Secret of Mana 'Leave Time for Love' (Inside Mana Fortress reggae/hip-hop mix)

[Supercussionist]

THIS IS NOT FINAL I'M NOT DONE WITH THE WHOLE ARRANGEMENT, THIS IS A PREVIEW.

i didnt give the song an official name.

anyway, i have no idea if u guys like reggae or hate it. i know lots of people hate it, due to the simple upbeat chords/reggae beat drop combo. but me, i live in hawaii. haha and the idea of a reggae mix was kinda...cool haha.

but back to the mix....

it starts off with a hip hop beat then it goes into the melody. the constant high part comes in later on in the song, and after the first time around i bring in my upbeat reggae feel e. piano. then the drums switch to reggae.

i know a lot about reggae styles cause...im a drummer in a reggae band...haha its real simple but pretty catchy if u ask me.

anyway, i dont really think this is going to cut the j's criterias but if people like what they hear, then ill work towards it. anyway, here it is.

[Rozovian]

Listen close to the hiphop section. There's something that clicks, probably because it's got too sharp attack or release. I think it's the bass. Move both sliders ()attack and release a little right, like one step or so.

Willrock's Star Maze remix already reminded me how cool stuff like this is. Your track isn't quite as refined as his, but I can hear a lot of potential in yours, plus it is much calmer.

Overall, it's kind'a sparse. Louder midrange epiano might solve that, bringing it in sooner would be nice too. Your lead has a bit too much cutoff imo. Gets annoying at 1:26. I heard a filter sweep there, but bring it further, open it more.

Would be nice to have a wah guitar playing a ska rhythm here, it'd further cover the mid range.

Not sure the hiphop kit is the best for reggae, but it works. The hats just sound a bit too high, like they don't have any mids. That's just my personal opinion, of course.

These crits should get you somewhere. Great stuff, man.

[Supercussionist]

please do not listen analytically.

this is just to show a concept. im not done mastering. im not done mixing. im not done with the song. its to show the concept. please no analytic listening(quality, clicks, pops etc.)

i only want feedback on the idea. until i say im done with the mix.

EDIT: by the way, the clicks you hear....are not audio errors. theyre dynamic changes in the rim clicks...this will be different later on.

again, i want ideas right now. what i can do to the mix...nothing about mastering/eq/highs/lows/ whatever....

the drums are all on one track, for the writing issue. when im done with that ill change it all to separate tracks. maybe change up the samples. remember..this is a concept...a WIP that has a lot of progress to go through.

on the forums i hear too much analytical listening.

i want for this, at least at the moment, people to listen critically. what to do with solos what to add. what samples to use.

nothing is panned out...causing clashes between frequencies/some distortion.

im not really feeling the steel drums thing.

the e piano i think is fine. it just needs to be louder. and ill fix that later.

P.S. im thinking of upgrading from garage band...should i get logic?

[Rozovian]

Not sure we've got the same idea of critical and analytical listening. Whatever. Just take the crits you feel are appropriate.

Logic's awesome. I got Logic Express 7 a while back, then upgraded to LE8. Now I'm saving up for Logic Studio. It's not cheap. There's a 300$ difference between LE and LS, but if you count the jam packs and all the other things you get with LS, it's worth it. imo, anyway.

[wildweathel]

Wow, I do like where this is going.

When I listen, I think "This is a chill 'Fear of the Heavens' (the title, if I'm not mistaken), right?" The problem is that one word "right?": state the original melody at some point to confirm that suspicion, so that the judges' impression is "Sounds like a chill 'Fear of the Heavens.' Yep."

[Supercussionist]

sorry if it seemed like i was taking offense. =P

im taking a sound recording class here in hawaii. which is actually a belmont university class. ive learned that the difference between critical and analytical listening are:Critical - something sounds flat, what doesnt fit here, what should go there, something sounds sharp, something came in late...etc. Analytical-sound quality, equalization problems, clicks in the tracks, pops in the tracks. etc.

thanks for the "i think its cool" comments.

i really think i should get logic.

how are the samples on there?

heh its in the mana fortress. i can try to incorporate the original fear of the heavens melody. and maybe some other som tunes.

[Rozovian]

Logic Studio, there's a link in my previous post, comes with the GarageBand Jam Packs, pretty big collections of software instruments (multiple samples for different articulations) plus thousands of Apple Loops (loops that adapt to the tempo). The software instruments could of course be better, but for the price, they're awesome. Aside from those, there's a lot of great synths and production effects that comes with LS8.

