Eino Keskitalo

Guhhh, what the hell was that previous post about? I apologize and take that back. Embarrassing. A fine track and now I feel it does work as a whole. I *do* still much prefere those guitar parts of the tune, but the piano and choir bit works very well. It's not meandering at all.. I still don't like the fade - I like the idea that's explained in the writeup, but the fade just feels premature.. maybe that's because I'd just like to hear more of that delicious guitar. I personally would like a reremix or something of this material, trimmed a bit and focused on the guitar portions with an "I Want You"-style approach, but that's just me, and the piece is good as it is. --Eino

Absolutely fantastic throughout.. a delicious, varying but cohesive soundscape from start to finish. Extremely well mixed, a joy to listen to. --Eino

"Very nineties" I just heard from my left as I put this on play. It does remind me of a TV title theme of some sort.. Pretty solid stuff. I don't have many issues. In the very first part, the first 35 seconds, the sine-ish synth lead in the beginning is piercingly loud and competes with the guitar leads. The guitar could be tighter - I don't find fault with the lead tone, it sounds ok in the very next part, and towards the ending the background guitar melody in the same style sounds good as well. It may be that you just need a more inspired take there. I like the arrangement with the dual guitar lead! In the part that begins at 01:02 it feels like nothing takes the foreground. The distorted backing guitar doesn't fit in the song in my opinion, and is not great sounding, quite muffled and quiet. It makes it feel weak, which is not great for a rrrraging annnnggggry disssstorrrted guitarrrr. The chorused clean guitar I like, it could be more prominent. These specifics aside, it's a high-quality track, and a fun listen! Hope these comments were helpful. --Eino

Very nice. Pleasant even tough the mood is dark. The interplay is fun to listen to, good exchanges there. I bet this was fun to make! My critisism is that it's not as diverse dynamically as it could be - most of the sections are rather loud or louder - a really quiet section might have been very nice. Or other piano doing quiet things against the other piano being loud. That said, there is plenty of variation in the arrangement. Tempo also keeps static. Although that contributes to the piece having sort of a forward momentum throughout, some sort of an interlude with a different tempo (slowing down for a moment) might have actually highlighted that momentum. In any case, overall, I like the piece very much, and it's a keeper. --Eino

I guess you vote by sending Rexy a PM with your 1st, 2nd and 3rd favourite mix? There's no voting instructions in the posts. That or I'm reading impaired and can't find them. --Eino

I like, like, like this. It's a theme that has been mixed over and over again, but you manage to interpret it freshly. I think you could throw out the melody from the original 02:12-02:17, it sticks out, doesn't sound like it fits with the rest of it. The whole would benefit if it wasn't there, and there's certainly enough source all over the tune. The volume build up at 01:20 was kind of strange.. it to me sounds so much louder than the rest of the track, and I don't quite get what it's meant to "do." I actually like how it distorts - I'd keep that, but make the (subjective?) volume peak less loud. Intro could sort of "come in" more subtly, right now it feels like it's starting a few seconds on. A bit of silence at the start and letting the attack of the instruments be heard. Or maybe a fade-in. I disagree with HoBoKa about the sample quality - I love that it sounds a bit grainy. I really like the whole soundscape during the piece. Voices fit in ok. You could perhaps throw some more effects in them - making it sound like an old, just-discovered recording might be very fitting. You could even try recording it to tape and sampling it back. That would be fun. Ok, now I'm rambling a bit. Good stuff, thanks! I really enjoyed it already. In case you haven't yet submitted, I hope this was helpful. --Eino

I haven't really looked at the competitions forum before. This is a cool concept! Is it midnight yet? --Eino

Fantastic atmosphere. Really nice background atmospheric details (backward pianos and so on). That and the piano in general are the strong things in this ReMix. The drums sound a little muffled. They're ok though, mostly - there's some stuttering (in a bad way) with hihat/ride cymbal. Also I don't think the lowpass filtered beat around 02:40'ish really added to the piece. On the whole I have a hard time figuring out the flow of this piece, especially after that spot. In that context the drums feel slightly "glued on". They seem fine in the beginning, but towards the end they feel unfocused. The acoustic guitar sounds really good in my opinion, except at the beginning of the Prelude section, where they stutter really jarringly at a couple of spots. I wouldn't mind the sampled feel, but it's kind of underquantized. Good (quite minimal) selection of sounds - I liked the vox also. Regardless of all the criticism I have, this was a really refreshing piece to listen to. I enjoy it! --Eino

My gf likes this, so instant bonus points!

