Mega Man: The Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet 2011

[ectogemia]

Whaaaaa? Time stamps don't lie bitch my post was at 9:57 and your votes at 10:03.

You still owe me $20.

[SuperiorX]

You still owe me $20.

Ok I'll get right on that.

[AMT]

I suppose it is. I just listened to my remix again, and although the highs are a bit shrill, I really only think they're a bit shrill. Not even close to anything that would make me turn off the music, and I listen to music at a fairly high volume. Perhaps its just a difference in perceptual intensity. Nonetheless, if several others are hearing something I'm not, it's probably an issue worth correcting.

There's also a decent chance that the frequency is being suppressed by whatever your listening setup is. Maybe the headphones or speakers you're using don't reproduce that frequency very well, so in your mix you left it up high to compensate and that's what everyone else is hearing.

[Nabeel Ansari]

I suppose it is. I just listened to my remix again, and although the highs are a bit shrill, I really only think they're a bit shrill. Not even close to anything that would make me turn off the music, and I listen to music at a fairly high volume. Perhaps its just a difference in perceptual intensity. Nonetheless, if several others are hearing something I'm not, it's probably an issue worth correcting.

Here's my own two cents on this. When I was 13, I posted a mix on the WiP forums and was told a certain snare sound had really bad, resonating frequencies (by Rozovian and others, go figure ). I had NO IDEA what was going on. I listened to my mix and I didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary.

But that's because I made the remix. My ears were used to it because I made it. And I couldn't notice my own mistakes because I hadn't asked for help. When I did ask for help, it added to a long line of ear training experience. Now I can catch these kinds of things as soon as I hear them in FL Studio.

If you can't hear your own mistakes and others can, that's perfectly normal. It just means you're not some sort of mixing prodigy. That's why you ask for feedback, because giving your stuff to people who haven't heard it before will be more able to point things out (because they haven't heard it before and they're not used to it).

That's also why people end up leaving mixes alone for a couple weeks and revisiting them later on before submitting them to OCR. The freshness and "getting used to it" (for lack of a word) goes away and you can see all of the mistakes you made. They're more obvious because you're not already used to hearing them.

[ectogemia]

There's also a decent chance that the frequency is being suppressed by whatever your listening setup is. Maybe the headphones or speakers you're using don't reproduce that frequency very well, so in your mix you left it up high to compensate and that's what everyone else is hearing.

That's possible, but I use Sony MD-7506 headphones for monitoring, and as far as I know, those have a pretty solid frequency response across the board. It could also be that all the loud music I've listened to over the years has killed my ability to hear high frequencies

[Nabeel Ansari]

That's possible, but I use Sony MD-7506 headphones for monitoring, and as far as I know, those have a pretty solid frequency response across the board. It could also be that all the loud music I've listened to over the years has killed my ability to hear high frequencies

Try to avoid listening to this song for the next 2 days. Then listen to it again. See if you notice anything different (like Rozo and others' issue).

[Gario]

If I'm not mistaken, didn't Ecto say there was another version where he mixed the instruments better? We could be circling around something that he already is aware of. Just throwing that out there.

[ectogemia]

If I'm not mistaken, didn't Ecto say there was another version where he mixed the instruments better? We could be circling around something that he already is aware of. Just throwing that out there.

Yep I did so days ago, and I even mentioned that again in one of my last few posts

Regardless, I still don't think it's that piercing as it was submitted, but again, I do recognize the shrillness everyone is hearing. Lesson learned: master track --> eq --> brickwall everything over 1kHz --> yeah.

[Brandon Strader]

It's just the bell-type synths, that's the way they sound. Probably just turn 'em down a bit and it'd be aight. You can turn high-frequency stuff like that lower and it's still easy to hear due to it being pretty much the only thing in that frequency range

[Nabeel Ansari]

Lesson learned: master track --> eq --> brickwall everything over 1kHz --> yeah.

That's really treating the symptoms and not the cause. It's a bit inefficient.

What I would do is slap an EQ on the offending instrument itself (if you're using my template this is already done for you) and cut down the offending frequencies. There are a variety of controls in Parametric EQ 2 that let you do pinpoint stuff (not just blanket curves).

[MindWanderer]

It could also be that all the loud music I've listened to over the years has killed my ability to hear high frequencies

That's a possibility that shouldn't be understated. High-range hearing is the first to go, and repeated exposure to sounds above 85 decibels or so, or occasional exposure to sounds above 120 decibels, can speed that up a lot. There's also a lot of individual variance: some people can hear muted TV's and dog whistles. But taking care of your hearing is very important, especially if you need it for remixing.

[ectogemia]

That's really treating the symptoms and not the cause. It's a bit inefficient.

What I would do is slap an EQ on the offending instrument itself (if you're using my template this is already done for you) and cut down the offending frequencies. There are a variety of controls in Parametric EQ 2 that let you do pinpoint stuff (not just blanket curves).

Was joking I know how to mix down my tracks pretty well. See Gario's Post of Clarity.

