kakos32 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Hey everyone , i just finished this http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/142766 It's a Metal remix of Level1 from Battletoads Battlemaniacs on the Snes. Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kakos32 Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 no suggestions no nothing? =( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekofrog Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION [ ] Too conservative - sticks too close to the source [ ] Too liberal - not enough connections to the source (too much original writing) [ ] Too much direct sampling from original game audio [ ] Borrows heavily from non-source material (eg. a theme from a movie) >Not familiar with the source tune (I haven't played Battletoads since it originally came out on the NES) PRODUCTION [ ] Too loud [ ] Too quiet [ ] Low-quality samples [ ] Unrealistic sequencing [ ] Generic/cliche sound choices [ ] Drums have no energy [ ] Overcompressed (pumping/no dynamics) [X] Mixing is muddy (eg. too many sounds in the same range) PERFORMANCE (live recorded audio/MIDI parts) [ ] Timing not tight enough [X] Wrong notes, general sloppiness [ ] Poorly recorded [ ] Bad intonation >Not so much as "wrong notes", just doesn't seem imaginative - solo is sloppy. STRUCTURE [ ] Lacks coherence overall (no "flow") [ ] Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough) [X] Pace too plodding [X] Too repetitive [X] Too short [X] Abrupt ending Overall thoughts: I'm a metal-whore, and produce pretty much metal tracks exclusively. I am very snobby about guitar tone (my own, at least), so don't take this as harsh. The guitar tone is muddled, and the solo is difficult to hear near the end. Track is definitely repetitive, revisiting the same themes over and over with little variance. Drums are much too loud. Is it just me or is the snare localized completely to the left? Synth is out of place and does not at all match with the feel you seem to be going with (synth solo at 1:51 sounds good though, I'd keep that). As noted before, difficult to hear the solo, but when I can I don't want to -- just doesn't fit the piece at all. I don't know whether or not it's a side-effect of Newground's flash, but there seems to be something weird going on in the high registers of the piece -- specifically the highhats/cymbals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Some people have to wait days for a reply, don't expect one within 12 hours. The sound is decent. I'm not fond of the stereo presence of the snare. The guitars be recorded again and panned opposite the existing ones, it'll give a greater stereo width to the track. Also, bring back the sound you had the first couple of seconds, it's a great sound and it'd spice up the track. It gets kind'a repetitive really soon. You need more lead, whether it's synth or guitar. It's at a good length, but it's very repetitive, so make more stuff happen, make the sound change a bit more. Those synth sections are nice, but you should throw in a really rude guitar solo somewhere. Also, comparing this to source reveals it might be too close to get on OCR. You could deviate a little further, a little more. Add a calm section, play a section twice as fast, put your own original spin on the melody and rhythm, do something different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tensei Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Decent concept and arrangement, very meh execution/production. The sounds by themselves aren't bad, it's mainly the way they're sitting in the mix that's annoying (I hope the panning issues aren't because of the newgrounds upload otherwise what I'm writing below here is pretty futile ) The drums panned left are a VERY bad idea IMO, it makes the whole mix feel lopsided and is almost painful to listen to on headphones. The kick and most likely the snare should really be dead center, and the other drums should be panned around that (though not too widely). As for guitars, record your rhythm part twice, place one hard left and the other one hard right. Bass should be panned dead center as well. This particular setup has so many advantages that it's basically the industry standard for rock music: you get a wide stereo field because of the hard-panned guitars (which sound huge as well because of the doubling), while keeping the center open for the drums and bass. When you have a version with correct stereo balancing I'll be able to comment on the rest of your mix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kakos32 Posted May 14, 2008 Author Share Posted May 14, 2008 Decent concept and arrangement, very meh execution/production. The sounds by themselves aren't bad, it's mainly the way they're sitting in the mix that's annoying (I hope the panning issues aren't because of the newgrounds upload otherwise what I'm writing below here is pretty futile ) The drums panned left are a VERY bad idea IMO, it makes the whole mix feel lopsided and is almost painful to listen to on headphones. The kick and most likely the snare should really be dead center, and the other drums should be panned around that (though not too widely). As for guitars, record your rhythm part twice, place one hard left and the other one hard right. Bass should be panned dead center as well. This particular setup has so many advantages that it's basically the industry standard for rock music: you get a wide stereo field because of the hard-panned guitars (which sound huge as well because of the doubling), while keeping the center open for the drums and bass. When you have a version with correct stereo balancing I'll be able to comment on the rest of your mix Alright , thanks for everyone's reviews , i will try and mess around more with the volume levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kakos32 Posted May 15, 2008 Author Share Posted May 15, 2008 If i may ask though , how can i make my guitar riffs less muddy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Short answer: EQ. Long answer: If they sound good on their own (when everything else is muted), add one instrument at a time and listen for when it becomes muddy. When it does, it's probably because this other isntrument is competing with the guitar for the same frequencies. Drop the shared frequencies in the guitar channel's equalizer. You may have to change the EQ of the other channel as well. If they sound muddy on their own, it's probably a recording/amp issue. Can't help you much if it's a recording thing, but if it's an amp (or amp sim) thing, tweak its settings 'til it sounds better. Muddy usually means there's too much in the low-mid range/not enough in the high range, so fix accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekofrog Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Real answer: don't use synth patches for guitar. Use the real thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poke'G Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 For starters, this is from Battlemaniacs, is it not? I don't have much musical experience, but I can give some general feedback. The piece starts out very strong, but towards the middle the guitar starts to drown out the other instruments. The ending is extremely weak. Otherwise I like were this is going, I hope you can beat the judge panel with this one eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kakos32 Posted May 15, 2008 Author Share Posted May 15, 2008 Real answer: don't use synth patches for guitar. Use the real thing. I use a Tanglewood TSE 505camo edition. (Les paul style guitar) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekofrog Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 And the new version sounds much better because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kakos32 Posted May 16, 2008 Author Share Posted May 16, 2008 And the new version sounds much better because of it. New version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekofrog Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Version 3. The previous version was built on fairly bad synth, was it not? Or am I thinking of a different mix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kakos32 Posted May 17, 2008 Author Share Posted May 17, 2008 Do you mind checking the link again? Because when i started the topic i had the final version ( version 3 ) on newgrounds. Damn it , their server must be busted again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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