One Synth Challenge #80: MUX by MuTools (Voting Over, preliminary results in)

[bjporter]

Okay, this is what I have so far.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... n-progress

Gave my first round of comments so far. Tried to be honest. Who else is up to give Wag the low down?

[bjporter]

Nevermind... for some reason soundcloud didn't save like 90% of my comments

[doctorbob]

I've just punched in a few "observations" and ideas. Hope they are useful Steven.

I've referenced a few things in my own track as pointers to some sound design/processing things. Of course, many will like to point out things wrong/bad/awful in mine too - but hey, this is OSC. But we can and do work as a community - so c'mon, we''ll bash this track into shape - it's a solid base to work on - plenty of time.

dB

[doctorbob]

Nevermind... for some reason soundcloud didn't save like 90% of my comments

That's coz Soundcloud's sulking about you not putting some tracks up ... hehe.
dB

[wagtunes]

Okay, have to go out for the evening (bell choir and choir rehearsals) but I did read all the comments.

Essentially, according to one, I have to redo about 50% of the song with 9 days left after working on it for 22. It's a 3 out of 5 as it stands. That's still better than anything I've done to date and should get me a mid way ranking.

That might just have to do because I simply don't have the kind of time I need to turn this into a 5 star track.

Thanks for all the advice.

I'll do what I can and on the 31st I will submit what I have.

[Touch The Universe]

Okay, have to go out for the evening (bell choir and choir rehearsals) but I did read all the comments.

Essentially, according to one, I have to redo about 50% of the song with 9 days left after working on it for 22. It's a 3 out of 5 as it stands. That's still better than anything I've done to date and should get me a mid way ranking.

That might just have to do because I simply don't have the kind of time I need to turn this into a 5 star track.

Thanks for all the advice.

I'll do what I can and on the 31st I will submit what I have.

It is your best track I've heard so far. But you could easily improve it to a 4 with minimal effort if you followed some advice here/ or just with more work even if you ignore the comments. If you want a 5, then you would have to delve in deeper with some exotic? melodies (my humble opinion) and really push the sound design/arrangement and sheen in the mix. Good luck

[z.prime]

Sorry to change the topic... MuLab users, help! Is there a way to select a region of the track and move it (when there are too many tracks to select them all vertically with the select-o-rectangle)?

[wagtunes]

Okay, have to go out for the evening (bell choir and choir rehearsals) but I did read all the comments.

Essentially, according to one, I have to redo about 50% of the song with 9 days left after working on it for 22. It's a 3 out of 5 as it stands. That's still better than anything I've done to date and should get me a mid way ranking.

That might just have to do because I simply don't have the kind of time I need to turn this into a 5 star track.

Thanks for all the advice.

I'll do what I can and on the 31st I will submit what I have.

It is your best track I've heard so far. But you could easily improve it to a 4 with minimal effort if you followed some advice here/ or just with more work even if you ignore the comments. If you want a 5, then you would have to delve in deeper with some exotic? melodies (my humble opinion) and really push the sound design/arrangement and sheen in the mix. Good luck

Know what? And this will prove my point when it happens. I'm still going to get 21 2s and 8 1s. Guarantee it.

The whys don't matter but it is what it is.

You'll see when the voting comes out.

In the meantime, I will take whatever time I can devote to this and do as much as I can with it in the last 9 days I have left, even if I have to completely redo parts, or for that matter, chuck 90% of it and start over.

It's just never going to be good enough for some.

[z.prime]

It's just never going to be good enough for some.

Yes, you what's not going to be good enough for some? MuLab!, unless I can figure out how to select a whole region without using the select-o-rectangle.

[ontrackp]

Okay, have to go out for the evening (bell choir and choir rehearsals) but I did read all the comments.

Essentially, according to one, I have to redo about 50% of the song with 9 days left after working on it for 22. It's a 3 out of 5 as it stands. That's still better than anything I've done to date and should get me a mid way ranking.

That might just have to do because I simply don't have the kind of time I need to turn this into a 5 star track.

Thanks for all the advice.

I'll do what I can and on the 31st I will submit what I have.

