Darangen

Most people are considerate enough that if they know someone is already working on the track they would choose something else. Communication is the key, keep Prophecy updated and he might be able to steer people away from it if he knows you're actually working on it. I do think it'd help to mark the tracks in the main post that have been tentatively claimed by unposted remixers so people who don't read the entire thread would be aware that someone is attempting to claim the track. Again, communication is key, and letting people know what tracks are already being worked on might guide them to an uncovered track which would help fill out the list. Of course if a posted remixer wants to take a track that's already being worked on by an unposted remixer, that could still happen with the rules of the project. I just like to believe in the goodness of people and think they would choose a different track if they were aware of the situation.

I wouldn't mind throwing my name in for Dark World.

Haha, I actually lol'd and my boss looked at me funny.

I've seen many professional studios use trackballs. Probably about half of the one's I've walked into. End of the day, I think it comes down to user preference. A mouse certainly won't make your music sound better, it's just a matter of what is comfortable to you.

Xenosaga, if you can get past the painful episode 2 mechanics. Great Story. Uncharted 1-3, all of the stories are captivating. Anything in the Tales series, Final Fantasy (10 and earlier) series. Atelier Iris 2 was actually really enjoyable for me as well. Haven't played any of the other Eternal Mana games though.

For me, the most important thing to do is decide what kind of music you want to start making, then saturate yourself in that style by listening to people who already make music similar to that. Don't just listen to the melodies, but the supporting instruments as well, listen to the little extra things thrown in there, get a real feel of everything that makes the song complete. Then you'll know what kind of things you'll need to start learning how to understand and creating. Music theory is important but it's not the save-all of music, it just makes it easier to understand and takes out a lot of the guess work when figuring out what will fit and what won't. I know several people who know Music Theory inside and out but can't write music to save their life. I also know musicians who know no Music Theory who also can't write music to save their life. The point I'm trying to make is that it's incredibly helpful, but not a staple quality in every good music writer. When you're sitting around and no music is playing, do you hear music in your head? What kind of music is it? What catches your attention when you're listening to music? I'd start there and start learning a couple of songs in that genre to get an idea of how each part works together to make the whole composition. Then I'd start using some of those ideas to make your own creation and do that over and over until you have your own style crafted from it.

Dunlop Jazz III picks all the way, 1.18 mm I use Dean Markley strings, medium gauge for my electrics (.11-.48 ) I use Elixir Nanoweb strings on my acoustics, usually custom light's unless I'm down-tuning, then I'll use regular/medium gauges. I should add that I recently tried Ernie Ball - Not at all slinky for my baritone guitar, and I'm finding them quite awesome. I may end up switching my standard guitars to Ernie Ball if their normal gauges are decent as well.

The reason I chose the DT-880's over some of the other options was how comfortable they were, they just fit great. That could be completely different for you. Just keep trying them out until you've found a pair that feels comfortable (you want to be able to use them for hours at a time potentially) and still allows you to hear things clearly. As for price, I found that the quality of the headphones dropped significantly once you start going for the cheaper models. They weren't comfortable and I didn't like the response I got from them. That's not to say you couldn't find a cheaper pair with the same qualities, I just couldn't find one myself. If you buy top-of-the-line headphones, you'll never need another pair unless you're careless with them and treat them like crap. If you're serious about your music sometimes you've got to be willing to shell out the extra money for the better equipment. There are some things that just aren't worth skimping out on, and headphones/monitors are definitely one of those things.

I went with the DT-880's. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic-DT-880-Premium-Headphones/dp/B000F2BLTM They're actually comfortable and don't give me headaches during periods of long use. I'd suggest going to your local music store though, like a samash or guitar center or whatever you have in your area and try out a lot of their headphones. I did that at my local store and took home the DT-880's.

