big giant circles

I would disagree with this, and in my opinion, I was not a huge fan of the electric guitar tone. I can't help but listen to this and wish that a slightly different set of FX were used for the rhythm guitar, and that the midrange was pulled back just a bit. That being said, this is still easily DP material. Awesome arrangement and performance and solid mixing. YES

Agreed on all counts. There's probably VERY few times that I would imagine that such heavy processing would sound good on brass in this type of music, but man, it sounds really awesome, I love it! I'm fairly OK with the conservative nature of the mix, but I do agree that just when it starts gaining it's full momentum, it does lose it's steam shortly after. On the whole, I think it's a fantastic remix, but seeing as this already has 4 NO's, and though I'm inclined to throw it a sympathetic YES, I think that ultimately it may be an uphill battle with the panelists who haven't chimed in yet, so I'm just going to go ahead and confirm that this is a SOLID foundation, and that maybe if you can add a bit more to the first half, and maybe expand on that section from 1:45 - 2:00 or so, where the mix is kind of at its climax, this would probably get an easy and unanimous YES from the panel. Really great work, please resubmit this. Feel free to PM one of us when you have done so, and we'll get it back up here for a quick re-judge. RESBUMIT!

Happy birthday CHooj the jooj! :nicework:

I'm flattered by all the BGC-oriented questions, but remember guys, this is your opportunity to ask questions to some other very cool dudes in the industry! -Jack Wall was recently named one of the top 50 people in the video game industry by Game Developer Magazine. He's the conductor of the world-famous Video Games Live concert production. -Sam Hulick and David Kates are Mass Effect veterans. Both worked with Jack on Mass Effect 1 and are both super talented and really nice guys. -Many of you should already know Brian DiDomenico from Game Music Radio with Becky Young. He played a critical role in the Mass Effect 2 score as well. So while I'm definitely flattered by all your kind words, remember, there's also a wealth of cool information to be found by picking the brains of the collective team, or any of these awesome dudes individually!

kick you, Wes Also, big Happy Birthday to Mrs. Brandon today!

I've gotta bump this thread. I've been looking forward to this album way back since "Era's End", which I have since spent many many collective hours listening to since I bought it back in the day. I personally loved the vox on Square Mile. I'm not an auto-tune hater, and the style of the harmonies reminds me a lot of Imogen Heap's stuff (that's a good thing). Definitely worth the wait. Guys, I definitely encourage you to buy this album for a few reasons, including but not limited to the following: it's great support Alex so he'll make more albums would BGC steer you wrong?

Yeah, reading up on it is a good idea. Essentially though, mixers are typically thought of in the sense that you can shape your audio before it's recorded/heard. Audio interfaces, on the other hand, generally just pass the audio along to your computer exactly the way they are already and then you can shape it inside your computer. One isn't really better than the other, as long as you're recording at the same quality/resolution. For home studios, most people have an audio interface (which is also basically another way of saying external sound card). That's what I use. Personally, I don't have the space for a mixer, or the need for one, because I EQ everything in my DAW, so really, all I need is a place to plug in my guitar/mic/etc and know that I can record it with minimal latency and at a good quality. There are plenty of mixers that will do the same thing that can pass music digitally to your computer the same way (USB cable etc), but again, they take up more space, and all the extra knobs and sliders really aren't even necessary for most people. That's not to say they're completely pointless, if you look in many high-end studios, most have really big mixing consoles that do have all the extra knobs & sliders. But I'm telling you, the quality of your preamp is probably going to make the most difference, not the position of your EQ on the mixer. At least when you're recording, anyway. There's really no right and wrong to this question, and in a way it's like comparing a mini-van to a coupe. They both essentially achieve the same end, but there are pros and cons to both when comparing, and in the end, it's mostly a matter of preference. Hope that helps some.

Oxygen 49 is a great keyboard, beginner or not. Enjoy it.

So are you looking for an actual mixer? Like, a console mixer? Or are you looking for an audio interface? If you're not quite sure the difference, just say so and I'll elaborate.

pretty much all the M-audio MIDI keyboards come with Live Lite. When you say "I need a controller", there's really not much about that keyboard that will serve as a MIDI controller. Just to clarify, a keyboard and a controller are not necessarily the same thing, but most keyboards offer lots of options in the way of implementing the two together. If you want more "control" out of your MIDI keyboard, I'd opt for something with more knobs and sliders, like the M-Audio Oxygen series. Otherwise, the keyrig is pretty much just a keyboard.

happy birthday, Ken!

Happy Birthday!!

Aight people, good music + donating to a good cause, doesn't get much better than that!

Clearly you don't have any idea how most labels operate. Clearly. As for the Meteo's query, this is the type of question that you need to direct to the person/entity who's contract you have signed/will be signing, not an internet forum.

Bwahaha! I accept your challenge, sir Dude of the puzzled-variety! As we all know, a hot chick in a metal suit will always prevail over a brain in a jar!

One thing you guys have to bear in mind, is the source tune is not outstandingly melodic either. It's mostly a groove track. But yeah, the textures and layering and just overall enhancement are what set this one above the bar for me.

