OCR00859 - Secret of Mana 'Stomp the Summer Sky'

[orkybash]

Secret of Mana 'Stomp the Summer Sky'

One of those remixes that's hard to apreciate on first listen, if only because of the... interesting harmonization at parts. Still, the production values are high on this one. Almost sounds professional, but it's not quite there. Anyway, you may not appreciate it (though I certainly did), but you should give it a try anyway because it's certainly done well.

[Digital Coma]

This just makes me want to wander the proverbial green field, with a happy-go-lucky sun overhead, light clouds passing through a bright blue sky, while whistling a lazy summer tune. Memories of yesteryear PBS cartoons are given shape and a quiet smile flutters quickly on my face. Stomp the Summer Sky, if anything else, brings back the care-free happiness of childhood for a joyous three and a half minutes.

[Mustin]

Not sure why this was posted. The only thing that's the same is the original melody. Much of the time, the different sections of the piece are playing together, in their own keys. There are only a couple of correct chords. Sometimes, like at 1:30, I want to reach for something and break it.

Get your chords right, Ziwtra. If you don't know what chords are, why are you remixing? Learn about chords, harmonies, etc, then come back to remixing - you'll be a million times better.

You had some great ideas - poor execution. But good production quality. Everything's very sharp and clean.

Learn about music. Come back and do this right. And get some better samples.

[bLiNd]

Dang Mustin, dont be rude.. Those are some harsh words. Even if there are wrong chords, there still was a very strong effort in the mix. It was great IMO. Just because everyone that remixes isnt as good or as "pro" as someone else doesnt mean you have to put down the remixer..

[bLiNd]

And get some better samples.

BTW - Ziwtra is doing this on Linux with free music software..

[Vinren]

Hmm...I'm no remixer, so I don't know about samples, etc...
But all I can say is that I honestly find this mix very enjoyable and happy, especially the break at 1:00. For using free music software AND doing it on linux, I can only wait and hope he gets some better music mixing software...then I think we're looking at a potenial "one of the best remixers" here. :)
Keep mixing, buddy.

[SsaiskK]

i dont mix, so i dont have ne comment on these technical aspects... but i thought this was a really cool piece. the bass line was pretty funky and that was what made it enjoyable. hey, i liked it. give it a try

edit: oh yeah.. i didnt really like the ending too much. maybe a bang ending woulda been better... i dunno, maybe u tried it but it didnt work. anyway, keep it coming!

[Mustin]

It's not about mixing software. When it came to the mixing (when you pull the volumes of the different tracks up and down to find the balance - the center, if you will), he did a good job, as I mentioned in my review.

What he needs to work on is music theory. Why are those chords wrong? Why do they sound bad? Stuff like that.

I'm just trying to help the dude out. I told him what was good and what was bad. If he wants to get better, he'll do it better next time. S'all.

[Evilhead]

I agree with you Mustin, that a lot of the sections seem to be in the wrong key, but they way you say it just makes you sound like an asshole. Just trying to help you out. If you want to get better at being a human, you'll listen to me. S'all.

[ziwtra]

I guess I should just stick to art : )


yh

[Mustin]

If you want to stick to art, fine. But don't be discouraged - be encouraged. How many people have heard this song? I don't think you could even begin to fathom. Because people don't just get the songs off this site from here - there are news groups, FTPs and so much more. You couldn't count how many people, and that kind of audience is great.

So, do another song that you like - get help from people in #ocremix and the Works in Progress forum. And this time, everything will be in the right key, all of the harmonies will match up, and no will have anything bad to say, eh?

Giving up is easy to do. Don't be like that.

[GreatLeo]

Mustin is right dont give up on your music, I think your very talented and I very much enjoyed your take on the summer sky tune. :)
So dont be discouraged by any means because none of us are perfect and I can see greatness in you so just keep it up and I shall very much look forward to your next mix.

[Gman]

I'll have to agree with Mustin on this one. This song hurt my ear drums BIG time. The chords and the anoying intrements killed it for me. This has the potential to be a good mix..OC shoulda told him to work on it a lil more.. Oh well. Nice work though.

Gman

[Psycrow]

HAPPY JOY YAY WHEEEEEEEEEEEE :D :D :D

[neostormx]

I dont know what anyone else is complainin about, but i'll say this. DJP was right. I instantly was into this remix. This remix held my attention and screamed replay me, which i did a couple of times to my enjoyment. Good job, Ziwtra. KEEP EM COMING!

[Mustin]

...or, you can correct your mistakes.

It's obvious the mistakes are there - other people are acknowledging them, too.

Please, head the criticism. We all make mistakes. I make plenty. But when we strive to correct our mistakes and not make the same ones in the future - that's progress. Not correcting your mistakes and just shrugging it off and doing it again - that's congress ;)

[Straziante]

I feel your pain Ziwtra. Using free software to remix is a pain in the ass. But you'd be surprised with the sounds you can get. Don't give up, and please please pleeeeeeeeeeeeease work on those chords. Though they do add a weird harmonization, I'd really try to keep away from the dissonance created when two or more notes do not make a proper chord. Perhaps finding some better samples will also be to your benefit. Did you think of using some soundfonts? Regardless of the flaws, this was a decent remix. Good source selection, and good ideas to better it. I would really consider reworking this piece, taking the criticism we've given you into consideration. This has a lot of potential. And don't give up because you're using free software, you find loopholes every once in a while.

[Starblaze]

The ideas here are fantastic. But the entire harmony is in the wrong key.

The potential is killing me, but I'm really not sure why this got posted. Fixing this is easy - just transpose the harmony instruments up a few steps.

hm.

