Harmony
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Posts posted by Harmony
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Not horrible, but a very standard trance adaptation here. There are a few goodies scattered around to keep things interesting. I like the EQ change at 1:29-1:51 as it gives the kick at 1:51 a good amount of impact by contrast. The supporting synth with the cut/res automation that’s introduced at 2:21 is a cool addition to the soundscape and of course the biggest variation in the mix, 3:27, is welcomed indeed.
I wish this had a better variety of sounds and arrangement however. In terms of development and creative ideas, this feels more like a 2-3 minute mix. Once the synth that starts a build at 0:06 gets going at about 0:27, it barely stops for 3 minutes. That wouldn’t be so terrible if the lead synths were more interesting and dynamic than the static stock trance sounds that we have here.
Keep working at it Gregory. Experiment with the percussion more. Scrap the 16th/32nd note snare fills and pull an original fill pattern out of your hat. Try a new synth or effects chain. Go nuts! It won't all be pretty but when that’s done, take the best of it and mold it into something wonderful.
NO
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Tough call here but I’m going to have to go NO. Just as a solo piano piece is challenging because of the need to control the musical atmosphere and progression with only one instrument, mixes of this type need to control the dynamics of the piece with one key element: chaos. While there are many examples of this done successfully, in this mix there doesn’t seem to be a decent amount of control of the clutter’s subtle nuances to successfully differentiate complexity from confusion. The result is a piece that’s a lot less exciting than it could have been.
However, this is a fun mix for sure with dynamic percussive elements, sound FX created from instruments, cool wobbly leads and a beautiful supporting chromatic deal that gets pleasantly exposed at 2:09 for the excellent breakdown. The biggest contributor to my vote is the sometimes untamed percussion that doesn’t really seem to lead me anywhere. 1:15-1:38, 3:01-3:17 are examples of it. I’d love to hear this with the percussion reworked as I think a lot could be done with an incorporation of what works here and a few fresh ideas.
Good work Dave. I’ll be keeping this not just because I’m a big Mario Kart fan but also because there really is a lot to enjoy here.
NO
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The muddy strings and clipping of the intro are not a good way to start things off. However once some percussive highs kick in at 0:45, I find myself enjoying many sections of the rest of the track. The switch to 4/4 orchestral rock gives the Magus Battle theme an enjoyable drive but it’s nothing too expansive in terms of arrangement. Not a bad arrangement overall though, even if a little long-winded. I would reevaluate how important 5:12-6:32 is to your intentions Jeremy. It seems excessive and doesn’t really add any interest to the mix besides the appearance of the piano as a key player, which could be achieved earlier.
The fuller sections are nicely done and seem to be well balanced, if a little distant because of the reverb which I think could be slightly toned down in those sections. The sparse sections, which are compositionally great to have, unfortunately highlight the low quality of the samples and/or the mechanical sequencing (2:07-2:16, 5:13-5:42). The bass solo later on is a major offender in this area. The section from 3:25-4:02 is relatively well done though and although it’s simple I particularly enjoy it.
Aside from the sample quality, which with good sequencing would be passable, there are some consistent sound quality issues here that make this difficult to pass. The low encoding hurts so try for a VBR encoding next time. Taking a look at the mix’s waveform, it’s completely flat for most of the mix; the peaks are hacked off. This means you either mixed everything very loud or compressed (limited) heavily. Either problem isn’t necessarily a bad thing but waveforms like this can point to serious clipping of your precious audio, even if it’s not audible. In this case however it is very audible, especially in the less cluttered sections like the intro or 2:02-2:16. Can’t forget the clipstravaganza at 3:04. Be sure to keep a watchful eye on those levels in the future Jeremy.
A fun mix for the most part but there’s still work to be done.
