FFVIII - Under Her Control

[Anti-Syne]

So this was one of the first tracks I ever remixed, but before I could ever finish it I accidentally deleted all the samples I was using and never finished it.

Now with a software upgrade to Cubase 5 I thought it was about time I had another go at it.

And the source

I've been listening to alot of Daft Punk recently so this track is heavily influenced by them

Let me know what you think and how it can be improved.

Thanks in advance!

_______________________________________________

Version 2

[AJ-enova]

Woaho! Loving it! I'm not too sure about the start/build up. Sounding good may need a bit of work but once it reaches the melody it sounds fuckin awesome!

[Gario]

You may not be sure of the buildup, but I am - it's fucking sweet.

Alright, I can hear what you mean with the whole 'Daft-Punk' influenced thing... do you actually mean 'I-totally-stole-some-of-Daft-Punk's-traditional-textures-and-hope-that-no-one-cares-because-textures-are-totally-public-domain'? Nothing wrong with that, but daaaamn, some of those are almost exactly like Daft Punk's textures, lol.

The production on this one is pretty sweet, bro. The sound is really excellent (so you've certainly gotten over the lo-fi samples issue with this track, in comparison with the other WIPs you've posted here). Unfortunately, there is one problem that I hear in this track, when it comes to getting accepted on OCR - it's arguably too liberal. Listening to it a second time, though, I think it might be passable, in that regard, but it's really a close case, here. Bring this to either a J's attention or get this up for mod review.

The only other problem with this is that I feel it's cut a bit short at 3:26 - I want moar naow. Gimme moar naow. No, really, this is some really sweet electronica going up, here.

[Anti-Syne]

Cool, cheers guys, and specifically thanks Gario, It seems I can always I rely on your for a full critique

Here's my breakdown of the track, a mathmatical analysis of how liberal the arrangement is:

0:00 - 0:25 No source used

0:26 – 0:42 Main riff used (granted it’s cut up heavily)

0:43 – 1:23 Source very apparent

1:24 – 2:13 NO source used

2:14 – 2:50 Source very apparent

2:51 – 3:26 Main riff used

So by my calculations the song is 206 seconds long, the source is being used for 128 of those seconds, so it's about 62% source 38% original. Is that acceptable here?

Well it's up for mod review now, I'd basically like an idea of how close this is to passing the the panel, and does it need to be longer? I'm always scared of doing longer pieces because I might kill the idea, more of a short but sweet fan myself. Agains thanks in advance (and i'd still welcome some more non-mod critiques too if you like)

(and yes I do really mean 'I-totally-stole-some-of-Daft-Punk's-traditional-textures-and-hope-that-no-one-cares-because-textures-are-totally-public-domain', emphasis on 'totally stole'...)

[Gario]

Well, LT's rule of thumb is if it's over 50% and under 80% it's alright, I think, so if it comes down to it you should be alright.

[ectogemia]

That wah'ing lead is really sweet. Being new to this whole electronica thing, I'd really like to know what you did to make that particular synth and how you went about applying the filter to it.

Sadly, I don't have a lot to say from my critical eye... er, mouth. Happily, that means you did a great job. It may be a bit sparse for my taste as it sounds like there aren't too terribly many instruments going on at points, but I'm assuming you took a look at your EQ and everything seemed fine, so this may be a non-factor.

[Anti-Syne]

Thanks for the feedback, very much appreciated!

Yeah i went a bit filter mad with this one, the wah sounds are all done using Cubase's Step filter, set to play through, pretty much, random filter frequencies at a 1/16 (or semi-quaver what have you) rate. Then there's an 80% glide between these frequencies changes to give it that smoother 'wah-wah' sound. Then that all goes through an amp simulator to add a bit of distortion, basically I wanted it to have a bit of an electric guitar feel, without it sounding like it's trying to be an electric guitar too much (if that makes sense). The synth itself is a relatively simple mono synth, so the majority of that sound is coming from the distorted filter changes rather than the synth settings. Hope that explains it!

I did play around with filling up the space a bit more, but things got too muddy too quickly, and i ended up going with the 'less is more' sort of approach.

[ectogemia]

Thanks for the feedback, very much appreciated!

Yeah i went a bit filter mad with this one, the wah sounds are all done using Cubase's Step filter, set to play through, pretty much, random filter frequencies at a 1/16 (or semi-quaver what have you) rate. Then there's an 80% glide between these frequencies changes to give it that smoother 'wah-wah' sound. Then that all goes through an amp simulator to add a bit of distortion, basically I wanted it to have a bit of an electric guitar feel, without it sounding like it's trying to be an electric guitar too much (if that makes sense). The synth itself is a relatively simple mono synth, so the majority of that sound is coming from the distorted filter changes rather than the synth settings. Hope that explains it!

