My First Remix - Little Nemo: The Dream Master - Outerworld Forest

[Benjaipod]

Hi everyone, like the title says its my first Remix... I had some experience making video games covers earlier, but just now i started to create some real remixes... This is a work in progress, i'd like you to give me your opinion, and don't be scared to say whatever its in your mind. Maybe is a little "coverish" but i need to work in my technique and creativity, this is just a start

This is an ochestrated version of Mushroom Forest, the stage 1 of Little Nemo: The Dream Master from NES, using EWQL Gold, Cubase 5, a midi controller M-Audio Axiom 25 and a Korg Nanopad2. I need to work in the ending, and some other details.

I don't know why at 2:44 theres a high pitch noise, i have to fix that too, its a midi failure i guess.

I really hope you like it, and i'll wait for your opinion!...

ps: Sorry, English is not my native lenguage xD

Original:

REMIX: https://soundcloud.com/benjaipod/wip-little-nemo-the-dream-1

Edited June 23, 2013 by Benjaipod

[Ethan Rex]

The strings' attack in the beginning is oddly harsh and makes them sound fake. Also you might wanna adjust the low cut or maybe even lower the reverb in the bass - it's muddying up your mix. Also there's very little dynamic work in the piece, making the arrangement seem anti-climatic. Once you humanize this it'll sound a lot better.

[Benjaipod]

Thx!... i'll work on that today

[Benjaipod]

This is a v2.0... i worked in the dynamics and tried to humanize it the most i could. And it has also a possible ending, let me know what you think!

https://soundcloud.com/benjaipod/wip-little-nemo-the-dream

I think i'll skip the maximizer in the next version i upload, it reduces the dynamic changes a lot...

Edited June 19, 2013 by Benjaipod

[Byproduct]

this is just a start

- - I need to work in the ending, and some other details.

I don't know why at 2:44 theres a high pitch noise, i have to fix that too,

In my opinion, if you already know what to fix, then fix it first. Send it for feedback when you've done what you can.

This is because good feedback is valuable - and usually limited - and it'll just go to waste if people tell you things you already knew. When you've first done your best, and then people help you get further, you'll push your limits much better.

[Benjaipod]

In my opinion, if you already know what to fix, then fix it first. Send it for feedback when you've done what you can.

This is because good feedback is valuable - and usually limited - and it'll just go to waste if people tell you things you already knew. When you've first done your best, and then people help you get further, you'll push your limits much better.

thats a good advice xD... thanks haha, i think i'll upload a final version soon so you can evaluate it.

[Benjaipod]

Ok, so now i hope this could be the final version... i worked a lot in the dynamics, humanized the mix, panning, etc... thoughts?? i cant wait to submit my remix xD

https://soundcloud.com/benjaipod/wip

[ectogemia]

This is a v2.0... i worked in the dynamics and tried to humanize it the most i could. And it has also a possible ending, let me know what you think!

https://soundcloud.com/benjaipod/wip-little-nemo-the-dream

I think i'll skip the maximizer in the next version i upload, it reduces the dynamic changes a lot...

If you're skipping a maximizer/limiter because it's squashing your dynamics, then you're either adding too much gain via the maximizer or your mix is too loud or poorly balanced. There are a few solutions:

1. Always mix at -10 db RMS or lower. This means that the average volume of your mix should be no higher than -10 dB UNTIL the very final step of adding gain via a maximizer/limiter. Why is this important? Balancing is impossible to do optimally if your limiter is being triggered because that adds compression to the whole mix and obfuscates the dynamics and levels of each track. It also prevents the common, rookie mistake (and I was guilty of this issue for well over a year) of not giving a shit about whether or not your limiter is being triggered. In fact, your limiter should NEVER be triggered unless you are maximizing and searching for the right amount of limiting/compression or unless you're writing aggressive dance music, but even then it's not a bad idea to hold off on maximizing/limiting til the very end.

How do you employ this technique? At the top of your master bus, toss in some plugin with a gain or output knob. I use an EQ plugin, and then I turn my mix down until I get an RMS around -10 to -15 dB, then I just turn up my headphones to compensate for the reduction in master bus output. Then I write a song, mix it, add a little master bus compression, then I just restore that reduced output in the maser bus chain by turning up the limiter until I get the sound I want. This technique maximizes your control over the balance and dynamics of the mix.