NO
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LT Edit: After the decision was released, Harmony gave some extra comments in the mix's WIP thread that I thought would be useful to LeonHeart if he considered a resub. Since the WIP thread will eventually be pruned, I've pasted Harmony's additional comments from 7/27:
I genuinely enjoyed most of your mix but sections like 0:00-0:43, 2:02-2:16, 5:15-5:24 are pretty poor. Either the sequencing is very mechanical or the samples are too exposed. By mechanical I mean that every note is perfectly in tempo, the note velocities are very similar to each other and the lengths of the notes are very similar to each other. Computer precision is great for some things but not for music of this type. To make a piece sound more natural you have to vary these factors keeping in mind the way that a human would vary them. Listen to your bass solo and then go find a CD with a real bass solo in it. C’mon now. The piano, bass, drums and some strings suffer from this in your mix. Look for a ‘humanize’ function in your mixing program that might help you with this. Otherwise, if you’re recording parts live from a keyboard don’t quantize 100% or you’ll loose some of that good natural feel. If you’re sequencing with only a mouse, you might try not turning your snap-to-grid feature on in the piano roll or at least editing some of the notes with this feature off.
Some main samples are also pretty sub par. The bass solo sounds like SoundBlaster default, the orch hits are weak, the solo strings are only ok and the guitar solo isn’t too amazing either. When these elements are combined I absolutely love the sound but alone (exposed) they just don’t work. You might want to hit Hammersound.net and get some new soundfonts (for free) or SampleArena for new samples (yep, for free). Those are my favorites but the ReMixing forum is a great source to find lots of links to other good sounds (for free).
The drums are cool.
Clipping. If this was the best mix in the world I couldn’t pass this because it clips left and right. Clipping is when your volume levels go above a certain threshold and the wave is truncated (cut off) usually resulting in a buzzy sound rather than whatever sound was supposed to be there. When judging this I took the time to load your mix into CoolEdit to get a detailed look at your waveform. Looking closely, instead of many of the waves being shaped like smooth curves, they are hacked off at the top and are completely flat. That means some of the audio is clipped. Of course you don’t really have to go through all of that to see it because the clipping is pretty obvious (3:04 for example). To prevent this, watch the volume levels meter in your mixing program during playback. Usually if this meter goes to red then this indicates clipping (or very near to it). Some meters have a section beyond the red that gets highlighted if clipping actually occurs. Either way, don’t let this happen. Turn the master volume level down. If you are using a compressor make sure the compression ratio isn’t too high. If you are boosting the overall volume levels of the final mix then make sure to only ‘normalize’ it so that you don’t get clipping from that.
Yep, that’s all’s I got for now. You can PM me if you have any specific questions. Hopefully you’re not discouraged Jeremy. This mix is good stuff but as with anything, there’s room for improvement.
EDIT: Apparently SampleArena is temporarily down so try SynthZone. They've got a good list of sample/soundfont/synth links to sift through.
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Being around my old roommates and their FF love I’ve become pretty familiar with the source through osmosis. That being said, I’ve got no problems with the arrangement. At times the combo of the entrancing vocals, the modified time signature and the slick percussion overshadows the theme and allows me to forget that I’m listening to a remix, but honestly I feel it is well incorporated throughout.
The reverb drenched synths create a flowing backdrop for the vocals and percussion which drive things along quite nicely. The production is high quality, and in the end there’s nothing in the newest version that warrants a NO, however there are some issues that concern me. While Jill’s vocals are beautiful, they are mixed a little loud and high for my tastes. This produces some sharp S’s and T’s (0:43, 0:47, 1:56, 1:59,…) that I feel sometimes make for a harsh listen and at points don’t mesh with the flowing pads and soft piano. There is also a mid-heavy feel to the vocals that is especially present in the sections with lyrics as opposed to the ambient oohs and ahhs, which are very hot and fit well. In the end, as zyko said, some of my problems come down to me projecting how I would have mixed things in this mix. All-in-all the vocals here are a wonderfully effective carrier of the haunting melody.
Great collab.
YES
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Voting is resumed. Patrick has submitted a revised version which is linked in the original post. My vote is pending a review of this new submission.
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Yeah buddy, this has a great organic, Latin, New Mexico mesa vibe. From the acoustic bass to the classical guitar and pan flute this tune is sailing straight for a YES.