I actually like the intro very very much.. I like the whole structure - there's a calm intro filled with expectancy and a sense of wonder, then the middle part with all the action (esp. the drumming), and then the less busy last part. Perhaps the intro could use some additional, very subtle variation.. not necessarily more instruments, but for instance some fiddling with filter settings of the synth, making it "open" more slowly every now and then etc.. A very promising track I very much hope to hear finished. --Eino

Definite improvement! Good going! Ahhh! Thanks, now I get it, I've been listening to it "wrong". One thing that is still throwing me off is that the bass also starts at bar 8. So I kept hearing the bass notes of the part as | A | A | C | C | when it's supposed to be | A | C | C | A | right? Removing the bass from the 8th bar of the intro would erase this confusion. Of course it's generally not a bad idea to introduce the bass at the same time as the drums. Maybe it could do something like | G G# | instead of playing | A |. Sooo, it's an eight bar intro, and four bars of the first part, plus one bar with the drum fill, and then the next part. While it works, it could honestly afford to be a bit longer. It's a good sounding part and repetition wouldn't hurt, it would actually allow the listener to settle into the song. So the part after the intro, at least in my opinion, could be 4 + 4 bars long, plus the one bar fill. I think that would work. The fills are good now. I like them a lot. You've also added the bass drum to the intro, and I do think it works well. I might of course be biased since I suggested it. In my opinion this wasn't necessary in the first version, as the organ was very prominent and played through both parts. But I see what you mean in the latest version. I did like the "sparse" feeling of the first version - it was like a breather between busier sections. In any case I do think the third version works ok. It still feels like a breather thanks to the half-time beat. I generally like the second half. It feels like an outro to me, and for the most part a good one. I like the transition into it. The part feels slow and heavy. The main riff sounds excellent in it. I like the background strings which increase in volume over time. It has a great effect in my opinion. I don't get the 01:48-01:59 section. I think can hear the idea you're going for, but it's hard to follow and it throws me off.. I'm not sure if there's a problem harmonically/melodically, but it does feel like it a bit. The drum fill sounds awkward.. it's like the whole bit is too complex. My advice would be trying to simplify it, starting from the rhythm. I feel that the idea you have for that spot has potential, structurally it seems to fit. Sorry that I'm unable to give more detailed feedback on that.. Couple of more problems with the ending. The front cymbal crash sound is way too loud and exposed in the mix. Also it feels like the last half is somewhat louder than the first half, and feels like it's clipping/distorting. I also feel a lack of a bass instrument in the "weird" section. Otherwhere there's this long bass pad-like thing, right? I like the sudden end with the noises. Also, the drumming of the last half, and thorough the piece, pleases me. Structurally I think the outro is fine as it is, no need to add more stuff into it, or another part into the end. On the whole the piece feels on the short side. I'd suggest trying out a repetition of the main part and the half-time part before the outro, with variations of course. But nothing complex! The piece would benefit from sounding a little less busy as a whole. The sections sound pretty good in themselves. I like the piece! It's intresting and good-sounding, and it's getting better! -Eino

I really liked the first version better. My structural and drum fill complaints aside, it sounded well balanced. The organ sounded very good to me, I'm disappointed that you replaced it, the replacements don't sound good to me. The intro was fine without the melody instrument. It was better when it's first appearance was in the next section. The final section does not need the additional chimes. And that sound which replaces the organ is pretty awful, actually. The intro is still seven bars long, but now the next part (where the bass comes in) begins with a drum fill (at 00:14). I don't get it. Seven bar intro didn't sound bad actually.. try to begin the next section without the drum fill, with just the beat? The drum fill at 00:24 is much better than the previous one, it didn't feel like it broke the flow, even though the section at 00:14-00:25 is six bars long, which is another case of unusual structuring. I still have a hard time making the sense of the whole. I'd suggest: putting the organ back; removing the chiming keyboard lines from the intro and the final part; taking the drum fill out at 00:14. If you want to incorporate more ideas, put more stuff in, just continue the song. --Eino

