Spi.der.men Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 http://soundcloud.com/imspidermen/angel-island-act-2 I think I'm almost done with this one, but I feel like I'm missing some opportunities. I was wondering if I could get some tips on what I should add and how the mix is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adge Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 This sounds waaaaaaay to similar to the original source as far as I can tell. You certainly need to add some original arrangement to the composition, in my opinion, if you want to satisfy OCR's posting regulations. For a a two minute piece it sounds quite repetitive as well, almost like the second minute of the track is a repeat of the first. You certainly would need need to break it up somehow, for example, I would put a keyboard solo there. Something to change it up and keep it interesting. The start and finish of the track needs attention also; It starts to suddenly and ends too abruptly. If your at a lost with how to start the track, try putting in an instrument in one at the time building up to start the main melody from the source. As for the ending, I'm not sure, I've struggled in the past with trying to end tracks. Listen to other songs (on OCR or otherwise) and see how other people start and end their tracks for ideas. I think I'm almost done with this one I'm not so sure, there is quite a lot of work to do here and hopefully you'll put in the time, effort and attention this track needs to take it to the next level. This is a good foothold to work with so far, and hopefully other people can give you better analysis and advice than I have! Best of luck with this track, I'll be sure to keep an eye on it's progress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spi.der.men Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 This sounds waaaaaaay to similar to the original source as far as I can tell. You certainly need to add some original arrangement to the composition, in my opinion, if you want to satisfy OCR's posting regulations.For a a two minute piece it sounds quite repetitive as well, almost like the second minute of the track is a repeat of the first. You certainly would need need to break it up somehow, for example, I would put a keyboard solo there. Something to change it up and keep it interesting. The start and finish of the track needs attention also; It starts to suddenly and ends too abruptly. If your at a lost with how to start the track, try putting in an instrument in one at the time building up to start the main melody from the source. As for the ending, I'm not sure, I've struggled in the past with trying to end tracks. Listen to other songs (on OCR or otherwise) and see how other people start and end their tracks for ideas. I'm not so sure, there is quite a lot of work to do here and hopefully you'll put in the time, effort and attention this track needs to take it to the next level. This is a good foothold to work with so far, and hopefully other people can give you better analysis and advice than I have! Best of luck with this track, I'll be sure to keep an eye on it's progress Thanks man! Yeah a keyboard solo would sound really cool. As for the ending, I wanted to keep it with that one string and have it lead into hydrocity (thats the part of the game where sonic falls off of the bridge into the next zone and it could sound suspenseful) What do you mean by add some original arrangement? Should I start the song with what would be the chorus? Or do you mean add a different feel entirely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adge Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I wanted to keep it with that one string and have it lead into hydrocity (thats the part of the game where sonic falls off of the bridge into the next zone and it could sound suspenseful) It didn't sound too 'suspenseful' to me. I think you'll need to play about with it to get that feel, if that's what you're looking for. Trust your ears on that one. If you're going to end with the string on it's own, at least strip down parts of the track before you have that string on it's own or fade out the sounds. It sounded abrupt since you went from having multiple tracks playing to just the strings very suddenly, so try to rectify that! By saying you want to have it lead into 'Hydrocity' I presume you mean you want to continue the track into another? Would this be in one track as a medley? If so, be careful regarding OCR's submissions standards. Taken from the Submissions standards and submissions page on this website; Medleys must sound like a single song, not multiple songs pasted together. Keep that in mind if that's what your going for. Check out medleys other people on OCR have done to have an idea of what is acceptable. If you mean that your going to do a separate ReMix for the Hydrocity level but have the two tracks merge into each other (like they're on an album), then I'd strongly advise you not to do that (at least not on OCR). The tracks you make should be like a radio edit, with a coherent introduction and ending (this is why I had a problem with the start and finish of your track). It makes sense for a single track on it's own to have closure and not end on a cliffhanger of sorts. It works in HBO TV series', but not in music I'm 'fraid What do you mean by add some original arrangement? Should I start the song with what would be the chorus? Or do you mean add a different feel entirely? I presume restructuring the track would count as adding original arrangement, but I mostly meant something along the lines of 'different feel'. Essentially, I believe it's a case of taking artistic license on the original midi of the track, such as changing parts (EDIT: Changing parts is a bit too vague, I mean using original drum beats, bass rhythms ect.), adding counter-melodies and putting in instrumental solo's. It's like putting your own personal stamp on the song. What you need to do in order to make the track original is hard to nail down, and I'm not 100% sure on what is needed to strike the sweet balance between the track not being a cover and not being unrecognisable. Again, I'm going take the cheap way out and suggest looking at posted OCR tracks to see how similar/different they are to the original source. It is seriously the best way to find what OCR is looking for. I hope I'm of some help here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spi.der.men Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 Yeah that was really helpful! Exactly what I needed to hear! I've also listened to a ton of tracks on this site, especially the ones on Project Chaos and Serious Monkey Business. I feel like that kind of stuff is really out of my league at the moment and I'm trying to claw my way up there! I have a few ideas but I don't quite have the the resources to make it come alive. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I'm going to take a look at some of these guides before I crack down on this track again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 This actually sounds like a straight MIDI remix, and I didn't listen to the source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spi.der.men Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 This actually sounds like a straight MIDI remix, and I didn't listen to the source. Yeah good point man. I'm definitely going to work on that when I start hitting this one again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 See if you can get the melody stuck in your head. Maybe then you can start modifying it in your head before you write it out, and when you get something good, write it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garpocalypse Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/genesis/ Yea it does sound very close to Duo the Fox's "Harmony remix" on VGMusic. Midi rips can be used for production practice. I just wouldn't post them anywhere since it's not really... your work. Start with playing the melody across all the instruments you know, then experiment with different chord progressions in whatever styles interest you to make the source your own original interpretation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skolar Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 .0001 seconds into song: "Not sure if I'm gonna recognize this without listening to the original firs- OH, that one." Yeah, as much as I'm digging this (a ton, by the way), I'd have to agree it's probably too close to the original to get posted on OCR. See if you can get the melody stuck in your head. Maybe then you can start modifying it in your head before you write it out, and when you get something good, write it out. Good idea. I don't have any real experience in this area, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of the judges being okay with the similarities the song has to the source, instruments-wise, if you brought on the creativity with the melody. Departures from the original, solos, maybe a fun bridge or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Good idea. I don't have any real experience in this area, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of the judges being okay with the similarities the song has to the source, instruments-wise, if you brought on the creativity with the melody. Departures from the original, solos, maybe a fun bridge or something like that. From what I've read, the judges generally don't like extremely similar instrumentation, but if there's maybe one or two instruments similar and the others are not, there's a better chance they'll be okay with it (i.e. 2 similar and 5 different is great, but 4 similar and 2 different should be reworked). Of course, a really amazing arrangement will blow them away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.