[djpretzel]

Whoa, half a year since my last sub. Think it's time to let this one go.

I was actually gonna re-record this thing since I'm not entirely satisfied with my performance, but I've decided I'm too lazy for it now. So here it is, flaws and all. My motivation behind arranging "Dalaam" was to bring out the beautiful melody that was partially hidden by the harsh drones in the original track, while still retaining an Eastern feel. The result, I'm told, sounds a lot like a song from Disney's Pocahantas...I've never seen the movie though, so reports of any sort of influence are greatly exaggerated. But I suppose there are only so many things you can do with a pentatonic, so I guess it was bound (lolz) to sound like something else.

This track is dedicated to Joe Cammisa, for all the time and hard work he spent organizing the Bound Together project, drama and all. Rendering and mastering generously provided by Mustin. <3

Link -
Dhsu

[The Orichalcon]

Source: http://www.zophar.net/zsnes/spc/ebspc.rar - Dalaam

Starting off your piece description with "Flaws and all" doesn't give great first impressions.

30 seconds into the mix and it has a very gentle and peaceful sound, yet to hear any standout "flaws", everything seems to meld together nicely here. The piano playing is serene at best. I can feel the eastern-vibe you've put into the mix.

I was going to type something and lost my train of thought, listening to the mix.

Production is good, nothing clips, nothing is too quiet, the way the piece is played and recorded lives up to the name of the instrument it was played on. No worries here. Have to wait to see if Larry or Gray notices any hiss or drone that my headphones are incapable of picking up on though.

The arrangement took me a while to pick out, the two pieces are so different, the transition to piano seems almost alien. It's a good rearrangement though, I can pick up on it more easily now that I know what to listen for. The way the melody kicks off reminds me a lot more of Disney's "Robin Hood" than "Pocahantas", and some parts even go as far as reminding me of Aeris' theme from FF7.

Anyway, solid arrangement, beautiful performance, easy pass.

YES

[Liontamer]

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=mo2 - "The Floating Kingdom of Dalaam" (mo2-093.spc)

Played this back on VGF68 for the Joe Camera, so I know it all too well. Well, to be honest the very intro doesn't give great first impressions, but it's only a brief thing. The beginning, around :05-:09, is kind of rigid, and the release on one of the notes at :08 seemed awkward. The way the track faded down at 4:12 also felt abrupt, like the last notes should have wound down longer. It's certainly a lot better than the original rendering of "Nayru's Lullaby/Love", which was just sloppy. Anyway, other than those minor things, it was smooth sailing. WHY? I will tell you why.

Source tune drops in right at the very tail end of :39 after some very nice, delicate-sounding runs. The arrangement was pretty solid for solo piano, with some good supporting writing to compliment the arranged melody, plus the wholly original sections were woven seamlessly with the EarthBound arranged ones. All very solid stuff.

The motifs here were repeated several times, but David took care to build more and more underneath his melodies with each iteration and present something dynamic and evolving the whole way through. That's just smart, sophisticated writing. Very relaxing work.

YES

[JJT]

nice work David.

the piano sample is absolutely fantastic, though apparently that's the work of Mustin.

my favorite parts of the arrangement are where you leave space - where you let the various tones and colours resonate and embrace each other. there are some great moments here.

the modulations at the end were tasteful, and used skillfully.

this is direct post material in my opinion. i don't know why we're voting on this.

YES

[Vig]

Originally Posted by -JJT-

this is direct post material in my opinion. i don't know why we're voting on this.

YES