RocketSniper Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 The cutoff control on that was amazing. Along with use of sound effects. And actually sounding good. Well I just lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollgagh Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 Zip file. mp3 thing. I had to rush to finish this, 'cause I didn't start mixing until a few days ago. Procrastination ftl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollgagh Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 My brother made some mastering changes to his, but is a little busy right now and asked me to post the updated version. So, here we are, please use this version, instead: FLMC5_noobmusic1.01_-_EPD flp FLMC5_noobmusic1.01_-_EPD mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDRKirby(ISQ) Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 My brother made some mastering changes to his, but is a little busy right now and asked me to post the updated version.So, here we are, please use this version, instead: FLMC5_noobmusic1.01_-_EPD flp FLMC5_noobmusic1.01_-_EPD mp3 The mp3 works, but the zip is corrupted and gives me a 0 kb broken flp file... also, my files are now available on more permanent file hosting: http://iosquad2.googlepages.com/DDRKirbyISQ_Mega_Man_3_Top_Man_Spun_.mp3 http://iosquad2.googlepages.com/DDRKirbyISQ_Mega_Man_3_Top_Man_Spun_.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollgagh Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Bloody hell. I guess it doesn't help that I'm running a pirated version of FL6. I'll see if he can do it later. (We're about 300 miles apart, btw) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundeslang Posted February 12, 2007 Author Share Posted February 12, 2007 Gollgagh, El Pollo Diablo. I have downloaded the song. Try to get the FLP back up as soon as possible. If it's a bit after the deadline it's not a very big problem, I can start judging in the meanwhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundeslang Posted February 13, 2007 Author Share Posted February 13, 2007 Welcome to the Voting Stage of FLMC5. We have 5 remixes this round, Bundeslang, DDRKirby(ISQ), El Pollo Diablo (and Gollgagh), RocketSniper and S|r Nuts. Listen to the songs and P.M. http://www.ocremix.org/forums/private.php?do=newpm&u=8264 me your top 5. Contestants receive an additional first place if they vote, they don't have to place their own mix. You have to listen to the songs before voting. Voters remain anonymous. Voting ends monday 26 february. Vote this way: 1st - (remixer) 2nd - (remixer) 3rd - (remixer) 4th - (remixer) 5th - (remixer) The songs and ZIPped FLP files: MP3 Songs: I recorded some FLP files in my FLP, hope it works. Bundeslang: Dreaming About The Gemini Master http://bambombim.googlepages.com/Bundeslang-DreamingAboutTheGeminiMas.mp3 DDRKirbyISQ: Top Man Spun Wild http://bambombim.googlepages.com/DDRKirbyISQ_Mega_Man_3_Top_Man_Spun_.mp3 Gollgagh + El Pollo Diablo: Noobmusic http://bambombim.googlepages.com/GollgaghElPolloDiablo-Noobmusic.mp3 RocketSniper: Oonts Oonts Snakeman Oonts http://bambombim.googlepages.com/RocketSniper-OntoOntoSnakemanOnto.mp3 Sir Nuts: Snakes on a Loop http://bambombim.googlepages.com/SirNuts-SnakesonaLoop.mp3 FLP in ZIP Files: http://bambombim.googlepages.com/Bundeslang-DreamingAboutTheGeminiMas.zip http://bambombim.googlepages.com/DDRKirbyISQ_Mega_Man_3_Top_Man_Spun_.zip http://bambombim.googlepages.com/GollgaghElPolloDiablo-NoobmusicOLDVE.zip (This is the 'old' version, waiting for correct version). http://bambombim.googlepages.com/RocketSniper-OntoOntoSnakemanOnto.zip http://bambombim.googlepages.com/SirNuts-Snakes_on_a_Loop.zip BONUS TRACK. Blue Magic - Synthetic Luv http://bambombim.googlepages.com/BlueMagic-MegaMan_3_Synthetic_Luv_2.mp3 http://bambombim.googlepages.com/MegaMan_3_Synthetic_Luv.flp Too bad I can't change thread titles, I hope someone discovers it's voting stage already. Good listen and happy voting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noTuX Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 DAMMIT!!!!!!!!! I forgot to submit my sooooonnnggg!!!!!!!! I've been hella busy lately. But its all good, it wasn't completed anyway. I guess I can work on it some more and make an OCR submission out of it. Good luck to all of you guys who took place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundeslang Posted February 13, 2007 Author Share Posted February 13, 2007 DAMMIT!!!!!!!!! I forgot to submit my sooooonnnggg!!!!!!!! I've been hella busy lately.But its all good, it wasn't completed anyway. I guess I can work on it some more and make an OCR submission out of it. Good luck to all of you guys who took place. Or submit it as a bonus track, or post now what you have. I didn't receive any votes yet. I'm not very hard about being late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noTuX Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Thanks Bundeslang. Here