let me just say thanks for the response Chris, its appriciated.
with regards to your comments i've the following to say;
Chris Abbott wrote:The instruments you're using seem like this:
1) Two square wave lead instruments (taken from original?)
2) One square wave bassline
3) Some drums
4) Some sample/hold bassline that appears occasionally
as i mentioned in the "about" section...
(1) yes, that *is* the original lead line (which doubles up at times), and (4) a couple of (real - i might add - not sampled) roland tb-303 lines.
Chris Abbott wrote:
1) The source material sounds pretty bad to me.
ok, but in what sense? Musically *i* really like it, and as far as the sound quality goes, it is 8-bit sourced, which IMO gives it that retro charm.
2) The reverb is on everything, and is way harsh. If you want soft, use timed delays.
the lead line uses timed delays, whilst there's reverb used to space the snare (a usual technique) and i made the 303 line's reverb quite wet to give them that old-school-techno sound. timed delays on these would, i think, cloud the sound more.
3) The piece doesn't develop over time, though you did bother to put in a break of sorts.
4) There's nothing in there musically that you did except maybe the drums.
ok this is fair enough, but, i wasnt looking to change the musicallity, since - for me - this defeats the object of doing a game remix. If i want to do something musically technical / different, then i'll write my own music. With regards to the structure, its fairly typical of the type of track it is, (i.e. a simple, somewhat repeative (heaven forbid!) techno-y-breaks track) perhaps i should have put in the filters i had been considering to add to the dynamic and accent the structure of the track, but i liked (although i'm now beginning to regret liking it) the simplicity of the piece.
5) The bass isn't bassy enough, and all the instruments sound far away and unpleasant.
to say unpleasant is IMO a somewhat harsh comment. nothing there grates on the ears. Whilst i cant say how the bass sounds on your speakers, i know it became very boomy on one of my pairs of headphones, so i did reduce it, but you're quite likely right on that one, although frankly - i've heard much worse.
Suggestions would all revolve around more musical content, better mixing, better EQ, better sample choices, better FX...
so you really dont like any of it then?
ok - fair enough - you're quite entitled not to, but i'll reserve my right to disagree. yes, i'd love to tighten up the mix a bit, master it properly, try it on various types of monitors, but in the end - it's only a game remix, and i dont intend losing any sleep over it.
and if you want to make this into a drum and bass tune, then study proper drum and bass artists and what they're doing.
Errr no thanks!
Drum & Bass is *not* what is intended from this remix. techno / electro / breakbeat - i dont know - but certainly not d&b which quite frankly, although can be very well produced (occasionally) i find to be a rather uninteresting genre.
perhaps in future when i come to write a remix purely for my own enjoyment, i'll keep it to myself.
Every Cloud has a Strontium Lining...
