Cmdr. Drake Starkiller - New one from the next rock opera

[vomitHatSteve]

Hi folks! My computer is being uncooperative, so this mix is a little rushed.

Lemme know what needs fixing!

Intro ends at 0:42

Mix 2 (Latest) -

CmdrDrakeStarkiller.mp3

Mix 1 -

CmdrDrakeStarkiller.mp3

Flac of latest
Unmastered flac of latest

Thanks!

[rayc]

I understand the narrow intro versus wide pan of the song but there're heaps of little bits n pieces that would be great coming from various places in the 3D field.
One of the toms is a bit loud.
"We shall soon" at 2.31 the sh is very aggressive.
It's a very dense sound - not bad - just dense.
Cool, funny song.

[JD01]

The keyboardy stuff that comes in at 1:118 is a bit loud, competes with the vocal a lot!

This is a lacking your usual layered vocals and harmonies, mate. I think this would really benefit from a bit more vocal on "I am a Hero", maybe just a double tracking, but some more harmonies if you can manage it.

I think this is a pretty good one right off the bat though, mate.

[musicturtle]

I am not sure why it is but a lot of things seem to competing for the spotlight in this one. At first I thought it was the lead vox, then the fuzzy guitar, then keyboard. They all want to be the hero I guess, ha ha.

I really like the intro though. The little time change is cool.

[vomitHatSteve]

Narrowness of the intro is mostly laziness. I could put some more panning in it, yeah.

Yep, I can see taking the synths down.

There about my usual amount of vocals here, but now that you mention it, they're mixed really quietly. (Except for those "to the sky"s in the bridge). Ok gonna fix the balance of that.

Thanks!

[TripleM]

I like the narrow intro and the way it opens up in the first verse. To me, laziness pays off.

I like the sound of the vocal and guitars. Keys are cool too.

My only nits are around the kick and bass. They're really rumbly and muddy. For this song (as well as most of your songs) I'd like a lighter feel. Might just be me.

[vomitHatSteve]

My only nits are around the kick and bass. They're really rumbly and muddy. For this song (as well as most of your songs) I'd like a lighter feel. Might just be me.

Are you hearing that in both the mastered and unmastered version or just the former?

[TripleM]

Are you hearing that in both the mastered and unmastered version or just the former?

I didn't download anything - I listened using the inline player in your top post. So whatever that one was.

[WhiskeyJack]

I will give this a gander tonight and report back VHS. Earbud first listen sounds pretty good. A couple weird little nuances but i suspect it is just a VHS sound effect thing. I will give it a way better listen tonight.

[vomitHatSteve]

Are you hearing that in both the mastered and unmastered version or just the former?

I didn't download anything - I listened using the inline player in your top post. So whatever that one was.

That's the master. Cool.

[vomitHatSteve]

Whelp. I guess I'm putting a pin in this while I figure out why my interface isn't working.

I forgot I have a second, smaller interface. My tracking abilities are limited, but I can mix at least!

New mix is in OP.
A touch more panning in the intro.
BGVox bumped up a lot and compressed
Less synth
Other minor tweaks.

I haven't addressed any fundamental EQ-type issues 'cause my ears are feeling weird tonight.

[WhiskeyJack]

That rif in the back groud reminds me of something. Like Castlevania or something. Some old NES game.

New mix is smoother. I like it better than the first mix. The synth is sitting nicer. I am not getting the hollow vibe i got last time. You got everything sitting in tidy little spaces. I think maybe you could give your main vox a bit of a bump up. they are hiding a little tiny bit.

I have to ask: am i hearing arm pit farts starting at 2:57? WTF even is that ?

[JD01]

I have to ask: am i hearing arm pit farts starting at 2:57? WTF even is that ?

[vomitHatSteve]

I have to ask: am i hearing arm pit farts starting at 2:57? WTF even is that ?

I wouldn't put it past me!

But no, those are sounds I put together from messing with the strings and pickups on a guitar my brother smashed a few years back. I built a sample library out of it

[WhiskeyJack]

I wouldn't put it past me!

This is why i had to ask. Because i wouldn't put it past you either. I can only imagine your samle library dude.

[vomitHatSteve]

It's so many files!

Considering when I first started using randomized drums in Regdar and the Fighters, I had the randomizer hard-coded to use the same core 5 hits +3 assignable ones for every loop, I'm paralyzed by choice half the time!

Just counted, the broken guitar sample set is 56 samples alone!

[WhiskeyJack]

It's so many files!

Considering when I first started using randomized drums in Regdar and the Fighters, I had the randomizer hard-coded to use the same core 5 hits +3 assignable ones for every loop, I'm paralyzed by choice half the time!

Just counted, the broken guitar sample set is 56 samples alone!

That is awesome VHS. So how do you do what you do? Are all your samples midi notes you input somehow ? Or do you actually like place little bits of audio and make patterns with them? How do you do it.

[vomitHatSteve]

Lemme break down this song, since it has some of the most complicated percussion:

My sample libraries are an organized (and archived to Github) series of folders containing individual "drum" hits as 44.1x16 mono flac files.
They're volume balanced to a baseline snare sound that I've had for the entirety of this project.
As much as possible, the files are named after what role they would fill in a drum kit (kick, snare, H/M/L tom, hat, etc)

Periodically, I'll use a bunch of instances of ReaSamplomatic5000 to build a drum machine track template using a group of them following a theme.
In this case, I have one using random sound effects from an FX CD I found in a Goodwill; and another one using samples from the game Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold ('cause the songs about fighting aliens)
I sequence the drums using EZD (pop kit in this case)
Then I route the MIDI from that to the RSM5000 tracks and automate the volume to switch between kits throughout the song.

Then for the randomized part, I have a stack of Ruby tools built on top of Sonic Pi. I give it a rhythm (e.g. 1-0-0-0-1-1-1-0 on 8th notes for a 1, 3&4 pattern) and a stack of samples to pull from.
It randomly picks samples to match each of those beats and builds a loop.
Then I've got another script to toggle those loops (there are usually 3-5) on and off throughout the song.
That all gets run through a compressor and a gate to create some stereo width.

So this song ends up with 5-distinct kits:
Random FX library (intro)
EZD (most of the song)
Blake stone (first verse, down chorus, occasional fills)
randomized broken guitar sounds (bridge)
randomized SID and Unreal Tournament samples (verses and choruses)