is my FLMC5 mix. I will submit it as a BONUS TRACK, so it does not have to be judged. (Heck, I already know I wont win anyway) http://www.angelfire.com/blues2/bluemagic/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketSniper Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 RocketSniper: Onto Onto Snakeman Onto http://bambombim.googlepages.com/RocketSniper-OntoOntoSnakemanOnto.mp3 Argh, it was Oonts oonts snakeman oonts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundeslang Posted February 13, 2007 Author Share Posted February 13, 2007 Thanks Bundeslang.Here is my FLMC5 mix. I will submit it as a BONUS TRACK, so it does not have to be judged. (Heck, I already know I wont win anyway) http://www.angelfire.com/blues2/bluemagic/ Thanks, nice song, can't wait to here the full version. I will upload it as a Bonus Mix. Good you posted this. Argh, it was Oonts oonts snakeman oonts... Sorry, I edited the titles. I don't edit the mp3 download name because many other songs have a wrong name too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollgagh Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 Hey, sorry this took so long. Been busy. Here's another re-render: http://elpollodiablo125.googlepages.com/ElPolloDiablo_-_NoobMusic.mp3 And the flp: http://elpollodiablo125.googlepages.com/noobmusic.zip Good luck to everyone! Edit: Hey DDRKirby, if you have time, can you do another one of those commentaries? I'd like to know where I'm going wrong with my mastering, 'cause most of my songs end up muddy like this one. : / Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDRKirby(ISQ) Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 yeah, i'm going to do comments on everyone's song like last time if i can--and i think i can, as long as i don't put it off TOO long =p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundeslang Posted February 15, 2007 Author Share Posted February 15, 2007 Feel free to vote. Start with the 1st - ... 2nd - ... 3rd - ... 4th - ... (5th) - ... (Only not entrants have a fifth place) But you may add some comments. I would like to see this. It's not obligated. I updated the ZIP file from El Pollo Diablo. Now vote people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDRKirby(ISQ) Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 i'm working on my critiques right now, will have up by the end of tonight, hopefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDRKirby(ISQ) Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 To all--enabling tools->smart disable on all your FX is a -great- way to make sure people don't have pops and clicks when they listen to your song =p Of course, all critiques are entirely subjective and are completely biased, and only represent my POV, etc. etc. If you really think I'm wrong, you're probably right. (note: post split in two because of char limit...yes, i wrote THAT much...) ========== ***DDRKirby(ISQ) - Top Man Spun Wild*** hey, it's my own mix! =) I still love this one. Maybe could have used a bit more variation, but that build-up is friggin awesome, and the 303 section ain't too shabby either. I like how the build-up is different the second time around, more energy from the kick and bass goin...makes me wanna pump the volume up... Also, gotta love the playlist gradients. Pretty colors... Summary: -friggin kick-ass buildup -Mass 3xOsc supersaw ftw -ending could have been worked better ========== ========== ***Bundeslang - Dreaming About The Gemini Master*** No 3xOsc =(. Really, really, you need to learn how to use the 3xOsc. It's a rather simple synth in nature, but it ends up being one of the most powerful tools in FL Studio's arsenal...(look at my FLP for an example) That being said, you do seem to have a better handle on how to use the program now--you don't have any weird offset patterns in the playlist like there were in Soft Party, for example. Your arrangement is still very sporadic, but right now that's understandable since you don't seem to be working with a good range of sounds. Learning how to use the 3xOsc, or finding more samples (there ARE some better ones in the FL defaults), would help. I'd say the next step is to maybe look at a simple song and try to recreate its different elements--listen to it and try to deconstruct it into drums, bass, lead, pads, etc. so you know how the full sound is put together. If you have the FL example songs, looking at those and seeing how things are done and whatnot works wonders as well. If you'd like, I actually have a "make a song" tutorial that I can send to you--it's not very rigorous, but it gives you an idea of some of the things I do. Just shoot me a PM or something. ========== ========== ***Sir_NutS - Snakes on a Loop*** Ah, I can always expect something good out of Sir_NutS... -okay, so in the beginning you have the ArpA pattern going, and I didn't like how you had the pattern as xXxyYyzZxXxyYyzZ (where capital letter is higher octave note). I understand