Nabeel Ansari Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 How did this get toppled by those other WIP's?! :/ I'm stuck I'm not sure what to do next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rig1015 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Dude, you're 13. Seriously Neblixsaber? 13! Two things; Wow! & Chill . Dude it is awesome that you can sequence / remix / rearrange audio the way you do! No joke. When I was 13 I had NO interest in audio what-so-ever. So you already kick-that-ass outta so many by that one fact alone. Don't let anyone let you feel otherwise. Now that you feel awesome- Chill; on the sense that these post are going to make you a ninja, or your track ninja. Seriously dude... a ninja. Metroid mixes are tough around here (or so I've read) yours is still better than the trance remix I'm putting together, and is probably better than most that will come to the judges. You got your shit together, we just gotta polish it. Next: how are your drums? are they "fatter" in the mix? When I click the link I d/L the same song I already have. How are you compressing / EQ each part of the drums? Can we tighten those up? Just pitching ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 I didn't do anything to the drums. xD Maybe that's the problem. I dunno how to EQ properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 "Metroid Majestique" That was actually a really cool remix, I just can't get past the GM dulcimer and drums. If you're willing to try, I might have some better soundfonts you could try and see if it improves. Apart from that I think this remix totally works. Its catchy and atmospheric without compromising either and the mixing is decent enough too. Good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rig1015 Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I dunno how to EQ properly. Do you know how to make a notch EQ? Make one with a narrow Q and sweep across the freq spectrum (20Hz - 20kHz) and listen how the tonals (the frequencies you sweep across) change. Do that for a bit a find the areas (in the freq.spec.) that ring out in your ear, those are resonant tonals. Push those areas down a little with EQ and then bring up the other areas that have acoustic holes; I normally find these in the sweep. This is a good "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing" strategy, it forces you to LISTEN rather than follow a preset. But if you want some preset ideas: Some rought tonals that might just help "as is" are- 200Hz - warmth and most acoustical energy 1kHz - one octave down from resonant ear canal tonal 2kHz - resonant ear canal tonal 5kHz - Mid-Hi shine (the polish ) Try pushing these up and down on an EQ plug on your drums; there rough areas but they should help. Hope it helps you find your sound better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monobrow Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Hi Shariq's little bro. From reading this thread, you may have gotten off to a shaky start around the community, but that's okay. A little advice: On the net, your age isn't so important compared to what you actually have to say. This is your opportunity to communicate with people many years older and younger on a similar playing field. It's about the maturity of your text, not so much your age (although age obviously plays a factor in your development as a person in the long run) Don't sweat critique, or even insults. People are gonna do and say just about anything they want on the internet because it is anonymous. (even where moderation is enforced) So my advice to you is to not take everything so much to heart. There's no need to defend your song, or yourself, as long as you have confidence. And usually, if you keep the mood light, others will too. INTERNET IS FUN! It's good to listen to critique, even negative crits, because ultimately, if you are smart, you can make it into a tool, and use it to your advantage. It is up to you to decide whether feeedback is worth listening to in the end, maybe a little bit, and maybe not at all. BUT BASICALLY, THE INTERNET IS OPINION CENTRAL, Opinions are here, and because of the nature of the internet, will probably always be here in some shape or form, and even if they are not intended for your benefit, you have the ability to use them to learn. The same goes for the people you give your opinions to. You're in charge of what comes out of your mouth, er... from your fingers... So it's a good idea to ask yourself, "How will anyone react to what I am saying? How will they take it? Is what I am saying what I really mean? Is it accurately describing what I really feel? Is what I think important enough to say at the expense of FILL IN THE BLANK?" I don't think anyone here meant any harm, however if you go into a forum (especially asking for help) like this with a defensive or even aggressive attitude, you will probably receive it back tenfold, literally. (ten posters who all saw your post and are like OMG N00b) People basically are looking for a fight on the internet even if they don't really know it. It happens so easily. I hope I didn't come off too preachy! But I like you, so I wanna tell you some of the things I think most of us wish we had heard when we were first on forums, talking to strangers on the internet about the weirdest crap! AS FOR YOUR SONG: The snare hit is pretty awful to me. It's not so much the beat, but the snare itself that jars my ears every time. If I were you, I'd try to find something lighter for the mood... More ethnic drums all around. It's like this, your snare hit sounds like it is from those 80s Rock Ballad drum kits, is that what you are aiming for to represent Metroid Prime? The song itself is unexpectedly pretty heavy, kinda reminds me of my first songs actually. I think the problem with this song is really that it's just too forceful. It's just