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[Jason S. Longia]

@Barendhoff @overeasy

Thank you all so much for the feedback. I really appreciate it 

Ironically enough, I didnt even notice the piano being panned that hard, the illusion of the mind (and all that jazz) 
I can try to figure out what to do with the timing, like soloing out instruments and stuff :D
The Panning, reverb and volume control, are something I could use to push them outwards. Never really thought about
fatigue before...

Dynamics is something that will definitely kick some ass in future. That I'm sure!   
  <---- Also, this emoji looks constipated.

And yeah instrumentation, the cohesity of a piece is important, my style practically begs to see how much I can push it though, cause I'm a rebel. But I'll make it more coherent with incoherent overtones, in my next track just you wait! <-- this is probaby you right now.

Also thank you Barendhoff for liking the piano part :D, it was pretty all over the place, but I wanted to get that emotion, or to
provoke a response of any kind, and I think dynamics will shake this up!  (I'm sorry, not sorry)

Like you said overeasy, learning about music is so much fun, it's a itch at the back of my head that begs me to get better!

I will do teh researches on your above terms  , then I'll be evi-
Thanks again,

Jason S. Longia

[Justin Meisse]

Woops, life got busy and I forgot to check back on the forums. Barendhoff,  VinG, Jordanoakley, thanks for taking the time to give me some critique. Concerning the loudness of my tunes, I'm new to mixing and I was following a few tutorials I found on the internet but anyone can write a tutorial so who knows if it was good advice.  I'd appreciate any tips on doing a better mix.

[VinG]

@Remr
hey thanks a lot for the feedback i will definetly take your advice, also didn't think one of my songs would give you nostalgia.
listened to your track and loved the piano pieces, the diferent melodies in the song and i see that you went for CT Syle ofmusic.
in general really great but i think in some parts the instruments are not all in the same time.

i also wanted to post more songs i recently made for feedback, since school started and i will have less time working in the game and checking this site, so i would really appreciate more opinions about the songs or the soundtrack as it is right now.

thanks a lot.
https://soundcloud.com/ving-9/main-theme
https://soundcloud.com/ving-9/war-on-road
https://soundcloud.com/ving-9/piece-of-scrap
https://soundcloud.com/ving-9/red-sunset

[Manta]

Hey there,
I'm new to this forum as well, I've been a gamer all my life and a musician for the best part of it, and I've recently been drawn to try and work on videogames.

For my first feedback @mjs:

I liked your titles track, it has a nice progression to it and a cool old school vibe, I'd only point out that while the noise swells sound nice to me while building up for when you introduce new elements, I thought that by keeping on going after the swell they made the mix a bit chaotic, also the lfo you used on it is a bit too sharp maybe, I can hear it rise and fall in a not very natural way.

That said I really love your track New to This, pure 80s emotional gooey goodness, the beats are simple but they work wonders.

Here are my first two attempts at making music with games specifically in mind, I'd love to get some feedback on these sketches:

https://soundcloud.com/mantasound/sets/game-music/s-Te2NR


Best,
Manuel

[MikeSal]

Hey, thank's for the feedback guys!

@VinG
Really interesting music! Pretty simple. I'm guessing you were going for more of an RPG style for most of these? Anyway, Red Sunset was probably my favorite. I loved the windy swell effect you put in there. The melody was repetitive but it was very long and sounded good so I didn't really get tired of hearing it. Piece of S'Crap and War on Road both sounded really cool but something about them felt a bit empty. I can't really explain it and maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Cool stuff none of the less!

@Manta
SKY MALL was awesome! I had puzzle game in my head in the beginning but towards the end I was thinking more action game. I loved the instruments you used in both tracks. It felt kinda old school but at the same time very modern. The only complaint I can really think of is the high pitched ringing at the end of SKY MALL going from the right speaker to the left speaker kinda started to hurt after playing the song a few times as if it was a loop. That might just be me though. I don't know. Hope to hear more stuff from you though!

