Commodore Remix

Heyas!

I'm new to the board but I've been listening over at RKO for a while now. Some of the tunes have been amazing.

I've been working on bringing some of my favourite SID tunes into the modern day, giving them a "hi-fi" sound using my Roland SRX class SonicCell sound module. The SonicCell got a bit of a panning but I really love it. Its SRX so just as good as the same Phantom internally, just that it doesn't have 4 expansion slots, only 2. Of course, I'm really badly wanting the Integra-7 but my budget doesn't allow me.

By the way, I love using _real_ hardware. I'm also dying to get a MIDIbox SID or something similar together but its also quite difficult to achieve. Some of my SID chips I've collected have even been stolen!

But like I say, I've been working on some remakes of some SID tunes. I think its not taken very seriously, converting the tunes to MIDI and then reproducing them but I think its a very interesting idea - with the same sequence, produce a high fidelity version. I think of it as a kind of preservation and allows the tunes to be appreciated and enjoyed by a modern audience, just for what they were.

Its actually been rather difficult because of the different ways the SID is used. As much as I've been able, I've been keeping the tracks as authentic as possible, making sure that the sequence could be, theoretically at least, played back on a real hardware SID. SID2MIDI is not very good with legato, slurs/bends and handling percussion sounds. I'm in the process of making my own tool for it (I'm a software engineer) but I don't have a great deal of free time after working with some tunes.

Its taken a long time for me to learn to use my synth, learn how to mix and then learn how to master the tunes but its been a great adventure. I'm really only now getting to grips with the mastering process and controlling the finer details in the synth's filters but gradually I am now building up a selection of tunes that I'm happy for other people to hear. Mastering has been especially difficult because I really don't have the appropriate tools. I've had to learn how its done in theory and then find ways to "cheat" and do similar things with the mixes.

I've read that they don't want these kind of tracks on RKO but I think its a bit unfair to say that I've "just" converted the tunes to MIDI and selected instruments to play them with. In every case, I've had to create an entirely new set of patches for the tune, being careful to maintain the authenticity of the song while "bringing new life" to it. In some ways, I'm pushing the boundaries of what you can do with a purely digital synth that can't use arbitrary samples.

Anyhow, I thought some of you might like the tracks I've done or even be able to provide me with some feedback. I've put them up on SoundCloud. Here are some links:


Steps, originally by Leonhard Schueller (Ganja): https://soundcloud.com/mew_p/steps-rc
Data Power, originally by Wojciech Lyszkowski (Rodney): https://soundcloud.com/mew_p/data-power-rc
and a 210bpm version: https://soundcloud.com/mew_p/data-power-rc-210bpm
Platoon, originally by Jonathan Dunn: https://soundcloud.com/mew_p/platoon-remake
Maniac Mansion, originally by Chris Grigg & David Lawrence: https://soundcloud.com/mew_p/maniac-mansion-remake


More are on the way, I'm just finishing them up for "beta testing". I've also put up a couple of non-SID based tunes, if you're interested.

I'd love to hear from you guys about what you think.


Daniel.

Hey Daniel, welcome aboard!

As for your tunes, they're pretty good, but you need to work on the mixing, I assume this has to do with your listening equipment. There is an extreme emphasis on the high end, making it sound very tinny. Keep up the good work!

Hi Daniel,

Welcome to the best Remix 64 forum in the world I had a listen to the tunes on sound cloud, and I'm wondering if there is a bit too much of reverb on the overall sound. Some tracks sound like there is a cathedral reverb on them, making sound boomy and tinny.

I would turn off all reverb effects run the tracks dry and if you think you need to add some reverb do so very sparingly.

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I'm starting to be more aware of the problems you guys mention. I think they are both from my listening environment with some degree of issues with my equipment... The room I'm doing the tracks in is terrible for it and the speaker arrangement is a real problem.

I'm looking into getting some proper monitor speakers and a more music-oriented receiver. I'll have to dampen the room, too. Unfortunately, I have no money at all.

I'm trying to be much more conservative about effects and the filtering in the interim but its very hard to tell how much is correct. I'm having to do lots of comparisons of different tracks and on whatever equipment I can as well as visually check with analysers. Its labour intensive.

Thanks again!


Daniel.

Hi Daniel and welcome on board!

Your situation is pretty similar to mine. Except the fact that I prefer to create music digitally all the way.
The big question is what you are going for. Do you want to become a professional artist or is it just a hobby? If it's just a hobby and you don't have much time left because of your work, family or else, then you shouldn't have to worry too much concerning the quality of your mastering. It doesn't need to be perfect. The bottom line is to be just good enough for listening. And of course it's hard to do the mastering as good as a professional musician. The speakers, the room, the equipment, everything is important. But why should someone like us spend an awful amount of money just for a hobby, if you can get approximately similar results with cheaper software? A friend of mine recommended using Ozone 6 for the mastering, and this guy is a semi-professional artist as well as an owner of a record label. So there's no need for spending too much. Myself is doing the mastering quite simple with my main music program called Renoise. Of course the result isn't as good as the results from the professionals being around here, but it's still ok. Even if the sound at the end of the mastering seems to be too soft compared to professional masterings. Just like you I don't want to spend too much. It's all about the fun! Nothing more, nothing less. And who wants to be part of the loudness war?

I think that Ozone 6 is the missing part for us "music creation hobbyists" to get a really good mastering, that doesn't need to hide from professional masterings. Maybe I also should give it a try. As soon as I'm able to be creative again, which is my problem since my father died two years ago. Of course there are several more reasons for that block, for example a new time-consuming job, but likely the death is the main reason. Perhaps I should make another remix for the beginning, just to get into it again. And I still have got some in the pipeline, waiting since 2 years for finally getting finished. In my opinion remixing is the best you can do if you're out of creativity. Even if this means getting a yellow or even a grey smiley and comments like "Good, but repetitive" and so on. So what? Like I wrote, it's all about the fun! And if you ask me, I think a perfect mastering is overestimated. The sound itself is what's important.

I don't know exactly how you do your mastering right now, but if you don't have professional equipment, I would recommend to turn the volume down and start by listening via your main speakers. Grab your headphones for the fine tuning (effects like Reverb or Delay), and listen to the result again via your main speakers. Adjust everything that needs to be adjusted and repeat the whole thing again and again until the result is quite right. Then turn the volume up, listen to it again and again adjust everything needs to be adjusted. Especially the effects needs to be re-adjusted, because on headphones they sound completely different compared to the main speakers. In this case you have to find the golden medium, so that it sounds good both on headphones and the main speakers as well. Don't forget to listen to the result on several days, because every day it seems to sound different. So you need a few tries until everything sounds fairly as scheduled. That's the way I do it, and just like you I don't own professional equipment, just common stuff. But it seems to work. If even the guy from the record label I published something in the past says that there's actually no need for improving the mastering, it should be good enough. But I know it could be better. Anyway, nothing is perfect.

Hi Daniel!
Welcome aboard.