Megaman Battle Network 6 mix

[Vidilian]

A remix of the main theme. Uses fake electric guitars but for only part of the song and the genre is electronica so it shouldn't matter as much (I could be completely wrong though). Theres also a cameo of the Gravity beetle stage from Megaman X3.

Original: http://vspaine.googlepages.com/MBN6Maintheme.mp3

Remix: http://vspaine.googlepages.com/Cybeat.mp3

[Nutritious]

Well, electronic isn't my best genre, but I'll try and give some criticism:

-There's no real intro here. It's just kind of a slow drum beat with a few elements kind of fading in. You need to establish a "hook" here to get the listener's attention.

-It's difficult to discern the various sections here. Basically, it's lacking coherent structure. Drums kind of change beats a bit randomly, the various sounds a lot of times just keep playing the same bars and just get layered on top of each other. Try to get the parts to compliment each other better so the listener can hear what you're trying to convey in each section.

-Drum writing is weak here. Needs more interesting beatwork I'd say and a probably a better snare.

-Things in general are drowning in reverb, especially the drums. Cut back so we can get some clarity from the parts there.

-Balancing needs work. Phased pads are covering up a lot of the stuff here, which also doesn't help clarity. Mid range is really crowded in places.

I might sound overly negative, but don't get discouraged. I honestly think this piece needs a lot of work, though. You may or may not decide to continue working on this piece, but don't give up on writing. Keep practicing

[Flexstyle]

Honestly, I found it VERY hard to get into this song. There was nothing to grab me at the start, and the song overall was just kind of a "mush" of sounds. As Nutritious said, it was lacking a good structure. Also, the song had a distinct lack of "punch" or clarity. Not a lot of solid, driving low end (or even a soft'n'soothing low end), and there wasn't a lot of high-end sheen to the mix either.

I think the synthetic guitars weren't that great either, you might either try a different instrument or get a better guitar sound.

Sorry, I'm not trying to sound like a nitpicking jerk here. I'm just having a hard time finding something I can grab onto in this song.

[Rozovian]

Okay, I recognize the theme early on. Good. To be frank, it's boring, up until 0:30 or so, after which it quickly loses momentum again. Sorry man, more speed, more intensity, more something.

Use a louder and more rude lead. Really.

Break at 1:20 is pretty, don't toss the drums back in, when exposed like that they sound really newb. I like the bass, pads, and the crystal-like keys you used here. They're pretty. The bg lead (ironically) works nicely here. Going out of the break, you screw it up tho. Drums seem to lose the rhythm completely, and we're transported into an instrumental mess.

I needn't tell you you should come up with a better ending, this is kind'a lame.

Sorry Vid if I'm being harsh. This is what I hear, this is what I think, and your job is to rework this to convince the majority of the listeners (and the judges) otherwise. This would get rejected pretty quickly if it went to the panel, it's just not refined enough yet.

Good thing is, you know this stuff well enough to start improving it.

*ahem* That's from the first listen-through, here's my thoughts for the second:

Drums are weak. I recall the break revealing the kick is an electronica drum and not a rock one, which this one needs. You still need the lead to be much louder and more prominent in all ways.

0:30-0:45 This works if it's a shorter section or faster song, or done with better samples. More crashes and stuff if you want this part to rock.

Transition to break is nice tho. Break is a little cluttered while the lead keeps playing. Kill it earlier, you might even shorten the first section of the break.

When the tambourine comes in, it's pretty good. It sounds kind'a stiff, but it's better than other parts. I like the bass that follow, too.

Up until 2:17, where I notice the lead is just a background thingy and doesnt rise, or make the whole piece rise as much as it could.

Use louder hihats and other cymbals to signify speed in the drum arranging, not the snare over and over. It sounds ridiculous to drummers, and even to an amateur such as myself.

And fade-out. Lame!

Dude, this isn't bad, but it's not good. Yet. I like how you've changed the tone and stuff completely compared to source, that's good. Now, get the rest of the piece as good.

Lemme give you a checklist:

-Louder leads

-Better kick samples

-Lose loads of snare hits

-Learn to use hihats, crashes, rides, and stuff

-Raise the tempo one or two bpm, it's not much, but I think it would improve it

-Compress and EQ the drums appropriately

So, that's my thoughts on it. Once again, sorry if I'm being harsh, jsut fix what you agree with and don't make me repeat myself when you update this. With fixes, this could be real impressive. Good luck, and nice work so far!

[Vidilian]

Whoah... I've been away from the site for a little while and didn't expect to comeback to so many replies for this one. I'll definitely continue on this one. It'd be an insult to all the helpful feedback if I didn't. I'm a bit tired of this one already though. Just need a break from it...

[Vidilian]

Update.

Did a lot of stuff but theres definitely still quite a few issues. Mostly just tried to fix some of the basic issues like the tempo, samples, intro and beat. Most of the improvements are in the first third of the song for now.

I'm not good at drumlines yet so my attempt at making it more complex at 0:40-0:55 may be a bit messy.

[Rozovian]

Weird drum stuff. Seriously, count-in on a ride, using a china and a... something... It's like you're attempting a genre fusion and are really turn it into a half-pony half-monkey monster. For most of the track it works, when it's calm, but the intro is awful, drumwise. The section that should rock 0:41-0:56... too much snare. And those bizarre drum choices... they don't work.

From 0:56 and forth, there's that main body of the track. The lead doesn't work here, it's too rude. Also, it all gets a little repetitive. try adding more of the background melodies from source, inject some of those into it. Play them at half speed if that works for you, just do something more.

You should also make it more appealing to musicians - keyboardists/pianists. More elaborate doesn't mean jumbled and cluttered. See if you can add countermelodies or a chord rhythm or something make it more... well, more.

Arrangement is minimal, but not bad. Needs more depth, more width, as it's kind'a one-dimensional as it is. You should also work a bit on the mix, with levels, compression, and EQ. There's advice on that all over the site and the net.

I'll leave it at this. Still needs work, but it's really enjoyable to listen to when it's not trying to be rockin' hot. This could be great chillin' music, it just needs more work. Nice job so far, keep at it!

[Radiowar]

The percussion/drums here really makes no sense to me. Did you really need to use a vibraslap? Sounds way out of place. The drums need some variation in the velocity so they don't sound so robotic. Quick hint: anytime you have a snare hit that isn't on either beat two or beat four (playing this particular beat) lower the velocity. The way it is now is really disorienting and, aside from not being realistic, it makes it hard to tell where the downbeats are.

The structure is alright in some parts, and not in others. The sort of chill section seems aimless until that bass entry at 2:03 which is really pretty good. But aside from that the second and third sections seem completely unrelated to each other and to the opening part.