the Man with a Machine Gun

[hewhoisiam]

I'm keeping a promise to Gario. I'm actually quite late.

But I sat down to play with this a few days ago and have been plugging away at it, now it's feedback and improvement time. Or just leave any comment. Like, hate, like some, hate some, have toast, don't have toast...etc.

Source: Final Fantasy VIII - Laguna's Theme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2vpqd9gKXk

UPDATED 7 26 2010:

Track:

[HoboKa]

I'm keeping a promise to Gario. I'm actually quite late.

But I sat down to play with this a few days ago and have been plugging away at it, now it's feedback and improvement time. Or just leave any comment. Like, hate, like some, hate some, have toast, don't have toast...etc.

Source: Final Fantasy VII - Laguna's Theme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2vpqd9gKXk

Track:

Oh dear lord - not another Laguna remix!!! =p Well those are some interesting percussion ideas. They're a nice touch imo; the bell thingy seems a bit bland to me and it also feels like it gets pushed back too much. I think the over-all mix needs some mega tweaking. I don't need to say how the E-guitar is =p Production stuff asides I love this =D

[Gario]

LAAAAGUUUUUUUUUNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!!!!

Alright, you fulfilled your promise. For that you get a cookie.

Not a bad mix, bro. I like the soundscape - very full. The instrument choice is simplistic, for synths, and the guitar isn't too great (although I like the idea of Laguna guitar).

It's actually fun what you did, placing solo's and such + expanding a couple sections that aren't normally expanded on (however, that little lick at the end sounds vaguely familiar...). The direction is fairly nice .

Some of the instruments seem a bit loud, for my taste, there. Make the mix a bit more balanced - it'll help it quite a bit. Remember to vary your instruments & their functions, too - the same instruments playing the same textures creates a very static soundscape throughout.

Otherwise, not too bad - keep up the good work )

EDIT: Not to be a source whore, but it's VIII, not VII

[hewhoisiam]

I have mixed feelings on that guitar. I want it, I just... don't want it. Everything else is very synthed, then it's rock guitar. I like rock guitar, but may consider moving this to a synth of some sort. >.>

Drums came off as louder in the final product than what they were in software, so Ima look at that, also simplify.

I've been playing with filters in this to try to keep the main pattern it from getting stale, I may put in another synth to change things.

I'll get some work done on this tomorrow prolly.

EDIT: Things to do Friday night. Will get to this... Should point out I was months late on the actual mix, so a few days is meh XD

[omicron_theta]

Oh, cool, a(nother) Laguna mix. Some thoughts:

- I like this intro! The tribal beats backed by huge chords are great, though the synth you're using for the accompaniment is too brassy (and bassy) for my tastes.

- You are using literally the most generic guitar synth in the entire universe for the melody and it ruins everything. Crank down the distortion/overdrive and play with the note velocities, as it sounds like it's being played by a robot over a supermarket PA system.

- The beats you've got going through the entire mix are pretty fantastic. You've got a solid groove going, and you mix it up enough over the course of the song to keep it fresh. My only advice here is to make them stand out more, the rest of the mix drowns them out.

- Despite being flagged as a drum and bass track on Tindeck, your bass is kind of weak. Fatten it up and give it an interesting part to play.

- You wait until 3/4 of the way through the song to start introducing any real changes to the theme, and when you do, they come out of nowhere. Bring some of that creativity out earlier in the track.

This is a solid start, and I'd like to hear where this goes!

[Josh Whelchel]

Heyo!

Likey, here's some advice:

The synth that comes in in little pieces originally, that's a great idea, and the soundscape is full around it. But the actual choice of synth is poor in my opinion. It's a good start, but it definitely needs more 'bite,' or at least it needs it once the percussion picks up.

The guitar is a big NO for me, mainly because it's not real. I think if you a real guitarist to do it, it'd help a lot. Also, in the section where the guitar comes in, you could really benefit from changing things up a lot more from the source. Get really free with it - lead guitarists LOVE to improvise and run with ideas. Later you start to do this, but it takes a little long to get there in my opinion (but once you do, it's very good!).

One thing I LOVED, and wish you had more things similar to: When the guitar in the second section goes out and the synth comes in, their timbres blend and crossfade in a pretty magical way.

I hope that these comments don't discourage you, but rather you should set the bar for yourself a few notches higher and always strive to make it punch more. I definitely think you want more punch. Try turning down the reverb on a few of the not-so-important parts as well, that should help.

[hewhoisiam]

Thanks for the advise and feedback, first of all.

Did some work today, working on synthing a something to replace the guitar. Also worked on expanding one of the ending solos. Thing I have still seems weak by comparison.

I actually took some out of the drums, and am currently working on the bass to bring it up to match, or at least give it some punch.

I figured out what Gario meant by recognizing a certain lick where I took up an idea and raised it an octave, it's what he did in his. Had to dig in my creepy WIP folder to figure that one out!

Still trying to decide how/when/if to change the main 8th note-ish idea from the sound I have it on, and if it gets old.

