Emunator Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 Original Decision This is my latest version of this tune. I hope the quality of my arrangements is improving. I have found a couple guides online that I believe have helped my production, and I got a couple synths on sale also. Thank you for your time and consideration ahead of time! Original linked below, remix attached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 i voted on the original submission. my original vote mentioned issues with blown-out mastering and generic synths, and some funky notes that didn't quite settle. there's still a fun electro feel to this. there's a quick go-through of the melody, with more attention given to mixing up the lead instruments and backing parts. the bass in the third chord of the first presentation of the melody (0:18.5) doesn't sound right, likely due to something else in the arpeggio above it - i'd suggest ensuring you're using the chord you're intending there (sounds like a G7 with a B in the bass - make sure you don't have an F natural too low in your pads competing with that B in the bass). there's a big shift at about 1:03 to bring in some fun 303 arp, and a developmental section that kind noodles a bit and has some melodic call-outs. after that is a very random but neat organ exploration thing with some really unexpected chord shifts that aren't wrong in their usage but do sound both surprising and unprepared (like at 2:00), and then a key change at 2:04. make sure you don't extend the previous resolution into this new key - it sounds really weird as-is. 2:28 brings another short break and more of the b theme, and there's a short but well-handled ending. there's some silence to trim but that's no big deal. from a mastering perspective, there's still a significant focus on low-mid. there's a lot of stuff going on in the 300mhz range and it felt pretty cluttered as a result. also, i felt like the kick's attack was quiet (although the bass presence was a lot, almost too much), and the snare's higher end was very bright and obtrusive. i think that reining back in the kick's bass content and adding a bit of beater tone to it will help that, so that it's not so boomy, and then cutting the snare's 1k+ content a bit so it didn't cut so hard through the mix will help a ton. this is honestly a cool concept. it keeps the upbeat, open feel that the original has, and it explores a variety of timbres to do that. i think the mastering is still not there - there just is too much clutter in the low mids, and the kick really started to bother me after a bit - and there are still some weird notes that required several listens to understand what they were doing. some attention to note cutoffs and preparing transitional chords would be a big help. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 Hearing this for the first time, and it's a fun one! To use that judging cliché though, "it sounds like something that might have passed in 2005". Right out of the gate we're dropped into the thumping retro-techno beat without so much as a sweep-in or intro. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd expect at least a tiny bit of variation to start off the track. I really like that arp synth that comes in at 7 seconds, and as the melody is introduced, the whole feel of the track changes. It's a happy melody, and the pumping tempo really does remind me of OCR of old. The kick and bass seem a little muffled/boomy, certainly lacking in clarity, and the synths individually are very generic sounding, however you do mix them up a lot which keeps things sounding fairly fresh throughout. There is some detail in the automation, particularly filters, however there doesn't seem to be a great deal of stereo separation, and the mix feels very narrow as a result. This isn't a bad track by any means, and there are a lot of fun ideas. I like the big organ at 1:40, and the quirkiness of some of the oldschool sounding synths like that heavily detuned saw arp at 2:05. The strength of this definitely lies in the energetic arrangement, though, which does have its own surprises in there too. The transition around the 2-minute mark is a little iffy, and the break at 1:03, although having a cool acid arp, does expose the very dated-sounding percussion. It's a battle between heart and head for me. My heart is saying yes, but my head is saying no. It's a great effort so far, that still needs more TLC to pass the bar, and if not better synth sounds, then no mistakes elsewhere. Cleaner percussion and mixing, tighten up the transitions, wider stereo space, and try to bring some je ne se quois that helps this mix stand out. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 Yeah... I really want to see a Caustic creation pass, but this isn't it. I actually think the constant swapping of instruments works against the arrangement, making it feel random and disorganized. The leads are frequently still bland and don't mesh well with the fairly rich backing. At 0:29, there's a frantic backing effect that doesn't sound good at all. The main thing I think this needs is a coherent vision. Right now it feels like it just randomly swaps synths out for other random synths whenever you felt like it. There's nothing holding it together. I recommend picking an aesthetic and sticking with it, whether it's FM, chiptunes, or whatever. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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