[Liontamer]

Real name - Trevor Burch
Remixer name - Vibratissimo
Forum UserID# - 26877
Email - vibratissimo@gmail.com

Game Mixed - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Song Mixed - Zora's Domain
ReMix name - Essence of Escapism

Dear OCR,
I'd like to start this letter off by simply saying how much I love it here. Kudos to djpretzel and all the other staff members that make this community tick. My name is Trevor Burch, and I'm in my junior year of high school. I found this site about two (and a halfish?) years ago and have been in love with it ever since.

But I suppose you want to hear more about the actual submission, don't you. Off we go then. 'Essence of Escapism' is a nice little piece I made over the course of the last two weeks, that focuses mainly on the Zora's Domain theme with some other Zelda elements thrown into the mix. My intention wasn't to create anything epic or overly dramatic, so I hope you're not expecting another Anthem of a Misguided Youth ;) Despite this, it was indeed influenced by other ReMixes. The title, I think, is self explanatory; Zora's Domain, in context, is a place secluded from the rest of Hyrule, where one could easily lose track of time. I always enjoyed listening to this song in-game and watching the cool reflection effects. During the development of this piece, I tried to create a very mellow vibe; personally, I think I did an decent job with it. Nothing stands too out of place, and while the song doesn't have a dramatic climax, it all seems to flow together with ease. This song is just something with a lighthearted mood that I myself was able to lose time in. Hope you enjoy!

Sincerely,
Trevor Burch aka Vibratissimo

P.S. If this is found sub par, I won't need TOO much of a tongue lashing to get my act together xP

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http://www.zophar.net/download_file/12209 - 39 "Zora's Domain"
http://www.zophar.net/download_file/14178 - Track 1

Arrangement-wise, the interpretation was going in the right direction. You do need to get (a lot) more creative with the synth design, as most of the electrosynths were very thin & generic-sounding. Even though the textures are meant to be minimalist, it doesn't have to sound flimsy. Right from the opening, you're hit with some vanilla sound choices. No hate on the belltones/xylo/wuteva handling the Zora melody though; that part sounded serene.

Really wasn't feeling the lead chosen for the appearances of the original Zelda title theme; it didn't fit the mood created by the rest of the piece, and the melody also didn't thematically connect with Zora's Domain. It seemed haphazardly added in, so do what you can to make those cameos stylistically mesh with the rest of the piece.

Decent base, Trevor; keep at it, and use the resources here to help improve your material and you could be making some strong stuff.

NO

[anosou]

I don't think the synths are as vanilla as Larry seems to think. However they aren't varied enough and whiel the filtering and reverb during the intro was acceptable imo the rest is rather static. Overall I enjoyed your ideas for a "sound", you just have to make it a bit less flat.

Arrangement was going in the right directions, I liked many of the melodic lines. The pad backing was a bit too "big" and the track was lacking any serious bass frequencies. The 808-style drums were good though. I agree with larry regarding the lead choice for original Zelda theme. Some more "breaks" in the flowing soundscape or at least changes in the backing track would help this feel less repetitive.

Overall this is a good start but needs some more careful work. I'd love to see a resub of this one! Keep it up!

NO(resubmit)

[Palpable]

My thoughts are close to Mattias'. The arrangement was pretty solid, but the way the synths are used feels static. There's not much motion in the leads and they get boring to listen to. I also thought the intro wasn't that great, the song only took off at 0:24. I really didn't like the synth brought in at 1:27. It was grating, and the detuning didn't mesh with the rest of the track. On the plus side, the rest of this is good. Apart from the intro, the writing doesn't need to change (IMO) and sections like 1:06-1:26 are gorgeous.

The production is warm, a little too much. You can hear the levels get too high at some points, and there a lot of low-mid range frequencies competing. Turn those ranges down a bit to get a more balanced sound.

Please send it back with the criticisms addressed. This is good stuff so far!

NO (resubmit)