that's how the arpeggiator did it for you, but the higher notes being offset a bit kinda makes it sounds just a taddd bit funky. I would have liked XxXYyYZzXxXYyYZz or something like that better, probably. Once things start going it's fine, though--just in the beginning when it's singled out is when I notice it. -uhm...ok so you're using send channel 1 for reverb, okay...but it's not quite set up how I would think it should be (unless you did that intentionally). Maybe you're just used to the mastering plugins in Reason? =p So you have the Fruity Reeverb 2 as a plugin in send channel 1, but it's not set up as a send effect--it allows the dry sound to pass through as well as outputting the wet sound...so you're getting the dry sound twice (once from the original channel -> master output, then another time from original channel -> send 1 -> master output), which isn't usually what I would do. The other thing is that sometimes (channel 9, 10, and 12, for instance) you have reverb in the channel fx as insert effects, but you have those going to send 1 as well, so you end up having dry+reverb, plus another dry+reverb, plus dry+reverb+reverb! Which seems quite unwieldy...and that might be causing some of the clutter in the loud sections of the song. -I liked the congas in the percussion--added a nice touch =) -Beginning buildup was actually pretty nice, especially going into the main section at 0:55--dropping the drums for a bar and using the CrashFX worked. -The main melody sounds "inconsistent" through the pattern--this is because you used filter cutoff automation on the notes...you were probably going for that effect, but I wasn't really digging it too much. Also if you go into your TranceLead pattern you'll discover that the 3rd note (1st note of the actual melody) is accidentally doubled. whoops! (unless that was intentional, haha) -the second little buildup section at ~1:20 with the flanged snare roll and that sustained high note (which was great) was pretty good--could have used better filter automation on the main lead, perhaps. The actual "arrival point" lacked a certain oomph, though. The one bar kick roll was great...but...i dunno. Maybe the crash needed more punch or something. Maybe the mix just needed a bit more room (because the whole reverb thing made things a bit mushy) -you can totally better bass synth than using that sample...=p -your individual channels are mixed really high. You compensate for it all by lowering the master fader volume, but I'd probably prefer to mix the individual channels low, then you can bring stuff up later. Especially if you're going to master in something other than FL--in that case you'd leave like 3dB headroom in your master output and then maximize/normalize everything using something else (i've never done it before though). Right now your master output shows maybe a bit of clipping on the FL monitor? (I really don't like using the postfader on the master output channel, as you can't really analyze the final signal that much that way--i prefer to use a Fruity Balance or a Parametric EQ to bring the global volume down as an insert effect) -The "pluck" section at ~2:03 is wayyy too loud...needs to be softer to offer contrast, IMHO...also the piano part stops a bit abruptly--dunno what would be the best way to fix that...although, the problem would be alleviated a bit if the piano weren't so "bangy" and loud =p -Okay, that layered TS404 synth is -the- greatest thing about the entire song. Nice use of volume automation...filter cutoff control...and the cross delay worked as well. Sweeeeeeeet. It drops out a bit too noticably when the kick roll comes in, though. -Over towards 2:50 things really start trying to fight for space--this is the Send 1 thing again...just by turning that channel down it sounds a bit less clashy to me... -and then that awesome synth comes back in. tasty. -that SweetMelody pattern is a nice way to end things--an encapsulation of the main melody, but only a little reminder of it. Summary: -missing waveforms in the 3xOsc's...so I dunno what happened there... -Send Channel 1 issues made everything seem loud and clashy at times -TS404 synth was uber-awesome -I saw lots of 3xOsc presets...I could call you lazy, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here and say it was just because you're too used to Subtractor and Malstrom. =p -Tone that piano part down! -Good structure and development, arrangement-wise. The main lead could have probably been more interesting, though. ========== Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDRKirby(ISQ) Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 ========== ***RocketSniper - Oonts Oonts Snakeman Oonts*** -Okay right off the bat, I gotta say...that Blood Overdrive on the hits at the beginning was totally uncalled for...at least not to that extreme...turn it off and listen to the pattern and it makes more sense (to me, at least). Maybe like half of what you did would have been a nice