I like establishing the main theme before embellishing it much. But I'll look into some changes in the start of this.

I'm taking my time on an update to make sure it's better, and not just 'newer'. Look for an update by no later than Tuesday. My current checklist on a wordpad on my desktop is:

(done)quiet drums hats are loud

(work in progress) simplify drums and add solos/transitions

(done)change guitar to synth

balance

lower pad volumes

(done)change pad attack rate

bring up bell volume at beginning

(work in progress)expand first -new solo- to twice length -fill the blank with the descending patern first used as is, it's 6 measures + 2 pad transition, need to add 2 solo measures. Might consider raising the descending pattern an octave. Might also consider using standard descending patern + pad to enter into the modified version. Once in, expand to fill the 2 measures.-

Anyways, I'm still here, werkn.

Thanks again.

-H

[hewhoisiam]

Early an again in the morning. Did some work and have an update.

OLD: http://tindeck.com/listen/mnxk

I kinda miss my guitar and am trying to talk myself into liking the new synth I put in it's spot. Still feeling rough around the edges in places, and there seems to be one frequency in the automation that bugs me.

Fattened up the bass and changed my bell synth to something beefier.

Did things to the overall balance.

Played with the drums.

Extended a solo at the end. Trying to talk myself into liking this as well.

EDIT: Looking into whatever that clicking is at the start...

[hewhoisiam]

One bump for some feedback before I decide what to do with this. At the moment I'm going to drop it in the 'failure' category and start more or less from scratch.

[Inferno232]

Not that bad. I've been following this since it's first version, and it'd be a darn shame if it was dropped. Just find something better to replace the guitar other than that synth. Of course, that's just my unprofessional opinion.

[Gario]

It sounds better without the guitar. If you miss the guitar then I highly recommend getting a guitarist - it can still work, if you get a better sounding instrument, there

Watch out for clipping, here - I hear it in this track in the texture and the melody. Clean up the fuzz.

When you finish that, consider submitting it to R:TS. It's not bad, at all, and it'll get it more exposure than leaving it lying around in here. It's better than leaving it on your computer to rot away and be forgotten, anyhow.

[hewhoisiam]

What's R:TS?

Jaja, I have a growing collection of 'things left to rot' on my computer. I'm right now working on a few ideas.

One of which is to mellow out some of the filter on my main synth (playing the patern) cause in the filter off ranges, it's getting fuzzy (I think) Still like the filter sound though.

As far as liking the guitar goes, I'm indecisive. I wanted the guitar from listening to Sixto, cause... It's Sixto But lots of things can work. I just have to find something I want. And I've not succeeded in talking myself into liking this synth. I'm going to try a harsher sound. It's really unlikley that I'll ask a guitarist to help with this, because of the amount of work needed and layout. (I see layout as the big weakness in this) But I'm glad I'm not the only one who said...

guitar?! awesome! ...just not that one...

Another thing pointed out earlier I'm trying to address is that the beginning on this is very conservative and the new stuff is really new and really sudden. Going to try to werk in some creativity sooner if there's still some interest in the track in general.

[Gario]

R:TS = Remix.thasauce.net

Check it out - all sorts of music is up on there from a bunch of people (including yours truly ). It doesn't hurt to have music up there - people visit that site often enough.

If the fuzz I'm hearing is your filter then... well, it SOUNDS like clipping, but it might be intentional, after all .

[hewhoisiam]

UPDATED 7 25 2010:

Track:

Dug this out and did stuff. Still playing with the whole sound design thing.

Changed the lead again. Better? Worse? It was smoother, then I added distortion effects to it.

Still not sure what/where this clipping is, so lemme know on that. Track times where it is really help, thx

[hewhoisiam]

UPDATED 7 26 2010:

Mastering attempt, broken and I'm not sure why... I think jacking with the EQ, jacked with uh. All everything.

NINJAEDIT: I had the mids dragged down in the EQ, for Ihavenoidea why. Anyways, this is betterishbroken, instead of ohgodmakeitstop broken.

[DjMystix]

Awesome! I need to learn from you how to repeat a pattern and not making it boring. I really love the drums and precs. The only thing I can think of changing is the bass; it's not catching up with the whole track. may be faster changing notes can do that.

Loving it.

[hewhoisiam]

The first half of this, the bass is pretty much right from source, I raised one note and lowered one note; the second half I wrote a new bass line. I kinda want to change it in the first half, but I couldn't get anything that I liked that sounded right with the original source (first half or so after the intro is very conservative)

As far as repeating the patern and not getting boring. The thing I did with this is put in track automation envelope into the synth. In this case, the 'cutoff' of the filters. They look like lines that follow the notes, but depending on where you draw them, they 'turn' the cutoff knob and cut off part of the sound. Neat stuff! I just learned how to do it, so I'm actually abusing it slightly. (XD upon careful review, I went 'that name looks famaliar...' I now figure you prolly already knew that, but I'll leave this in case anyone else might learn from it)

Also. <3 comments & opinions! Especially in regard to structure and progression. *hint hint wink wink* Thanks!