too much, there's no quiet dynamics in my ears that make the loud, important parts seem MORE important and have some contrast. It's like you're saying EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT LISTEN, HERE IT WILL GET LOUDER WITH MORE AND MORE LAYERS!!!! The problem is, while I can see that you love the source and really love the song, others won't see it that way, we will just get kind of flooded out by all the noise. So my advice is, break your song down in your head. It's like telling a story, so concentrate on that. You have an intro, to get everyone's attention, and set the stage and show the listener what they are getting into, you have a build, and then you have the ALL IMPORTANT CLIMAX (one or more) and the important thing is, you want the listener to be interested up until the part where you blow them away with it. It's not about quantity of what you can do but quality. Think of dynamics... A part before a loud, important part would be contrasted better by a build, with lower dynamics/channelvolumes/velocities/softer timbres in instruments... Even drum heavy, crazy metal, trance, rock, etc. etc. will probably have something like this in some shape or form. Before you continue this mix, I would advise that you listen to some music that sounds similar to what you are going for in this Metroid song, as soon as you really figure that out... You can try to execute it as best you can. I also think that the song suffers from generally a very flooded sound, try to separate instruments out more by their FREQ and EQ and also use Panning. If an instrument floods out another instrument too much (like the choirs and the dulcimer) maybe change the instrument entirely, or move the chords, leads, up down an octave... Think layers, from top to bottom... Like um... lasagna. (Hope I didn't confuse lol) Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Maybe taking out the regular rock drums and replacing them with a cool tribal/acoustic beat would work. I know of and have some really good free acoustic tribal drums out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezon2000 Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Not bad, man. This is the only theme from prime worth remixing in my opinion, and the concept for this remix is nice enough. I'd say do a search for some free drum samples, you'd be surprised what kind of quality you can find. Honestly the drums are seriously lacking the mix. The composition keeps nice, except for 2:30 when you hit a really sour note by going up on the scale from the original composition. Otherwise, when you're done, I would export all the different tracks and different synths, and do some compressing and panning to make them sound both full and louder. There's lots of tutorials out there on how to do it, and I think it would push the quality of your mix into acceptable standards. i'm not a pro by any means, but basic stuff is important too : ) peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chernabogue Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Really nice, I like the way you remixed it. The only thing I could suggest to you (even if I'm not a great ReMixer) is to change your drums which sound too much 'rock' : try some tribal drums or some cool orchestra hits. And for the title, I can't help you, but I'm sure somone will find an awesome title Keep going on ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 BACK FROM CANADA, MY PEOPLE. Anyways, 1. Drums. 2. 2:30 "sour note" 3. EQ stuff 3. Too much Pizza and not enough lasagna... (*ahem* I mean like Monobrow said not enough layers too much upfront not enough under) Are my main problems! Nice. Do you know how to make a notch EQ? Make one with a narrow Q and sweep across the freq spectrum (20Hz - 20kHz) and listen how the tonals (the frequencies you sweep across) change. Do that for a bit a find the areas (in the freq.spec.) that ring out in your ear, those are resonant tonals. Push those areas down a little with EQ and then bring up the other areas that have acoustic holes; I normally find these in the sweep. This is a good "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing" strategy, it forces you to LISTEN rather than follow a preset. But if you want some preset ideas: Some rought tonals that might just help "as is" are- 200Hz - warmth and most acoustical energy 1kHz - one octave down from resonant ear canal tonal 2kHz - resonant ear canal tonal 5kHz - Mid-Hi shine (the polish ) Try pushing these up and down on an EQ plug on your drums; there rough areas but they should help. Hope it helps you find your sound better. 0_0 You lost me at sweep. Correction: YOU LOST ME AT NOTCH. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rig1015 Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 You lost me at sweep. Correction: YOU LOST ME AT NOTCH. :/ Meh... you're a smart kid, I'm sure you could google those terms to see what I'm talking about. But for the sake of it here are some rough definitions: Tonals; tones or frequencies that ring in your ear or stand out in a mix and drown out other frequencies. Notch; like a bump or a curve EQ, so you can pick a tonal (example, 4kHz) and boost or cut that tonal. Sweep; human ear hears from 20Hz to 20kHz when you sweep you start at the bottom and go up and down the whole human audible spectrum in a "sweep." This helps find or point out bad tonals (bad EQ'ing) Acoustic Hole; somewhere in the EQ where tones are not at a desired level, this is subjective to each mix. I told you some rough frequencies that you can go boost and cut throughout the various instruments / drums / samples on your mix to see if that helps. The freq's are just guidlines so be flexible for what your mix needs or what you hear it needs, somethings might not even need EQing, some things may just need a touch. If you find yourself getting into ±6dB to fix / help