*NO* Chrono Cross 'Dreaming by Your Side' *RESUB*

[The Orichalcon]

Original decision: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=64519
First Resub decision: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=68043

Mixer: RoeTaKa
Game: Chrono Cross
Title: Dreaming By Your Side
URL:

Production has been made better, tempo changes more fluent, just a nicer listen, hope you can appreciate it as it is, I don't intend to resub it again. Cheers.

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The piece pretty much has the same issues that it had in the last version. The tempo changes stand out as the biggest issue in the piece. I can understand trying to get the live-band feel in the tempo-changes, but some of them just sound so unnatural. The slowdowns before heading into a more involved section of the mix sounded good, but some sections were just too slow for the overall sound of the mix, namely from 2:50 and onwards, it was slowed considerably and sounds out of place.

There were a few questionable pitch bends in places, but the majority of them sound pleasing to the ears. There was a rather loud and out-of-place bend in the main string instrument around 0:37 that sounds like an unintentional sound glitch. The overall loudness of the mix is also an issue that's stayed with the mix throughout it's history. While it is encoded loud in general, the instruments also sound loud in their context, especially towards the end of the piece

Speaking in terms of the arrangement, it's stayed roughly the same as the past submissions. Everything is balanced nicely, with the piano introducing things nicely and then taking a background role in the mix. The drumming is a questionable aspect as at some points the snare can be a little crowding on the overall relaxed sound of the mix. I think perhaps in some moments a sidestick would have subbed in for the crunchy sound of the snare to allow the mix to flow naturally. Clearly, I'm nitpicking.

The best part of the mix is the way the acoustic guitar's been programmed. Some parts, namely from 2:25-2:50 are just filled with emotion, and the keychange at 2:50 is really nice and a natural flow, regardless of the inconsitancy in the tempo.

Overall, the piece has a few issues that I really think could be easily fixed, however I think Roe has reached a level with this mix that he's pleased with, and I'm also satisfied that it reaches the site's standards about quality level and rearrangement. I would hope that Roe continues to make pieces of this style.

YES

[Liontamer]

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/Chrono_Cross_psf.rar (http://www.tzone.org/%7Ellin/psf/packs2/Chrono_Cross_psf.rar) - 107 "Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World"

The arrangement is still pretty good, just to say that from the start. Still like that intro. The string on lead at :16 was a bit too synthetic-sounding but was alright; nothing detracting in a major way. Accompaniment that joined in at :40 sounded lo-fi though. There's a rather dull feel to the production for the whole thing for some reason; seems to really lack polish.

The acoustic guitar synth had some good moments, but was hit or miss in the human quality of the performance. The percussion still doesn't really mesh well for some sections, in this case :40-1:09, but I really liked the more subdued role they took from 1:09 to 1:37. Full section from 1:39-2:25 sounds pretty cluttered and seems to lack the right balance among the instruments.

Without some solid-sounding percussion to provide a foundation for the track, things seemed somewhat empty until 2:02. It inadvertently prevented everything from sounded grounded and cohesive. Things felt a bit loose, but it got a bit better with more listens.

Good stuff at 2:50 focusing on the acoustic guitar strumming. I was actually feeling the slowdown here. Things were gradually building up with the instrumentation starting from 3:06, though I couldn't help feel that by 3:32, things were getting somewhat cluttered going for the big finish. The string lead just got REALLY loud (with some piercing notes at 3:45, 3:57, 4:20 & 4:22), with the whole thing just sounding very swamped.

I said last time around "Feels like the piano, strings, drums and acoustic are sometimes fighting for the same space, rather than complementing each other, especially during the last section", and that's still the case for the ending IMO, as well as some busier sections earlier on. For busy areas where the string lead is in play, the acoustic guitar is buried way in the back rather than complimenting the lead as seems to be the intent. But I thought this was an improvement over last time in at least creating a better texture with the instrumentation involved.

The overall package was more cohesive than last time, but the sound balance is still makes things sound a bit murky and messy. Each resub has been going in the right direction though. Getting 2 YESs last time, I could see things possibly going its way this time; this could be the culmination of some hard work and practical application of past criticisms.

If the sound balance could be cleaned up here to allow the instruments to work well the whole way through and sound less messy, I could YES this easily, but until then have to go borderline NO.

[GrayLightning]

Will Vote later, NO though.

Edit vote:

I really liked the previous resubmission of this.

As before, I think the arrangement, conceptually is great. But the execution once again is very problematic.

Samples are generally great, though I can see why the solo strings would bother some people. It has a very woody, harsh sound. I personally might EQ that with major and narrow reductions in the 2-3K range to remove that bite. But it's personal taste. I like the unique tone your solo strings have. The rest of the samples are generally great. The bass, piano, guitar and percussion are of very good quality.

Love the bassline btw and the bass instrument in use.

The sequencing of many these instruments are very unnatural though. You have your volume, dynamics going all over the place, especially with the solo string. The dynamic shift of that keeps going up and down in a strange way, almost like you have some humanzing midi fx on that midi channel to humanize the dynamics. The tempo changes are good but sometimes aren't as smooth as they could be.

I'm torn on this, I think it's a very unique and cool arrangement. The ideas are there, but the execution in some ways is an improvement over the previous resub, in some ways more lacking.

I don't think you should give up on this, because the potential for a very good passable mix is there. I say give this one more shot.

Borderline NO.

[JJT]

NO

good ideas, sloppy execution. the other judges have covered all of the gripes I have with this submission.

tighten the screws and resubmit.

[Vig]

NO, I think I'll vote now, just to shake things up.

First of all, the piano comping is simple as possible...playing the triad on the first beat of the bar.

the guitar sounds really akward. it's probably the sample. it particularly sticks out when it does "slides" and when it is the lead instrument.

By 3 minutes the song is getting tedius. You changed to minor, but it's the same groove, same rhythms, and there are no new ideas.

You do an admirable job altering the dynamics of the song by speeding up/slowing down, and also by making the piano a bit busier, but there seems to be no reason for it...the piano just gets busier, but not in a particularly interesting way. I think you just need some new ideas, mix it up a bit, rather than just making everything play more notes once in a while.

I'd lock, but half the votes arent votes yet.

[Liontamer]

All votes are finally in for the close. If another RESUB ever materializes, perhaps consult the non-borderline NOs directly for feedback before another resubmission. In any case, you certainly get props for the improvement the piece has shown over time. Don't be discouraged, Alex, as you continue to move in the right direction.