[Sir_NutS]

Well, I'm done with my mix. This week was not good for me, not enough time to mix and this Wily theme didn't give me good ideas. Honestly I had a hard time coming up with something that was not a complete mess.

Oh well at least I submitted a finished, dream trance remix!

[Brandon Strader]

Hey DarkeSword, someone said you download the entries at the deadline -- is that true? Cause I ninja-updated mine, and wasn't sure.

[SuperiorX]

Hey DarkeSword, someone said you download the entries at the deadline -- is that true? Cause I ninja-updated mine, and wasn't sure.

The deadline is 12pm, so noon tomorrow, not midnight right now. So you got time Brandon!

[AMT]

Well, I'm done with my mix. This week was not good for me, not enough time to mix and this Wily theme didn't give me good ideas. Honestly I had a hard time coming up with something that was not a complete mess.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one- this Wily theme just did not inspire me at all. I honestly didn't like it very much, but I made the best of it that I could.

[Zerothemaster]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one- this Wily theme just did not inspire me at all. I honestly didn't like it very much, but I made the best of it that I could.

I didn't like the main part of the theme... but I loved the counterpoint to it, and used it a TON.

[Brandon Strader]

I loved this Wily theme. It was another one that worked perfectly with Splash Woman, and metal. >:]

[shadow24]

Well I just purchased Logic Studio so maybe I can learn it quick enough to participate in a future remix competition Thanks to everyone for the insight earlier about which program would suit me best. Maybe I can move up from being tone deaf lol

[Magellanic]

Just subbed my entry for this week and can't believe I managed to finish it. "By the skin of your teeth" comes to mind. The arrangement stage took far longer than it should have. Really looking forward to hearing the other entries though and definitely intrigued by your Metal version Brandon. Probably a bad choice on my part to do another rock-styled mix this week.

[Sir_NutS]

Just voted. Holy crap what a close round. Also: Riding the Avalanche, wow.

Really great job this round guys.

[Jason Covenant]

Well, I'm done with my mix. This week was not good for me, not enough time to mix and this Wily theme didn't give me good ideas. Honestly I had a hard time coming up with something that was not a complete mess.

Seems like a lot of people had a bad week. I got an ear infection and lost about half my hearing. My mind's been in a fog. I kept forgetting what genre I was doing, lol. Oh well, I did what I could.

[Rexy]

I got an ear infection and lost about half my hearing.

Dude, I feel for you; I was partially deafened by ear congestion over a month ago, and it feels terrible to struggle to hear and criticise music properly

I hope you'll get better soon, and make sure any medication you take will heal the process.

[Jason Covenant]

Dude, I feel for you; I was partially deafened by ear congestion over a month ago, and it feels terrible to struggle to hear and criticise music properly

I hope you'll get better soon, and make sure any medication you take will heal the process.

Thanks, I'm using copious amounts of dayquil and nyquil. Without them, I probably could not have finished at all.

Yea, ear infections suck. =(

[Sir_NutS]

Yea, ear infections suck. =(

I got one of those a couple of months ago. Nasty things them, I couldn't even stand up and keep my balance. Hope you get well soon.

Now, some quick comments on the tracks:

Sting Operation Groovy stuff, I liked the arrangement and the mix of the two themes. Not much else to say other than you got in my top three.

Air Man in a G String Great stuff, I loved that you actually managed to do new stuff with Air Man which is an over remixed song. One of those songs that I'm sad I couldn't fit in the top 3

Unto Dust Luckily I don't have to vote for this one. I'm pretty proud of what my other teammates have come up with so far. Rocking stuff from prophetik.

Running With Scissors You just pressed my metal bias button and got yourself a 1st place vote. LOVE IT. Reminds me of the awesomeness and energy of the first round rock remixes.

Power Outage Very groovy and enjoyable. The vocals could've used some processing since they sound a bit raw. Very imaginative mix.

Tripping Through I liked this one a lot as well. Not very heavy arrangement-wise but it doesn't need to be. I heard some conflicting notes at some points in the mix, but they didn't kill the song for me. Nice Work.

Topsy Turvy Loud and Proud, just how I like it. The production sounded a bit dirty to me but maybe that was intentional. I love the top man theme and it was used very well here. This one is a keeper for me.

Riding the Avalanche This one surprised me. I jumped out of my chair when it started... Wow, I LOVE THIS. Seriously it was practically a toss up between this one and Running with scissors. Very energetic, loved the changes, the pace, the energy, the arrangement. I never thought Chill Man could be done this way. It was all pretty awesome. One of my favorites from the entire competition.

Electric Sleep Very cool entry, a little dirty in some places. Are those cymbals clipping? anyways the arrangement was fine and it was an enjoyable track. This round is just full of awesome.

And yes I first read the title as Electric Sheep.

Solidity Cool dancy track, very catchy and very energetic, good arrangement as well. Not much to say other than this is another great track that I just couldn't fit in the top three.

Closest round ever, gj all.