balance--now it just sounds all GRAHHHHHH... -things start out kinda slow, but then toward ~0:40 I'm like awwww yeah now we're talkin...what with the chopped up loops and the bass comes in and everything....yeahhhhhhhh -nice liberties taken with the main melody, stayed recognizable but added just the right amount of variation and countermelody that it wasn't a bland copy+paste job. -at ~1:40 I liked how you took everything down a notch, made me a little expectant, I was just waiting for things to go back into full swing. I might have liked it if you had kept the bassy arpeggio through until that cutout point and cut everything at the same time, though. dunno. -nice vocoder work...and the "reverse" bar at 2:18 was cool. -more l33t perkussion work...tasty. -at 2:33 when you bring things up a notch, seems like you coulda worked up a buildup to that better (one bar fill maybe?) -nice panning on the "one...one..." sample at 3:00...then we get to -the swing section, which I was totally digging...I think i might have liked it better if you had the kick come in right away instead of waiting 8 bars or so, but it's all good. -then we got some nice filter automation...all good, all good...scratching work...light arpeggio...then you bring in the strings, PERFECT...3:48 till 4:26 hit the spot, pretty much...then it kinda settles into a different groove--I wasn't quite feeling it there, maybe some more variation in the melody--different synth or something might have been better there. I didn't like how the percussion stepped up at 5:20...it's an outro so I didn't really want anything to come back in. Also at around 5:27 you have a gap in the gating of your strings, not sure if that was intentional or not. -using the vocoded loop for your ending, that's fine, but maybe try and fade it out a bit maybe? Summary: -l33t percussion work. I'd love to see what you can do when you're -not- limited to FL defaults. -nice variation on the snakeman theme -arrangement was for the most part good. In a few instances i might have liked things to be structured a bit differently, but other times the stuff you did really hit the spot...awww yeah. -things started out a bit slow, but in the middle there was good stuff. -synths were for the most part okay. not really anything special but they worked just fine. -i think maybe you could have fit a break in there somewhere--like 8 bars or so with minimal accompanying synths where you just go crazy on the drum loops and all. ========== ========== ***Gollgagh + El Pollo Diablo - Noobmusic*** First off, I for the life of me can't figure out what source tune you used. I went through the nsf and...didn't find anything. o_o Also, I'm not sure the "noobmusic" drum loop you used is legal, since AFAIK it's not an FL default and it's not in the FLMC4 pack. =/ but I'm going to be nice and evaluate your mix anyways. anyhoo, onto the actual project...you mentioned you wanted comments on mastering and mixing, so I'll try to focus on that (although to tell you the truth I can't really say i'm an expert on these things...) before we get to the actual song i just want to take a look at your mixer setup--for example, you've got your master output fader at about 90% or so, and I'm not exactly sure why. It does leave some headroom for your mix, but since you're not actually doing any mastering outside of FL for this, i don't see any real reason for that--you just end up making everything softer (unless you normalize afterward). next off you've got send channel 1 as "HP" (highpass i'm presuming)--I don't exactly know what you were going for here. I tried listening to the output of what went through that channel only and well, i still can't exactly tell what you were trying to do. You have an EQ there that does indeed act as a highpass filter, but the cutoff frequency is pretty low, and it ends up actually boosting quite a bit around the 200 area, which makes the sound more boomy. Then you slapped a multiband compressor on there...i don't really like using multiband compressors that often...i dunno, essentially you just thinned out the sound my compressing it and making it softer, so I don't exactly see how that was a highpass effect. And I don't really know how that would benefit the entire mix as a send effect either. Maybe I'm missing something? In regards to the overall mix, the main problem is the bass, which is sooo boomy that it's eating away at the space for everything else. Just play the song and mute the bass and you'll see that all of a sudden you can actually hear stuff again. Most of the problem is just that the bass is too loud in volume overall, but also you generall don't want to have delay or reeverb on your bass because it can get pretty muddy. A lot of people do their basses in mono too, so it's more centered, just like a kick. Remember, as a general rule, the level of the bass should be soft enough so that when you listen to the mix you won't notice it unless you know it's there and you listen