[djpretzel]

Link to ReMix:

ReMixers: Kevin Stephens & trickwaters
Real names: Kevin Stephens & Patrick Waters
E-mails: Kevin Stephens - artemis_hunted@hotmail.com
trickwaters - trickwaters@rpgamer.com
Website: trickwaters - http://www.betterthanbach.com

Game: Fire Emblem: Dragon of Darkness and Sword of Light
Composer: Yuki Tsujiyoko
System: NES
Sountrack: http://www.zophar.net/nsf/femblem.zip

Kevin: I was flipping through the NSF to the original Fire Emblem game looking for something to arrange, and the melody to this song stuck out. I immediately started working on an arrangement, and less than a week later this turned out. My thanks to trickwaters for assisting me by resequencing the piece, giving it a believable performance.

Patrick: Having seen the popularity of and listened to Kevin's original arrangement of this piece, I wanted to make my own interpretation of his 'etude.' I'm glad he gave me the chance to do this, as this has opened the doors for other collaborations between us.

[Liontamer]

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/femblem.zip - NSF Track 13

Why'd this have to be tough on account of production? There's way too much reverb here and not enough sharpness. 1:42-2:09 & 3:36-3:55 are particular examples of how things sounded somewhat ok, but nonetheless mushed together. There's no high-end here whatsoever; everything's in the low and mid ranges. The thick low chords here linger for a long time once they're played and manage to obscure and wash with other notes since they all occupy the same limited space on the EQing.

Since this was resequenced by Pat in the first place, I encourage him to do anything to sharpen the sound on this. There doesn't have to be less reverb, just less muddiness/more clarity. Piano-only mixes don't have to sound immaculate (e.g. Bladiator's "Chopinesque Kirby"), but there's only so low I'll judge the bar. Kevin's arrangement is more than passable, and I played Kevin's original version of the mix way back on VGF. I may just be a stickler; I'm honestly looking forward to both of you guys being posted here; you're both good names that I've been following for some time. Especially hearing Pat's other pieces at VGMix, I'm fairly sure this sound style was purposeful, but I really need a higher level of clarity than this.

NO (resubmit, please)

[zyko]

i really don't mind the reverb. i like the tone and i don't think every piano piece needs to be bright or sharp... that is a quality that i think is reserved for a particular approach where the edge and attack is more critical than the piece's flow... in which case, this piece flows very nicely.... the reverb gives it the nice ether touch

having said that, i dont like it when people drench things in reverb and make them soggy with it but i don't find this at all bad to a point that i'd reject it.

as far as arrangement, i'm wth larry on this one and i think this is awesome. i'm going to vote yes because i don't feel the reverb detracts from what the piece does in its quiet parts when that reverb makes a world of diffrence. but if this is eventually rejected... please guys... scale it back a bit, then and re-submit because this is quality work.

YES

[zircon]

Wow, especially after checking out the source tune, I have a lot of appreciation for the rearrangement here. There shouldn't be any debate about that; for such a simple original, there is an abundance of improvisation and variations in the mix without losing touch with the source. So, moving on to production, I've listened to this several times and I really don't see it as much of an issue. This is DAMN good sequencing, very believable. I wouldn't have known without the mention of it. Awesome dynamics and humanization. Whatever piano sample is being used here, it's amazing.

The whole mix actually sounds like a typical piano recording in, say, an empty cathedral would using one or two nice stage mics. Less reverb wouldn't have hurt, but the amount it has now simply doesn't strike me as detrimental to the piece in the least. I know some of the left hand chords *sound* cluttered, but plenty of classical piano pieces tend to sound like that, if not worse. In regards to the high end, again, this is really what piano recordings (and hell, actual pianos) generally sound like, and I think that's all that is important. It's not a mastering issue. In fact, if it was EQed more highly or intentionally made more bright, I'd go so far as to say that would be worse for the mix, if anything.

I simply don't have any complaints here. I'd be OK with a NO decision over the reverb, but I really think that it adds to the realism of the mix by making it sound more like an actual piano performance/recording. Anyway, this is a big roundabout way of saying: YES

[GrayLightning]

There's nothing wrong with the reverb here. It's perfectly valid in this context. I could be wrong but it sounds like a steinway piano to me. Of course it's not gonna sound too bright. Excellent, superb in every aspect.

YES

[Israfel]

The sound is perhaps a bit muddy at times, but like some of the others I don't feel that it's a deal-breaker. The unusually good sequencing and excellent arrangement trumps any problems I have with the reverb.

YES