*NO* Final Fantasy 6 'Battle Trance'

[djpretzel]

Name: Gramage (aka Graham Mawhinney)
email: iGramage@rogers.com
URL: Don't have a website.
USERID: I registered on the boards, but am awaiting the confirmation email. I hope me submitting without activiating an account on the forums is kosher...

Game: Final Fantasy VI
Song(s): Battle Theme

Comments:

This is my first ReMix of any game music. I decided to do the Final Fantasy VI battle theme because I really like it, and me and my friend Will spent 15 minutes figuring out the notes ^_^ (we didn't look it up or anything, I promise).

I'm usually torn between trying to make a song that's very peacful and relaxing, and making a song that's hard, fast, and driving. So I said what the hell why not make one that's both? This is the result. If I had to pick a genre it'd definately be techno, allthough the intro is more classical/orchestral.

The whole thing was made in Apple's GarageBand on a 1.25ghz 17" G4 iMac, exept for two reverbs, a cross-mix, and repairs to the ending, which were done in Sound Studio.

It's definately not a boundry-pushing work of creative genius, but I like it. Not really of the calibre you guys are used to, but meh... I'd like to have added more of my own melodies and whatnot, rather than just a multitude of variations on the original, but I don't have the skillz or the talent yet (I've only been messing around with making music for about 3 months).

[Vig]

the intro doesnt have me jumping up and down with anticipation. there's NO harmony and the string sample is ugly. if you want a solo piano section to be effective, you need harmony.

this mix contains just about every techno remix cliche that i can think of. there is a basic lack of harmonic sense in the bassline. there is no depth, it's just an ugly one note bassline with sections of the melody pasted over randomly.

this should have got the form letter.

NO

[Liontamer]

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ff6.rsn - "Battle Theme" (ff6-105.spc)

Yep. This absolutely got dumbed down for the genre, and the samples are weak; no power behind these sounds at all. Not much done on the arrangement side; obviously some things there, but not enough. Doesn't need to be 5:29 that's for sure, as it's not even remotely creative enough. When the piano and string work (beyond the 4 minute mark) is the highlight of a trance track, that's poorly-made trance.

It's nice that you just started making music and all, but you won't be good enough to submit stuff until you subtantially improve for an extended period of time.

NO

[danny B]

The 2 pretty ladies above me covered it already. This is a first time-attempt in the most cliched form. I would suggest making a few more songs and getting functional criticism before submitting to a site with standards.

Keep at it, though.

NO

-D

[GrayLightning]

The intro didn't bother me too much, such an intro is quite acceptable for electronic genres. However, here it just isn't pulled off that well or as catchy as it should have.

Simplistic take of the original with very weak, boring synths. This might have been acceptable 4-5 years ago, but now it just sounds shallow both compositionally and production wise. A mix of this nature could also have been shorter.

Production wise, the synths and samples sound slightly above average, but the mixing is pretty bad. It's a bit muddy, there's no sheen. I'd do some EQ work on this, particularly some roll offs in the lower/mid sections and some slight boosts in the treble sections.

Fairly decent attempt for a first effort. The most important thing at the end of the day is whether you alone like your work. Keep at it, mix more and post to the OCR WIP/Completed forums before submitting. This simply isn't enough to pass though. NO