for it consciously. So just loud enough to be heard and felt if you're trying to. You have to especially watch out for the level on your bass because you have a bass which plays long sustained notes (as opposed to something like the one in my mix) so it can get pretty boomy and drown out everything else. Maybe you mix on speakers or headphones that don't have enough bass response, that's why you mixed your bass so loud? You also have quite a bit of delay and reverb on your mix that you might want to tone down--delay + reverb is usually pretty nice on synths, but make sure it's not too much, and be careful about notching the feedback up, as it can just cause all sorts of mud. Your drums are also really loud--obviously you wanted meaty drums here, with the distortion and everything, but be careful not to go overboard, especially since your drumloop is -already- distorted to begin with. You want meaty, PUNCHY distortion, not just GRAAHHHHHH "wall of sound" noise. So essentially, between the bass and drums you've taken up maybe 90% of the soundspace that you have available, so trying to squeeze the rest of the actual song into there is causing all the clashing and makes it all muddy. Try to mix low--with your kick peaking at -6dB or something like that--it'll sound soft when you mix, and that's okay. Just turn your speakers/headphones volume up. Then -later- after you have all your different elements laid down you can start adjusting levels and maybe boosting when necessary and using some =light= compression on the master mix to bring things up a little bit. Usually easier to boost and try to fill out the soundscape rather than to try and cut into a mix that's already cluttered. This also applies to EQ as well. Usually it's better to cut, then to boost EQ. Look at the EQ on your "noobsynth" and your pads for example--you boosted most of the entire middle frequency range, including around the 250 area, by 6 dB or so, which not only made everything very LOUD, but also made it boomy. Unless you want drastic changes to your sound, usually EQing anything over 5dB isn't really advisable. (one notable exception is when you want to cut the low or high end of something, in which case you can just go and cut it way down) Also the EQ on your drums is oooooooh god vicious. usually you only want to touch those lower two frequency bands by maybe 2-3 dB at the =most=...otherwise things get boomy reallllll fast...I understand you were probably trying to get a massive bass sound out of your kick, but that's not always the way to go about it. Actually I find that compression (to get more PUNCH out of things, meaning you need to set your attack to maybe 50 or 100 ms, not 0) plus a slight midrange cut can make a kick drum more punchy. experiment... Although, your kick drum from the "noobloop" is already pretty messy, it's overdistorted, so... Your intro was pretty cool, the gated pad was pretty sweet. Arrangement-wise, you had some neat elements going on...the 303, the arp, filter automation, etc. But there wasn't really anything interesting about the development of the song--in other words, needs more variation--having the same melody for one and a half minutes isn't always too great =p. I'd be wary of having that notch filter on the master fx channel on the entire time--might be doing something to your sound without you noticing it. How bout only turning it on when you do the sweep effect, hm? I've tried to work out a quick re-mixing/remastering of your mix--in other words I tried to do what I could, in a few minutes. I'll admit I couldn't really do that much, but you can see what I tried to do and the differences, etc. http://iosquad2.googlepages.com/noobiermusic.zip I think I've rambled on enough... Summary: -Less bass, dammit! -Be wary of boosting when using EQ, as it can muddy things up really fast -Weird "HP" channel confuses me -Careful of overusing delay + reverb -Mix low, bring things up later ========== Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDRKirby(ISQ) Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 ========== ***Blue Magic - Synthetic Luv*** mmm...you used a compressor on the master mix as a limiter to prevent clipping, but how about putting that -after- the overdrive and the EQUO, since that EQUO might actually introduce more sound... Main thing here is probably you want more interesting synths--your percussion is fine, and that "short synth" is actually a neat touch, and you got the strings going in the background...but your lead seems kinda dull and weak on top of it all. Try to get something phatter... I'd write more, but this is a bonus track, and it's rather short, and I really just want to finish this up... Summary: -more interesting synths (massive lead? detuning? flanger? anything...) -percussion actually not quite bad at all... -in general mix sounds "thin" a lot of the time, try to fill out the sound spectrum a bit more, maybe. -"short synth" is (b-_-)b ========== alright, that's all folks...see if you can guess how I voted based on my critiques...lol... