CipherBeta Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Hello folks! Been stalking OCR for years now, listening to the glorious tracks that people have made in this community, and it inspired me to get into music years ago. Figured I'd give a remix of something a shot. Granted there's been a million and one remixes of the Corneria theme, but it was one of the few songs I could play well on a piano so I figured I'd give it a shot. Bit of a newbie with FL12, so I know the mixing is godawful as it stands, par for the course with anybody new, but I'm trying my best to learn. Big thing I was going for with the mix was the sense of adrenaline you'd get when playing any high-speed/intensity games and get that perfect streak. Going for a heavy-hitting, glitchy drum mix with strong basslines and orchestral elements. I know the piano could use some work but I'm not sure how to best go about this. Big questions I'm asking are the best things to do to balance out the mix, as well as bring out the original themes elements more strongly without taking away from the aggressive nature of the mix. Have been trying to record guitar Sixto style for the track, but haven't been able to get it to sound right in the mix. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Download link on soundcloud is lossless .wav. 60 megs.https://soundcloud.com/isaac-doud/iked-bandits-inbound-sfcorneria-remix-wip Many thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sh0rtCircuit Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 My only real complaint is that the lead stuff (mostly the piano) is barely audible for most of the mix...well, except for when there isn't much going on and it's clearly heard. I'm also not a complete fan of the radio chatter when used the second time. You may also want to try and un-muddy a lot of the lower end going on. At times I could make out what was going on, but a lot of the time it just sounded like...well, muddy noise. I'd add in some more high-end on the bass lines to help it cut through the mix. In the end, I'd say you'd just need to work on the mixing/mastering aspect. Bring out that piano a little more (during the louder parts) and I'd be content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 The piano's pretty resonant in the intro at 0:00 - 0:25, specifically around 525 (± 50) Hz; oddly enough, it's not much of a problem at 0:12 - 0:14. Might want to check why that could be, because this problem gets pretty significant later on. Pay close attention to that frequency range on Fruity Parametric EQ 2; it's a visual EQ, so if you focus on that frequency range, you should be able to see it get bright. Brighter = louder. At 0:25 - 1:18... things get really loud. You're maxing out the limiter there, and you have overcompression (this is important). Lots of low end clutter near 100 and 300 Hz, to the point where I can't listen to it without thinking it's going to damage my ears. Try disabling your drums temporarily and rethinking your volumes. I would suggest you to not boost anything, and instead lower the mixer sliders of everything by about 8 dB, turn up your computer's listening volume a bit, mix like that for a while so that you can hear the now-quieter elements in the track, turn your listening volume back down when you're ready, and slowly raise the sliders back up until it sounds like a normal loudness for typical listening. When doing so, listen closely to try to notice whether or not there is a "pumping" feel to the track. If so, your instruments are stacking to push up against the 0 dB ceiling, and you should stop raising your instrument volumes. See if that helps. It's a bit hard to tell under all the clutter at 0:25 - 1:18, but I'm pretty sure you're using FL Slayer, which is not going to be a VST that can help you sound like Sixto; probably the closest thing to him is Impact Soundworks' Shreddage IBZ, which is a sample library that he played electric lead and rhythm guitar for. It's basically a virtual instrument that you can utilize to emulate a real instrument. It costs $119, but one might expect to spend an additional $399 on Native Instruments' Kontakt to use it; you only need the free Kontakt Player though, so... the price is really $119 (not $518). You'd basically would have a customizable guitar emulation that has the possibility of sounding perfect; the only thing you'd have to do is learn how to use it well... but you have lots of time, I think. Your drums are actually pretty good, and it's probably the best component of this track. I like the glitching. At 1:56 - 2:24, I hear the same resonance as I mentioned about the piano in the intro, but it's more significant. Finally, at 2:35 - end, we have the same overcompression issue as 0:25 - 1:18. Overall, kind of hard to say much here, but mainly, you should pay closer attention to the volume meter in your mixer and notice when it smashes against 0 dB---that's what it's doing at 0:25 - 1:18 and 2:35 - end. Also, try to use Fruity Parametric EQ 2 more. It's one of the most useful EQ plugins I've ever used, because it's visual. Brighter = louder, and you might be able to EQ some things that you may not even hear, if you're good at using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troyificus Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Echoing both sentiments above; this is an excellent arrangement that's in serious need of some EQ love. I like the radio chatter and aircraft samples used at the intro and towards the end. The timpani hits used from 03:00 onwards sound a little out of place to me, though they may sound better when the track is mixed properly; at the moment they seem to sit on top of everything else without being part of complete soundscape. Overall though I really like this remix! All the elements are there; they just need to all work together instead of fighting against each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CipherBeta Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 Thanks folks! I was able to borrow a pair of mastering headphones from a friend, and I definitely see what you guys are saying now... Will put a lot of time into EQ. Tim, I appreciate the explanation! Been just using EQ1. Will swap over and fix things that way. Thanks! Also, good ears on the guitar haha, mostly just using that at the moment until I can figure out a way to record my electric in that doesn't sound like somebody farting through a walkie-talkie. I'm broke at the moment so almost everything I'm doing is with free stuff or jerry-rigged old equipment. Will look towards a suitable replacement for Slayer. Thanks! Again, thanks for the help Short, Tim, and Trism. Still learning FL so this helps a ton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smooth4lyfe1987 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Really like the drums I agree that the background bass lead or whatever sound it is comes off a bit strong, so it drowns the piano a lot....maybe mixing a bit better would be good I use FL so if you have any questions feel free to ask Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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