Stratovarius Karaokes promoting my work

[robocop]

Flavio, this shit sucks. Stop posting it.

Best quote of the year

Flavio will continue on either way. When has he ever stopped? It was only me last night with a few beers in me.
I say, shine on you crazy diamond. Copy and paste midi till you get pains in your arms and wrists. Copy and paste till you get spine damage. Do it all! It’s not hurting anybody. I only had to say what nobody would say about it.
And also, I can’t sing. Not even can I try to mimic Kotipelto or want to try.

[Motha-faka]

Flavio, this shit sucks. Stop posting it.

what??, Robo, I told you in Facebook, in place to say "that I do Shits" here, you can sing kotipelto parts of my karaokes, but you don't

Strato Furum is not a place were the people do "shits"

Sorry. I meant it sounds like ass. Like you mixed on laptop speakers. 1996 called. They want their midi files back.

Ok, pancio from Italy and Robocop from USA are two trolls, WHATS HAPPEN WITH THE MODERATOR HERE

[Pancio]

what??, Robo, I told you in Facebook, in place to say "that I do Shits" here, you can sing kotipelto parts of my karaokes, but you don't

Strato Furum is not a place were the people do "shits"

Sorry. I meant it sounds like ass. Like you mixed on laptop speakers. 1996 called. They want their midi files back.

Ok, pancio from Italy and Robocop from USA are two trolls, WHATS HAPPEN WITH THE MODERATOR HERE

I bet Jens laughs his ass out every time he walks in here.
Moreover, this place has calmed down significantly compared to the past

[ZenithMC]

WHATS HAPPEN WITH THE MODERATOR HERE

What moderator?

In all seriousness, robocop does have a point. While the karaokes are modestly entertaining, I don't believe they are the best at showcasing your abilities or promoting your work. A more serious approach would involve recording live musicians and mixing their tracks. You'd get so much more hands-on experience doing that than mixing midi files converted to wave files. While you do record your vocals, it isn't enough. You are missing out on important fundamentals by eliminating the recording phase of other instruments from your work.

Fundamentals such as:
mic placement (& mic appropriateness, like when to use dynamic mics over condenser mics & vice-versa)
stereo miking techniques (the differences between X/Y, A/B, &c)
phase alignment (when & if to flip polarity in a multi-mic setup)
acoustics (room treatment, &c)
gain staging (prevents fader creep by making sure all inputs are roughly the same at the advent of recording a sound source)
&c, &c, &c...

[Motha-faka]

WHATS HAPPEN WITH THE MODERATOR HERE

What moderator?

In all seriousness, robocop does have a point. While the karaokes are modestly entertaining, I don't believe they are the best at showcasing your abilities or promoting your work. A more serious approach would involve recording live musicians and mixing their tracks. You'd get so much more hands-on experience doing that than mixing midi files converted to wave files. While you do record your vocals, it isn't enough. You are missing out on important fundamentals by eliminating the recording phase of other instruments from your work.

Fundamentals such as:
mic placement (& mic appropriateness, like when to use dynamic mics over condenser mics & vice-versa)
stereo miking techniques (the differences between X/Y, A/B, &c)
phase alignment (when & if to flip polarity in a multi-mic setup)
acoustics (room treatment, &c)
gain staging (prevents fader creep by making sure all inputs are roughly the same at the advent of recording a sound source)
&c, &c, &c...

sadly I don't like be an recording engineer...
exist 3 variations of engineers

1. Recording engineer (Matias kupiainen and timo tolkki)
2. Mixing engineer (Mikko Karmila of finnvox, for example)
3. Mastering engineer (Mika jussila of finnvoxx for example)

for example, Matias kupiainen is mixing and recording, and not masterize stratovarius

I'm Mixing and mastering and I hate recording job. I dont have patience to this

Open your minds, kiddos, Not all is Recording!!!

[ZenithMC]

I'm Mixing and mastering and I hate recording job. I dont have patience to this

Well then, I hope the samples that you're mixing are as raw as can be, because otherwise, mixing already processed samples isn't going to do you any good in terms of mixing experience.

It's always best to be multi-faceted. Think about how much more valuable you could be with hands-on recording engineer experience as well as mixing engineer experience. Okay, if you don't like doing that task, it's your decision to make.

[Motha-faka]

all is raw, i edit all, mix all and mastering all.

[ZenithMC]

all is raw, i edit all, mix all and mastering all.

Okay, here's an idea. Why don't you show the song in it's raw form and compare it to the mixed form side-by-side? Then, people can hear exactly what you did in terms of mixing, and will have a reference to compare it to.