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollgagh Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Just gonna say that I really had nothing to do with the mix. Like at all. I couldn't mix to save my life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketSniper Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 ==========***RocketSniper - Oonts Oonts Snakeman Oonts*** ========== Just... Holy crap. That's easily worth twice as much as all of the input I've ever gotten on the WIP forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundeslang Posted February 20, 2007 Author Share Posted February 20, 2007 ***Bundeslang - Dreaming About The Gemini Master*** This song was created to start the contest, I didn't spend much time on it. I know there are still lots of things to improve. I would like to read the 'Make a Song' tutorial from DDRKirby(ISQ). Remember. Voting ends monday, so there's still much time. I didn't receive many votes, so start voting people, and entrants who didn't vote yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollgagh Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Cool, thanks for writing that. ========== ***Gollgagh + El Pollo Diablo - Noobmusic*** First off, I for the life of me can't figure out what source tune you used. I went through the nsf and...didn't find anything. o_o Yeah, it's a [rather terrible] original. Bundeslang said that we didn't have to remix, so I didn't remix. Also, I'm not sure the "noobmusic" drum loop you used is legal, since AFAIK it's not an FL default and it's not in the FLMC4 pack. =/ but I'm going to be nice and evaluate your mix anyways. I created the drumloop using FL samples, then exported it to wav to save time/CPU. You can see it in pattern one. before we get to the actual song i just want to take a look at your mixer setup--for example, you've got your master output fader at about 90% or so, and I'm not exactly sure why. It does leave some headroom for your mix, but since you're not actually doing any mastering outside of FL for this, i don't see any real reason for that--you just end up making everything softer (unless you normalize afterward). I have no idea what I was doing with that. next off you've got send channel 1 as "HP" (highpass i'm presuming)--I don't exactly know what you were going for here. I tried listening to the output of what went through that channel only and well, i still can't exactly tell what you were trying to do. You have an EQ there that does indeed act as a highpass filter, but the cutoff frequency is pretty low, and it ends up actually boosting quite a bit around the 200 area, which makes the sound more boomy. In theory, the HP EQ was supposed to remove the overtones around and below 200 from each of the channels other than the drums and bass, to leave some space for them. I didn't listen to it without the EQ, so I don't know how well it worked. Then you slapped a multiband compressor on there...i don't really like using multiband compressors that often...i dunno, essentially you just thinned out the sound my compressing it and making it softer, so I don't exactly see how that was a highpass effect. Originally, I had a Soft Clipper there. It didn't work like I wanted it to, so I switched to a Compressor, which sounded weird, or something. So I switched to a MultiBand Compressor. I have no idea how to use compressors. In regards to the overall mix, the main problem is the bass, which is sooo boomy that it's eating away at the space for everything else. Just play the song and mute the bass and you'll see that all of a sudden you can actually hear stuff again. Most of the problem is just that the bass is too loud in volume overall, but also you generall don't want to have delay or reeverb on your bass because it can get pretty muddy. A lot of people do their basses in mono too, so it's more centered, just like a kick. Remember, as a general rule, the level of the bass should be soft enough so that when you listen to the mix you won't notice it unless you know it's there and you listen for it consciously. So just loud enough to be heard and felt if you're trying to. You have to especially watch out for the level on your bass because you have a bass which plays long sustained notes (as opposed to something like the one in my mix) so it can get pretty boomy and drown out everything else. 