There are a few stumbling blocks however. Most notably is the desperate need for compression of the guitar parts. The volume jumps all over the place in many unwarranted spots (e.g. 1:16, 3:13); in a word it’s “punchy.” With guitar it’s an especially easy problem to fix since the dynamics are as much a result of the timber of the notes as they are a product of the volume, thus you don’t need to worry as much about over-compression killing a dynamic solo for example. All-in-all, compression would give this piece a much more polished feel. Ah but this is discussion for what will hopefully be one of Zircon’s next ReMixing Tips tutorials on mastering.
Another issue is the reverb, which although it may be thematically appropriate still doesn’t give it permission to wash some of your sounds out. The first two minutes were quite nice having a very airy feel but when the percussion entered at 2:14 I was ready for more instrument distinction; a change of texture. To your credit Don, clutter was avoided and reverbed or not the elements remained clear enough and certainly enjoyable.
The arrangement, straightforward as it is, is very slick as the style of this mix meshes very nicely with the original.
Good stuff but work on the relatively minor mastering problem for your future mixes. It can only make your creations sound even better.
YES
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source: http://www.zophar.net/gbs/dkland.zip (track 6)
This track has been on my playlist since it debuted in the WIP forum and if you hurry you can still catch my longer reviews of the mix there. The short version is that we have utter slickness here indeed. The samples are amazingly clean (I’m in rainstick heaven), the reverb/delay and processing in general is crystalline, the mixing is wonderfully balanced and the groove is infectious. I love that the phat bassline is highlighted by the brief break into original material at 1:45. I’m somewhat disappointed that the bass alone drops back for it’s solo crescendo at 2:36 though. It leaves the other elements without a floor since they don’t similarly scale themselves back.
The arrangement is certainly questionable since the composition is absolutely identical to the source in some sections. During those sections though, I feel that the alterations in the melody and it’s timing, in addition to the beautiful additive goodies such as pads and percussive FX, provide a good amount of variation from the source. Couple that with the sprinkling of original material (1:47-2:02, 3:25-3:37) as well as the decent variety of leads, and the arrangement is a go in my book.
Great work Patrick. It really sounds like that practice with Logic has paid off. Keep working at it.
YES
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Whoa, the kick has certainly been toned down from the original version but now it feels absolutely lifeless. For the driving vibe that they are after they’ve got to have a certain punch. For this mix, that's not the real problem child though…
What’s up with the droned notes? I swear some of them go for almost the entire mix and by 1:17 when the melody enters, the confusion that they create is absolutely unbearable. Without them I would probably say that this mix needs tons more variation and creative use of the source, as the KI melody is basically played verbatim over the muddled pads. Hit the ReMixing forum and ask around about cleaning up your sounds. You can keep a spooky atmosphere without the pad jumble.
NO
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Love the intro. I was hoping for a “this is the end” outro but alas ‘twas not to be.
Man, the SFX almost never let up. They are generally interesting but their relentless assault puts much of this mix right on the border of clutter. Honestly, their biggest crime is smothering the lead. Their accomplice: many of the other supporting elements. I’m going for a resub on this to give you a chance to clarify or intensify the melody in a few places: 1:02-1:18, 3:32-4:19. The last section that I mentioned is great but it feels like an unused backdrop just waiting for the classic Zelda them to bust in and lay down the melodic law.
The vocal breakdown is pretty slick and really highlights the cool compression on the drums. I could have done without the phaser-like effect on the lead vocals though. Your voice sounds strong enough that it doesn’t need to be hidden behind that type of processing. A similar yet much clearer effect could be achieved by cutting the vocal EQ highs and lows while maxing out the mids giving you a static flanger/phaser feel. Slight clipping on that last Ahhhh, but nothing too terrible.
Good work not milking the theme as is easy to do with such a great source.
You might consider decluttering (uncluttering?, anticluttering?) some of the busier sections but certainly work on bringing more presence to the thematic lead. If this doesn’t pass as is, I’m looking forward to the resubmission.
