[Liontamer]

Sup!

Game : Chrono Chross
Song : Star Stealing Girl
Enjoy !

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http://tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/Chrono_Cross_psf.rar - 306 "The Star-Stealing Girl"

Right off the bat, there's something missing here. The instrumentation sounded flimsy, the piano cameo sounded mechanically sequenced. The bass and beats that first faded in at :16 are fine, but when they first kick in at :32 they sound lonely. There needs to be something in the background to fill the track out, and the lonely pad back there isn't get the job done, so there's a lot of empty space. The choir vox at 1:04 needed more power behind it. As is, it lacks any impact.

The breakdown from 1:38-1:53 was well written, but again, lots of empty space in the background. 2:01 seemingly retread the buildup at :16 but instead came back with some nice variation on the beats, which was very nice.

The section at 2:26-2:42 didn't know what it wanted to place the emphasis on. Nearly all the elements (choir vox, e-piano, etc.) seemed to hover at the same volume, with nothing standing out or giving the track forward direction. The vox should have been punched up at first to carry the melody and make its gradual fadeout more meaningful.

I liked the subtractive finish with more and more elements gradually dropping out, but the execution was hindered by most of the parts being at a similar volume to begin with. Up until around 2:51, it just sounded like you were removing clutter rather than effectively using the subtraction technique to demphasize some parts and place the focus on others.

The arrangement is good, but the production doesn't deliver yet. There's lot of activity, but many sections sounded thin regardless. Beef up the background area with that lonely pad to fill out the space more. Revisit the sound balance to give the vox more volume/presense during its foreground parts, and give the ideas behind the 2:26-2:42 section more dynamic impact. Good stuff so far, Frank.

NO (refine/resubmit)

[Vig]

Diggi's pianos always sound mechanically sequenced. It's part of his style. I don't know why this is a problem all of a sudden. The choir sample fits with this tyle, but I'm having a little more trouble digesting it. The beats are awesome.

As to the more artificial sounding areas in general: He gets away with doing this stuff because there's plenty in here that doesn't sound mechanical. There's plenty of subtlety to contrast with the vox and acoustic piano, so they have a purpose and a function. When you listen to the drums, and the electric piano, the more mechanical stuff sticks out in a good way.

Typical Diggi Dis. Beautifully concieved and executed.

YES

[pixietricks]

I'm with Vig on some of the initial concerns Larry pointed out, in that the gritty mechanical stuff suits the style pretty well IMO. I do agree that there was too much empty space for lack of louder pads and other sustained textures, however - especially starting at 0:49 when the initial pad drops out.

The choir sample is pretty nice in the context of that whole section from 2:25-2:50. I think its the initial backdrop earlier in the piece that lacks cohesiveness; the chorus just stands out because it's loud when there's not much else going on.

That thing you did with the synth at 1:50 is so awesome... Reminds me of Queen for some reason. XD

I don't think anyone would disagree that this is a very solid arrangement, so you've won me there. I'm still on the fence about production, though. It's not so glaringly empty that one couldn't enjoy the piece, but perhaps not to its full potential. It would be nice to hear a few mixing tweaks at the very least, but I guuuueeessss I won't sentence you to the whole resubmission process. ^_~

KAY

[big giant circles]

Cool beats. Didn't like the synth lead at :33. The pulse synth thereafter wasn't too bad, initially not the greatest sound - but you did some cool stuff with it. I liked the flanged drums. Choir was unique - not realistic, but fit the song pretty well.

Nice transition to just piano, and filtered drums kick back in. This one's got a pretty good level of funk to it, and some happenin' beats and stuff and what not and so on and so forth and etc.

I'm-a-gonna-say... YES

[DarkeSword]

I felt this was a little lacking in the high end, but it's not a deal breaker. Great beats, nice arrangement, along with some great countermelodic fills.

i liek it

YES