'Kay, I'll keep this in mind. You also have quite a bit of delay and reverb on your mix that you might want to tone down--delay + reverb is usually pretty nice on synths, but make sure it's not too much, and be careful about notching the feedback up, as it can just cause all sorts of mud. This is a bad habit I have. I tend to just stick reverb + delay on all of my synths, without thinking. This also applies to EQ as well. Usually it's better to cut, then to boost EQ. Look at the EQ on your "noobsynth" and your pads for example--you boosted most of the entire middle frequency range, including around the 250 area, by 6 dB or so, which not only made everything very LOUD, but also made it boomy. Unless you want drastic changes to your sound, usually EQing anything over 5dB isn't really advisable. (one notable exception is when you want to cut the low or high end of something, in which case you can just go and cut it way down) This is another bad habit of mine. I like to use EQ to change the sound of everything, and I end up boosting the midrange on most of my tracks. D: Also the EQ on your drums is oooooooh god vicious. usually you only want to touch those lower two frequency bands by maybe 2-3 dB at the =most=...otherwise things get boomy reallllll fast...I understand you were probably trying to get a massive bass sound out of your kick, but that's not always the way to go about it. Actually I find that compression (to get more PUNCH out of things, meaning you need to set your attack to maybe 50 or 100 ms, not 0) plus a slight midrange cut can make a kick drum more punchy. experiment... Yep, I was trying to get a HUEG sound out of my kick. I'll try your method out though. Arrangement-wise, you had some neat elements going on...the 303, the arp, filter automation, etc. But there wasn't really anything interesting about the development of the song--in other words, needs more variation--having the same melody for one and a half minutes isn't always too great =p. This came from a lack of time; I created the first minute or so in around 5 hours, went to sleep, woke up, and wrote the last 2 minutes of the song in around 30 minutes. I've tried to work out a quick re-mixing/remastering of your mix--in other words I tried to do what I could, in a few minutes. I'll admit I couldn't really do that much, but you can see what I tried to do and the differences, etc. http://iosquad2.googlepages.com/noobiermusic.zip Thanks, I'll check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 To all--enabling tools->smart disable on all your FX is a -great- way to make sure people don't have pops and clicks when they listen to your song =p I know that, I just don't need to smart disable anymore cuz i have a computer that can handle practically anything I throw at it. ***Sir_NutS - Snakes on a Loop*** Ah, I can always expect something good out of Sir_NutS... -okay, so in the beginning you have the ArpA pattern going, and I didn't like how you had the pattern as xXxyYyzZxXxyYyzZ (where capital letter is higher octave note). I understand that's how the arpeggiator did it for you, but the higher notes being offset a bit kinda makes it sounds just a taddd bit funky. I would have liked XxXYyYZzXxXYyYZz or something like that better, probably. Once things start going it's fine, though--just in the beginning when it's singled out is when I notice it. Thanks. I don't use the arpeggiator, well, didn't use it when I used fl. I got lazy for the most part while doing this song, and resorted to some of the lazy tools. -uhm...ok so you're using send channel 1 for reverb, okay...but it's not quite set up how I would think it should be (unless you did that intentionally). Maybe you're just used to the mastering plugins in Reason? =p So you have the Fruity Reeverb 2 as a plugin in send channel 1, but it's not set up as a send effect--it allows the dry sound to pass through as well as outputting the wet sound...so you're getting the dry sound twice (once from the original channel -> master output, then another time from original channel -> send 1 -> master output), which isn't usually what I would do. The other thing is that sometimes (channel 9, 10, and 12, for instance) you have reverb in the channel fx as insert effects, but you have those going to send 1 as well, so you end up having dry+reverb, plus another dry+reverb, plus dry+reverb+reverb! Which seems quite unwieldy...and that might be causing some of the clutter in the loud sections of the song. The whole reeverb send thing is intentional, I've always used that setup in my songs. Yes I have reeverb inserts + reeverb sends too. It's not unusual for people to do that, it adds different colors to the reeverb of the sound. -The main melody sounds "inconsistent" through the pattern--this is because you used filter cutoff automation on the notes...you were probably going for that effect, but I wasn't really digging it too much. Also if you go into your TranceLead pattern you'll discover that the 3rd note (1st note of the actual melody) is accidentally doubled. whoops! (unless that was intentional, haha) yeah I didn't notice the doubled note. for the Cutoff automation, that was intentional, just tried to add a bit of subtle differences, expression if you may, to the melody. -the second little buildup section at ~1:20 with the flanged snare roll and that sustained high note (which was great) was pretty good--could have used better filter automation on the main lead, perhaps. The actual "arrival point" lacked a certain