NO (Please Resumbit)
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That intro is hot stuff. It really takes you down through the depths of something that I would care not to dream about before exploding into the all out-guitar assault. The familiar Doom themes makes their presence known without being covers and a good amount of original material is incorporated to keep the sounds fresh. Rounding out the straight crunch of the rhythm guitars are some truly killer artificial harmonics wails, crazy solos, interjection of some slick synth/processing work at 1:12, 1:37, 2:20, etc. and a seriously hyperactive (in a good way) double-bass.
The general muddiness on this track is bothersome. It’s a great relief to hear the screaming lead come in at 1:49 to provide the first solid high frequencies since the screams in the intro. I can’t tell if the encoding or the mixing is the bigger culprit but my vote is pending a better encoding to make sure that the bulk of the mud can be eliminated. That harmonics shot at 3:30 would sound so awesome with the highs that, say, 160kbps could offer up.
Good tribute to a good game. Thanks for sending this our way Mick.
YES
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Pretty cool source material. Pretty cool mix. The mix has a great chill vibe that’s carried by the slick beat and dreamy delayed synths and piano. Although the bassline is cool, it’s much too present and for much of the mix it feels like it’s sitting on top of, not in line with, the supporting sounds. Consider toning it down with a volume adjustment and perhaps a little reverb. Good composition with a catchy hook, clear bridge, decent dynamics throughout, and a well-timed end. Unfortunately the slick beat, the cool baseline and the solid composition all come courtesy of the source tune. Unfortunately, I can’t pass this because of that reliance on the source.
I like your sound Crono. Work on mixing some of your own creative melodic/rhythmic ideas into the source and you should could turn out some quality remixes.
NO
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Very engaging, although not too large a departure from the original in terms of genre and instrument selection. In fact, the supporting string/snare combo is a dead ringer for the source in many spots. This is no source knock-off however. The interplay between the horn and string leads (0:03-1:20, 4:06-4:33) adds a wonderful vibrance to the already spirited source and the well-timed tempo and tone changes that are quite skillfully weaved together, form a dynamically evolving piece. Big pluses. With the difficulty involved in sequencing any solo instrument, let alone brass, I commend the sequencing of the cadenza.
The samples are fine and I’ve got no beef with them or their use. There’s an odd resonance/note at 0:47 which bugs me every time I hear it, but that’s nit-picking. I would have liked more action in the lower registers, other than the percussion and occasional brass note, which I think would help with the wingless’ hollow feel. I love the rich reverb used which brings a lot of mood to some of the lower brass notes. Also, the sprinkles of bells, timpani, cymbals, chimes and other orchestral goodies all act as great highlights to the more dominant elements.
Good stuff DZ.
YES
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You know, the bitrate is low but that’s not really the significant problem with this track imo.
First off, the piano sample is pretty nice. I can only imagine what the encoding process hacked off in terms of quality. It is decently sequenced as well with phrases like those around the 5:10 mark coming off as delicate and airy, as they should. Some points strike me as mechanical, like 8:45-9:04, but generally it’s not bad.
The waltz section with the subtle flute accompaniment is rather enjoyable.
While the last five minutes pick up steam in terms of variation and creative arrangement ideas, the first seven minutes seriously drag, as Shna pointed out. The last five minutes also takes the hardest hit from the low encoding since more orchestral elements are added which have a heavy reliance on the higher frequencies for sound clarity and quality.
Even without sound quality issues, the lengthy and largely unexciting composition killed the cat this time around I’m afraid. If you decided to work on shortening this piece up, I’d certainly start with the first 4/4 section.
NO
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This is fun stuff and definitely embodies the Mario vibe.
That being said I’m all for the first two minutes of this mix where the dry piano (which I enjoy), omm-tss beat, creatively placed SFX, attention to panning and decent lead synth make for a body-moving bubbly dance track. I love the carnival-esque sections at 1:10-1:37 and the outro. They are full of pure hoedown fun. I even like the cluttered section at 0:58-1:04 where the soundfield is packed with orch hits but doesn’t stay long enough to be offensive.
Unfortunately, come 2:45 my attention wanes as I realize that the last minute of the mix is going to be repeated material. For the genre, that’s to be expected and I realize that plenty of music in general thrives on repeated sections but in this instance, this repeated section loses me and for over a minute I’m left wishing that some new themes or arrangement ideas were introduced to spice things up. My decision comes down to how much that bothers me.
