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OCR03243 - *YES* Beyond: Two Souls 'Vengeful Spirits'


Chimpazilla
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Hi!

 

Game: Beyond: Two Souls (PS3, 2013)

Composer: Normand Corbeil, Lorne Balfe

 

Source: Jodie's Suite, Beyond, The Party Revenge

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D25KtIKxcwA

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hNerJjSCm4

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ottrMThNUW4

 

Title: Vengeful Spirits

Link: 

 

Breakdown

 

0:00 - 1:08 = Jodie's Suite (from start)

1:08 - 1:41 = Main Theme? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp03vYL3WlY at 0:53 I couldn't find which source on the actual OST this is from, but that's what the rhythm guitars and staccato string/celeste melodies are based on here under the solo

1:41 - 2:16 = Beyond (at 0:10)

2:20 - 3:26 = Beyond (at 1:50)

3:26 - 3:51 = The Party Revenge (at 0:08)

3:51 - END = The Party Revenge (at 0:24)

 

I'd like to dedicate this mix to Normand Corbeil, who I miss and am saddened that we won't hear more of his music in future Quantic Dream games. I'm also quickly becoming a fan of Lorne Balfe for both his work on this and Assassin's Creed. 

 

On paper this looks like a medley, but the soundtrack is made in such a way that the sections flow together so smoothly. It's a really creative, beautiful and cohesive soundtrack. The game has a pretty haunting story and setting and I'd wanted to remix it for months and finally got the chance for the album Danse Macabre 3, something I've been a part of for the past 2 Halloweens. But apart from sounding spooky it has no real connection to Halloween at all.

 

Also, the female voice is Shevannai library. Sounds pretty good to me -- I like how the fake sounding held out notes sometimes sound ALMOST like a vocaloid..... that's vocal VSTs for you! Adds an interesting character to it, I think. Instead of tastelessly putting a guitar solo at 2:53, I opted for some female vocal melody.

 

Thanks!

 

https://youtu.be/rp03vYL3WlY?t=53s

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  • 3 weeks later...

Kris says the arrangement checks out, so I'm just listening to the mix. Nice use of the vocals here, you really did a good job of playing to their strengths and weaknesses. The guitars work really well to add that anxiety to the mix, and overall the emotion in the piece is really good. Not much to add here, nice work.

Yes

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  • 1 month later...

Ain't nothing inherently wrong with a medley as long as the individual components are 1) sufficiently interpreted and 2) piece together cohesively. If you didn't know better, you could think there were 5 sources, but Brandon really was just hitting distinct sections from each of the main 3. The result's no doubt cohesive as the themes flow from one to another, and Brandon also got a nice amount of mileage out of extending the shorter motifs from these sources. Thanks, Brandon, for putting the Beyond OST on my radar; this is truly amazing work by Lorne Balfe.

I agreed with Brandon that the vocal articulations did almost sound like a Vocaloid when held, and I enjoyed the sound. Even though it's obviously not a real vocal performance in spots, it was produced in a stylized way that made it OK, and it sounded very expressive.

On the minus side, good piece, but very cluttered mixing that sounded problematic on headphones. It's not enough to reject it, because of the strength of the arrangement and quality of the instrumentation, but it's close on that level. 2:20-3:26 in particular was swamped and a lot of the detail work was lost (e.g. brass, bells, beat pattern, 2:53's vocal line). IMO, this was a lot like Brandon's first pass at the mixing for his Chrono Trigger mix, "The Masamune," mix where he needed to take a second pass at the mixing. That said, I was fine with that one, and I think this can get away with the clutter due to other sections being more distinct and the lead work sounding strong. Though I'd like another pass at the mixing, what's here gets a lot more right than wrong, and is another example of Brandon's killer arrangement chops. :-)

YES

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Aww yeah, modern source reppin' for the win! Got nothing special to add here, since this all seems about right. Maybe a touch crowded, but not bad. Medley-esque, but it's cohesive and not "ermahgersh throw five different things in different keys and tempos together." Of course, the treatment of the sources is great.

 

Nothing bad to say here.

 

YES

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