What you might like the most is the Ultrabeat drum synth. Mostly for electronic drums, it has some awesome effects for acoustic kits as well. You can shape the envelope and route cutoff, volume, all kinds of attributes through those envelopes. Plus it's easy to change the effects of velocity, if you want a soft hit to be more cut off, a little higher in pitch, etc...

Haven't checked out the new GB so I dunno how much more control it has over sampeld virtual instruments, but the EXS is an awesome sampler with what looks to me like a huge routing area. Route LFOs and envelopes to almost any attribute of the sample. And it's fully compatible with the software instruments from GB.

That's the sales pitch. Check it out at one of the links I provided in the last post.

[MrSneak]

I really like where you're going with this. If this is just an experiment in the sound, then I'm really eager to hear what your final cut will be. Please, keep it up.

Right now, I don't feel there's a lot of really exceptional SoM mixes and I'd love to add more to my playlist.

[Supercussionist]

damnit, i cant find good samples to go with the lead. its killing me....i really think imma get logic express today...

[Rozovian]

Well, there are free soundfonts and audio unit synths. Had a look at any of those. When you get logic, you're probably gonna be lost in all its features and the somewhat different interface, so I would recommend getting it for a new project. Then again, I would recommend Logic Studio. Express doesn't come with as many samples, mostly synths.

Anyway, there's buzzzer, zoyd, freealpha, orca, and some other pretty good au synths that you could have a look at. then there's crystal, but last I used it it wasn't entirely stable so back stuff up before using it.

Just trying to save you some money, buddy.

btw, if you want the lead to be fatter but not really change its sound much, use the overdrive effect, no cutoff, 10dB drive or so. Not sure it'll help you with this lead, but just fyi.

[Supercussionist]

heh, well i got express...and im actually going good so far. im switching up my mix, and i think everything sounds great =P...so yeah....its on logic now. up and going. it uploaded my garage band projects.

[Supercussionist]

okay now, this is with logic. everything SOUNDS WAY BETTER.

im officially done with the first part of the song...im currently working on the bridge and whatevers after that....i havent started working on the reggae part yet. i was going to ask my friend to put in a guitar solo during it. anyway, here it is, my wip.

[Rozovian]

Yup, sounds better. Enjoying logic?

It's a little shrill. Not painfully so, but it feels a little empty. You might need to give your mid-range instruments a little more volume or width. You've got drums, bass, and high bells, but the mid range is often too soft to really hold it together.

Not much more I can say, since this isn't a style I don't know well enough to critique properly. It's gotten pretty good. Nice work. Make sure to balance it well. Good luck.

[Dramon]

This may just be me but at the very beginning of the intro when the low piano starts coming in with the left it sounds kind of unnatural and just weird. Don't know how to describe it.

Also, like right in the middle of the song it seems like you treat the bass line more like its being played by a bass drum and it gets kinda muddy. And just kinda sounds almost out of key and has a flat overall sound and just seems to drag really bad. The note changes too in the bass line at that point pretty much sound like its the exact same note but you were just bending the pitch to try to change notes.

Basically, in the middle it when the high's kind of take a break it sounds like you try to have a kind of bass solo going on, but the bass there has less going on, sounds worse, and less variation going on than it does throughout the rest of the song.

[Supercussionist]

please note that the the reggae part, it is NOT a bass solo. i am waiting to record my friend doing a guitar solo then. do not focus on the raggae part, it is not done, its simply copy and pasted temporarily so that i can at least get the feel of it and make changes there.

there are only three pitch bends in the bass line. it sounds perfectly fine when i get real live critics critiquing the song.

the piano part. in the beginning. hmm yeah it does sound unnatural. but who says things HAVE to be a certain way? jazz artists, for example, chic corea. his stuff is frickin whack and VERY unorthodox. the blend of instruments is pretty cool. and i AM going for something unorthodox like. untraditional, something different.

and what do you mean, playing the bass like a bass drum? is it the constant same note rhythm? if i get off of the fundamental of the chord it will really sound off. especially in the hip hop area. by the way, the bass drum and bass are meant to play together in most cases. there is no problem with making both playing together. in jazz swing, quarter note bass drum + quarter note walking bass lines = a very good groove.