Oh how I wish that the last section was more creative but for what I feel are the strengths of the first portions of the mix I can see my way to a
borderline YES
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Great interpretation of the great source. The original elements are all here but they are stretched, twisted and contorted in that amazingly creative Shna style that’s so easy to love and so easy to hate. Whatever side personal preference puts you on it has to be conceded that this represents an expansive and skillfully executed tribute to Takenouchi’s work.
The bass-play at 0:57-1:20 is chilled magic. Throughout the track the bass is alive with variation and it’s wonderful to follow it as it takes the lead, then morphs into almost a supporting pad then is reborn with a the cleanest of funky slap styles. It meshes well with the seemingly endless array of other sounds that laugh in the face of repetition. One would think that with this many elements present clutter would be inevitable but the hard panning, distinctive EQ on each instrument, sparse reverb and variety of textures keeps the entirety of this mix as clear as a bell…a clear bell anyway…not a busted bell or something.
Eh, this YES is as easy as the easiest of NOs. Great stuff man.
YES
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NO Override
Agreed. More so for the encoding but your "poof" rearrangement argument is tough to ignore.
Sound quality-wise, what’s here sounds good though. The 128 kbps VGMix version sounds a little better but I think a radio edit and >128kbps may be the best bet to get under the size limits (although I hate suggesting that artists cut up their tunes).
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I agree that the mood and texture created by the instrument selection is interesting, although I can't chalk that up to the remixer's creativity since similar instrument combinations are used often in the Chrono series. Sound quality really isn’t an issue here since the samples are above the bar and the panning and slight reverb works to give the piece a bit of depth. The EQ could use a bit of tweaking as the low end feels a little flat though.
The biggest problem is the sequencing. Not only is it amazingly mechanical but this piece offers up some very odd, and I'm going to have to go with unpleasant, harmonies. Even if the sequencing was better humanized, the melodic phrases that are weaved together, especially during the first two minutes or so, are very repetitive and plain. At one point during the first 2:00 the supporting harp goes on eight-note mode and even when it interrupts itself with a triplet or two, the other instruments take up the plodding slack. The plodding is greatly reduced by welcomed tempo shifts around 2:00 and 3:00. Unfortunately after 3:00 (and to a great extent for much of the piece) the piano and some of the supporting instruments have almost no velocity variation making them feel static and uninteresting.
Remco, humanization comes in 3 major forms: note timing, volume and length (in that order or relative importance IMO). In order to create a more realistic performance you have to vary those throughout the piece keeping in mind the way that they would vary if a human was actually playing the instruments. Although it's not required of all pieces, for a mix like this that attempts to keep the same old world acoustic Chrono vibe, it is an absolute must. A little work in this area could really bring out the charm in this mix that’s hiding just beneath the surface.
Work on the performance and then we can discuss the arrangement but great work for a first submission. Keep working at it.
NO
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BTW, 2:23-onward's not from "DK Island Swing", but just from later on in the source tune (:51-1:33 of Mine Cart, actually).
Thanks Larry, I stand corrected.
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Great clean intro with a smooth ride, a decently punchy kick-bass combo and creamy supporting synths that I really enjoy. Can’t say that I enjoyed the generic break to the delayed staccato melody at 0:52 though. It’s just so common compositional tool for this genre that it doesn’t have the impact that it might have had at one time.
Once things get moving after 1:37 we’ve got a pretty standard but enjoyable vibe. The soundscape is pretty packed which isn’t a bad thing but in general nothing is very distinct. Consider that after the first 40 seconds or so the legato strings play almost non-stop without any processing variety which makes for a pretty plodding feel at times. Like Gray said, the texture lacks a certain amount of sparkle and EQ and possibly some variation/processing of the supporting synths could help give this mix a less mushy feel.
