Halflife 2 GL Orbifold

[Clem]

Yeah, I might tweak the mixing on gman's voice a little bit before I submit to the panel. And I would love to put in some really groovy bass playing in the outro, but the sampler I'm using is really not good (probably the weakest link of the mix).

Anyway, I'm gonna be out of town for the week, so if a mod reviews this and I don't reply it's not cause I'm ignoring you. I'll be back next week!

[Nutritious]

Initial thoughts:

Intro was a cool idea, but quickly degenerates into what just seems like a lot of noise with the spoken sample on top. I suggest cutting it down quite a bit to just the most important/memorable phrases for impact.

Cool transition to rock. I would've liked it to hit harder when the drums/guitar come in. Also, all of the pads and noise elements suddenly stopping like that felt slightly awkward.

Nice guitar playing and production there. Probably the strongest part of the mix.

The drums kind've felt like they were playing a bit haltingly. Almost as if they were playing fills 80% of the time or a bridging pattern to something else. I kept waiting for them to really establish a rock groove, but it didn't quite get there.

Very nice changeups to the different sections. I think you could bring that synth lead up more. It'll help give more sonic contrast when it's there.

Are you doing some sort of stereo separation on the drums to put them in the background? They don't sound bad, but it seems like they could be pushed slightly further front and center.

4:04 the synths honestly felt weak here compared to the rock work that preceded it. The whole section felt pretty flat dynamically. I think it'd be a TON more effective if you used the section to build up and compliment the vocal sample to hit at the end. For example:

Building it up slowly with guitars and drums (with better synths IMO) while he speaks, then do a big crash/hit and dropoff while he says "I thought not", then do that guitar effect. Something to that effect.

Loud section at 4:37 is causing pumping against the compressors. Too much sound occupying the same space. Cool transition effect at 4:52, but REALLY bad distortion from pushing the limiter/compressor way too hard. Nice section in general here as the climax to the song, just try to get rid of the pumping by bringing down a few levels or creative EQing.

The extra section beyond 5:10 (while it had some cool transitions and effects) felt like a let down, energy wise, and unnecessary. Maybe you can finish off the song somewhere towards the end of the more high-energy part immediately before.

[Clem]

Hey, Thanks a lot for the in depth review.

I've started working on addressing the issues you brought up. I'm planning on changing the intro and outro quite drastically. I'm also definitely going to take your advice for the buildup to the climax. I've already started working on that and I'm really liking what I'm hearing.

I also see what you're saying about the drum patterns. I'll try to come up with some more solid grooves.

Again, thanks for taking the time to listen and tell me what you thought.

[Nutritious]

Glad to help

[Clem]

Here's the newest version: http://tindeck.com/listen/mvwt

I made a new intro, outro, and build to the climax. For the intro I decided to reuse the riff that I was using for the outro in the last version. I really liked the sound of the natural harmonics and I didn't wanna cut it. I also really cut back on the gman vocal samples.

The build to the climax is all new. Only similarity is the chord progression.

The outro is also all new. I really like how it turned out, personally.

I totally axed the old intro. It kinda hurt to drop something I spent so much time on, but I think it's better this way.

I tried to address the issues with the drum track. I think I was able to make it sound more solid overall.

Probably there are a couple things I can do to improve the buildup to the climax, but I have a lot to learn about using synths, so fire away your suggestions.

[Nutritious]

Good improvements dude. Definitely.

INITIAL part of the intro is a bit awkward with the drums just coming in like that. Can you think of something else to lead things in?

Intro in general is MUCH better. It sounds like an element is missing to fill out the sound a bit more here, though. I'd suggest maybe a pad underneath everything.

SWEET effect at :32.

I'm gonna repeat that I still feel like the drums never establish the driving rock groove. I really feel like AT LEAST by 1:38 things should be in high gear. Even earlier would be better though.

What I mean is a more solid kick 1 & 3 (and even offbeat of 3), snare on 2 and four, and hitting hard on the open hihat or ride on all 4 beats. Complimenting that with some faster riffs on the rhythm guitars would help drive it as well. I hope that explains it well enough.

On the plus side, the drums are sounding a lot better IMO.

That breakdown section I talked about before sounds a LOT better than before. The guitar part sounds like some possible out of tune-ish notes, but I'm not entirely sure. One minor gripe is right before the drop out to "I thought not", things kind've spluttered down, instead of having a more focused/directed/purposeful stop.

Lastly, I think the mixing and mastering could be worked on a bit. It's hard to articulate what I mean, but when things kick in after "I thought not" I want it to hit hard, but it's instead squashed by compression and about the same volume/intensity as the previous section.