Ok! So!
I finally made something new! Its another title theme for a very casual relaxed game. Tried to mix chip-tune and more modern sounds and I really like how it came out. It's also supposed to be loop hence the abrupt cut off.

https://soundcloud.com/mikesalois/midnight-blue

[facture]

Hey, thank's for the feedback guys!

@VinG
Really interesting music! Pretty simple. I'm guessing you were going for more of an RPG style for most of these? Anyway, Red Sunset was probably my favorite. I loved the windy swell effect you put in there. The melody was repetitive but it was very long and sounded good so I didn't really get tired of hearing it. Piece of S'Crap and War on Road both sounded really cool but something about them felt a bit empty. I can't really explain it and maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Cool stuff none of the less!

@Manta
SKY MALL was awesome! I had puzzle game in my head in the beginning but towards the end I was thinking more action game. I loved the instruments you used in both tracks. It felt kinda old school but at the same time very modern. The only complaint I can really think of is the high pitched ringing at the end of SKY MALL going from the right speaker to the left speaker kinda started to hurt after playing the song a few times as if it was a loop. That might just be me though. I don't know. Hope to hear more stuff from you though!

Ok! So!
I finally made something new! Its another title theme for a very casual relaxed game. Tried to mix chip-tune and more modern sounds and I really like how it came out. It's also supposed to be loop hence the abrupt cut off.

https://soundcloud.com/mikesalois/midnight-blue

Sounds nice! Could I ask where you got your drums?

[MikeSal]

Sounds nice! Could I ask where you got your drums?

http://www.uppercussion.com/products/bitkits
This little pack has got kicks, hi-hats, snares, and all sorts of stuff. I usually use a more realistic kick for my music though.

[Manta]

@ mJS

Thanks a lot for taking the time to listen and for the nice words.
I think you're right, it's kind of a gnarly sound to listen every 3 minutes or so if it's looping, I'll EQ that out!
I've used NI massive and ableton's operator for all the melodic sounds on those two, they're awesome vst's if you haven't already, you might want to check them out.
Good job with midnight blue it's got melodic complexity and an interesting emotional narrative to it, was a bit surprised it cut so abruptly though, does it loop back to the beginning?

@Ving

I liked the atmosphere on your stuff, definitely, I would probably reverb the drums a ton on the Main Theme track to give it a more expansive feel like they're war drums playing on the distance, that might also give it a nice contrasting dynamic for when the more intimate organ melody comes afterwards, but that's perhaps a question of taste.

Your track Till it dies is pretty good, although I would have the kick higher on the mix,or perhaps sidechain some elements to it, I had to focus quite a bit to hear it, I'm guitly of this too sometimes hah.

Fortress is really nice too!


Best,
Manuel

[VinG]

@MJS
Thanks, maybe those two pieces sound like that because i made them really quick, i will make changes to them later.
also listened to your track, love the calmed vibe of it and the melodies are amazing, really good overall!

@Manta
thanks for listening and the suggestions.
one of my objectives for the soundtrack was atmosphere, so looks like im doing well on that.
also didn't think you would listen to the other songs in my sound cloud.
Till it dies isn't even in the same soundtrack but its nice to give suggestions for it, so thanks a lot!

[facture]

Here's a track I made using the massive plugin my friend gave me! Honestly it's so good for making sounds and chords, especially when you have no skill aside from playing instruments. Please give any feedback :D

https://soundcloud.com/facturesounds/strum

Also, does anyone know how to get rid of that space at the end of my song?

[Jason S. Longia]

@facture
Depends on what DAW you are using, if you want, you could use Audacity and cut the end part and attach a fade out at the end of your song.

[Jasmine]

Here's a track I made using the massive plugin my friend gave me! Honestly it's so good for making sounds and chords, especially when you have no skill aside from playing instruments. Please give any feedback :D

https://soundcloud.com/facturesounds/strum

Also, does anyone know how to get rid of that space at the end of my song?

Fracture, make sure you offer critique before requesting it, please! Tis better to give than to recieve.

*is shot*

Seriously, though, help out a fellow musician and give'em some feedback!

