Music Remastered

I think specific examples of the problems you mention would help

 

I just listened to Chemical plant v3.3 and it was pretty damn awesome. I agree with RedStripedShoes about the volume levels though

 

I noticed almost all the music is synth/ keyboard based? Is this what we are going for or does anyone want me to try the Metropolis Zone on my guitar? Thought I could also have a go at Mystic Cave using a Theramin (spooky sci-fi sound generator). If I could play harmonica or banjo, I'd try Hill Top Zone, but sadly I can't. Anyway, give me your thoughts on this, I'm going to try Metropolis Zone on guitar just for fun anyway, I had a little go just now and I think after working a few things out I'll be able to play all the crazy bits. Also, I noticed the drums in a lot of the remastered songs I heard aren't as expressive as the original tunes; they are rhythmically correct, but the difference between the snare and tom are not as different in timbre as in the original tracks. It is possible to control drum timbre in MIDI and electronic drum kits. It kind of changes whether it sounds like "pah" or "doof" or "dong" etc. You know what I mean? Otherwise, I am really impressed with the work so far people, keep it up!

 

There is no overall preference toward synths or real instruments, though some songs are better suited toward synths and others (like Metropolis) are more suited toward real instruments.

MCZ on a theremin definitely sounds interesting... and please do give Metropolis a try! We've got a few versions using real guitars already, but anyone who can up the ante is invited to do so

Hmm... Since I can assume that all of us are using samples for the drums, the lack of expressiveness would likely be a problem with the samples themselves. I'm not 100% sure I follow you though, could you give an example?

 

Of course, if you're up to the challenge.
Please try not to stray away too much from the original.

Yes, yes, yes, please. That must be the instrument they were aiming to simulate.

 

Absolutely agrees here!

 

Ok so I've been all over this topic and seen many issues about remastered tracks that may give the composer/sequencer little artistic freedom and remixed tracks that give the composer/sequencer too much artistic freedom.

So I present to you my OOZ. While making this, I felt a little TOO free so this might hang towards remix. However, it retains the same notes, phrases, tempo and, I think, feel.

Oil Ocean
http://www.sendspace.com/file/o3b1ns

Also there are loads of grain sounds to give a "machinery" feel to the level. I'm open to all criticism. The levels are a big problem and I'm not good at mixing. Thanx

 

For starters, the flute/horn instrument which plays throughout most of the song is too soft, and needs to be made louder so it doesn't sound like part of the background. Like you said, the levels are kinda out of whack.

But I think it's a good start. Keep going.

 

Ooh, MCZ with the theramin would be a very cool idea. Please do this! It makes the creepiness a bit more noticable!

 

or a musical saw, but I doubt anyone knows how to play one lol

 

This is fantastic! Frankly, I wouldn't worry about whether it's too much of a remix or not because we're pretty much accepting both remasters and remixes at this point, and besides which it sounds really, really good the way it is. And while you're right that the levels are off, it sounds easily fixable to me... Mostly, it sounds like the bass and all the percussion parts should be brought down equally (with the snare pushed down a little more), and the flute should be brought up. I think that's really all it needs.

Now I'm finding that the more I listen to it, the more I love it. Seriously good work here.

 

You sir just blew my mind!

 

Thanx for the feedback. Im glad you all see some potential in the track. I will use the advice you gave to make it sound loads better I.e turn up the lead and turn down bass and perc. I was thinking to add more reverb on the string pad in the background (playing G major then Ab major).
At any rate this would be ready in the weekend

 

Very cool. I like it except a toughness on some instruments which is too strong. ^^
Follow Scuba's words for all the detailed suggestions, and we have another track in.

 

Awesome is all I have to say, it's like it captures the actual feeling of the stage, the noise is a nice touch, reminds me of the steam that shoots out of the pipes.

 

That's indeed a very cool rendition.

Please, try making a more faithful version once you finish this one.

 

Thanks for the reply! I can't do the theramin one just yet, as I have to construct it first, but I'll get round to it eventually. I tried doing it on guitar, but making the samples match the timing of the song on audacity is proving difficult - is there any good program that helps you match the samples to certain times? I have a good drum sequencer called Drum Station DT - 010 , which is free; if there's anything like this that works with large audio samples that would be great. At the moment I am having to manually move the WAV files around, and I managed to get them lined up but when I added the bass bit I wanted to move all of them forward and now I have to move each one individually :0. As for drum timbre, this is the best video I can find through a quick search:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5CKX9PEIoo
It's in spanish, but the first and 2nd examples at 0:33 and 1:33 show the change in timbre very clearly in the snare drum (loudest drum on this example).

I am staying as close to the original as I can, don't worry about that. What do you recommend I upload tracks to? Everyone seems to be using a file uploader like sendspace or rapidshare, I guess I need an account for this..?

To all above: Thanks for your encouragement, it is appreciated! I won't be able to do the theramin for a while though until I get the time to make it, I bought the components a short while ago though.

I really like this track, it sounds new and updated, just like the graphics side.

 

The only free sequencers I know off-hand are Reaper and Ardour (and Reaper is apparently no longer free D:<)... there are some sites that list lots of freeware audio software though. Try this list. What you're looking for is a multi-track audio sequencer... MU.LAB looks pretty good.

The only free drum sequencer I know off-hand is Hydrogen, which is apparently quite good but right now there are only experimental releases for Windows and OSX (it's native to Linux). If that doesn't work for you then there's more you can check out at the site I linked to above.

At 0:33 the only thing changing is the pitch of the toms, which sound like two different samples. The snare drum doesn't change at all... were you talking about the distinction between the snare and toms before?

 

I like the intro!
Cool, but is this right??? If we twist the rules, I still feel the bass line is a little too happy. Intro is the best!

 

Is this song available in a format other than OGG? Something that WinAmp or WMP can play without additional plug-ins?