hRook Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Hey everybody, I've always wanted to submit a piece to OCRemix... I've just never gotten around to actually putting a piece together for it! So, I am giving it a shot. I am getting towards completion with this one. Stylistically, I don't know what to call it... It has elements of Ambient, Jazz, Gospel, Fusion, Funk, Hip-Hop, Latin and Rock. It's a mix of "Hot Head Bop" and "Mining Melancholy" from Donkey Kong Country 2; they're "sandwiched" together. You'll see what I mean. I tried to add in some feaux-improvisation style stuff, mixed in with some really electronic-y elements. http://hrook.net/mp3/BipolarMagma.mp3 http://www.hrook.net/mp3/BipolarMagma2.mp3 Let me know what you think! -Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ella guro Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 11 megs! make sure if you submit this that it's under 8MiB and 192kbps (try VBR v2 or something like that) Bring the drums way up and the bass down a bit! (did you play the drums? they're nice!) Having the drums way down and the synths in the foreground panned to the right/left like that isolates things from each other soundwise. The drums really have to be the center for something like this, especially when they're as nice as they are. Some other mixing issues. Mostly some of the sounds (the synth panned to the left...possibly the right, I can't remember if I have my comp audio flipped, and then that piano sound) are a bit dry and could use a little more processing, or just something so that they don't cut through so much. Right now you have these dirty drums and these really sharp synths and the sounds don't mesh too well. That kind of stuff also makes the arrangement seem tighter because the sounds are more connected to each other. Reverb, chorus, etc...that kind of stuff can do wonders in filling out your sound. Nice organ soloing, and I like the crazy chords you hold onto after (though some people might not). I would also like to hear more guitar in there! Turn it up when it's on. I think those piano parts could be worked on to be a little more interesting, and you might want to get a better sample. The arrangement is not incredibly risky, but it's funky and you do some cool soloing with it. I was kinda bummed that you only brought the second part of the melody at 3:54. If you're gonna wait that long to bring that part in I honestly think you could go on a groove with that part and expand it further, maybe 45 seconds to a minute longer. That section seems kind of tacked on as is. Same goes for the ending. Maybe just go on a nice pretty groove with that second theme and fade out there, instead of returning back to the beginning part? If you worked on the production/mixing and did a bit more with some of the parts, especially after 3:54 I think this could pass OCR. As is, though, the judges will definitely pick apart the production issues. Nice job so far! Keep working on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Pac Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Not bad! I might just go ahead and save this one to my player. Not much to add on Liz's post. The different parts aren't clean and don't mesh together as well as they could, and some volume adjustments would do you some good. Your organ track sounds scratchy at its low end and at some points just seems like noise, especially around 3:00-3:20. I didn't feel only having the second part of the hothead hop melody come in late was an issue, but I do feel like it's sort of added on to the end like Liz mentioned, at 3:49 it seems like the song is just going along the same path and suddenly its something else. Smooth out the transition somehow. The last 20 or so seconds also seem kinda extraneous to me. I really liked this one so I'm looking forward to seeing it posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunther Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Hey, great effort, I like it. I'm pretty sure that this can pass the judges panel if you improve it enough . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da2dbm Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 It sounds really nice, there's a progressive/jazzy swing to it. The sounds seem really lo-fi though. Anyway you could bring up the volumes a bit without saturation? Maybe some treble or reverb or just playing with EQ settings. Other than that, I like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POCKETMAN Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 hmmm. nice. Your transition from source to source is nice. The drums are excellent throughout. My main problem is everything sounds cluttered. It's not the reverb or bass, at least it doesn't sounds like it. What are you using to mix this? It sounds as if a microphone recorded most if it. If that's the case maybe a better mic is a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monobrow Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I like the arrangement of this a lot. But it just sounds so low fi. If you are recording this, please get a better mic. You just need the sound to come through, and I think you've basically got this. Also the bass is WAY too overpowering. It is basically all the way up the whole time on the spectrum... thingy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hRook Posted February 5, 2010 Author Share Posted February 5, 2010 K I found some pretty sweet re-mic and un-lo-fi plugins. They really helped out. I also added a little on the end to make it a little more satisfying of an ending. http://www.hrook.net/mp3/BipolarMagma2.mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_Downunder Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 This is sounding really nice, it's good to see you fixed the sound as well, and what I'm hearin' is really, really good. The only visible issue I can hear is the bass, it's still way overpowered at some points, most notably the first transition into Mining Melancholy, and just before the transition back into Hot Head Bop. Other than that however, this is shaping up to be a really awesome track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invader_Quirk Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Oooh this is good. Honestly, this SHOULD be good enough to make it on the site, but they can be real sticklers sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archangel Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 I really like this one, the drums are very energetic and the chords are smashingly funky! I envy you, I wouldn't know where to begin to arrange a piece in this genre! I personally would have arranged the piano part a little bit more, but that's just my way of looking at it. Great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hRook Posted February 5, 2010 Author Share Posted February 5, 2010 Thanks for the feedback everyone, it's been really helpful! I just submitted it, so wish me luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Pac Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Awesome!!! The overall sound quality is greatly improved. Bass is a little too loud at times, and the organ part is a little loud underneath the second hothead hop melody but they seem like very minor issues to me. I think this is simply fantastic, definitely a YES in my opinion. So best of luck to you, I can't wait to see you on the front page! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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