[DarkeSword]

I don't get it. I don't hear what you guys are are hearing...there's nothing wrong with the harmony, IMO.

And so what if the chords are different? Maybe that's just what yh brought to the mix. I don't think it's a crime to change a chord progression...it shows that you're willing to take chances. It's very much akin to what DJP did in Pachabel's Ganon; dropping the orignal Zelda's Theme in it's major key over a minor chord progression.

Althought I do understand that many people are more familiar with the ins-and-outs of this song than I am (never was much of a SoM player).

The piece works really well on it's own. The slap bass is funky as hell, and the chorused piano really gives it an airy feeling. Fantastic work, yh. REALLY top-notch stuff.

Stick with music. You're extremely good at it. I wish that I could put out stuff like this.

[Israfel]

If anyone thinks that music theory is about what kind of music is right or wrong, then that person doesn't know much theory.

Heh, judging from the reviews I was prepared to hear some sort of polytonal piece- but nothing of the sort. This is a very fun, upbeat and extremely well-sequenced...god that slap bass is incredible...piece.

I can't believe I haven't reviewed more of your work, I've enjoyed your mixes for quite some time now. Keep up the good work.

[Rawnblade]

I LOVE THIS!!!!!!

It's sooo good, it made me change my SN to 'STOMP THE SUMMER SKY!!!' just to get people curious. . .and when they asked, I shared the love (and the song 8) )

-Rawnblade

[RimFrost the Tourianist]

A nice departure from the original tune , this one funkier 8) Good Work with the mixing 8O

[MrNemo]

Very clean sounding mix. Very Squaresoft-ish. I love it when remixers change a tune around but keep it sounding as if it could have come straight from the original composer. The 1:30+ section really grabs your attention. And we could not give enough praise to the slap bass, which I must say sounds just like a real Warwick bass to me. I've been fooled, I can't tell if it is fake or real!

[Pip is uh.....]

Isn't it great when guys who you expect to be techno only mixers throw you a complete curve? Much like Rayza and his Sonic and Knuckles mix this one catches ya off gaurd. It's a great mix. It was a bit too up beat for me at 1st but the mix finds a nice groove to settle into. And the funk bass solo. My god what a stroke of brilliance!I turn the volume up every time it comes on. Really excellent stuff. How does he do it?

[[blunai]]

Wow, this is definately different from standard Zwitra. Unlike most of Zwitra's work, the intro is quickly done and pushed aside. Rather, the song focuses on a very peaceful melody that gives the idea of a nice sunny day in suburbia.

[synthetic_realities]

It's a very nice track, fun and light. Definately worth a listen.
BTW, Mustin, I don't know how much theory you know, but just because the chord progression or the intervals aren't part of the major scale or one of it's modes doesn't make it "wrong." Listen to some jazz. Even better, listen to some really avant-garde jazz. There's a whole lot of theory behind that, and they use some really out-there stuff.

Now, if you hold degrees in music and everything I have said is completely wrong, accept my apology now.

[Bummerdude]

Hoo-boy, this will be hard to describe. Alright, here goes. I could really feel the poppish and merry go round feel in this one, I've listened to it sometimes now, but I'm sure that I was smiling when I first heard it, it still has that effect.

But then about the chords, it does go up too much at some places, and the sound on some of the samples might be annoying. However, I don't think Ziwtra should change this. The result can surely be better if you use some more high-quality chords and all that kind of mix-stuff, but if you remove the funky and close to SNES-ish sound samples from this remix, it will lose it's charm.

The prescense of the comical, rough and funky samples are the reason why this mix is funny to listem to. Take it away and this would be cool, but not necessarily not as much fun. Put the issues aside and forget about quality, this is one of the most happiest and poppish remixes this site has.

HAPPY JOY YAY WHEEEEEEEEEEEE :D :D :D
THAT'S THE SPIRIT LADDY!! :mrgreen:

[sirusd]

You all really need to get off Ziwtra's back. The changes or so called "errors" in the song do not detract from the piece as a whole. Putting too much emphasis on "perfection" is a limiting factor in this sort of remixing.

Afterall, these are really rearrangements. You shouldn't come here expecting to hear the exact same song from the game. And as for this one, there's nothing wrong with it and it happens to be one of my more favored pieces from OCR.

[Navi]

You all really need to get off Ziwtra's back.

Seeing as how those comments were made more than 3 years ago, I think they did. :D

[42]

I think the title here is a bit of a misnomer; truthfully I was expecting something a little different, but after listening to it, I can't complain. :-)

This has some vaguely tropical notions/vibe going on, which I personally wish were more expounded on, but still what's been given is awesome.

This mix has 'go and get an ice cream cone on a warm spring day' written all over it. If I had to pick one word to describe
this mix, I'd say "carefree."
Great work. :nicework:

Seeing as how those comments were made more than 3 years ago
Just some irony to be appreciated. :<

[metalsnakejuice]

Excellent remix you have made good sir. l really would recommend it.

[OA]

I don't think every new chord here totally clicked in a perfect manner, but it was still quite listenable- awesome percussion, and the slap bass was really fun. Creative rhythms, good panning, and clean production make this good. Not my favorite of Ziwtra's, but certainly had some great moments.

[tweek]

Haha, very cute intro here :). Any malice I had towards the midi sounding instruments in the opening section disappears the moment the flute and drums came in. Wonderfully chipper and upbeat. Creates this feeling of nostalgia, not necessarily for the game, but rather reminds me of a younger age. The lead synths continue to carry the song from one part to another while the drums drive it. Love the slap bass; wish it had a little bit more low end, but thats MINOR! Even though the arrangement is simple with also a few instruments being played at one time, the soundscape is lush and well polished! My favorite mix of Youngjin's so far!