Something I learned from Zircon was that you can get cheap, not-so-great monitors for $300, or amazing top of the line headphones for the same $300 or less. I spent $400 on monitors about 5 years ago and spent $250 on headphones last year - I use the headphones for all my mixing now and I think the quality has improved greatly as well. The monitors I bought still get used, but when I'm doing the final mixdown I always prefer the headphones because the mix ends up coming out much tighter and more polished overall.

My creative spree occurred this weekend, I've submitted a WiP with everything I could get done this weekend. Depending on how much time I have available to me this week, you might see a finished track next weekend.

Almost positive that's not an acceptable submission. Right from the submission guidelines.

I use Sonar's step sequencer most of the time. When I don't use it, I use a midi controller to play them in. My drums are usually pretty basic though, nothing really amazing.

As to why this won't get resubbed: When I play the rhythm track with the click in the DAW it's right on. I think having two guitar parts going at the same time is what's making it sound off. The only option there would be muting one of the sets of tracks so they don't clash together. The other gripe they had was the bass notes in the beginning, which is meant as an effect as mechanical noise. I originally had the verses spread out, but they were so short that I eventually decided to combine them into one verse. The chorus was also originally two separate sections that were combined for the same reason. It just seemed like it was long (about 7 minutes) for something with about only a few phrases of lyrics and started sounding repetitive. I'm all for longer songs, but length for length's sake is never really a good thing. I appreciate the comments though

Mod Review Version : http://www.darangen.com/music/39%20ReFinding%20Who%20We%20Are.mp3 ---------------------------------------------- Killer Instinct - Finding Who We Are Killer Instinct - Finding Who We Are (Instrumental)(since I know some people aren't going to want vocals) Original Source: Recently submitted this to OCR, but it was declined by the judges. Judges Decision I'm currently working on a few other things, but plan on tweaking a few things for resubmission in the near future.

I was never working with Ergosonic, Bahamut had set it as 2 separate tracks. To clarify, I meant no hostility from my previous post. I respect your choices as a director on this project and I have no intention on trying to change how you do things. But to perhaps better put it, when you get something from me it'll be a finished product, not a wip.

It might've been 5... it was a long time ago. Too long ago.

Maybe? I haven't gone since MaG4, I'm probably overdue.

I recently switched to Amp Sims simply because I can tweak sounds and settings after the part has been recorded instead of needing to re-record a part. I can't get the exact sound I want in my amp sim, but I can't really get the exact sound I want from my line 6 or tube amp either. I'm still working on learning some of the finer points of getting a great tone. I'm not going to blame that lack of experience on the sim or amp though, that'd be childish.

You can ask any director of any project I've been on - I've never made a WIP deadline. I do, however, ALWAYS make the final deadline. It's not how I work. My mixes come out of creative bursts that happen when the time is right and are usually finished within 48 hours. I'll make the track either way, and I understand why you have deadlines - you want to make sure progress is being made on the project - but if someone else claims the track and submits their WIP I'll just release mine outside the project, which is fine.

This. You also should consider how the majority of music is listened to today. iPods, mp3 players, etc. That means headphones are what many people are using to listen to music today. Sure, you still have some stereo systems, car stereo's, etc., but at least here in Florida it's hard to go anywhere without seeing a handful of people with headphones in their ears.

I'm pretty busy this week, but I'll try to get at least something together.

You'll definitely need more low end to get closer to that tone. There are many factors that contribute to your tone, so getting an exact match is pretty difficult. Different pickups will give you different tones, different amps, etc. I'd start with adding bass though. With one hand, palm mute and continuously pick away at the low e string while adjusting the bass and gain nob so that you have a nice heavy tone, but aren't getting thwumping bass boom. Pick pretty hard so it doesn't randomly appear later on. They're probably scooping out some of the mids in there as well, don't cut them completely but maybe a 2-3 of 10.

It's not terrible by any means. It sounds a bit tinny maybe, but for that style it's perfectly normal. Do you know what sound you're going for?

I like it, reminds me of older days when games were about storylines and gameplay instead of pretty graphics.