Got Musician's Instinct?

Zeta Aspect · Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 4:52 pm Post subject:

"Duel of Speed": As good as ever. I still hear some of the issues I mentioned. The snare is a bit too powerful, and the feedback/reverb on the synth is annoying. But still good.

"Burning Beat": I would laugh so hard if this made it to DDR. The song is very rock/metal, more than I think is characteristic of DDR. The percussion that enters at 0:06 startled me. Now, I'm going to assume you did the vocals, since you are the lead vocalist in your band. The vocals from 0:26 to 0:39 are very dark, and somewhat hard to understand without paying close attention. From 0:39 to 0:45 the vocals are awfully off-key, but you recover from 0:45 to 0:50, when you are on-key and in full force. You show your stuff at 1:12. The vocals there sound like what you should have done at 0:39. Pretty much all of the vocals after 0:50 are quite acceptable (don't get me wrong; they are actually rather good, it is just that I've heard better...maybe not in this genre, but yeah...). Nice key change at 2:37; it caught me by surprise. Overall, this song is good and well-produced, but I CAN'T see it on DDR. That would be hilarious.

I don't think anyone checks for edits, so I'll double post if I need to do so.

By the way, should the driving kicks in techno mainly follow linear beats and drum rolls, or can it play complex rhythms? I currently have the latter on several songs, but I might want to change the kicks to the former. If so, is there a recommendation for a replacement instrument to cover those rhythms (snare drum, perhaps)? I'm such a n00b...
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Original Songs and Recomposed Remixes, Remixes and 8pack Battles.
Friction is a fickle mistress.

Drakken · Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 6:15 pm Post subject:

What time does the contest actually end?

EDIT: Nevermind. Found out when signing up.

Drakken · Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:39 pm Post subject:

Toccata Rock

There are obvious issues with the balancing, drums, and such, as I only had a limited amount of time to work on this with my friend and his equipment today. Most of that time was spent troubleshooting, but such is life. It may not be DDR-caliber, it's still cool.

Hopefully I'll be able to meet with him again and fix things up before the deadline on Friday.

Rockstar · Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:15 am Post subject:

Zeta, yeah, Burning Beat doesn't really sound like anything on DDR yet, but they did say they were looking for something original and it is a very rhytmic song, so I figured, why not? I'd still be surprised to see it in there, but I think it could work pretty well

The song and vocals are definitely not 100% complete for our album recording, but I didn't have time to re-record anything, so I figured I'd just use the demo vocals and spice up the mix a bit.

As for your question, techno tends to have very linear drum patterns; but nothing prevents you from using patterns from other styles... that's how new music is born most of the time. But otherwise, there are plenty of good alternatives to keep a good kick going on, while having other percussion instruments doing more complex patterns; a light snare works well, handclaps too. Other more experimental alternatives would be the hihat/ride, or a very tiny kick (i.e. only keeping the attack frequencies)
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Vash573 · Trick Member Joined: 19 Feb 2006

Zeta Aspect · Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 10:00 pm Post subject:

I am screwed time-wise.
Currently:
Balancing "Plasma Trip". I pumped up the entire percussion line in ACID (running out of encodes...stupid freeware version!), as well as pumping the bass in the kicks (major improvement, since they no longer sound tinny). Those fixes are up on the web. Also, I fixed some melodic dissonance, and in the process, I marvelled at how many dissonant notes can't be heard in the 8bit section (0:42). The string section is way out of tune on a lot of notes. Can anyone hear it there? If it doesn't disturb anyone, I'm going to keep it for ambiance's sake. By the way, DJ Rockstar, I heard the digital distortion, but only when I isolated a particular track. I don't think I have the time to fix it, nor do I really know how.

Doing nothing on my "io" mix. I might not get it done.

Doing nothing on my ace, which isn't very ace-y. I am not doing a good job on it. It might not make it to the contest.

Drakken,
"Toccata Rock" sounds familiar...is it a remix? I think there are definite quality issues (I'm one to talk...), but it is still okay. I think it flows similarly to "Duel of Speed" (sort of...), which was odd. However, I find the synth at 0:48 to be annoying, although appropriate. Maybe low quality is the reason for that. Also, the entrance is odd, as well as many tempo changes. Additionally (and you may know this), your entire audio seems to clip out with the kick. The song is pretty good, though. I don't really have time for a really detailed review.
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Original Songs and Recomposed Remixes, Remixes and 8pack Battles.
Friction is a fickle mistress.

Drakken · Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 10:18 pm Post subject:

Rockstar · Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:13 am Post subject:

Zeta, some strings being out of tune while others aren't might explain why I thought it sounded very dissonant in some sections.