with what was recorded you may what to reconsider recording it or re sampling it- unless that is apart of your sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 Meh... you're a smart kid, I'm sure you could google those terms to see what I'm talking about. But for the sake of it here are some rough definitions: Tonals; tones or frequencies that ring in your ear or stand out in a mix and drown out other frequencies. Notch; like a bump or a curve EQ, so you can pick a tonal (example, 4kHz) and boost or cut that tonal. Sweep; human ear hears from 20Hz to 20kHz when you sweep you start at the bottom and go up and down the whole human audible spectrum in a "sweep." This helps find or point out bad tonals (bad EQ'ing) Acoustic Hole; somewhere in the EQ where tones are not at a desired level, this is subjective to each mix. I told you some rough frequencies that you can go boost and cut throughout the various instruments / drums / samples on your mix to see if that helps. The freq's are just guidlines so be flexible for what your mix needs or what you hear it needs, somethings might not even need EQing, some things may just need a touch. If you find yourself getting into ±6dB to fix / help with what was recorded you may what to reconsider recording it or re sampling it- unless that is apart of your sound. But I dunno how to do what you're telling me to do and where to do it. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Fruity Parametric EQ works. Basically what you want to do is fiddle around with the knobs to make a downward spike around the frequency you're trying to kill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoboKa Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Neblix, you DO know about the Fruity Mixer right? (F9 is the hotkey for it btw). That handy panel allows you to add in VST effects and to EQ your mix, which I'm sure I'm sounding like a broken record here as you already know that, amiright =p. Moreover, EACH track on the FL Mixer has 3 EQ bands or shelves. As you can guess, the lower shelf is for kick drums and basses, whilst the high shelf is for high hats, certain flutes (er, correct me if I'm wrong here) and other high range instruments. Do the math for the middle EQ band =p Anyhoo, each instrument thrives best in one of 3 of those bands, therefore, you want to reduce the other two bands to get the best clarity you can get out of them...of course soundfonts are fricking bitches when it comes to that since many of them are recorded awkwardly (not to mention that many of them aren't very versatile, velocity-wise). So for example, your generic kick drum would need the lower band (aka Band 1 of the mixer) to be pretty modest, whilst the other 2 bands are reduced rather signifigantly but not completely, as many bases require the other 2 bands to give them that extra tonal oomph. Finally, be sure to pan your instruments so you have a versatile range, as opposed to it all mashing in the middle. Oh, and try using Stereo Seperation, which I believe FL Stereo Enhancer is pretty good at doing...again correct me if I'm wrong people. Anyhoo, good luck Neblix and keep on mixin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 Fruity Parametric EQ works. Basically what you want to do is fiddle around with the knobs to make a downward spike around the frequency you're trying to kill. Ooooh okay like I did before on my Zelda mix. That didn't turn out so well. xP I'll give it a shot, though. Neblix, you DO know about the Fruity Mixer right? (F9 is the hotkey for it btw). That handy panel allows you to add in VST effects and to EQ your mix, which I'm sure I'm sounding like a broken record here as you already know that, amiright =p. Moreover, EACH track on the FL Mixer has 3 EQ bands or shelves. As you can guess, the lower shelf is for kick drums and basses, whilst the high shelf is for high hats, certain flutes (er, correct me if I'm wrong here) and other high range instruments. Do the math for the middle EQ band =p Anyhoo, each instrument thrives best in one of 3 of those bands, therefore, you want to reduce the other two bands to get the best clarity you can get out of them...of course soundfonts are fricking bitches when it comes to that since many of them are recorded awkwardly (not to mention that many of them aren't very versatile, velocity-wise). So for example, your generic kick drum would need the lower band (aka Band 1 of the mixer) to be pretty modest, whilst the other 2 bands are reduced rather signifigantly but not completely, as many bases require the other 2 bands to give them that extra tonal oomph. Finally, be sure to pan your instruments so you have a versatile range, as opposed to it all mashing in the middle. Oh, and try using Stereo Seperation, which I believe FL Stereo Enhancer is pretty good at doing...again correct me if I'm wrong people. Anyhoo, good luck Neblix and keep on mixin' More than half of what you said is stuff I already know. I did hear you on that panning idea, though. Shariq and Rig were the only people who answered my question. -.- I know about the mixer, how do you think I use Reverb and Delay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I know about the mixer, how do you think I use Reverb and Delay? You might not need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 You might not need to. The reverb and delay are critical parts. :/ No choir is without reverb. My dulcimer needs delay and reverb to give it that string-y sound it has right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rig1015 Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Another way to "figure out" what is wrong with your mix is turn in down (volume wise). Turn your speakers (NOT YOUR FADERS!) down to a whisper then see what stands out in the mix. If you got a "tight" mix you should hear everything kinda of evenly fall off as you turn it down. A problem I constantly have is my Hi-Hats are to shiny (*stssst* rings out) I normally find that I have my upper range EQ'd to hard, or mixed to loud (dB). