Wynd_Balduram

I'm sorry. I took the WIPs off of the site because I uploaded the final version in order to submit it. I forgot to put a link here in the post! Here's the link to the "finished" product. (I use quotations because, knowing me, I'll mess with it some more later, even if it does get through the judges.) http://www.phoenix-rock.com/Final_Fantasy_Mystic_Quest_Benjamin's_Fight_for_Life_OC_ReMix.mp3 I can put up the other WIPs again, if you guys want to compare them, or something like that.

Yeah, I'm going to submit it and see what happens. I'm just reading up on the submission guidelines and checking out some stuff in the judge's decisions forum, and absently trying to think of some other names for it. I'll probably end up leaving it the same. I'm kinda excited! Thank you all, for about the 500th time, for all of your help and input. I wouldn't have had the motivation to try and perfect this piece without it. You all have been a tremendous help. Wish me luck!

Whew. I had a nice little break, and came to it from a different angle. I figured that one of the reasons the mix sounded a little muddy and cluttered was because some of the instruments were competing for space. For instance, the snare didn't sound as crispy because it was competing for space in the same place as the rythm guitar, which took up many of the "crispy" frequencies... Long story short, I panned everything to center to see how it sounded (I was surprised that it wasn't too muddy - Just cluttered...) and panned everything out from there, to give each instrument its own space in the mix. Maybe I did something right? http://www.phoenix-rock.com/FFMQ-Battle-WIP-6.mp3

No, I'm not using any sonic maximizers or compression on the master track. I am using individual compression on most of the instruments, though, and most of the instruments are at least a little saturated with reverb. The synth is, at least. I think I could cut out some of the reverb on the lead part to bring it to the front some. I just got back from class, so I'm going to work on it some more. As for your frequency cutting method, Avaris, I've been doing that from the beginning. It really does help to get rid of excess frequencies that most instruments don't really need, and it helps to make the drums sound more punchy, especially the bass and the snare. But I'll tweak with the lead and compression and dynamics some to try and get everything to fit into place and run smoothly. Edit: Here's Number 5. Did some more tweaking. Lead sticks out now and is a little louder. Should be less muddy, due to drop out of frequencies below 160 Hz, I think... Lowered the overall levels of each of the instruments by just the tinniest fraction of a hair to lower overall volume and allow the drums to shine through a little bit more. http://www.Phoenix-rock.com/FFMQ-Battle-WIP-5.mp3 I think I'm going to take a break for a little while. Ears are getting tired and I'm getting a little impatient with myself. Time for some WoW! Again, thank you all for all your help. It's great to be able to bring musical ideas here and get suggestions and help on how to make them better.

Alright, here we go. Thanks again everyone for all the help you've given me. There's one thing I realized working with music and art in general: No matter how good something is, there are always ways that it can be improved. Here's the link to the latest version. I can't remember all of what I did to it... Oh well! http://www.phoenix-rock.com/FFMQ-Battle-WIP-4.mp3 Since you guys know what you're talking about (I assume you all have done remixes of your own and mixed your own music, otherwise, where would you gain the knowledge?), I wanted to ask this question: Do you think that my piece is worthy of being submitted as an OC Remix?

I was thinking the same thing after I mixed it down and listened to it a couple of times. There's a part near the middle of the breakdown that just screams "Kick it back into action!". I'm working on it and listening to it as I type this... I think I'll have something else within the next hour or so... Edit: Okay, let's try this again. I took your advice, Avaris, and added a secondary sythn part behind the intro part to make it sound fuller. I also added some mild overdrive to the kick, snare, and the toms (I was surprised at the thickening effect it had, to be honest), and tamed the levels. The snare doesn't scream at you any more! Heh heh... I also toned down the pick scraping the strings at the beginning (The reason I kept it in there is because the scraping sound was what I always though of when I heard the intro on the game.) As for the end... Well, you'll hear it when you listen. http://www.phoenix-rock.com/FFMQ-Battle-WIP-3.mp3 Edit: Link should work now. I have no idea why I like to use \'s instead of /'s...

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. Here is an (hopefully) improved version. I worked on the panning a little bit, brought out the toms a little, and added some measures to the ending. http://www.phoenix-rock.com/FFMQ-Battle-WIP-2.mp3

Thanks for the comments, Saron. I've loved this song since I heard it playing FFMQ for the first time, years back. I, personally, liked the game very much, and the music always inspired me, especially the battle themes. I didn't want to make the remix too long, though, for fear that it would start sounding redundant. I thought it would be nice to have it climax where the double-bass-pedal-heavy-metal part kicks in, and then kind of tone it down a little bit with the clean guitars and a sort of smoother lead, and make it sound overall less hectic, to bring it to an end that could lead to the immediate start of another song (I'm working on my own sort of album project, and I was going to bring in one of my original songs right at the end of this one, that's why it ends a little abruptly). As for the mix having the same general sound in terms of rythm on each channel, it's because I recorded a single, dry, rythm guitar part, split it into two different tracks, panned those two to the left and right, and ran them through individual plug-ins, with variation in the amp and cab models, E.Q., effects and all that. I wanted to give it a sort of uniform sound, but still make it seem a little different to each ear. I did it that way so as to not distract the listener too much from the lead guitar melody, and the synth when it kicks in, but maybe a secondary rythm guitar part won't be a bad idea? I did the same thing with the clean guitars at the end, but incorporated different delay timings to make it seem like they're bouncing back and forth. Damn... I talk alot. Any more comments or suggestions?

Hello all. I'm new to posting on the forums, but I've been listening to everyone's work here for a few years now. I thought I'd finally throw out something that I've been working on and see what kind of feedback I could get. http://www.phoenix-rock.com/FFMQ-Battle-WIP.mp3 - Right click and save as. Enjoy. Any comments, questions, suggestions, bashing, etc. are welcome.