Innocent Heaven (Seiken Densetsu 2/3 Remix)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93823550/NyxTheShield%20-%20Innocent%20Heaven.mp3

Name of the Remix: Innocent Heaven

Games: Seiken Densetsu 2 (Fear of the Heavens) and Seiken Densetsu 3 (Innocent Sea, and bits of Meridian Dance)

Comments: I played this game for the first time this year. At the beginning i though it was nothing especial until i went further it. Until this song kicked. I just stood still, without advancing the text, just to hear this wonderful yet haunting melody. I haven't felt like that since i was young, and i stayed with the pause screen on the aqua levels of DKC or trying to play the world map theme from Final Fantasy IX. For bringing this wonderful sensation back, i think this piece deserves a tribute.

MOD REVIEW

Nice blend of two great tracks - I love me some Secret of Mana 2. Clean and calming here, using the acoustic guitar to set the calming mood and the rest of the instruments to achieve an almost mystical atmosphere. It actually sounds really cool, though I do have some thoughts on the track overall.

Overall, the production is so-so. The acoustic guitar forming the harmony is very distracting every time you leave the scratching in the recording. For a live performance it's acceptable, but for a recording it is just distracting, especially since it's not hard to edit them out with your DAW (or hell, even Audacity, if you're working on a budget). Toward the end things also get muddy - too much fighting to be in the front, leaving me confused whether you wanted the piano or the wood flute to be the focus of that section. Finally, the guitar at 0:46 is pretty piercing in comparison with the rest of the track, so be sure to bring down its high EQs, to soften that effect.

The performances were pretty spot on, in general, though again that backing guitar sounds like it lands a little late on the notes (we're talking milliseconds, but it clashes with the sequenced bits). Playing a live instrument against a quantized one is tough because these discrepancies become glaring, so to fix this you'll probably either need to record the performance more accurately or edit the notes so they land more precisely with the quantized track. If anything, the second option would probably be more feasible. Another rewarding possibility would be to remove the quantize from the sequenced parts and have them sound slightly (SLIGHTLY) more humanized, as to fit better with the guitar in the background. Otherwise, nice work on the performance.

The arrangement is pretty cool, using Angels Fear to Tread as a bookend like that, and the Innocent Sea as the meat of the track, but I think it should be expanded a bit. Unfortunately, once the second source comes in it almost sounds verbatim to the source, so it sounds a little like slapping the two sources next to each other rather than any mixing of the themes. Granted, this is a close call on my part, but I'd lean that some more integration of the sources would help your cause.

Sounds very nice, actually, but I don't think it would pass on the site as it stands. I hope you elaborate on this idea and eventually submit it for another Mod review when you've touched it up.

MOD REVIEW

Nice blend of two great tracks - I love me some Secret of Mana 2. Clean and calming here, using the acoustic guitar to set the calming mood and the rest of the instruments to achieve an almost mystical atmosphere. It actually sounds really cool, though I do have some thoughts on the track overall.

Overall, the production is so-so. The acoustic guitar forming the harmony is very distracting every time you leave the scratching in the recording. For a live performance it's acceptable, but for a recording it is just distracting, especially since it's not hard to edit them out with your DAW (or hell, even Audacity, if you're working on a budget). Toward the end things also get muddy - too much fighting to be in the front, leaving me confused whether you wanted the piano or the wood flute to be the focus of that section. Finally, the guitar at 0:46 is pretty piercing in comparison with the rest of the track, so be sure to bring down its high EQs, to soften that effect.

The performances were pretty spot on, in general, though again that backing guitar sounds like it lands a little late on the notes (we're talking milliseconds, but it clashes with the sequenced bits). Playing a live instrument against a quantized one is tough because these discrepancies become glaring, so to fix this you'll probably either need to record the performance more accurately or edit the notes so they land more precisely with the quantized track. If anything, the second option would probably be more feasible. Another rewarding possibility would be to remove the quantize from the sequenced parts and have them sound slightly (SLIGHTLY) more humanized, as to fit better with the guitar in the background. Otherwise, nice work on the performance.

The arrangement is pretty cool, using Angels Fear to Tread as a bookend like that, and the Innocent Sea as the meat of the track, but I think it should be expanded a bit. Unfortunately, once the second source comes in it almost sounds verbatim to the source, so it sounds a little like slapping the two sources next to each other rather than any mixing of the themes. Granted, this is a close call on my part, but I'd lean that some more integration of the sources would help your cause.

Sounds very nice, actually, but I don't think it would pass on the site as it stands. I hope you elaborate on this idea and eventually submit it for another Mod review when you've touched it up.

Thanks for the feedback!

Just a couple questions and comments:

-I love the guitar scratching, i give the acoustic guitar a distinctive sound, i think i am gonna stay with it or tune it a bit down, removing it would take out the point of using the acoustic guitar in the first palce (I have an electric-acoustic guitar with nylon strings that doesnt record the slide sound when i connect it to line)

-Could you point me to some timestamps where the late guitar clashes with the piano??

-Sure, i will tone down a bit the higher frequencies of the electric guitar, i think i forgot to equalize it hehehe (Oops)

As for the arrangement part, what do you think could be done? I have a piano thatc reates a new melody that evolves in the middle part of the song for the enterity of its duration, should i make the piano stronger?? Add a new melody with the flute? Add a new source? (I can't add Fear of the Heavens in that part because i saved it for the ending).

Again, thanks for the feedback, i will try to fix some of the flaws.