FFCC entry: Lulu (FFX) vs Hope (FFXIII) "Katumus" (chip/trance?)

edit: submitted on 2014-09-19

Here's a rearrangement from the second round of Final Fantasy Crystal Clash competition. It mixes

DL: https://www.dropbox.com/s/za4vu51xxg99r7y/eino_keskitalo_-_katumus-20140915-fc2.mp3?dl=0 (2014-09-15)

Should be finished.

-- old --

Stream (older wip): https://soundcloud.com/eino-keskitalo/eino-keskitalo-katumus

I think it's nearing completion. Let me know if anything sticks out!

Thanks already to all who gave great comments on the compo thread, especially Chimpazilla and Riversound.

--Eino

Personally I would have dug some more high EQ in the master, just a smidge, to give it some nice, sparkly high end to offset the strong, meaty low end a little more But in general, seems pretty great.

I'll make a note, I was actually thinking along the same lines so it's great that you mentioned it!

--Eino

Personally, I would have liked more progressive elements to keep the flow going and to liven up the dynamics, and a stronger ending would have helped. 1:26,1:34, and similar spots had some sort of cut-out cymbal for some reason. Also, the accompaniment has more treble than the leads.

Other than that, this is pretty good.

WIP 2014/04/20

I've tried to do the following:

• re-EQ the leads vs the rest (bass is less bright for instance)
  
• I made the bass a bunch busier in one section
  
• put some delay on the chopped up cymbal
  
• overall EQ is brighter
  

I'm not sure what to do about the ending, the lead writing is intended to lead into a kind of petering out but I based on that I keep hearing the ending is weak it doesn't seem to be working as well as I wanted. It sounds like it's maybeee clipping a little, or maybe that's just the distortion from the bitcrusher on the leads.

--Eino

WIP 2014/04/29

I keep getting comments about the lack of overall dynamics in the structure, so I need to work on that. Mixing/productionwise I'd like to think I'm close to done.

I've EQ'd the leads so that they aren't muffled (thanks once again timaeus for spot-on comments!!) and done some other tweaking, including a fill of sorts near the end, some edits to the bassline to make it flow a little better etc.

But the whole structure needs a little breathing room. Should be fun, but I probably need a little break.

--Eino

WIP 2014-08-06

I should be doing many other things with my time, but I listened to the WIP on my MP3 player and it clicked to me what to do with the structure.

There's a hole in the instrumentation in the middle, but the overall structure should be about there. Needs more variation since there's a little copy paste in the end, and the beat comes back to full speed a little too soon maybe, but it's getting close!

WIP 2014/08/19

Quite possibly finished. Maybe work on a transition a bit. edit: Nah, I think they're fine. Let me know otherwise. MOD REVIEW!

Source breakdown:

0:00-0:12 no source

0:13-0:19 Descending Lulu figure from x:yy on the background

0:19-0:33 chord progression (arpeggio) + melody from Lulu A part x:yy-x:yy

0:34-1:03 Hope melody from x:yy

1:03-1:11 no source

1:12-1:40 full Lulu A-part x:yy-x:yy

1:40-2:10 Lulu B-part from x:yy-x:yy; Hope melody from x:yy comes in at 1:55

2:10-2:24 Descending Lulu figure on the background

2:25-2:54 Hope melody from x:yy

2:54-3:09 Hope melody from x:yy with Lulu A-part melody

3:09-3:23 Hope melody from x:yy with Lulu A-part melody

3:24-3:55 Hope melody from x:yy with Lulu A-part melody here and there

3:55-> Lulu A-part

I'll check the source timestamps later, I don't really remember the Hope theme myself so well anymore..

The EQ feels good to me, and I don't think the bitcrushing feels like clipping. I think the extra length on the dropoff in the middle helps the dynamic range. Basically, we needed a break from the main groove by the time we made it halfway through (which feels more progressive, I think).

Also, at 1:59 - 2:08, I'm thinking the harmonies are a little strange. Don't be afraid to change a few notes to match moods, as long as the general melodic contour stays about the same. For example, in my entry, I used

Thanks for the comments! I've given the spot you mentioned a few listens. I couldn't hear anything problematic (it's quite hmm, tense though) but that can well just be the fact that I'm so used to it by now. I've already fixed a couple of spots in the harmony earlier in the piece (thanks to RiverSound), so I'm admittedly struggling a bit with the harmony in this one. I'll need to try changing it a bit and see if it starts sounding better, or maybe try to analyse the keys/modality (which I should learn anyway). Thanks!

[MODREVIEW]

- Solid groove, mixing seems very clean

- the lead at 1:45 fading in and out was a little jarring, but that might be a style thing.

- the break at 2:15 was very welcome, as Timaeus said; my ears were getting a little fatigued

- I'll be honest, I don't have much for you on this one. I'm listening on my monitors, which can be a little forgiving if you've jacked up the bass mixing at all, but this sounds really clean and I think it's ready to go. My one arrangement nitpick is that by about 3:50 I was starting to feel like I'd heard the same thing too often, but right as I was starting to think it the song changed and you headed to the outtro.

Good luck with this one!

[/MO-DIDDLY]

Final candidate 2

I tweaked the harmony timaeus mentioned - flows more easily I'll admit. I also changed the drums a little bit in the final third to hopefully make it a little more dynamic structurally.

- the lead at 1:45 fading in and out was a little jarring, but that might be a style thing.

I'm not sure what you mean with fading in and out..

edit: submitted on 2014-09-19

Yeah, the harmonies work better! It's still a touch strange in the interval jump at 1:58-ish on the louder lead, but harmonically I think it works.