Chimpazilla Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 link Artist: ViRiX Dreamcore Name: David McKee Email: dmckee10009@gmail.com Game: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne Song Name: New Kagutsuchi Original songs: Nocturne opening movie theme and Nocturne main theme NOTE: I only have a 160 Kbps version of it available at the moment. It's still in MP3 format though. The file is attached. Looking forward to your consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) Quick thoughts: This seems underdeveloped as an arrangement, like half a song. It's a GREAT start. But is it enough? Also, we would need a better quality mp3. edit 2/8/15: I still feel like this is an undeveloped arrangement, I see how Larry feels it could stand on it's own as-is, but I maintain my opinion on this. Justin mentioned that a third of the track is dedicated to intro, and that makes the rest of the track seem even shorter. Also, re-listening, there indeed are some huge mixing issues. Larry and Justin have covered the issues perfectly, I agree on all counts. I hope you'll fix up the mixing and I really think some extra length on this track would make it work better. NO (resubmit) Edited February 8, 2015 by Chimpazilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Cool OST. Very atmospheric, though, and not a lot of content to work with. Let's see what you've done with it... Opening is very quiet/subdued, but it does start to get my attention once the main percussion elements come in. So far, this is sounding pretty similar to the original in both style and flow with some swapping of instruments from synths to guitars. Finally, we do get some meaningful expansion & personilzation with the addition of the orchestral elements. Nice, gritty sound coming out of the guitars/synth & powerful drums. The sfz orchestral parts starting at 1:23 were a good idea, but sounded awkward in execution. Like the samples weren't quite up to the writing. The soundscape was already getting a bit dense before with the addition of orchestra at 1:12, but the song gradually gets more and more cluttered with the increasing volumes of the orchestra hits and added guitar lead, peaking around 1:51. Because of this, the guitar lead gets almost lost within the soundfield (I didn't really notice it was there initially, TBH). Gotta work on balancing various parts so they don't overlap too heavily on each other, even in loud, intense sections. Back to arrangement, I can't help feeling that this one is underdeveloped as is. You've got some excellent ideas and a really nice, dark feel to the song. But it feels like we get a quick survey of your ideas and then the track ends. Really would like to hear if you can squeeze more out of this source, despite how short it is. As is, a full third of the track is dedicated to intro - you could argue that it doesn't really get going until 1:41, honestly - and as good of ideas and cool sounds that you've brought here, I'd really love to hear more. In and of itself, I not sure whether or not the arrangement is developed enough is a dealbreaker for me, however, combined with the mixing issues, it's pushing me to NO territory. I can't stress enough though that the ideas and sounds you've established here are awesome and I really hope we get this one on the site in one form or another. NO resubmit, please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Seems to open up OK. If you listen to the initial backing pattern under the guitar, it's actually not the same as the source tune; rather, it's more of a soundalike rhythm instead of the actual pattern from the source tune itself. So that means none of the first minute counts as source usage IMO. That said, :59-2:30 used the source enough where it was clear it was dominant in the arrangement; just pointing out the opening didn't sound like the source, IMO. :59 finally brings in the theme. It's weird, there was a lot of volume, but the soundscape felt empty anyway. The vox(-like?) line in the background sounded dry and fake, and didn't pad the background enough. The bowed string accents then added at 1:11 sound supper muddy and just get swallowed up in the background. Grungy electric guitar lead sounds decent, but again, it feels really dry and it doesn't sound like it matches the production of the other elements. Then some brass padding joins in at 1:23 and the mixing sounds very VERY muddy and indistinct, with the original guitar work at 1:39 just drowing in a sea of mud. It's dry to start, then it just gets cluttered for the rest. 1:11-2:16 was just a mixing nightmare; you can't really make anything out, there's a lot of stuff sharing the same frequencies and blurring together. That's a shame, because the arrangement itself is fine and passable, IMO; it does more than enough to expand upon the original well, so I didn't agree that it was underdeveloped. I think it took a fairly minimalist source and was expansive and varied enough in the arrangement to be a pass. It's just the really, really sloppy mixing that's making this a no-go, David. It needs a massive clean up so that the parts are balanced and aren't muddying together. You've got a strong concept here though, hopefully you can take it to the Workshop and get some feedback to raise your production game. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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