That's not my whole mastering process, but it's definitely the most important part. I left out monoizing the sub-bass frequencies, some harmonic excitation, and a little saturation with the particular limiter I use, but again, the gain staging of your master bus at at least - 10 dB RMS is by far the most important part of my whole production toolkit.

2. You're adding too much compression. Compression by its very nature reduces the dynamic range of a sound. In a piece intended to be very dynamic, compression should either be avoided or used very transparently which is a skill that takes quite a while to attune your ear to. If you didn't add any compression, then the compression you are hearing is due to your maximizer/limiter which means your mix is too loud and you need to turn it down. This is not the case with, say, dance music which is intended to be stupid fucking loud and overcompressed, but there's plenty of music out there which *needs* to have a wide dynamic range to sound good, so if that's the sound you require, you need to be sure there's no overcompression either through your limiter or compression plugins you've added for whatever reason.

3. What you think are well-written dynamic parts or humanized articulations actually aren't that well-written It happens. Sometimes the parts you wrote have very, very subtle dynamics or articulations which are sorta audible but could be done a lot better, and when you add even a little compression, these subtle elements get lost in the dynamic range reduction. Perhaps you need to write the dynamics and articulations a little more aggressively.

Edited June 19, 2013 by ectogemia

[Benjaipod]

If you're skipping a maximizer/limiter because it's squashing your dynamics, then you're either adding too much gain via the maximizer or your mix is too loud or poorly balanced. There are a few solutions:

1. Always mix at -10 db RMS or lower. This means that the average volume of your mix should be no higher than -10 dB UNTIL the very final step of adding gain via a maximizer/limiter. Why is this important? Balancing is impossible to do optimally if your limiter is being triggered because that adds compression to the whole mix and obfuscates the dynamics and levels of each track. It also prevents the common, rookie mistake (and I was guilty of this issue for well over a year) of not giving a shit about whether or not your limiter is being triggered. In fact, your limiter should NEVER be triggered unless you are maximizing and searching for the right amount of limiting/compression or unless you're writing aggressive dance music, but even then it's not a bad idea to hold off on maximizing/limiting til the very end.

How do you employ this technique? At the top of your master bus, toss in some plugin with a gain or output knob. I use an EQ plugin, and then I turn my mix down until I get an RMS around -10 to -15 dB, then I just turn up my headphones to compensate for the reduction in master bus output. Then I write a song, mix it, add a little master bus compression, then I just restore that reduced output in the maser bus chain by turning up the limiter until I get the sound I want. This technique maximizes your control over the balance and dynamics of the mix.

That's not my whole mastering process, but it's definitely the most important part. I left out monoizing the sub-bass frequencies, some harmonic excitation, and a little saturation with the particular limiter I use, but again, the gain staging of your master bus at at least - 10 dB RMS is by far the most important part of my whole production toolkit.

2. You're adding too much compression. Compression by its very nature reduces the dynamic range of a sound. In a piece intended to be very dynamic, compression should either be avoided or used very transparently which is a skill that takes quite a while to attune your ear to. If you didn't add any compression, then the compression you are hearing is due to your maximizer/limiter which means your mix is too loud and you need to turn it down. This is not the case with, say, dance music which is intended to be stupid fucking loud and overcompressed, but there's plenty of music out there which *needs* to have a wide dynamic range to sound good, so if that's the sound you require, you need to be sure there's no overcompression either through your limiter or compression plugins you've added for whatever reason.

3. What you think are well-written dynamic parts or humanized articulations actually aren't that well-written It happens. Sometimes the parts you wrote have very, very subtle dynamics or articulations which are sorta audible but could be done a lot better, and when you add even a little compression, these subtle elements get lost in the dynamic range reduction. Perhaps you need to write the dynamics and articulations a little more aggressively.

I really appreciate this, i'd like you to hear this last version i made https://soundcloud.com/benjaipod/wip , in fact i worked a lot in this "final" version.. I wrote again the articulations and expressions, trying to get notorious dynamic changes.

[ectogemia]

The piano is shrill. It needs to be EQ'd in the 1-4 kHz range to bring down some of the sharpness of the attack. It also has a weird timbre. Is there a low pass filter on it? If so, either get rid of it and just do some EQ'ing or reduce the resonance on it.

