Electric Sleep -- Mega Man 5 Wily + Elec Man

[ectogemia]

ENJOY THE REMIX (updated 2/16/12)

elec man source (I've been told this source is a bit hard to identify -- IT ISN'T! 1:50-3:00 is overt albeit slow Elec Man, as is the piano outro; there are elements of Elec Man in the solo near the end as well)

mega man 5, wily stage 1 source

YO. This was my entry for the Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet last week. I've had a few issues with it, namely that the final couple versions of the project file mysteriously vanished into the 12th dimension, so I just now attempted to recreate what was lost in terms of production value. I think it's about back to where it was. Let me know if the highs seem a little too bright to you.

NEWAYZ, this mix is supposed to convey an electric sleep, hence the name -- synthy dreams and mystical soundscapes and all that.

I would like to make this my first sub if and only if you think this would be passed. I'm kinda on a mission to have my first sub be unanimously YES'd. I want to feel like I've earned it.

Also, does anyone know of any good, timestamped audio hosts besides soundcloud? I miss Fireslash's wip host :[

[SuperiorX]

Hey Ecto, I liked this mix a lot last round. The only thing that kept me voting for it was those shrilly high freqs. This version does sound a lot better. Some areas are still rather shrill, particularly the 1:50 - 2:20 section, but it sounds A LOT better than the compo version. I just think having frequencies that high up, there won't really be anything more you could do, it's just a nature of the instrument choices and frequency range. The section right after 5:00 is still pretty high up there too, but again it's significantly better than the compo version. It's no longer painful to listen to on quality speakers/headphones.

Good luck with the panel. I'm not sure if you plan on doing anything more with this, but as is, it's much better than the previous version. Can I get a copy of this one, cause I'd like to replace the compo version in my playlist if possible (I didn't see a download link in soundcloud)?

I plan on throwing up my song from this round, "Smooth Operator", up here in the forum after this week, cause I feel it's the first song I made that might be OCR worthy, after I do a few more touchups.

As for file hosting, I like box.net. It's not as music-oriented like soundcloud, but it does time stamp files accurately and you can upload new versions to the same link, so if you update things later you don't have to resend a new link or edit posts.

[OfficialJab]

How come I can't download it from there? I'd really like to keep this. It's likely to be accepted, but not for awhile... I'd love to be able to listen to it any time.

[ectogemia]

OK IT'S AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD

youpeoplemumblegrrr

[SuperiorX]

OK IT'S AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD

youpeoplemumblegrrr

GOOD!!!

itsaboutdamntime

[Magellanic]

Nice intro. You've managed to nail the atmosphere you wanted. In general though I feel like the mix needs to be softer and smoother. The bell like sounds and such are perfect but lack some dynamic and variety. I think you could introduce one more synth to add contrast by taking a turn with the lead lines.

The transition at 0:44-50 transition needs more work. Its a little bit sudden and feel like it could be made a bit smoother and seemless. Perhaps extending a leading line from 00:47 to the main melody at 00:49 would solve that. Once it hits 00:52 I think to continue the dreaminess some more it'd be great to leave out the bass drum/bass or fitler them and then bring it in later to give more impact. Even for a gentle approach, having subtle high's and lows can really add to the piece. The really high lead synth at 00:58 could be made more delicate and atmospheric by reducing the voices. It can still sound sparkley but by having a synth that high, playing a monophonic line would really emphasize the dreamy sonic-space.

2:27 works really well as a contrast to all the high pitched notes of before but I feel that the contrast is too late within the song. I reckon that you could have some lower counter-melody/accompaniment parts appear earlier to give some relief to the listener. If you can get a sound which is rich, warm and smooth it won't break up your dreamy soundscape. It might also enable you to give more expression. I feel like there could be more rising and falling within the phrases of the lead lines to give the mix that little bit more expression.

Anywho, I can't really offer anything more than that as I'm having to make do with listening on my gf's laptop but hopefully that gives you something to experiment with Its a really good mix and with some extra polishing could end up being a really strong submission.

Oh and in regards to the highs being bright, I don't think that is soley a production thing. I think there needs to be more contrast within the ranges used but I already mentioned some stuff about that before.

[anterroir]

When I compare the look of that waveform to what I'm hearing -> dude, that compressor / limiter is spitting blood. You have an rms of about -9db just for the 30 seconds of the intro. How are dynamics supposed to be happening for the rest of the song ?

The brightness people are complaining about comes from driving the whole thing above the red section of the meters. So a good idea would be to turn everything down and aim for a mild -12db at the beginning of the last part with the deeper kick that starts at 3:18.

Another problem related to that is your bass region. You have a high amount of stuff going on under 50Hz thats just eating up headroom (for compression and limiting), isn't even audible and muds up the rest. A good start would be to tame that bass, especially the sweeping one that is moving down in the intro up to 20 Hz and lower. Cut at 35Hz and move the rest to some audible frequencies. Just make the lower space neat and tidy and the rest will pump a lot more.

If you still want get it as loud as you can I would split it into three sections.

If you're using a multiband compressor in front of the limiter I would automate the threshold for the quieter sections (like intro, bridges) so they aren't squashed that much. More threshold/compression for the middle sections and only dial in eleven (on a safe scale !) for the last part. <- compensate that with the limiter (also safe use).

What also works good for a more "dynamical" approach is to automate the master volume fader and reduce volume in bridges - only a mere 1 or 2 db - start verses with a lower setting and turn it up till the chorus | start the song with -3 db and work your way up till the smashing part

..... there so much yo can do here to make it rock. And the Ideas for arrangement and sound are good. So - why all that smashing

[ectogemia]

When I compare the look of that waveform to what I'm hearing -> dude, that compressor / limiter is spitting blood. You have an rms of about -9db just for the 30 seconds of the intro. How are dynamics supposed to be happening for the rest of the song ?

The brightness people are complaining about comes from driving the whole thing above the red section of the meters. So a good idea would be to turn everything down and aim for a mild -12db at the beginning of the last part with the deeper kick that starts at 3:18.

Another problem related to that is your bass region. You have a high amount of stuff going on under 50Hz thats just eating up headroom (for compression and limiting), isn't even audible and muds up the rest. A good start would be to tame that bass, especially the sweeping one that is moving down in the intro up to 20 Hz and lower. Cut at 35Hz and move the rest to some audible frequencies. Just make the lower space neat and tidy and the rest will pump a lot more.

If you still want get it as loud as you can I would split it into three sections.

If you're using a multiband compressor in front of the limiter I would automate the threshold for the quieter sections (like intro, bridges) so they aren't squashed that much. More threshold/compression for the middle sections and only dial in eleven (on a safe scale !) for the last part. <- compensate that with the limiter (also safe use).

What also works good for a more "dynamical" approach is to automate the master volume fader and reduce volume in bridges - only a mere 1 or 2 db - start verses with a lower setting and turn it up till the chorus | start the song with -3 db and work your way up till the smashing part

..... there so much yo can do here to make it rock. And the Ideas for arrangement and sound are good. So - why all that smashing

mmmmmmmmmm, now this is what I'm talking about. Awesome suggestions

Why didn't I do that? Why is the intro as loud as it is? Because my production abilities aren't very good Those things didn't even occur to me, and my ability to hear things like that is so deficient that I don't even know if your assessment is correct or not, hah. I'll go back and make adjustments once I hear what the mods have to say.

[ectogemia]

Mkay, so I subbed this remix like 2 months ago, but I've been writing more music and working on my production quality since then. I decided to remaster this track in light of the skills I've gained, and I added in some new percussive and supportive harmonic elements to boot. It sounds much, much better now. Thoughts?

LINK