[Motha-faka]

all is raw, i edit all, mix all and mastering all.

Okay, here's an idea. Why don't you show the song in it's raw form and compare it to the mixed form side-by-side? Then, people can hear exactly what you did in terms of mixing, and will have a reference to compare it to.

i will share unbreakable raw version and one pre mixed without master

[robocop]

Ah...I know barely anything of this shit.

One thing Flavio should try is reference tracks. While he is mixing his new song, compare it to the original songs. Or a track he wants to copy the production of. Hopefully he understands.

Edit.
Also, it doesn’t mean it’s a troll if somebody tells you it sucks. Maybe you do suck? Why do you think you’re always great?

[ZenithMC]

One thing Flavio should try is reference tracks. While he is mixing his new song, compare it to the original songs. Or a track he wants to copy the production of. Hopefully he understands.

Yes, this is a good idea. It helps you stay on track and create a mix that is similar to the mixes that you already like.

[robocop]

One thing Flavio should try is reference tracks. While he is mixing his new song, compare it to the original songs. Or a track he wants to copy the production of. Hopefully he understands.

Yes, this is a good idea. It helps you stay on track and create a mix that is similar to the mixes that you already like.

Rolf drums in old style? Karaoke?

[Motha-faka]

Ah...I know barely anything of this shit.

One thing Flavio should try is reference tracks. While he is mixing his new song, compare it to the original songs. Or a track he wants to copy the production of. Hopefully he understands.

Edit.
Also, it doesn’t mean it’s a troll if somebody tells you it sucks. Maybe you do suck? Why do you think you’re always great?

the idea is be original like engineer, Robo, i dont want be a copy of Mika Jussila and matias kupiainen. I cant sell a good product if i'm a copy of a famous band or famous studio like Finvoxx or Stratovarius. I have a titanic fight with his class of competitors

I will upload soon the video, is all raw and pre mixed, i'm not a fake, guys, i dont lie with my job
Other Point, I dont like the actual stratovarius sound, i'm here for his music and talent, not for the studio Quality

[robocop]

Ah...I know barely anything of this shit.

One thing Flavio should try is reference tracks. While he is mixing his new song, compare it to the original songs. Or a track he wants to copy the production of. Hopefully he understands.

Edit.
Also, it doesn’t mean it’s a troll if somebody tells you it sucks. Maybe you do suck? Why do you think you’re always great?

the idea is be original like engineer, Robo, i dont want be a copy of Mika Jussila and matias kupiainen. I cant sell a good product if i'm a copy of a famous band or famous studio like Finvoxx or Stratovarius. I have a titanic fight with his class of competitors

I will upload soon the video, is all raw and pre mixed, i'm not a fake, guys, i dont lie with my job
Other Point, I dont like the actual stratovarius sound, i'm here for his music and talent, not for the studio Quality

Raw means there is no mixing or effects applied. Just post the song on SoundCloud. Wherever. You always said you want the Tolkki drums sound? Now you say I don’t like the strato sound? Knock knock. Who’s there? Nobody apparently.

[Motha-faka]

all that you wish, robo, but I have the final word about stratovarius, as customer if I want buy or not his albums. the final word is mine, not yourself, stratovarius or his company

[ZenithMC]

all that you wish, robo, but I have the final word about stratovarius, as customer if I want buy or not his albums. the final word is mine, not yourself, stratovarius or his company

Excuse me, but WTF is going on? This is such a non-sequitur.

[Motha-faka]

you see? i do all, i'm not a fake. I can slep in peace

[robocop]

Ok. If you’re happy that’s what matters. But don’t expect anybody to listen to the songs. You may have more luck selling you body as a male prostitute on the streets.

[Motha-faka]

Ok. If you’re happy that’s what matters. But don’t expect anybody to listen to the songs. You may have more luck selling you body as a male prostitute on the streets.

if this that you wish, you be happy, but not all the world is like you Robocop. we have luck

[robocop]

Ok.
Have you ever had a audio production job that you got paid money for?

[Motha-faka]

Ok.
Have you ever had a audio production job that you got paid money for?,

i dont have a lot patience with your shit, Ray..... can you stop it? please, thanks

[robocop]

Ok.
Have you ever had a audio production job that you got paid money for?

i dont have a lot patience with your shit, Ray..... can you stop it? please, thanks

No problemo. It’s called “busting your balls.”

[ZenithMC]

Ok.
Have you ever had a audio production job that you got paid money for?,

i dont have a lot patience with your shit, Ray..... can you stop it? please, thanks

Wow...