[facture]

Here's a track I made using the massive plugin my friend gave me! Honestly it's so good for making sounds and chords, especially when you have no skill aside from playing instruments. Please give any feedback :D

https://soundcloud.com/facturesounds/strum

Also, does anyone know how to get rid of that space at the end of my song?

Fracture, make sure you offer critique before requesting it, please! Tis better to give than to recieve.

*is shot*

Seriously, though, help out a fellow musician and give'em some feedback!

Oh, sorry! I just thought it was maybe a good idea to actually make and upload something beforehand haha. I'll try to help you guys when you post new things :D

[dawid w. mika]

@facture

Really nice! It's only massive?

[facture]

@dawid w. mika

Just massive as a plugin for 2 different instruments. I used quite a few affects to give it more depth, so things like noise and reverb etc. I would recommend it, but I'm not sure if I've spent enough time making music to say that yet haha

[Jasmine]

Here's a track I made using the massive plugin my friend gave me! Honestly it's so good for making sounds and chords, especially when you have no skill aside from playing instruments. Please give any feedback :D

https://soundcloud.com/facturesounds/strum

Also, does anyone know how to get rid of that space at the end of my song?

Fracture, make sure you offer critique before requesting it, please! Tis better to give than to recieve.

*is shot*

Seriously, though, help out a fellow musician and give'em some feedback!

Oh, sorry! I just thought it was maybe a good idea to actually make and upload something beforehand haha. I'll try to help you guys when you post new things :D

It's alright! With this thread, you comment first and post second. It makes it more of a helpful feedback thread, rather than a dump-and-go.

[Barendhoff]

@Overeasy - whoops! I've been a little absent from the feedback thread. If you're looking for both loudness and dynamics in your pieces, I suggest taking a look at these two articles on Sound on Sound (#1, #2). As for direct feedback on your mixing and mastering on the four tracks you've shared with us, it's quite okay. Don't forget however that often, when we say we want an instrument or line to be 'louder', we actually mean that we want the instrument to stand out. It's tempting and seemingly the right course to simply up the respective instrument's volume--yet you'll achieve more success by lowering the volume of whatever other instruments are begging to be heard. (And if you're keen on mastering, you can even check in what frequency range the instruments you want to stand out are active in; up that range by a small amount, say 2db, and reduce the volume accordingly of instruments that compete to be heard in the same frequency range.) It's a meticulous process that I by no means fully grasp, but it's worth experimenting with. For example, in Is the Duck in Lust?, you've got the synth strings swelling up at about 0:26. They're rather heavy on the Right side of the mix, which is okay, but with their current volume, it feels disbalancing. You could try duplicating it to the Left side, too (while preventing phasing issues), and then reduce the volume of both.

As a more direct tip, the percussion in A Monkey; A Glutton seems very much in your face, even though I feel like it isn't quite the most important line. It could prove valuable to have the percussion make way for some other instruments.

Hope this helps!

@VinG - Cool tracks. What kind of game are you working on? It feels, or sounds, a bit like a retro side-scrolling fighting game. As a general piece of advice, try to use the higher frequencies, too! War on Road's repeating melody stays within a rather low register. That's okay, but it can be enhanced by adding melodic layers on the higher end of the frequency spectrums. For example, you could use flutes or violins. There's a lot of free space in the frequency range that remains unused, while the lower range feels a little overstuffed.

Using the higher frequency ranges has the additional benefit of introducing additional layers that can improve the pieces from a compositional point of view. Variety is the spice of life, and of music, too. Even with a great deal of ambient or minimalistic music, variety is all over the place.

Furthermore, consider experimenting with the velocity values of your percussion instruments. As it is now, each hit sounds very (if not completely) similar. Unless you're focusing on chiptune music, it's generally considered more enjoyable to vary the intensity of your percussion sounds, just like a normal drummer would. (We're not robots, after all!) Of course, this thinking can be applied to other instruments, too: rarely will you hit the same note twice in a row with exactly the same speed and intensity, whether it's on a piano, guitar, flute or wrenchenspiel or what have you.

