Gario Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Your ReMixer name: SlimyWebsite: https://soundcloud.com/slimy-4User ID: 30104Submission Information:Game: The 7th SagaName of Arrangement: The Beautiful WildernessName of Songs Arranged: Overworld Theme 2Links to Originals:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRNYy8tooj0Comments:I played a game called The 7th Saga once. In this game, I needed to travel to the seaside city of Bonro, across an impassable mountain range. The only way to continue was under it - through the frozen depths of the earth. A cave where grotesque monsters would come from the dark to attack me, and where a bounty hunter waited to kill me.The song this remix is based on plays when you finally exit the cave. Although the world of Ticonderoga is mostly brown, as I stepped into the daylight, I couldn't help but think that the wilderness I was now in must look really beautiful. Perhaps in a Mediterranean sort of way. Anyway, these are the feelings that inspired me to make this remix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Cool opening with the glassy mallet percussion; a bit flooded, but sounding OK enough. At :35 though, the mallet perc became a muddy background player and I'm not sure when it dropped out. Weird... hand-drum shot, was it?... at 1:02 that just sounded like a random thump that was disconnected from the rest of the soundscape; watch the detail work there, please. The sequenced brass from 1:23-2:12 was decent, but still dry and with some stiff timing and flatness exposed in many places. I get going for a more ethereal soundscape, but I felt some of the detail work was obscured. That said, the arrangement execution was pretty solid and interpretive, with good subtle dynamic shifts and good use of these samples for the most part. I would have liked for this to sound less murky, but the overall package works. I could see this also being rejected on production grounds, but on the seesaw of what's positive vs. negative, more works here than doesn't. Though there's some reservations, I'm down. But if this doesn't make it as is, you'd just need to touch up some things on the production side, but the arrangement itself is a done deal and doesn't need to be touched. Nice job, Slimy! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 That murkiness does stand out as an issue. The mid-lows where that nice idiophone (marimba?) hangs out are also home to some other instruments that get buried: strings at 0:24, some woodwinds starting at 0:30, 1:05 and 3:30, a flute trill at 0:36 and 3:24, and probably more--it seemed like every time I listened to it, I caught a hint of an instrument I didn't notice before. It seemed like there was some conflict in the bass range as well; I heard the plucked bass throughout most of the arrangement, and the bowed bass from 2:52-3:11, but at times (like 2:22) I could just barely hear what sounded like something else in that range, but couldn't make it out. The weird thing about that drum shot at 1:02 is that the plucked bass drops out completely at that moment, creating a disjoin. I kind of liked the effect, personally. I'm right on the fence with this one. The arrangement is great, but there are a lot of details that just can't be heard well, and I feel like this could be a whole lot better if that could be cleaned up a little. NO (borderline, resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 I'm going to agree that the murky/muddiness of the track opening is a bit of an issue, and I'd love to hear that get fixed up. I also felt that the string attacks are just a touch slow, and it makes the track feel a little bit out of time. Similarly going to agree with MW that the low end is a bit overpowering on some instruments and it's causing others to be lost in the process. I think overall the bass end of things can come down just a touch. The arrangement is pretty interpretive, and I felt like it does a good job of keeping the elements of the original while still going off on it's own. If I were to nitpick on the arrangement, I'd say it feels a little too meandering at times, but that is pretty small of an issue on the big picture. I'd like to hear one more pass on the production side of things here to clear things up a little. The opening is the biggest issue, and I like the idea of having a wash of sound, but I think this goes a step too far in that direction. Good luck! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 As far as the production goes, I do hear the lack of highs in this, and I hear the very wet arrangement. As far as the wetness, that doesn't bother me much - that feels like a stylistic choice to evoke the ethereal mood of the source. I agree that it could've let the solf mallet marimba (that's the instrument in the beginning) do most of the ground work, though - adding heavy delay and reverb to the keyboard and other percussion does take it out of the realm of reality a bit. The lack of highs is something I had an issue with in a prior Slimy track, and yeah, it does affect this negatively, too. To be honest, it doesn't bother me much, but it is something of an issue. It's a tough thing to put a NO on, since the arrangement is pretty sweet, and that orchestration and humanization is oh so good. I can't deny what the other judges are hearing, though, so I think I'll need to agree to see if Slimy could send us a touched up version to post. I do hope he does! NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Man, I SO wanted to give this a pass. Beautiful arrangement, and the ambiance and style is just lovely. The handle of dynamics and humanization was great as well, but it's just the production issues holding this back. I listened on two different setups and yeah, the frequency distribution is an issue, it's mostly concentrated in the lows/low-mids, giving the mix that wetness feel (which is great and I personally love!) but also adds tons of mud (not so great =\). When checked in my analyzer it's a steep curve downwards from 1.5khz and up. The mixdown issues here are very easy to solve, so I'm sending this back and hoping Slimy gives us a cleaner mix that retains the wet and ethereal feel of this one. It may seem like rejecting this song over one issue is unfair, but it does obscure things in several places enough to take away from the experience, sadly. I'm really looking forwards to a rework. NO (please resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts