Chimpazilla Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Heeeey, I am sorry to do this to you guys twice in a row, but-- Could you please judge "Kirb Your Enthusiasm" from the Milkyway Wishes album? It was a collab between halc and myself. I thought he was subbing/adding to panel waaaay back in the day but it seems like he never did, and I really dig the song and consider it a really powerful collab between the 2 of us. Hopefully there'll be more collabs to come. We both worked together on the arrangement in FL Studio and I recorded some lead guitar for it. It was a ton of fun to work on and I still think it's awesome. Maybe ask halc for his side of the notes, or there SHOULD be existing artist notes that we wrote at the time of the album. They should be out there somewhere.. Thank you!! http://milkyway.ocremix.org/ Hopefully I have something fresh for you in 3 weeks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted January 11, 2015 Author Share Posted January 11, 2015 This is a great sounding mix with tons of details, and I'm liking the mix of Brandon's and Drew's styles. Great soloing by both gentlemen. The percussion doesn't change much and ends up sounding somewhat stale after awhile. Also the arrangement is pretty straightforward and I'm a little tired of the same verse/chorus as they are played so many times. Overall though, super cute mix that's fun to listen to. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 On the one hand, I like the arrangement and the fusing of your two styles. Fun soloing, and lots of chippy goodness that I would expect from you guys. To me, this track shows its age on the production side, though. Even during the higher-energy parts where the guitar lead comes in, there's a significant lack of impact and power behind the mix. The percussion doesn't seem to ebb and flow with the track like it ought to, as Kris pointed out. At 1:03 and especially 1:58, for example, sounds washed out and distant. It's like the track is drenched in reverb, but I don't think that's actually the problem. It's hard for me to isolate what's going on in those sections but they definitely don't sound right to me. I think it might be the backing pad that's giving the mix that odd quality that I'm hearing. Anyone else able to elaborate on this? This is not to knock the quality of what you do have here - like I said, there's lots of compelling writing and rhythms present, but if I had to pick a word to describe this, it would be "sparse." On repeat listens I'm noticing a lack of bass presence, as well. I dunno, I think this one has some great qualities to it but the mixing feels lackluster and doesn't hold up to muster, in my opinion. Tough call, really. I'm curious to see what everyone else has to say. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Great point by Chimpazilla on the percussion intensity being static and boring after a while; the core pattern was mixed too loudly, which exacerbated the problem, IMO. It's definitely a ding against it, because it undermined the dynamics of the piece, but I didn't think it was a dealbreaker. I can get past it, but the way this was mixed was needlessly cluttered. Emu mentioned not being able to isolate what was causing it, but maybe someone else can. Anyway, no dealbreakers here, just issues I would rather not have heard. The theme's handled creatively in terms of the chiptune and guitar treatment of the source tune, and the chorusing of the two parts first done at :58 sounded pretty sweet, IMO. At 1:36 when the extra padding dropped out to clear up the soundscape, things sounded better until 1:55. And even though the soundscape was then loud & cramped again, I could distinguish the various parts easily. As I like to say, on the seesaw of what works vs. what doesn't work, this is tilted enough towards what does work. I think Emu makes a good case, but for me the good arrangement and OK-though-not-ideal production should be a pass. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Really like the use of soloing around the core elements of the original. Good use of the solo writing/performance strengths of both mixers. Good points by J's above. I do agree the central drum pattern could definitely use some variation to break up the repetitiveness. I also did notice the clutter as mentioned before, but in this case, it could be how many chip & percussion instruments are taking up space in the high EQ ranges and clashing with each other. Speaking of which, the backing synth at :58 brought in some really high piercing frequencies that could be rolled off. It actually gets a bit worse with the porta synth at 1:20. Not a big deal, but something to watch for in the future. Overall, solid package here and a fun listen. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I expected 1:03 and 1:58 to be filled out a little more, that may be what sounds off about it. Everything else fills in, but the percussion remains pretty thin. Almost no bottom. It didn't bother me much actually, and I thought the textures created by the pad and guitar blended were really pleasant. This is not one of those collabs where it's seamless who did what - these two artists have distinct styles - but the result is nonetheless enjoyable. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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