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Goldeneye "Rocking the Cradle" final mix posted; failed to pass


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I just started on this yesterday. The little strings part at the end isn't going to be directly after the french horns theme; I just stuck it in so you could hear that part too. First impressions...suggestions? Thanks.

www.freewebs.com/gmichalec/cradle.mp3

Sorry, freewebs doesn't allow deep-linking, you'll have to copy and paste.

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I was expecting some noob, but you're pretty good!

The start is brilliant, seriously gave me a Resident Evil 4 vibe, which is why im pleading you for the intro to have some sort of awesome bongo/conga loop, just a personal idea, don't take it serious at all if you don't wanna.

The synth that enters around 0:37 in, sounds a little raw and bland, maybe it's fine, but the lack of high end on the synths detracts from the vibe to me.

1:03 is pretty awesome, slick bass line, though I'd prefer a bit more expression on the brass, maybe a bit more accompanyment for them, just to beef things up a little. The next section is perfect though, whereever it's meant to be placed in the song :wink:.

If I can encourage you, I think it'd help a great deal if you layered more beats over the ones already there. Just for a little more punch.

Can't wait to hear an update man. It's so close to sounding as if it were in an actual bond game from the PS2 or something :D.

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Sweet dude.

Ok now on to me ripping this apart. I agree with Roe, more drums please. The space is there to fill this up with all kinds of crazy rythms all the place. You can def get this grooving even more.

Some of ur sounds in the middle section aren't coming through the soundscape like they should. :40 - 1:00, that synth coming through feels too muddy. Just mess around with the EQ or layer in something with higher frequencies.

Transitions. OK kudos on keeping things fresh, but some of ur transitions towards the later part of the mix can feel a little dull and rushed.

I know ur filling up the higher frequency bands, but i'd love to hear this mix contain more sounds that have natural frequency bands in the upper range.

You could def have a breakout rythm/glitch session in this that would kick some serious ass.

This is def sweet, just in time for the new james bond movie.

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Thanks for the suggestions. Interesting idea about putting in some sort of percussive loop in the intro; I'll play around with that idea for sure.

A common theme seems to be EQ in that middle section; I'll def see what I can do about that. I was planning on beefing up the main brass/synth stuff, but was growing increasingly frustrated with my comp's slowdown at that section that I just rendered it as it was. :) I'll play around with harmonies there...probably bring in some backing strings.

Glad you enjoyed it! Maybe I'll get it done before...February or something. :? I have trouble finishing tracks sometimes...thinking in the 2:45 - 3:15 range for this one.

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Beef up the sound, maybe add a break or two, EQ it, and expand your rhythms, and you'll be in business.

And that's that. :) I hate working on tracks that use lots of Sytrus stuff and EWQL too. It's really annoying dealing with comp slowdown. Thanks for the encouragement, though; I'll def finish it. Then the three month wait while it's waiting to be judged. :P

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what I do when I get alot of comp slowdown due to all the plugins/effects etc...

I seperate the project file into 2-3 files. One file only contained the leads/harmonies. Another containing rythms and bass. Then when I'm done I just rip the two into wav format, then load them back into fl studio as two wav file then rip the complete mp3.

By doin it this way I can still listen to what I am working on real time.

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That's a good idea. I may have to start doing something similar to that. That Pirates remix I just did was massive (something like 80 + patterns and 50 + FX slots). I'll find myself just skipping parts of the final mastering because it's such a pain to deal with the slowdown. I really should invest in a new computer. :?

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  • 5 weeks later...

Hey guys, I had some time to work on this today. I imagine that I'll finish it up in one more session.

Changes:

1. Played around with EQ at :37, got rid of the awkward sidechaining

2. Brought out the synth panned right more at :50

3. Filled up the sound a lot more at 1:02, layering drum, horns, etc.

4. New part at 1:28 which you're either going to hate or like.

5. Transition at 1:53

I plan on beefing up the part around 1:47-1:53 for a stronger transition, and adding some stuff around 2:06 to hide the repetition somewhat. Any thoughts?

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Hey there Miszou...

The 'mix sounds really good dude. I think you already sent me this one, but i figured I'd post a reply on the board for ya. :wink: I especially like the part around 1:10-1:15 or so, where you pick it up with some big breakbeat type stuff. You still have to show me how you get all those sweet beats. As always, the acutal writing itself is tight, and for the most part, your transitions are seamless. Production quality sounds pretty tight to me, as well, but we both know I'm not the expert on that one :wink: Keep it up, bro, and I'll look forward to hearing the final product!

AeroStar58

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Thanks for the feed. Personally, I like how the intro serves as a buildup to the rest of the piece. And yeah, I was planning on adding stuff to that end part, although the transition from the breakbeat ending at 1:53 to the four on the floor beat was intentional. I'll play around with adding some percussion loops to that part and fill up the drum emptiness.

Any other comments before I work on this again this weekend?

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  • 3 weeks later...

FINAL EDIT: (3/5/07)

Yeah, so this didn't pass because there was too much of the bond theme in it, but I'm not going to go back and edit out all the bond parts that killed its chances of passing. Sad.

So yeah, for those interested, here's the link to the final version ever, newly remastered and all that jazz.

www.silverlinestudios.net/Mp3's/miszou_RockingtheCradle_finalmix.mp3

PS Could a mod change the title of this thread to "Goldeneye "Rocking the Cradle" final mix posted; failed to pass"?

