shadow24 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Hello, everyone this is my first time using the workshop so if I'm posting irresponsibly please call me out on it and I'll make an effort not to screw up again. Ok onto my WIP... It was inspired by the recent ongoing megaman remix tournament. I hope it doesn't give you tinnitus but that said it has many problems so I'd like to work on the worst ones first. I tried learning some basic EQ stuff but don't really know if that was successful or not. I need to add panning to fill out some of my soundscape among other things. I've got tough skin so give it to me straight and tell me what to do to improve it and my skill set in general. Thanks for your time. Also thanks to the other remixers in the WCRG who've helped get me thus far You've been very helpful. WIP Location: http://soundcloud.com/darrencsmith/tides-of-battle Creation Program: Logic Studio Skill Level With Program: Beginner Source Tunes Names 1) MM5 Wave Man Level Theme 2) MM1 Rock Monster / Yellow Devil Fight Source Tune Links 1) 2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OfficialJab Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Well, it seems like a great two tunes to mix together, the MM1 song has potential for being a great partner. A lot of things sound as though they're off key. It's hard to use the word 'lead' when several things are the same volume since I may be identifying the wrong one, but the 'lead' synth seems to be dancing around without much melody to it. It becomes particularly strange around 1:50 for a few seconds. I can hear a good song in here, and I love Wave Man's theme to death, though it's a bit hard to find and focus on here. The guitar (bass guitar?) in the background that brings itself out more later is a good fit for that source, in fact. I'll be looking forward to your updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KM* Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Okay, here's the scoop. The remix is essentially not very good, and I'll do my best to list out the most important reasons. The arrangement is clashing with it's self. Everything is either out of tune or mistimed with it's self. I couldn't tell it was a remix of the Waveman theme there was so much different with it. The choices for instrument sounds are poor at best. The drums are not done well. In the end it more or less sounds like you tosses a midi through GM instruments and did your own tweaking. I'd forget about EQ, panning or any other sound quality improvements until you can get the actual music down. I can imagine your just starting, so keep practicing, learning and keep going. Just about everyone's first songs on a DAW sounded like this, I know mine did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperiorX Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Yeah, first off there are some issues with the different leads clashing. It does sound like the two themes are each in a different key signature. I imagine you most likely imported a MIDI file of each theme into your DAW first then started re-arranging things? Which is fine for just getting started, but just know you'll need to at least put the songs in the same key signature. If you can't hear the notes clashing just by listening to it, then open up the piano roll and take a look at what notes are being played in each part. You should be able to detect a pattern, certain notes will always be sharp, or natural, etc. Once you transpose the themes then you can focus on how you want to arrange them and make them your own. Like some of the others have said, it's important to look at your sound design choices. Which instruments you're using, and how they complement one another. The drums are also very weak as well. Strong percussion and bass will help build the foundation of the song, so you can then incorporate the other parts. And yeah I wouldn't worry about production techniques (like EQ, panning, etc.) until you can get the basics of arrangement, sound design, etc. down. A lot of the info I gave you over PM still holds true, so I won't reiterate here. Just keep playing around and practicing and trying new things. That is the best way to improve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow24 Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Thank you all for your feedback. Its much appreciated. How often should I post for these things as well? (Whenever I have questions and whenever I update the song for another review?) How should I pick instruments that work well together? I usually just randomly choose some and hope for the best. Is there a method that you use to make selections or is it just trial and error? I thought EQ could fix sound / instrument choices but it looks like that isn't the case. What I'm getting from this so far 1) I need major ear training so I notice and can hear these problems better for myself. (SuperiorX's mention of the differing key signatures and KM*'s mention of out of tune / timing issues). 2) I need to fix the key signatures and merge the different pieces into one. (I have no musical training so I'm looking up transposing, major keys and minor keys,…. and shifting down by 5 semitones). Transposing is just shifting all the notes in the entire source song up or down by an amount (Does this have to be 5 semitones? I just shifted it wherever and wrote notes that I thought sounded good (My ears suck at the moment) in order to transition to a piece of the other source song). Is there a good site that goes into detail about this particular thing. BTW: SuperiorX your assumption about importing the midi songs is spot on. 3) Leads. Should I only have one? Do I need to get rid of instruments or just change to different instruments (A list is below so I'll take suggestions)? Can my bass guitar become a lead and then go back to what it was doing before or is this considered music sacrilege and a horrific practice? Does highest volume indicate that this instrument is "the lead"? 4) More source tunage would help the recognizability for the listener. Maybe go back and add in some more after I fix these other problems. Here are my track instruments. And it is EQ'd based on the frequencies beside the track names. French Horn Staccato (1500+ Hz) VIntage Voltage Bass (500 Hz) * Tight Synth Bass (1200 Hz) * Beatnik Guitar (180 Hz) Compressor side chained to Deep House Kit (I don't really get compressors yet but liked the effect the beat has on this instrument) Deep House Kit (60 Hz) Trance Remix Kit (70 Hz) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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