@Manta - Welcome! Good of you to join us. Sky Mall has a relaxing atmospheric sound, progressing nicely the way it does, as if we arrive at the mall's door at dawn and witness the place get busier and more vibrant as the day progresses. As said above, the high swooping sound going from right to left is rather painful to the ears, but you've already taken care of that. I have a thing for arpeggios, so +1. One thing that might improve Arp Thing is to have some more accompanying layers on the background to help the piece flow forward? I'm thinking of lush string harmonies pushed very far back. Anything you'd like to get feedback about specifically?

@MJS - Good to see another track! It progresses naturally, with a number of layers stacking on and off the main arpeggio. Some things to keep in mind are the following. The arpeggio lead retains the same volume throughout the piece. That's fine, but you can provide some room for the other instruments by reducing the arpeggio lead's volume at some parts. For example, between 0:45-1:00, you could give the two other layers the stage. Since the arpeggio lead has a constant chord structure throughout the piece, it doesn't have to be the instrument demanding the most attention throughout the track's entirety. At 0:45, people will know what the arpeggio lead will be doing; by turning it down somewhat, people will still be remembered of the lead without having to give it the most attention. This gives room for the other instruments to shine. The melody instruments are mostly in the high frequency range, so you'll want to prevent that they push each other away.

The bells at the end sound neat. Perhaps a subtle fade in and out will incorporate them somewhat more into the whole?

[Jason S. Longia]

@Facture

It's nicely done, the static fades are nicely layered over the soft sounds, giving the headbanging types like me, some ear candy, kind of like eating a wonderful cheesecake with some iron rusted nails, or something. For a first track, it's very pretty and atmospheric. 

@MJS

For Midnight Blue. I like when the squares get loud enough the feedback does a panwiggle in my ears. All I can think of as crit would be to add velocity to the notes. Other than that, great work

@Barendhoff

Thanks for the advice, really helped me out with adjusting the volume of my song "The Future lays in Pensiveness", I gotta new song
out by the name of "Saudade", and as a bonus it's Royalty-Free yay! thanks for listening :D

https://soundcloud.com/jason-s-longia/saudade-royalty-free-music

[facture]

@Remr

I think your song has some great chords and melodies, but a lot of room for improvement too. Maybe the piano should feel more loose and full, and you should try and fill out your empty space. A bit of reverb alone would help a lot! Great job overall.

Here's a track I worked on today, I tried out some new instruments and even some bitcrushing for my chords. I think it has an amazing affect you should all try out. Some programs call it redux, but I'm not sure.

https://soundcloud.com/facturesounds/opening

[Jasmine]

@Remr

Hey, man! The premise of this piece is really sad, though extremely relative (not in a bad way, it just... makes me think about me and my love life, haha). I really like your approach to this piece - the space you leave in between the various piano interludes makes me think of the loneliness one feels in this state. My biggest critique for this piece was actually touched upon by your good friend Fogheart and fracture: More reverb. Well, not really drown it in reverb, but give it a larger room feeling. I'm seriously not trying to plug my own work, but the beginning section of your piece reminded me of a similar one that I wrote. This is just an example of how one can use reverb to try and fill up the space: Piano Reverby Stuffs

I know Barend touched upon velocity differentiation -- I'd totally recommend that, too. Shifting between soft/intimate, and building up to the hard, heavy chords is one effective idea!

Lastly, I think that the space you have is a bit too long. A personal quip, though. I know that the challenge comes in leaving enough space to have the listener long for more, but just enough to pull them in when they lose interest. It's a crazy balance, but you've got it for sure!

Another thing that may add character is breaking the chords. Rather than always having them blocked, try arpeggiating/breaking some of them!

@Fracture:

It's astounding how one guy can iconicize a SOUND. I can't get over that. You did a great job on the timbres! Get some soundscaping bits in there and you've got yourself one atmospheric piece of work! It already sounds like an 8bit ocean with waves rising and falling. I hope you expand on it!

Shoot, Strum is just as pretty..