[Pancio]

Something strange happened: Did Flavio ask something seriously?

Anyway, putting the jokes aside for a moment: you have the right to dislike Stratovarius' production, nowadays but you should take something in account.

1. Budget
2. Skills
3. Musical direction
4. Approach

1. The budget the band has is significantly lower, these days, waaaay lower.
Elements costed the band a lot of money to produce and yes, you can clearly hear the quality (to me Elements pt.1 is one of the best album ever, production wise)
2. Matias is more skilled than Tolkki in every possible way and you can tell it by the way he mathematically works on frequencies and stuff; his approach is scientific while Tolkki surely learned with practice.
Sometimes math is not the best path tho.
3. Stratovarius' musical direction is, nowadays, more modern. But almost every band veered towards a sort of bombastic wall of sound: Blind Guardian did that too and I agree with you that it can be too much but that leads to
4. Approach since the band is the same but not the same anymore: their music evolved a lot and their way to write music, their way to produce and their way to record changed too.
They like to experiment a lot and I like it even when the results are not that good (Eternal and some drowned parts, especially vocals, or Elysium ultrafake kicks).

But you know? I prefer someone like Matias since he can grow as a professional and has better attitude.
He's more modern too.


Some others minor details:

You claimed you don't like samples and triggers but Tolkki used kick samples and also snare samples in almost every album.
On top of that I like Rolf sound a lot even if sampled.
What I don't like, nowadays, is guitar production and keyboard all over the place: the first is plasticy due to reamp and stuff, the second is too bulky in the mix and this mostly drowns the vocals.
But everything will be better in the new album (Enigma, Burn Me Down and Oblivion are better than "Eternal").



About your karaoke: I don't like it, simply as it is.
It's not about MIDI nor about super-duper equipment but about sound.
It's a production issue and how the sound is processed: it sounds unnaturally mechanical, fake and, hence, without any dynamics.
That's the problem with MIDI: you should use velocity and humanizer.

[Pancio]

With my useless tips in mind:

Don't take our rude jokes too seriously, Flavio, we're like that 100% of the time and this is the main reason this place is still rottingly alive; I know you know but it's better to have a reminder, sometimes.

Now make peace with Robo.

[Motha-faka]

yes, the midi is a pain in the ass. but works for now

i'm not skilled like jens, but i do my best, you listen the process comparision, is midi. not more to do

but I try to show my mix and mastering skills, maybe i can got a deal with bands to do mixing and mastering but this take time

[Pancio]

First of all you should download:

Ugritone Northern Artillery for drums
ML Sound Lab or Neural DSP for guitar
Cerberus for bass
Then you should download VSTs for piano, organ, harpsi and a couple of plug-ins for choirs, ensemble and keyboards in general.

After that you should learn how to use reverbs properly with space designer and IRs and how to shape your EQs and your sounds for every single instrument.

The last part is to use the humanizer to remove the robotic execution and you're done.
But there are tons of little touches to add to a MIDI bounce, you cannot add some reverb and bland EQ pretending it's okay.

As an amateur producer myself I can say you should invest money and time if you want to be engaged and, in fact, I worked in a short movie production, recently, and a lot of other projects are coming.
But I spammed a lot within my area and I spent like 2000 euros in a month solely for these works; the concept is no-pain, no gain (no money spent, no money gained).
And believe me, you must have tons of certifications and at least a 5k rig to get a job.

[Motha-faka]

I dont finnidhed the track, i share this video of comparision why zenith wanted.

of course, all is shit with a midi controller. but i have the hope that i can fix this.

you listen the stratovarius demos or mixes? the mastering change all

[Motha-faka]

No worries, be happy!! i'm happy, and all will go ok for me.

tomorrow i will end "Unbreakable"!!

[ZenithMC]

I dont finnidhed the track, i share this video of comparision why zenith wanted.

of course, all is shit with a midi controller. but i have the hope that i can fix this.

you listen the stratovarius demos or mixes? the mastering change all

Hi, Flavio. Do you have a completed work that I can listen to, since you say that the mastering changes everything and there's still more work to be done with the track?

My appraisal of the mix you posted is that it does sound quite unfinished. The raw tracks didn't sound totally raw to my ears, specifically the bass drum, hi-hats, &c. And yes, what I mean by "raw" is unprocessed straight from the microphone to the recording medium. I'm not used to a raw bass drum sounding so clicky. As it currently stands, your mix sounds a bit overbright and mids heavy (boxy).