Many of the drum fill transitions during the trance sections were pretty nice but what happened to that same attention when the ballad section comes in? The transitions into and out of it feel very forced and lend to the ‘identity crisis’ of this mix. Honestly I don’t think that the section was bad as a separate entity (harpsichord bias). The processing on the drums wasn’t too hot though as the distortion seemed to restrict rather than enhance their power. Also more generous reverb and a helping of EQ work would beef them up a little.
The return to the same trance vibe after the ballad was disappointing since that would have been a good time to really cut loose with the lead or work in some interesting FX or something other than a repeat of the first section to a give-up ending.
Not bad overall but plain in terms of sound and arrangement. You have the skills to make the foundations of a really cool dance track. Now just focus on composition and the smaller processing details that will make your mixes shine.
NO
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There’s a lot to enjoy about this sinister devil of a mix. The lead synth in the intro has some really cool FX thrown on it and is crazy dynamic. The distortion is especially hot when it’s applied to the melody synth starting at 0:43. The percussion in the intro is a little discombobulated and I think a more controlled groove would serve as a better intro to the mix. After the bass drops at 0:39 the mix comes into its own though. The automation on the high hats, those industrial hits that are peppered throughout and the synth work all worked to keep things moving along.
Unfortunately the groove, the melodies and the synth work that’s setup after the intro linger for the rest of the mix. Make sure to keep the ideas and sounds in your mix fresh. To help, you might try randomly skipping around to a few points in your mix. If they sound too similar to each other then you might have a problem. In general I think that the level of arrangement is good but the repetitive composition brings it down.
The bass and percussion samples are good but they could be better. Although it doesn’t significantly affect my decision, for future reference you might want to head to the ReMixing forum and search for some upgraded percussive samples and also get some tips on bringing some life to the bass (it’s pretty plain as it is).
Good first effort Corey but I think the repetitiveness drags this too far down to pass. Hope you keep working at it.
NO
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Source tunes: http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/dkc.rsn - (track 11) “Mine Cart Madness”
Ah, the excellent source material that is DKC. It’s good to hear that this mix isn’t a straight cover and also attempts an interesting presentation of the source.
The two melodic sections are sprinkled on top of a soup of ambient pads, crunching guitars and sparse percussion. Some of those transitional pads are pretty enveloping such as those through 1:32-2:03, and act as a welcomed break in the rhythm guitar work. I wish the percussion behind them was a lot more interesting though. 0:19-0:41 features a bone-dry kick snare combo that really needs some work and percussion in other transitional sections is very subdued and sparse. The percussion sequencing/samples in the Mine Kart Madness section (0:41-1:32) isn’t bad but could still use some punch and variation.
The transition into DK Island Swing is non-existent leaving the entire last half of the mix feeling disjointed from the rest of the tune. The biggest tie between the two halves of the mix is the rhythm guitar which plays the same power chord from 1:42-2:31. That really gets stale right around 2:13 when the energy builds as if leading to something and then oddly drops back off leaving weak percussion and those honestly wonderful pads to fill the void. The rhythm guitar also feels very synthetic and lackluster from 1:42-4:20. Even if it’s not actually synthetic, it’s obviously a lot less dynamic and intense that the one from 0:42-1:32. What happened man? The leads during the last half have a good crunch although the performance feels relatively lazy at points (aside from the intentional sluggish vibe of the first portions of the solo). The solo work picks up steam towards the end and some of the shredded riffs are slick. Sadly the monotonous rhythm guitars start to get overwhelming at about the same time. Needless to say, a more gratifying ending would be nice.
The Mine Kart Madness section isn’t bad and if the DK Island Swing was better integrated with the rest of the mix we might have something. Sadly the two themes don’t work together here and the spaces between them are packed with ambiance that isn’t strong enough to stand on its own.
NO
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Excellent work. This has got a crystalline chill vibe that easily carries the listener through all 7+ minutes without feeling repetitive or being a pure ambient track. The melodies from the many sources flow together effortlessly and the original sections are inspired. I wish that I was more familiar with some of the tunes because the source material that I’m judging with is wonderful on it’s own but I’d also love to have an even greater appreciation of the amazing arrangement.
