Sorta Finished: Toki (Amiga version) Stage 4 Chill Out Mix

[TheFixx]

Hi everyone, I usually do what you could call guitar music and may have bitten off a little more than I could chew here as this mix contains my first time dabbling with a drum'n'bass-ish groove/arrangement. Also, this is my first time working with strings but I think I got them to sound okay using a couple tricks.

Bass/drum sounds were done with Guitar Pro, except the TR909-esque bass drum. The rest was done with Cubase and a couple of free VSTs. My mix is based on the Amiga conversion of the arcade classic "Toki" which for some reason contains a couple original music tracks. The track I remixed can be found right at the beginning of

Youtube video. Even though it's really simple harmonically, I think it's a really strong piece of music and kinda just HAD to remix it. I'm particularly worried about the D'n'B style groove I came up with as the snare is pretty busy which might just be be a tad too much.

Please tell me what you think and feel free to rip me apart if you feel like it! Thanks for your time!

Latest WIP is here:

[DjMystix]

I like the source music. As for your remix:

First of all, I think you need to get rid of the midi'sh feel of the song and clean the samples. Some mastering and using a better preamp can fix this. Also re-adjust volume levels.

There's one instrument in the background (intro part) which feels a little offbeat. Also add some more reverb to the the leads. You should also change the drum patterns (but may be that's just me, the drum pattern didn't seem to fit in). Introduce some more stuff in the background (as in synths, arpeggios). Some phaser/flanger on some of the background instruments won't hurt as well.

The source is a great track and I believe this remix can turn out to be excellent. I would like to hear more polished version of this. Keep at it!

[TheFixx]

Thanks for the feedback. By "better samples", do you mean the strings or other instruments as well? I haven't been able to find better string sounds (for free) for the life of me. Also, there is some mastering going on, on mixdown I'm running the whole thing through Kjaerhus Classic Compressor and Limiter, setting to "Mix Down" and "Master CD" respectively.

As for having more stuff going on in the background -- I'm not sure. I was generally going for a sparse feel but I suppose I could make the Wurlitzer a bit louder and maybe add an arpeggio or two.

One thing I'm doing that may cause a bit of a midi-ish sound: the violin lead sound sounds decent (to me) but is having trouble with note definition when it comes to fast lines which is why I doubled it with a Mellotron sound, I'm gonna try turning it down a bit.

The "off-beat instrument in the background" is probably the shaker which has always been causing me grief in the past. >_<

[TheFixx]

OK, I'm rebuilding this as I found the reason for the questionable timing of the drums and percussion instruments -- Geetar Pro likes to spit out WAV files that have a split second of silence at the beginning. I'll post the results when I'm done.

[TheFixx]

OK, how's this sound? Any advice is much appreciated.

Click here to listen to Tokiredone.mp3

[DjMystix]

OK, how's this sound? Any advice is much appreciated.

Click here to listen to Tokiredone.mp3

Ok, now the drums are fitting in the beat but it is still badly recorded. How are you recording your samples? This still needs re-mastering.

Please don't feel bad. I really like this but I just want it to be more polished.

or may be I have problems with my ears. Just wait for someone else's comments before doing version 3

[TheFixx]

Hmmm, do you mean the lead samples or my samples in general? Which ones do you think are the most glaring?

Here's a rundown of the stuff I used:

Production program: Cubase LE

Bass drum: TR909 setting of the "DSK Mini DrumZ" VST.

Snare(s): Guitar Pro 5.0 (pitched up during the D&B parts)

Shaker, cymbals: Guitar Pro 5.0

Bass: Guitar Pro 5.0 Stingray model, with an extra layer of filter/distortion on top for more grittiness/definition

Synth Arpeggio bass: Krakli Karnage VST, with a step filter

Strings: DSK Stringz with a slightly flanged mellotron mixed in low for more definition (Not too happy with the cello solo part, which is several layers because Stringz is terrible with low notes, I may throw something new together.

Wurlitzer: MrTramp VST

Low strings near the beginning of the "Rock" part, glassy fading in/out pad: Krakli Karnage VST

I use the following mastering effects: XCita (set to "medium excitation") and the "endorphin" VST, which is a dual band compressor, set to "Loud and Punchy". Do you think the mix is maybe too loud overall?

Maybe my VSTs just suck, I'm gonna have a look at the sample/VST recommendation threads.

By the way, is it me or is the mix kind of low on treble overall? I'm currently experimenting with mastering plugins to make it sound less dull. I'm really not that great at this mastering thing or music production in general, no wonder my band never lets me help with mixing. :/

[DjMystix]

I wasn't complaining about the instruments used, it was about the way they are recorded. Seems like a normal line-in/mic input was used to record them. They are not clean.

The only thing you need to do for now is to re-adjust volume levels of most of the instruments and also, try to remove the mastering plug-in and post it as it is (flat EQ). Many of people here can help you with mastering the song.

good luck!

[TheFixx]

You know, I get the feeling this may have something to do with my (ab)using Cubase's "Gain" function when I feel certain parts aren't loud enough. This might just be a bad, bad, thing to do. As I'm really new to this I don't really have developed an ear for this yet. I'll see what I can do to fix this.

[TheFixx]

OK, how 'bout this?

[TheFixx]

OK, let's try a slight bump.