That cool effect at 4:55 is also still squashed with the compression/limiting.

On the arrangement side, things are sounding good. I can hear where you took everything from, but you've rocked it out well in your style. Good job there as well.

This is a sweet track man, I just feel like there are a few areas that need tightening before submission.

[Clem]

Another new version: http://tindeck.com/listen/zqcm

I made a much more interesting lead into the intro. I'm glad you brought it up cause this is just way better to me.

I also made a weird pad thing playing what vaguely sounds like the main melody in the background of the intro. I think it fills it out a little bit.

I made major changes to the drums throughout most of the track, starting with the first "big riff". I think I was finally able to see what you've been saying about the drums. Don't hesitate to say if they still sound off to you though.

Are the out of tune notes your referring to happening at about 4:09? I'm not a huge fan of the "IT'S A STYLE! :twisted:" defense, but the out of tune effect is somewhat intentional. It's caused by slowly releasing a whole-step bend. Part of the problem may be my execution. If it sounds too jarring I can come up with something else there (though I do kinda like it how it is).

I made the drums lead into the break at the end of the buildup. I think it helps make it sound much more flowing.

I tried to lead into the final climax with a hard drum hit. I think it works, but it might need a little more.

As far as mixing and mastering. I found that in the multiband compressor I was running on the master track, I was really flattening everything but the master band. I really cut back on that and I think it made the song sound much less squashed overall. A step in the right direction at least.

I lowered the levels of the effect at 4:55. Tell me if it still sounds abrasive.

I added a few effects here and there to make some of the parts more interesting.

For the final submission, I going to render it at a higher bit rate. I have it at only 125kb because my encoder has been misleading me about the file size, which I have been trying to keep under 8MB.

Again, thanks for your comments. They've been really helpful.

[Duesenberg]

epic.....badass stuff

[Mak Eightman]

I agree with Subnormal. Great work!!

But you destroyed awesome guitar section from one of some prev version, which only needed some cool slap-bass.. Shame..

[Clem]

I'm glad you guys like it. I've worked pretty hard on it.

And Mak, I see what your sayin. It was a tough decision to cut most of that riff. The problem was that when I moved it to the front of the song, having the whole thing in there just made the intro drag on too long, in my opinion. I couldn't move it to the outro again. I honestly prefer the new outro because I have wanted to work some epic sounding strings into the song somehow anyway. I salvaged what I could of that riff

[Mak Eightman]

Forget about that!! Awesome Work Dude!!

[Clem]

No major changes. Just smoothed out a couple transitions and tried to improve the mastering. http://tindeck.com/listen/ykbc

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtqzEA7zbAE

Setting thread to mod review for hopefully one last time.

[Nutritious]

Hey, got your PM. I'll try to get to this one sometime either tonight or tomorrow.

[Nutritious]

Ok, yeah, this isn't "tonight", "tomorrow", or even "next week". Nearly next month. Sorry dude.

You've probably submitted it by now, but i'm still gonna give the promised rundown.

Liked the intro a lot better this time. Stutter was good idea, but execution wasn't QUITE there. Seems like it should've stuttered in a way that leads into the beat and gets punctuated on the downbeat by something, but not a huge deal.

Not sure why second stutter right after it was there, I'd remove it honestly.

Nice clean sound here with the guitars, good synth use. Drums have good presence and writing. I can't help feeling it could have a bit more power (snare specifically).

Man you REALLY improved the bridge section with the vocal sample.

Still sounds like some pumping at 3:39, 4:46 & 5:02 - watch those levels.

Solid stuff overall here dude.

Now, for some transparency. A big part of why I didn't reply to this initially: in my mind I could hear a ton of potential and room for a big orchestra to back this up. I was contemplating asking if you wanted to collab, but I really have a lot on my plate that's unfinished that I need to finish before taking anything else on. So, that's why I didn't bring it up.

After that, I forgot to come back and crit, so sorry man .

[Clem]

Don't sweat it, man.

I actually have not subbed it yet, mainly because there are bits that aren't sitting well with me, so I was going to wait for some more feedback and work on other projects in the meantime.

Honestly, if you are interested in a collab, I wouldn't mind holding off for however long on subbing this. I really really love the source tune, and I would love to do it justice. I feel the need to take some extra time to iron out some production issues (including the ones you mentioned) anyway.

Of course, if you really don't think you would be able to find the time anywhere in the near future, that's fine. Let me know, and the thanks for the feedback