*NO* Ragnarok Online 'Forgotten Aura'

[Liontamer]

Mp3 Link:

Remixer Name: ZeRo-BaSs
Real Name: Alex
E-mail: alexsacarubba@hotmail.com
website: http://zero-bass.newgrounds.com/
User id: 5569

Name of The Game: Ragnarok Online
Name Of The Song: Rag all night Long
Name of the Remix: Forgotten Aura
System:PC
Link to the original song: http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=2MkoKWW2UyY

Notes: The mix is DnB-based..and i'm not talking about "Noisia" Drum n Bass style but..something more like "Pendulum" Drum n Bass (Blood Sugar by Pendulum for example).
The song includes also "Oldskool Rave" (the middle portion) and "Rock" elements.
The snare drum is voluntarily "loud" as required in any modern DrumNBass song.

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Ragnarok Online Soundtrack - (110) "Rag All Night Long"

The guitar (:00-:21), keyboard & synth (2:30) sequencing was WAY too mechanical sounding. The overall execution was decent, but pretty sparse-sounding in terms of the texture, despite a lot going on. I really like what you have in place though and hear the Pendulum influence. The drum programming had some punch to it, and I liked the 8-bit elements. Refine the sequencing and flesh this one out and you'd be in much better shape, but you still have a ways to go before you're making fully cohesive music. Definitely some potential here, so stick with it.

NO

[Palpable]

Pretty cool ideas here. Not that different from the style of the original, but with a much much better beat and some riffing on the elements of the original. The little switch-ups in the beat kept it really listenable for the entire song (though I would have loved some stuttering :razz:). My biggest problem was that although the mood and instruments were similar, it wasn't very connected to the original from a song standpoint. The chord structure is the same, but pretty much all the melodic elements in this are new. I think you'd need some more usage of the source elements besides just the simple chords for this to qualify as an OCR arrangement.

Some of the leads are thin, which is what I think led Larry to say this was sparse. The lead at 0:22 can't carry that heavy beat, though the lead that follows it is not bad. Sometimes the sequencing also sounds blocky, like the opening chords or the synth at 2:30. It could use some volume adjustments or motion effects like a filter sweep to make the notes sound different.

I did like this in the abstract, and I think with some production work it could be a really tight song, but I don't think it's right for the site because of how loose it is as an arrangement. Hope this doesn't discourage you from submitting more, Alex.

NO

[anosou]

Who are these Pendulum guys everyone likes? I think I'll eventually have to check them out...

On to the mix then. The beats were quite cool but a bit repetitive (Drum'n'Bass can be varied!). However they occupied too much of the soundscape and left the rest of the instruments (like the leads) sounding thin. Another reason for this might be the complete lack of reverb for the most part, it makes the track sound really dry.

The arrangement, like Vinnie pointed out, doesn't have much to do with the source except for the chords. Try using some melodies, perhaps adding some things to them and twisting and turning the chords a bit to spice things up. The instrument choices were quite cool but the sounds in themselves weren't handled as well as they could and sounded thin. Also, cut-off ending :D

You have some way to go but you also have some cool ideas. Get some feedback (I recommend #ocrwip at irc.enterthegame.net), learn more about your DAW of choice, find some quality samples and you'll be in much better shape.

NO