oomph, though. The one bar kick roll was great...but...i dunno. Maybe the crash needed more punch or something. Maybe the mix just needed a bit more room (because the whole reverb thing made things a bit mushy) Yeah I agree it lacked a bit oomph. And my fruityloops mastering isn't what used to be either(though as I said, i got lazy with the song) -your individual channels are mixed really high. You compensate for it all by lowering the master fader volume, but I'd probably prefer to mix the individual channels low, then you can bring stuff up later. Especially if you're going to master in something other than FL--in that case you'd leave like 3dB headroom in your master output and then maximize/normalize everything using something else (i've never done it before though). Right now your master output shows maybe a bit of clipping on the FL monitor? (I really don't like using the postfader on the master output channel, as you can't really analyze the final signal that much that way--i prefer to use a Fruity Balance or a Parametric EQ to bring the global volume down as an insert effect) That's more of a matter of preference. Though I usually never touch the master volume, but for this song I had to because, as I said, I got lazy and didn't want to mess around much with the mastering. -The "pluck" section at ~2:03 is wayyy too loud...needs to be softer to offer contrast, IMHO...also the piano part stops a bit abruptly--dunno what would be the best way to fix that...although, the problem would be alleviated a bit if the piano weren't so "bangy" and loud =p Frankly at that point I didn't want to mix the song anymore, everything was going well until I wanted to add the piano section and noticed that fl had shit for piano defaults. So I kinda got angry there and just threw both the pluck and the fl piano in heh. Summary: -missing waveforms in the 3xOsc's...so I dunno what happened there... -Send Channel 1 issues made everything seem loud and clashy at times -TS404 synth was uber-awesome -I saw lots of 3xOsc presets...I could call you lazy, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here and say it was just because you're too used to Subtractor and Malstrom. =p -Tone that piano part down! -Good structure and development, arrangement-wise. The main lead could have probably been more interesting, though. ========== Missing waveforms? there were none that I know. I used the presets I had left from the bunch I made back in my fl days but I made sure I use sawwaves instead of the custom saw I used to use. If you say it because the color shows red, that's how I saved the presets. too many 3xosc presets = again, laziness. I had tons of presets that I made for everything, from synths to effects, back in my fruityloops days, but I lost them all and the few I have left are those I used there(like trancelead) and that I could have because I sent them to a friend some time ago. When I'm doing a song I rarely use presets, but I create my own. For Reason I have tons of presets made for malstrom, subtractor and every other machine, cuz reason presets are crap for the most part, and even released a refill with a collection of my own patches and loops a few days ago, so no, NutS and presets don't get along at all(unless they are presets made by me), I actually despise the use of presets and loops, so don't think I just go out browsing the reason soundbank and slapping presets for subtractor and maelstrom like a lot of people do . Everything you hear from me, is NutS-authentic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDRKirby(ISQ) Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 The whole reeverb send thing is intentional, I've always used that setup in my songs. Yes I have reeverb inserts + reeverb sends too. It's not unusual for people to do that, it adds different colors to the reeverb of the sound. Well, you learn something new everyday...I was pretty sure it was intentional, but wasn't exactly sure what the point of it was. That's more of a matter of preference. Though I usually never touch the master volume, but for this song I had to because, as I said, I got lazy and didn't want to mess around much with the mastering. I'm really no expert on mastering myself (cue Snappleman) Frankly at that point I didn't want to mix the song anymore, everything was going well until I wanted to add the piano section and noticed that fl had shit for piano defaults. So I kinda got angry there and just threw both the pluck and the fl piano in heh. no kidding...i need to find me a good piano sf sometime... Missing waveforms? there were none that I know. I used the presets I had left from the bunch I made back in my fl days but I made sure I use sawwaves instead of the custom saw I used to use. If you say it because the color shows red, that's how I saved the presets. ah, I just assumed red = broken, and whatnot. ok good deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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