Thanks.

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Bass line that starts at 1:40, that instrument leaves a lil more to be desired. It is a lil too loud, and overpowers everything. Back off on the volume a lil bit. Also throw small some small amounts of LFO(or something) on that bass line just in that section. Since it's a breakdown section, giving that it some slight movement in the sound texture would go a long way.

Right after that bassline ends and that new synth comes in at 1:53. :)

Also maybe throwing in a reverse cymbal somewhere could be a nice addition. But then again maybe not, you aren't lacking in production values anywhere.

Also when the hats are goin really fast,(1:05 is a good example) panning them even harder left and right. So they are bouncing back and forth between the left and right channels.

Wow you really improved on this, you got lots of sweet sounds and variation. What program do you use?

You've really put alot into this, it shows. It's a good thing you didn't rely on the 4 on the floor for movement and feeling.

Adding in and fixing those few things I mentioned this has an excellent chance of getting accepted. The only thing is, is that it uses the main james bond theme from all the movies. There is a good chance they'll reject it for that sole reason. The rejected sephire's first sub of his FF7 mix for a similar reason, bc it contained stuff from Advent Children.

I def try check with a judge or something if by any chance you can get ahold of one before submitting.

I gotta say again, the variation is ridiculous you packed a whole lotta sounds and ideas into a short time frame.

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Huh, didn't realize that the bass at 1:40 came off as too loud. I was aiming for that distinctive bass sound that all the Bond films have, but maybe it didn't work as well as I had hoped. :P

I use FL, and used basically just Sytrus and EWQL silver for this one. I almost ran out of FX tracks in the mixer, and set a new personal record for patterns used (104). The good news is that my new computer can run it almost flawlessly all the way through (at 45 ms latency, but still.)

As for incorporating the bond theme so much, the thing is that the source tune uses the original bond theme quite a bit, and there really isn't enough interesting stuff in the new material to create a long enough remix. Basically the intro, 1:02-1:28, and 2:07-2:32 is all there is that's "new." Essentially the entire Goldeneye soundtrack is fifteen different remixes and rearrangements of the bond theme, so...

Anyway, thanks for the comments and I'll definitely look to get a judge's thoughts before submitting.

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First time listening to the track.

Okay, the entire thing does rely heavily on the Bond theme. You walk a bit of a tightrope because the Bond tune is changed enough so it's not remixing the Bond theme (which may be out of bounds; not sure about judge rulings on it) but walks the tightrope of wrong notes (which, back in the day, was also out of bounds; I'm not sure how stringent the present judges are or even if this is considered a complaint anymore).

Second play.

Intro is really good. I like the intro a lot. First third of the song is great.

At 1:28, the Bond theme sounds... off. Something is off-kilter, but I'm not sure what. Maybe it's because I'm so in-tune to the Bond theme, but you may be faced with opinions of people who feel the same way. It may actually help you.

2:06 is more interpretive, but the music seems very flat until 2:25 when you have those notes break up the monotony. I hear the violin stings, but they don't stand out from the piece enough. From there, things are more interesting, but at 2:45 you go into very clear Bond territory (with, once again, notes that can get you by enough so that it's not a straight-out Bond mix). I know you've got challenges with the source material, but that needs to be downplayed severely or you'll make this a Bond mix instead of a Goldeneye mix (which, yes, there is a huge difference).

Did not like the ending. Too abrupt for my liking. Not as bad as present-day rock bands that just stop the music, but the ending came too suddenly. I'd repeat those horns between 3:23-3:26 with a small note variation. Like have one of the first six of the nine notes go a bit higher. It'd make the piece end a lot smoother.

The high bass at 1:40 was actually one of my favorite parts. It took away from the Bond theme that is prevalent in a lot of the mix. This may be a solution for making this less of a "Bond" mix, simply by making the rest of the mix stand out.

But that's my two cents. I don't offer advice here on a regular basis (in fact, you're my first WIP listen, IIRC), so don't stress too much about what I say. This was an enjoyable listen, but you're fighting against source material that may cause you some "NO override" problems on the panel.

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@ Thylacine:

Thanks for your extended thoughts. Yeah, the "wrong notes" are intentional, although I may have gone a little overboard on them. The high part of the melody that I used is a third above the original note and sounds great while it's harmonizing, so I just dropped out the "correct" notes and just used the harmonizing line. (Again, trying to downplay the original theme as much as I could.) The only place I thought it might sound kinda weird is where you mentioned at 1:28, before it goes into the key change.

I think I'll take my chances with the music "sounding flat" from 2:06-2:25. I'll give you that 2:45-2:58 is where the bond theme doesn't try to hide at all, but I figure one major section like that wouldn't hurt too much...maybe I'm wrong.

But, yeah, you're the first here to mention noticing the "wrong notes," so that's probably good. The first thing my brother said when he heard this (who's a big piano player), is "man, you got those notes all wrong." I think it sounds fine (even better) when the key change hits, but before that...maybe I'll have to change those back.

@D-Lux:

I'm using studio headphones and I can't hear any popping. That may be because I've probably been around this mix too much. Thanks for listening though, I'll look into that.

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