Gario - Bionic Commando - Final Stage

[Gario]

Master 'D' is for 'Dance' (Upgraded from the Album)

Ah, this old gem (yes, from the old Bionic Commando album). Funny fact about it - I've never been satisfied with what I put on the album. It was too quiet, and it had a few issues with some of the drums being too quiet, etc., so some time after the album was released I did some work on it, keeping in mind what the judges said about it during eval.

Then tragedy struck - computer melted, had to downgrade. While I was about 95% done with my track adjustments and I didn't lose anything significant (I was actively working on this track when my comp melted down, so the last finishing touches were not saved), I actually was unable to playback the track on Reason with my weaker computer (it just immediately says "Not enough ram for playback"), so I've been sitting on this one ever since.

That was 2013. Today, I want to let it go, submit and be done with it. I think I can take care of individual elements by muting tracks, working on lines one at a time, etc., but I can't compare in my DAW and see how things sound overall. I want to see if anyone on here has some suggestions on what I can improve further before submission. I can still hear a few things (the reverb is amazingly heavy in this, the bass swells too fast, etc.), but this is something that's been stuck in production hell for me since early 2009 (no, it's really that old - this is an older version of the same track from 2009 - 2010!) - I need some fresh ears to help out a bit.

Any and all help is appreciated!

 

[brynolf11]

(typing as I listen) I like the varied arrangement. Not so keen on the snares. Too much reverb and too harsh in the attack. I would have chosen another snare sample entirelly. Maybe just a standard 909 to go with the old school vibe. 

 

The lead synths are generally great, but maybe a bit too much reberb there as well. 

Thats all i could think of during the playthrough. Great choice of source material, of course. 

[Gario]

Thanks for the input, there. I may or may not take a look at another snare, as even though I agree with you because I can't actually have the track playback with everything it'll be tough to change them completely and figure out the effect it has on the overall balance of the track. Definitely will try to fix the excessive reverb on them (and the leads), though.

[Tex]

Nice lead work as usual, Gario. Mostly, your tracks tend to stay on higher frequencies. Try lowering some of your melodies one octave down to balance things up. The bit crushed pauses are a nice touch. I think you can hard-pan those sections on left-right alternations to empathise the malfunction feel.

Also, sorry to hear about your computer issues.