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 HEEEY GUYS I was just wondering that if you guys had no problem with it, I wanna take out the part at 2:30. Yes I know this will cut 30 seconds out of the remix but it just seems like that part is weird... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj Mokram Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 It's a peaceful piece, easy to listen to, quite enjoyable imo. Haven't settle for a name yet? The arrangement is ok, melodic parts transition well, apart from the break around 1:15 that bugs me a little... But the soundscape as a whole seem kind of frozen on the same plan, need to dynamize some instruments/frequencies. All elements blend well, but despite the regular duration (3:30), it kind of feels a bit long. I guess you should take out the 30 sec part you intended, but don't let it ends at 3:00. See if you can come up with another idea to replace it, and enhance your song. Overall the mixing needs some minor tweaks, but you've already been pushed in the right direction in prior posts. Oh, and btw, could you please consider adding the versions to your posted WIPs. Here I listened to the last update, but I dunno how many you've made before. Therefore, I cannot appreciate the whole 'progress' you've made on this track. Keep it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 It's a peaceful piece, easy to listen to, quite enjoyable imo. Haven't settle for a name yet?The arrangement is ok, melodic parts transition well, apart from the break around 1:15 that bugs me a little... But the soundscape as a whole seem kind of frozen on the same plan, need to dynamize some instruments/frequencies. All elements blend well, but despite the regular duration (3:30), it kind of feels a bit long. I guess you should take out the 30 sec part you intended, but don't let it ends at 3:00. See if you can come up with another idea to replace it, and enhance your song. Overall the mixing needs some minor tweaks, but you've already been pushed in the right direction in prior posts. Oh, and btw, could you please consider adding the versions to your posted WIPs. Here I listened to the last update, but I dunno how many you've made before. Therefore, I cannot appreciate the whole 'progress' you've made on this track. Keep it up. It's 4:00. xD Taking out the 30 sec part will make it 3:30. I don't really want people to see what my earlier versions sounded like... so no. Sorry. :/ Can you explain more about the soundscape? It doesn't seem that frozen to me. UPDATE: I did some tweaking on the Prime 1 section, it's a little less annoying now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj Mokram Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 It's 4:00. xD Taking out the 30 sec part will make it 3:30.I don't really want people to see what my earlier versions sounded like... so no. Sorry. :/ Can you explain more about the soundscape? It doesn't seem that frozen to me. Yeah 4:00, my bad. As for the versions censorship: it's your choice Neblix, I can understand that, it's entirely up to you if you wanna share or not. No prob. Now for the frozen landscape... er, soundscape. It's quite simple actually, it appears as if the whole range of sounds were on the exact same level. And to me it seems everything is stuck between background and foreground, like frozen in place. The arrangement is like a shiny block of ice. Cold, sharp, and also tangible. But nothing really stands out. Dunno if that's the feeling you were going for initially? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 Yeah 4:00, my bad. As for the versions censorship: it's your choice Neblix, I can understand that, it's entirely up to you if you wanna share or not. No prob. Now for the frozen landscape... er, soundscape. It's quite simple actually, it appears as if the whole range of sounds were on the exact same level. And to me it seems everything is stuck between background and foreground, like frozen in place. The arrangement is like a shiny block of ice. Cold, sharp, and also tangible. But nothing really stands out. Dunno if that's the feeling you were going for initially? I'm very inexperienced, I'm not sure what to put where, I like how it sounds right now but... I can change it... but the changes I make aren't always for the better... they're usually never for the better. xD Unless this is something more objective than subjective, I'm not entirely having a problem with the soundscape. HOWEVER if you guys nag me enough I'll change it. xD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj Mokram Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 I'm very inexperienced, I'm not sure what to put where, I like how it sounds right now Judging from the date you joined, you've technically been making game remixes for longer than me. xD Don't take what I say for granted, as I may have less knowledge than you on musical theory in general. Since I operate primarily on feeling, it may be an hard to relate (and indeed more subjective) comment on my part. Don't overthink it. Just make the kind of music you like, and learn while having fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 Judging from the date you joined, you've technically been making game remixes for longer than me. xDDon't take what I say for granted, as I may have less knowledge than you on musical theory in general. Since I operate primarily on feeling, it may be an hard to relate (and indeed more subjective) comment on my part. Don't overthink it. Just make the kind of music you like, and learn while having fun. I started seriously remixing half a year ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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