Darangen

Ok, I'm submitting this to the panel. Thanks again everyone for your critiques!

Thanks for the feedback. Here's a new mix: http://www.darangen.com/music/devotio4.mp3 What I've done: - Lowered guitars (just a little, about -1.5db on the sub bus because -3db seemed to quiet to me) - Redid the solo violin for the lead using a midi controller instead of a mouse. - Beefed up the strings a bit. I tried adding more layers on the strings but then the mix started getting really muddy. Hoping I found a happy medium here. Thanks again everyone for the feedback, even if I don't agree with certain suggestions/critiques I still greatly appreciate them.

I don't use any hard knee compression, I always use soft. I've eased up several times on the threshold and my usual ratio is 3:1 which isn't that intense at all, but I'm going for a wall of sound so it's going to be compressed. I'm happy with the level of compression I have right now.

Another new version: http://www.darangen.com/music/devotio3.mp3 Lowered the kick, brought some things to be more central in the mix.

http://www.darangen.com/music/devotio2.mp3 Did a little update. Worked out the intro a bit so it's not so choppy and redid some production. Tried something new for the break too.

Chrono Trigger - Devotio Aeternus Sources: Schala - http://youtu.be/dJtwEpQe6w0 Ocean/Undersea Palace - http://youtu.be/iSP-_hNQyYs Link to remix - http://www.darangen.com/music/devotio4.mp3 This was submitted to the panel a few months ago and I thought I had lost the project files in a computer crash. Luckily I was able to find a back up tucked away on an external drive and was able to recover a good portion of it. Had to redo some of the guitars though. Mainly submitting for Mod Review, but I'm still open to other opinions as well.

Signed up for both. Should be fun!

I somehow just discovered this. It's been on repeat for the better part of two days now. Oh the nostalgia.

I was going to suggest the same thing, but with 3 days. 5 works though.

Reading that it was supposed to show up on Oct 22nd makes me mad that they're waiting til December!

There's usually a monitoring button in the DAW that would allow you to monitor what is coming through on the mic. If not, most sound cards have the option to "listen" to the mic input. Depending on your sound card this might be an option as well. If this is what your DAW looks like: I'd imagine that the speaker looking button under the Record button on the tracks would be the monitoring button.

Who all here plays WoW? If you want to add me, my battle tag is Shadowrose#1879

It looks like they're mainly used for vocals. Seeing that it's dynamic and not a condenser mic, it's probably best for live performance - not recording. That's not to say it can't be used for recording though. A lot of times noise is accumulated in the room itself, not by the mic. Sound treatment helps a bit, but there is usually always some noise. Try different mic placements too, sometimes it's just a matter of setting it up properly to reduce the amount of noise you're getting. With dynamic mics it's pretty regular to put them right up to the instrument/mouth. Just make sure your levels are good and you're not clipping and record it as hot as possible so you're getting mostly the instrument instead of the background noise.

- When there are choirs. - When a musical phrase is repeated continuously as the other instruments slowly build around it. - When a lead or solo doesn't sound like it's just a scale or exercise. - When lyrics are spoken instead of sung.

I like it

I would think most producers/engineers would prefer a dry sound that hasn't been messed with too much so they can shape it the way they want it.

Your volume variations can be fixed with compression after the EQ. You don't need to gut your tone to free up the bass frequencies. Generally anything below 100-120hz can easily be rolled off without any sacrifice in tone. Make sure you're not judging the sound while the track is solo'd, it'll almost always sound bad on its own. You need to listen to it in the context of the song to really hear what it'll sound like. You should only solo the track when you're doing subtractive EQ to cut out problematic frequencies. Otherwise you should be listening to other instruments along side it.

Layering with similar sounds will help fatten up your leads, while layering with different kinds of leads would probably do more to make them more interesting. Be careful though, they can be too interesting and start being a distraction if you go overboard. If you're not familiar with what all those knobs on the instruments do, take some time to play around with them. Using automation on those knobs can really bring a lead to life.

I'm fairly certain Darkesword and most likely others also help with the PR stuff (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) It's not just Larry and Dave.

I think limiting the time frame of when submissions are accepted would be a bad idea. Not only because of the disadvantages you mentioned, but limiting submissions is just placing more restrictions on the community, which is always a bad thing. I get the idea you were trying to get across, fewer submissions means less work for the staff and less stress on the queue, but it also means less awesome music. Less music = very bad.

I think a "newcomer" flood would be a good concept. Kinda like -bam, here's a bunch of new talent- Game series/Compo's would work as well, for the reasons Gario pointed out.

I actually think the number of required votes is low. The issue there is getting the judges to vote on submissions. It's at 3 No's or 4 Yes's right now. It's worked for a long time.

That's basically what the Workshop forum is for. Not everybody uses it though.

I share in the problem as well. I have several ideas in the works and even more in my head, but the idea of not only waiting for it to pass through the judges panel but also potentially wait 1-2 years for it to actually show up on the front page makes me quite apathetic to submitting more often. I've always thought that having more posters would help alleviate the TBP queue. Basically, djpretzel is the only one who actually posts mixes, so no matter how streamlined the process becomes there will always be that funneling point. So maybe having one or two more people who actually post the mixes to the site would help out?

Sure, professionals prefer to use both. Professionals also prefer to have properly built and treated rooms to work in. Not many home studios really have that luxury. When you go with monitors, you could have the best monitors in the world but if your room isn't properly treated or big enough you'll most likely still be fighting a losing battle AND be out a huge chunk of change. When you go with headphones, you take the room and it's problems out of the equation.