D'oh! Totally didn't see that. Bummer man

Hoo boy, this is a remix of what is actually an INCREDIBLY short source loop. It's essentially a six-chord walkdown that lasts about 8 measures (though the progression itself only lasts 4 and is repeated twice with slight variation in the instruments). So that leaves us with what sounds to me like a virtually original piece of music that is also centered on those six chords. Bleh, I think this is a brilliant performance/arrangement, but so far I'm inclined to vote NO (regrettably) simply because the remix sounds virtually nothing at ALL like the source. I'm fairly certain that 99% of our listeners would not be able to recognize the source tune if they heard only the remix, even if they'd played the game, and to me, that's kind of the unfortunate deciding factor, stopwatch not even being taken into account. 1:07 - 2:58 doesn't even follow the chord structure, and based on the single source tune provided, I'd say it's 100% original with absolutely zero connection. The last section of the remix does seem to actually branch out and arrange what is the first 2 seconds of the source tune, and for what it's worth, I'd say it's relatively well done--the ending itself IS actually particularly obvious, but the rest of the remix just deviates much too far from any familiarity and recognition to the source tune. Sorry to have to throw down a dissenting vote on this amazing piano piece, but it's just not quite what our site has in mind as far as a "ReMix" goes. Our submission guidelins state that: NO OVERRIDE Bummer. Otherwise, thanks for your submission--I'd love to hear more work from you in the future!

I too shall respectfully disagree that it's your best work. HOWEVER, I think it's a great track, so don't take that as a criticism or anything, it's only my opinion. Besides, I always tend to think my latest track is always my best work, especially since I tend to try new things in almost everything I do, so that's probably what Will's saying here, in perhaps less words Will's got a master's degree in arpeggiation, so I don't really have anything to say except nice work there. I'm not sure I'm feeling the writing for the organ 100%, but it's not bad at all. It kind of gives the music what I would consider a very Castlevania - Belmont's Revenge sort of feel (which has some really AWESOME music, it's a standout for me, even among other Castlevania games). I also kind of feel what Andrew's saying about the drums. They're no deal-breaker, certainly, but of all the strengths that Willrock has been developing, I feel like his drumwork is still not quite in possession of that mysterious *it* factor. That being said, I think the sequencing was pretty well done. If I had to force a guess, I think that tiny quirk I have is more related to the general tone of the drums. Sounds like there's some reverb and EQ on them that just don't always line up 100% with the rest of the textures in his mixes at times, and that's probably the case here. Although, I suppose they do give his mix a kind of 80's/early 90's-esque tone, which is kind of nice. Anyway, blah blah blah, nice work, nice arrangement, nothing short of enjoyable once again. YEP

Interesting adaptation. Not a bad job on the vocals, some of Deia's better work, I'd say Not sure I'm feeling the synthwork as much as Darke. Portamento synth is kind of like using drum loops. It's fine, but I feel like it should rarely be used as a primary, central, and constant element in a track. Especially if the tone doesn't evolve in some way. Not doing so is (to me) like playing virtually any wind instrument at one constant volume with absolutely zero expression/vibrato/dynamic change at all, and that's pretty much how I feel about that lead... Sorry guys Probably my most critical gripe is that the mix is filled with clutter, and I can tell you the biggest cause of that is the piano. Low chords that consist of such close intervals = kind of a mess. Take the chorus at 1:12 for example. The piano is--well, pretty bad I hate to say. Sounds like there's a lot of reverb and sustain on what is already a pretty mechanical piano tone. Don't do that. Reverb is generally something you want to use VERY sparingly on lower registers. Also sounds like the cymbal rolls/swells are mixed a little loud. Kind of makes the sample insertion kind of obvious--that probably could have been a bit quiter with a bit more wetness on the reverb to take away the edge. On the arrangement end, I would have enjoyed a breakdown, because like Darke, I agree it is kind of hard to hear the black-and-white connection to the original (aside from the lyrics themselves). Remixing lyrical source tunes can tend to be sort of a catch 22, because I do realize on one hand, if you stay absolutely verbatim, you risk staying a little too conservative, and if you deviate by much, we end up where we are now, where it can be hard to hear the original melody at all. Anyway, good job on the vocals, but mediocre mixing, cluttered instrumentation/arrangement and a fadeout ending, and what seems like possibly a very liberal arrangement = not quite there yet. Good foundation, I'm not gonna lie, this needs some work yet, but I can definitely see it getting passed if given a little TLC. REWORK/RESUB

Interesting story behind the title, haha. Definitely digging the atmosphere here as well. Seems like a nice adaptation from a more organic vibe to an electronic one. It's not quite groundbreaking, but it's definitely good music to chill to. I caught myself bobbing my head slightly (djp-ing, as it were) at least a couple times while listening to this. This track makes a great backing track or focal track, which is kind of a unique quality in and of itself, I'd say. Let's throw this up on the front page and enjoy it, folks. YES

I don't have much else to add beyond what OA just said. The mids are definitely too hot, they kind of drown out all other frequencies in the spectrum. Pretty close, overall. Just needs a production tune-up and a slight tweak of the arrangement. Otherwise, the mix had great energy and I really like the vibe/tone! RESUB

Happy birthday fellas!

I think it's worth noting (and marveling at!) that Nafeu was only 14 years old when he made this. Man, I wasn't making anything CLOSE to this quality for at least another 10 years from that age... Just wow. I'm keeping my eye on this dude

Seb does not share Samson's weakness. I saw that dude with far less hair on his noggin than I remember, but his strength as a remixer appears unaffeted. I really have nothing productive to say about this submission other than the fact than it's awesome. I've been enjoying it a TON for the past week. Shame on me for not voting sooner, I suppose. Boo-yah. YES!