It is your best track I've heard so far. But you could easily improve it to a 4 with minimal effort if you followed some advice here/ or just with more work even if you ignore the comments. If you want a 5, then you would have to delve in deeper with some exotic? melodies (my humble opinion) and really push the sound design/arrangement and sheen in the mix. Good luck

Know what? And this will prove my point when it happens. I'm still going to get 21 2s and 8 1s. Guarantee it.

The whys don't matter but it is what it is.

You'll see when the voting comes out.

In the meantime, I will take whatever time I can devote to this and do as much as I can with it in the last 9 days I have left, even if I have to completely redo parts, or for that matter, chuck 90% of it and start over.

It's just never going to be good enough for some.

You should stop working on the music soon so you give enough time to the mix and production. There are many, many right choices for sound design so you shouldn't struggle too much with that. I think the sounds are generally really solid. The bass could use some more low end, but that can be a mix thing or a really quick sound design tweak - you don't need to start doubling and tripling up layers of sounds, remember, sometimes less is more! Right now the production is really rough -- balance of melody to bkgd to drums is all over the place, parts come slamming in really loud, the whole thing doesn't feel cohesive. Watch out for mid-range build up. Use a freq analyzer like Voxengo SPAN. A good mix takes some time -- not days and days, but a few hours. Turn everything off and start building it carefully from the kick and bass on up. Pay attention to the dynamics and eq of each track as well as the overall balance. Pay attention to how different parts enter, small fader moves are important. Use only a few reverbs and delays to make the parts feel like they all live in the same space. Don't try to make it too hot, you can always use a limiter at the end to punch up the overall level (but don't over-process either). If you just throw in the towel and submit it without really paying attention to EQ and dynamics, I hate to say it but you probably will end up with a lot of 2's.

My last advice is the phrase "don't improve it". A very successful producer I worked for many years ago would say that, and it's great advice. The trick is to know when to say it, but you're at the point where you don't need all that much improvement in the sounds, melody and arrangement. Also, just my personal opinion, and I know you've already addressed this, but the melody absolutely feels out of sync. If you take out everything but the kick/snare and melody you'll hear how far out it slips. You need to get it locked in a better -- not quantized into a mechanical un-human place, but as long as the kick and snare are providing a strong rhythmic basis you need to get the melody to fit with it. Even if the melody floats around on top of the backing track, it has to still feel like it belongs. If you can't do it by moving the notes around, just play it in again -- it's not that many notes!

[wagtunes]

Okay, have to go out for the evening (bell choir and choir rehearsals) but I did read all the comments.

Essentially, according to one, I have to redo about 50% of the song with 9 days left after working on it for 22. It's a 3 out of 5 as it stands. That's still better than anything I've done to date and should get me a mid way ranking.

That might just have to do because I simply don't have the kind of time I need to turn this into a 5 star track.

Thanks for all the advice.

I'll do what I can and on the 31st I will submit what I have.

It is your best track I've heard so far. But you could easily improve it to a 4 with minimal effort if you followed some advice here/ or just with more work even if you ignore the comments. If you want a 5, then you would have to delve in deeper with some exotic? melodies (my humble opinion) and really push the sound design/arrangement and sheen in the mix. Good luck

Know what? And this will prove my point when it happens. I'm still going to get 21 2s and 8 1s. Guarantee it.

The whys don't matter but it is what it is.

You'll see when the voting comes out.

In the meantime, I will take whatever time I can devote to this and do as much as I can with it in the last 9 days I have left, even if I have to completely redo parts, or for that matter, chuck 90% of it and start over.

It's just never going to be good enough for some.

You should stop working on the music soon so you give enough time to the mix and production. There are many, many right choices for sound design so you shouldn't struggle too much with that. I think the sounds are generally really solid. The bass could use some more low end, but that can be a mix thing or a really quick sound design tweak - you don't need to start doubling and tripling up layers of sounds, remember, sometimes less is more! Right now the production is really rough -- balance of melody to bkgd to drums is all over the place, parts come slamming in really loud, the whole thing doesn't feel cohesive. Watch out for mid-range build up. Use a freq analyzer like Voxengo SPAN. A good mix takes some time -- not days and days, but a few hours. Turn everything off and start building it carefully from the kick and bass on up. Pay attention to the dynamics and eq of each track as well as the overall balance. Pay attention to how different parts enter, small fader moves are important. Use only a few reverbs and delays to make the parts feel like they all live in the same space. Don't try to make it too hot, you can always use a limiter at the end to punch up the overall level (but don't over-process either). If you just throw in the towel and submit it without really paying attention to EQ and dynamics, I hate to say it but you probably will end up with a lot of 2's.

