TTT soundtrack is still the best of all of them.
Now, let's talk about the mix. The intro and outro are weak and only underscore the poor quality of samples used. What software are you using? I would say that I am ok with your piano, but the judges probably said it is too mechanical. Drum samples are subpar, and you can definitely make your patterns more varied and interesting and use more drums than just one snare, two kicks, and a high hat. But you've laid out a good base.
This is a really bad track to pick as your first remix, especially if you are just getting into this whole rearrangement thing. The source is pretty short, and does not offer much. The melody is catchy, but you can only milk it so much.
So, constructive points - depending on what software you are using, get better samples, vtsi's, and effects. If you post here what software you are using, people will be able to offer more specific hints. There are definitely many tricks to help your instruments and your overall mix sounds better even with lower quality samples. Arrangement-wise, I gotta say, you are fighting an uphill battle - but you might as well use this track to practice getting a better quality sound, maybe tweaking your arrangement a bit to make it closer to ocr standards. At the very least, you will learn from it. Anyhow, I would recommend redoing the intro and the outro, making them a bit shorter - they really sound poor.
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Is this some kind of super experimental remix? Or is this a joke remix? I am not trying to be a dick, just the vibe I get from it. It sounds like drums, harmony, licks and effects were muted. This is not yet a whole.
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Awesome job! Absolutely love the mix. Very much surprised I haven't come across it before. This is one of the better house remixes on the site and a must listen for anyone who likes dance music.
That being said - the piano playing the main theme sounds very inadequate for the lead. It sounds solid during the breakdown, but not when it is playing the main theme. And, I totally fine with the voice samples.
Now its time to check out Marc Star's other mixes!
OCR02238 - Final Fantasy IV "Path of Deception"
in ReMix Reviews & Comments
Posted
A new mix by bLiNd? Definitely gotta check it out!
I have to agree with DJP, this definitely has Orbital's Halcyon + On + On vibe to it, only with 21st century production quality. Everything about this mix is top notch. I think if the judges take Rayza's comment about setting the bar for progressive trance to heart, we will be seeing a lot of NOs in the future.
Still, bLiNd is my OCR Linkin Park - still making great music, but somehow lacking that je ne sais quoi, that catchy quality of his earlier works. Perhaps source choices are to blame?
Never mind. This is an awesome remix and a must-have. If you haven't already, download it now!