*NO* Halo 'Dawn of a New Age: 2nd Movement'

Artist: Sweendrix

Name: John Sweeney

Email: Sweendrix@yahoo.com

Website: http://www.youtube.com/user/Sweendrix

Preferred User ID: Sweendrix

**** I was unable to find the "create account" information on the login/create account page. Any information would be helpful. I have several remixes to video game soundtracks...including, but not limited to...Halo, The Legend of Zelda, Punch Out, and SMB for SNES.

Halo Remix: Titled "Dawn of a New Age: 2nd Movement" (Original work which incorporates several ideas from the Original Halo Theme)

Dawn of a New Age as written, recorded, arranged, and produced by sweendrix. (John Sweeney). All drum credits to DJ Fenn (Jeremy Fenn).

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HALO Original Soundtrack - (26) "Halo"

Was that an AIM sound effect of a door closing at :45? Maybe my ears were playing tricks on me.

The way the beats brought in at :37 are used here sucks though; they sound pasted in, they're looped too long, they not always properly synced up, and they don't really have any synergy with the rest of the music. Why they're even still there once you hit 1:33 was a mystery. Also, once things beefed up at 1:33, the mixing needed some work, as the melodic stuff until 2:32 was criminally quiet; so was the drumwork. 3:29-4:01 was probably the muddiest section here; a lot of the parts bled together, and some of the sounds got abrasive. The ending cut out abruptly at 4:33, so just watch little details like that.

When you mentally eliminate those awkward beats though, I thought this was pretty good stuff so far, John. Great energy, great power. Axe that weak beatwork, and re-balance some of the more indistinct sections so all the parts shine, add some new beats if there's empty space, and you'd be in much better shape, IMO. Definitely hope you're willing to refine this one, as it has a lot of potential. Use the Works & ReMixing forums here for help if you need to.

NO (resubmit)

Sorry, but that drumloop is so out-of-place to me. I totally agree with Larry that it sounds pasted on. It has no reverb, it's very high-pitched and grating, and it distracts from what I think is a fine arrangement otherwise. I seriously think this song would be better off canning them. The guitars and the normal drums have a lot of power to them, and you're got some really cool effects going on. The vocal chopping stuff later on is a much better usage of unusual samples.

Another big problem with the song is the mixing. It sounds like it might be too compressed, because it never gets much louder than the intro, despite having a lot more going on in the chorus. I'd like to see more dynamic curve to this, which means scaling back the compression, and possibly using EQ a little more to make the elements more distinct. And if you really want to keep the drumloop, at least take it down in volume and tuck it into the soundscape better. I hope you clean this up and resub because it only has a couple problem areas.

NO (resubmit)

Promising intro, thats a cool guitar tone, pretty trippy soundscape there. Those drums don't really fit the sound of the rest of the track. Nothing much really happens beyond idea looping until about 1:37 when the distortion kicks in at which point I noticed the over-compression. The cymbals are being totally mangled trying to cut through.

Lots of crazy harmonies going on in the background though, there must be like 10-15 guitar tracks at once, which is probably why everything is fighting for the same sample space. Try not to be so focused on being loud and do some EQ cutting to make sure there's room for everything in the mix. Less is probably more in this case, give the instruments some breathing space.

Agreed on getting rid of those drums, or at least find something that blends a little better with the sounds. Less compression, more balance. Nothing much further to add, other then good luck with further submissions.

NO resub plz