And the Dynamite Rave B4 ZA Beat made me laugh because hah... it's kinda true and I never thought of it that way

Today is the deadline, so good luck to everyone!
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Zeta Aspect · Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 5:40 pm Post subject:

My final mix of "Plasma Trip" is up on my site. I didn't fix the strings. When I tried, I ruined the chords (even worse). I couldn't take them out, since the part felt empty. I also quit trying to mask the organ. Maybe sometime I'll redo this song in Fruity Loops or something...I can't do it now.
Thanks for your input, DJ Rockstar. I appreciate it, and I am sorry I couldn't work on it more.

I'll double-post if I have anything else. The next song I'm doing is my "io" mix, and then my ace, which sucks (I've lost much self-confidence). I've got four hours. Just great.

At least it isn't like I can't still write music after this.
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Original Songs and Recomposed Remixes, Remixes and 8pack Battles.
Friction is a fickle mistress.

Drakken · Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:00 pm Post subject:

I fixed up the drums in Toccata Rock, but unfortunately wasn't able to use my friend's samples and equipment. So, the sounds are not as good as my other Toccata Rock submission, but the song is cleaner with a better drum track. Might as well submit it. Perhaps people will judge it based more on the arrangement than on the actual sound quality.

Toccata Rock (Clean)

Zeta Aspect · Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:18 pm Post subject:

Well, I think I'm going to give up on my other two. I just can't take it.
I'm still going to complete them, but I am going to take the week, and not just a couple hours.
"io" needs certain sound effects that I don't have. And time.
My ace needs a lot of work. I might as well reveal it to you guys. It was a techno/rock version of "Greensleeves". The idea may sound stupid, but it is actually sort of cool. 145 bpm, with the rhythms alterred to dotted eighth notes. Oh well.
I have decided that I suck. I need sleep. Perhaps my self-esteem will be higher when this whole deal is over. I just can't take this anymore. I should never be hating composing this much.

Drakken,
I think your other one was better, despite all its flaws (although I liked the fact that in your clean mix the kick didn't cause audio clipping out). You obviously need some better equipment. What equipment do you have?

If anyone is interested in sharing their music with others, there is a "Rate My Song" thread in the Random Chat forum. Once this contest is over, I suppose it would be more appropriate to talk over there.
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Original Songs and Recomposed Remixes, Remixes and 8pack Battles.
Friction is a fickle mistress.

Zeta Aspect · Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:49 pm Post subject:

Submitted "Plasma Trip". I have no idea how reviewing works.
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Original Songs and Recomposed Remixes, Remixes and 8pack Battles.
Friction is a fickle mistress.

Drakken · Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:58 pm Post subject:

Zeta Aspect · Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:07 pm Post subject:

This is when I regret feeling obligated to listen to the entirety of songs I review.

Oi! Hell! Repeat songs???? Do we have to listen to at least one minute of repeated songs each time???
???
???
333
three question marks?

So far I've heard:
"Son Son Sunday -Orange Mix-" by Vospi
"Convergence (DDR Version)" by Helix Eternal
"Attack" by Odyssey
"Venture (Oddysey Mix)" by Odyssey
"Binary Groove" by DJ Danceatron
"Toccata Rock (Clean)" by Josh Freund
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Original Songs and Recomposed Remixes, Remixes and 8pack Battles.
Friction is a fickle mistress.

Drakken · Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:34 pm Post subject:

Haha, most of them are pretty bad/generic. I haven't had a problem with repeat songs, though. I've listened to a good amount of them, and I've only heard the same song once.

Zeta Aspect · Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:37 pm Post subject:

Impossible! I have Finale PrintMusic without GPO, and I think my sound quality is higher! Weird.
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Original Songs and Recomposed Remixes, Remixes and 8pack Battles.
Friction is a fickle mistress.

Odyssey · Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 10:32 pm Post subject:

Finally got a good mix in of Venture!

...or, a better one than before, anyway. Looks like Attack will just have to be a side dish.
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XzDestinzX · Trick Member Joined: 19 Aug 2004

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Zeta Aspect · Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 4:51 pm Post subject:

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
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Original Songs and Recomposed Remixes, Remixes and 8pack Battles.
Friction is a fickle mistress.

Zeta Aspect · Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 4:56 pm Post subject:

Oevyyvnag Ncevy Sbby'f wbxr. (Brilliant April Fool's joke.)
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Original Songs and Recomposed Remixes, Remixes and 8pack Battles.
Friction is a fickle mistress.