I did play around with filling up the space a bit more, but things got too muddy too quickly, and i ended up going with the 'less is more' sort of approach.

Yep, that does indeed help, thanks! You ended up with a pretty sweet tone just starting with a single oscillator. And MAN did that sound like a guitar. Clearly a synth, still, but great job getting to that guitar tone. I've really got to work on shaping my sounds

[Gario]

I don't want to see this drop off the page without a mod review. Bumped for great justice.

Also, it's really got intense groove goin', dude. Just sayin'.

[Rozovian]

I remember you remixing this a while back. Can't listen now, but I'm glad you're not giving up on it.

Well, LT's rule of thumb is if it's over 50% and under 80% it's alright, I think, so if it comes down to it you should be alright.

Stop perpetuating the myth that remixers have to add original sections to their remixes, dude.

[Rozovian]

Posting again now that I have some actual feedback. The intro sounded like it was gonna reference the backing melody in source. you could probably do that, to up the source content. Feels kind'a minimal, would be cool to bring out some more background stuff a bit more. Lead+bass+drums... needs the rest of the tracks to be louder.

The e-piano part was surprising (and cool) and perhaps a bit too abruptly, but you wouldn't need much to make that transition feel better. A ride or long crash or something, perhaps?

The track could get a little more intense towards the end, it feels it just return to its previous level and then ends. A bigger ending wouldn't hurt.

Pretty cool. Make it really cool.

[Nutritious]

Sorry for the delayed review, here goes:

Production sounds pretty solid here. I'm not gonna comment on the Daft Punk textures either positively or negatively, but only to say I'm not sure what kind of precident there is on the site for such heavy use of recognizable textures. MOVING ON

I think the bigger issue here is the source usage. I appreciate the breakdown you gave as it gave me a good starting point. Here's a bit more what I'm hearing though:

:00 - :24 Original

:25 - :41 I see what you're saying here, but source connection is tenuous at best. I'd honestly consider this more on the original side.

:42 - 1:23 Overt source usage

1:24 - 2:12 Daft Sine

2:13 - 2:29 Overt source usage

2:30 - 2:33 Small original transition

2:34 - 2:50 Overt source usage

2:51 - 3:26 I hear that backing riff, but the melody only seems to be hinting at a connection. Still, I'll count it as connection.

I guess my breakdown came a lot closer to yours than I initially thought.

111 connection/206 total = 53% Connected

I'd say this is really toeing the line on being liberal, based on general judge guidelines. I'd recommend trying to develop the arrangement to get a firmer source connection. It looks like you haven't touched the B section of the source in your arrangement (though you did use the bridge), so I definitely think there's some additional potential there.

[Gario]

Stop perpetuating the myth that remixers have to add original sections to their remixes, dude.

Zuh? I never said that . I didn't even say that people should keep the source usage over 50% of the music, and be sure that straight source use stays under 80%.

Liontamer did.

[Rozovian]

... be sure that straight source use stays under 80%.

Fixed the missing emphasis. That is all.

[Anti-Syne]

Version 2:

Ok, so I tried to listen to you all, with the main changes being:

1. More source where I could comfortably fit it in

2. Thicker texture at the thinner parts

3. Bigger Ending

4. It's a bit longer - Outro, containing source, added

Again I'd love to know what you think of this, critiques here have always helped me improve my work massively. I'm going to keep this up as a Mod-review because I really want to know what chance this stands against the judges.

Finally yes, the texture ideas are definately very Daft Punk, however hopefully that isn't a problem here as I've noticed there are mixes already on OCR which openly admit to using established artist's styles (i.e. Midee and Prozax's 'The Twelth Commandment)

[Gario]

Mmm... I can hear the improvements to this one, and they're all for the better. I think the additions of source where you've added is perfect, and I think the J's will be alright with it, as well. The ending is better than the last track, although personally I don't think it meshes well with the rest of the track before it. It's not bad, on it's own, but it's noticeably different from the rest of the music (noticeably calmer, less gritty). I think you can get away with it, if you don't mind it much, but that's how I feel about it.

It sounds damn sexy, otherwise.

[Anti-Syne]

Thanks Gario glad you like it Personally, I think the ending works for me, the aim was to add a abit of juxtaposition at the end, calming it all down a tad.

Anyway, I'm happy with this now and I shall be submitting it on Wednesday, so if anyone has any more critiques and improvements for me speak now or forever hold your peace.

Thanks again to everyone for your advice already!