Gotta agree with Ethan. This mix is fairly muddy. Increase the reverb low cuts to 500+ Hz. In particular, I heard a lot of the muddiness coming from the reverb on the pizzicato string plucks in the first minute of the remix.

The bowed strings are just sustained block notes. The string part writing needs a little more movement and some volume automation to make things sound more organic. Better string samples can work wonders, but if you don't have them, you can still do some decent stuff with plain ol' automation.

The last half of the remix is actually pretty damn sweet. Shit, and there's that piano again, haha. Definitely gotta fix that!

Apart from that, it was a really enjoyable listen once the last half came up. I have no idea what the source tune is, so I can't remark on arrangement or anything.

[timaeus222]

I actually think the piano tone is just fine. Sometimes a piano can be EQ'd in a way that gives your song a sense of style. The only thing I'd say about it is that yes, the attack is a little harsh.

The harp is a tiny bit quiet. Maybe by about 0.2~0.4dB. The 0:17 pizzicato cellos/double basses are too low-passed. There isn't much personality left in their characteristic attack. I'd agree that the reverb low cut could be raised a little more. The violins/violas are a little better, and could viably stay sustained like that if you use the legato keyswitches. It would be interesting if you used tremolo where applicable though, to build up tension a little, like at 0:33 or somewhere close to that... Wherever it is that you're "halfway" between 0:00 and 1:00. I know for sure that you have all the samples to do that, since you are definitely using EWQLSO Gold. It would be great if you could also add more movement to the notes you've written. 1:11 and similar spots needed that.

1:16 flute was a tiny bit buried, by about 0.1~0.3dB.

1:32 brass is very mechanical. It needs much more attention to the keyswitches you definitely have available. It's very obvious at 1:40. 1:42 cymbal could come earlier. There's a Cymbal sample that builds up a little more slowly, so try that and move it back about half a second.

1:45 could have a timpani roll for a transition. Brass coming next is also mechanical. Try looking at the Zorro theme for some ideas. It had a trumpet solo and some pretty extensive brass movement IIRC.

Overall a little too much reverb going on. If you could reduce it by about 2~5% on everything (maybe you're stuck with those stage mics and that hall reverb, I dunno), that should make things a little clearer.

Also, fix that tail at the end of the song. It cut off suddenly.

[Benjaipod]

Thx! i'll work on everything you said and will upload a new version as soon as posible

[Benjaipod]

hey guys, i have a new version for you. I change a lot of things, some modulations, eq, expression, dynamics, instruments, etc.

I hope you like it

https://soundcloud.com/benjaipod/wip-little-nemo-the-dream-1

[timaeus222]

Sounds great so far. It'd be even better if you vary the lead notes a little more at 0:33~1:02 since it feels like that section is really similar to what came before it.

For some reason, the cellos/double basses at 1:02 sound more muddy than they were previously. Try checking the velocities and seeing if they're playing strongly enough, since I can barely hear any of that trebly attack (Try listening to

to imitate cello/double bass articulations. Although the strings library used is LA Scoring Strings, you could just peak-boost the treble carefully and that should be pretty similar even with the hall reverb). I think it's a problem with the reverb being too much, but you can't really do anything about that internally, unfortunately. I guess you could do a little more EQ carving. High pass whatever doesn't ever play low enough to occupy those frequencies, and that could help a little.

1:33 is cluttered still; it sounds like the "only" way for the brass to come through is to do sforzando or some other strong attack sample. Let up some on the master compressor gain, or put in a volume control effect on the master after the compressor in the effects rack (Last year or so I used to think it didn't have a specific order, but it DOES!). That might give you room to be more flexible with the articulations. Boosting things too loudly is gonna squash the transients. Letting up even a little could help a good amount.

The cymbal at 1:46 or so seems to have come a little early, maybe around a quarter of a second or so. Try to get it to line up with the first beat. The compression here is also making this feel too packed. I just think it could be the compression or just the velocities, but I'm leaning towards the compression, since the articulations sound fitting (aside from the brass sounding sforzando almost all the time).

Overall, the balance is a whole lot better! The main issue is the master compression being too much, which leaves you having to use strong articulations on the brass just to have it be decently audible, but you shouldn't have to.

Great work so far!

Edited June 23, 2013 by timaeus222