My last advice is the phrase "don't improve it". A very successful producer I worked for many years ago would say that, and it's great advice. The trick is to know when to say it, but you're at the point where you don't need all that much improvement in the sounds, melody and arrangement. Also, just my personal opinion, and I know you've already addressed this, but the melody absolutely feels out of sync. If you take out everything but the kick/snare and melody you'll hear how far out it slips. You need to get it locked in a better -- not quantized into a mechanical un-human place, but as long as the kick and snare are providing a strong rhythmic basis you need to get the melody to fit with it. Even if the melody floats around on top of the backing track, it has to still feel like it belongs. If you can't do it by moving the notes around, just play it in again -- it's not that many notes!

Look, I obviously don't have the talent for music production. You tell me it's all over the place but I don't hear it. So I can't fix what I can't hear. I need to have somebody come in and do this for me. At that point, it's no longer my work so what's the point?

I'll do what I can do, submit it on the 31st and then whatever happens, happens.

At this point, honestly, I really don't care anymore.

[ontrackp]

It's just never going to be good enough for some.

Yes, you what's not going to be good enough for some? MuLab!, unless I can figure out how to select a whole region without using the select-o-rectangle.

Ha. I'm with you on MuLab -- sequencing in this program is making me crazy. It's taking exponentially longer than my usual workflow in Logic. Arghhhhh!

[wagtunes]

FWIW, I've made a number of tweaks in the past 2 hours.

1) Added Hi Hat
2) Added reverb to snare on every other beat
3) Added ARP to first break
4) Doubled bass track with thicker bass on 2nd track
5) Added Compression and Saturation to Stereo Out (Made big difference)

I'll do more tomorrow. I still have 9 days left to salvage this. And if I can't, whatever. It's not life and death and nobody's going to give me any prizes for my effort. Music's supposed to be fun.

When it stops being fun, it's time to stop.

[wagtunes]

If I was to play (live) the melody with this portamento sound, I'd probably, not on purpose, play the notes early so to get the end of the pitch rise one the beat.

The length of the portamento I REALLY like.

Copied your notes in my sequencer.
Timing sounded very unnatural to me. Seems like quantizing gone wrong
I would play it like this: much more on the beat.
Also added a note in the middle and removed one at the end.

http://imgur.com/kLfV71F

seem to be unable to attach a screenshot

WHY !!!!

I'm looking at your screen print but I can't tell where the notes are supposed to go so I can move them. The resolution on your quantize doesn't display enough. It looks like all on the quarter notes but I just can't tell.

** EDIT ** Okay, I figured it out. I'm going to make the change to that section but will have to wing the next section because you didn't provide me with a fix for that one. Then we'll see what it sounds like.

** EDIT 2 ** Okay, figured out what to do with 2nd part following your lead from the first part and made the changes. Played it back and yes, it sounds much tighter. Thank you. I don't know how you heard that but that's the kind of talent I just don't have.

[wagtunes]

FTR, if I seem frustrated, angry and fed up, I am.

You need to understand something. I'm 57 years old and have been writing and recording my own music since 1979. That's 36 years. You would THINK that by now I'd at least be decent at this. But I'm not. I have close to ZERO natural ability and talent. For someone to love making music so much and to be so bad at it is probably the cruelest joke God can play on a person. And it's been like this with every creative thing I've ever done. I simply have no real talent. On top of that, my ears are shot so I can't even hear the things that normal people here.

I continue doing this for one reason and one reason only.

I can't picture myself NOT doing it.

But damn, I wish I were at least half way decent at this stuff.

Maybe I wouldn't take it out on everybody else.