Some of the instruments are really amazing. The bass certainly stands out and acts as a reminder that try as we might, good live bass is difficult to find a substitute for. It’s a little loud and jumps out of its place at a few points during 3:06-3:47 but like I’d forgive a beautiful woman for just about anything, so it is with that bass. The accordion, the congas and the piano are equally as forgivable (although little forgiveness is required). I’m trying to place those drums…Sonic Implants? Wherever they are from, they are pretty slick as well.
I would have liked a little more full of a sound during The “Last Battle” jazz style melody at 4:43 is a great subtle touch that keeps the arrangement flowing right along and 5:20-6:33 is beautiful guys.
Alright, enough praise. I was looking for Shna’s theory breakdown of this one but I guess that’ll have to wait. In the meantime, I’ll happily close this with the fourth
YES
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So glad to hear that the unruly bass that came in after the intro has been calmed down. It now blends a lot better with the other instruments. I still enjoy the arrangement, particularly 1:25-1:53 which really grooves things along with the percussion switch up and cool layered lead. Unfortunately this version still carries many of the problems that I mentioned in my first decision.
The track is still muffled with most of the problems resting in the background elements and the percussion. The elements that do peak out are pretty interesting though, such as the panned square wave deal. The piano at 0:55 still needs some work, this time in humanization. The velocities on the notes feel pretty unnatural as they skip around somewhat wildly at points. A good helping of EQ work wouldn’t hurt either.
Mastering is the missing ingredient here. Individual track as well as global EQ and compression are being begged for to bring some kick to this mix. Stop by the ReMixing forum for help with that. Otherwise, keep working at it man.
NO
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There are some interesting SFX as well as FX automation towards the beginning but after 0:23 there’s little to keep this track from sounding bland until the break at 2:43. The dynamic panning of the beeping background synth is cool but everything else is very close to center and a little dry for my tastes. 2:43-3:26 has some groove appeal and I wish that it played a more prominent role other than an outro.
Arrangement is at cover level but for a straight cover it’s not bad. Next time Gabriele, get a little more creative with the source and really take it somewhere. In addition, work on creating more interesting sounds, synth processing/design, and sequencing more engaging percussion and you should be on your way. Be sure to check out our ReMixing and WIP forums to help you with your future mixes and your music in general.
NO
*NO* Lufia 'Hero's Solace'
in Judges Decisions
Posted
Very nice arrangement Michael. The two themes flow effortlessly together and I’ve got no problems with the level of rearrangement. I think that some of the ideas get repetitive though, especially considering the lack of variation in the left hand. It only plays repeated patterns of rather simple chords based in C, Ab, Bb and G throughout the entire piece. More complicated chords wouldn’t really help much but those roots have got to change at one point or another. As a result, I feel that the piece plods and points like 2:55, where a huge opportunity for a new chord addition is missed, become disappointing rather than exciting as they might have been. C minor is pretty easy to play in so experimentation is fun and easy to do; try it out.
You also might look at moving across more of the keyboard to add variety. Rarely in this mix are you outside of a 2 octave range. Where are the reverberant lows that carry so much depth in a well played piece? The highs that are here are very nice, especially towards the end, but they would stand out much more if the lows were there in contrast at some points.
The performance was wonderfully natural with tempo and velocity variations creating a nice flowing atmosphere. I’m wondering how much of a performance purist you are, i.e. how much editing did you do in Sonar after the performance? Most of the off-tempo rolls and notes add a lot of emotion and life to this piece. I’ve never worked with Hubbe but the positive hype sounds to be true. The quality is certainly there but I must mention that the static roll-off from the sampling of some of the notes is pretty abrupt and noticeable, especially on headphones. That doesn’t affect my decisions but it might be worth it in the future to look at using one of the other Hubbe pianos that have a little less of this.
Overall a very enjoyable mix with a lot of heart. A YES wouldn’t be wrong but sadly I think the mix falls a little short in the composition department. The beauty of 88 keys of goodness isn’t being fully appreciated. Vary the left hand root notes, explore the keyboard more and this mix will be a lot better for it. Please resubmit!
NO (Please resubmit)