Instant bonus points for showing love to the Shining Force series! Nice pick for source (my copy says it's "Field Map 5"). Quite a haunting melody, lots of possibilities. I like the fake guitars in the right channel. They seem to have the perfect sound for the track. They only bother me at 01:23 where the rhythm is awkward. The chords in the left channel aren't so great, but the non-chord stuff at 00:51-01-06 actually sounds rather good. There's a funny bit at 00:59 though. More please. --Eino

Oh yeah, I like this one a lot too. --Eino

Yeah, the water's quite loud in the beginning. I like the driving beat. I agree about the snare being panned too much to the side, it tires the ear. The tom sound is not bright enough in my opinion, the drums sort of disappear when there's a tom fill in the middle of the beat. Also, I think the tom fills at 00:51, 01:25 and 02:11 sort of break the flow, the fill for instance at 01:06 works much nicer (it's at the end of a section, not in the middle of it, which might be the issue). Breaking the flow might be what you're going for, of course.. in that case, the fills could be more sparse, in my opinion. Just a few hits. I think those cross stick hits ("clack!") - or are they rimshots - you add to the basic beat at 00:38 are quite good. However, when you do variation on those at 01:00, it sounds somewhat forced. I feel the accents or the loudest strikes are at weird places - it breaks the flow. In my opinion if you want those specific accents, the main beat should also change accordingly. I like how you drop the bass for a while around 02:17. The bass in general could do much more during the song, it's extremely basic. It does give room to the beat, but it could do that and still be much more intresting. It also sounds a bit bright and thin for what it does. Maybe drop an octave or change the sound? The flute and piano play the melody in unison very briefly at points. I think those sound good. At 03:02 you have a section where they play together, but different melodies (I guess the piano plays a countermelody, I don't know the terminology very well). It might be very powerful to have them play in unison for a longer time. Perhaps worth trying out! I hope this was useful, --Eino

I have no problems with the main beat, on the contrary, I think those are good. Just to clarify. Great! I'll be listening. --Eino

The track sounds confusing and cluttered on the other hand, and on the other hand it's quite atmospheric and intresting. I like it, except for a few issues. I'd like to hear the original and compare, can you (or somebody) point me to it's direction? 00:00-00:13 Effective intro with a good hihat rhythm, low bass wobbling and some effect sounds. This works fairly well. There's a problem, though. The intro is seven bars long. It makes it sound like you throw the drumfill in too early. Just make it one bar longer, and that should fix it. Don't get me wrong, seven bar long intro, as opposed to what I guess would be the conventional eight bars could be cool. It just doesn't work here. It sounds confusing and undeliberate. I think eight bars would fix that. One problem why it doesn't work, is that I hear the rhythm of the hihat not starting at the start of the song. To me it starts two hihat hits after the song starts - about a half a second into it. When I count "one-two-three-four" starting from where I hear it starts, the drumfill appears too suddendly, and the beat comes in on three, which sounds wrong and confusing. You should somehow indicate where the "one" is in it. With a bass drum on each "one", for instance. That might fix the "suddenness" of the drum fill and the starting of the beat, and you could keep the intro seven bars long. So, either put in a bass drum on each "one" of the beat, or make the intro before the drum beat starts eight bars long. That's my advice. I hope that was understandable. Ask if it wasn't.. 00:13-00:25 Ok, the things get going! Nice understated pads play in the background and a vibraphone-like keyboard plays the melody.. very atmospheric! And the beat, very nice, every other snare is a bit early, sounds very intresting.. hey, what the hell is happening? It just all falls apart? The first four bars are good. Please, just repeat them! The two-bar drumfill transition just does not work. It just sounds and feels like the piece falls apart, and not in a good way! Don't be afraid to repeat a section that works. What happens at 00:22-00:25 just kills the track. Good thing is, it's easy to fix! I think you should keep this part simple and conventional. I think it sounds you're desperate to do something "intresting" and unconventional. Don't be afraid to keep it simple. Trust that you will get it to sound good (it will!). You have a great "weird" section coming up in my opinion, it's important to keep the track together until then. 00:25-00:57 Ok, I guess here is where the "main melody" part comes in. I like the crescendoing choir pads, they're fairly tastefully used. I don't really like the bass much. The way it oscillates between two notes draws too much attention to it, and I feel the organ should really be the focus. I'd like to hear the original to comment more on this section. 00:57-01:24 This in my opinion is the "weird" section that works. I like the half-time beat, really nice change of pace. What is "weird" is how the chord changes aren't at the "ones" of the beat all the times. It sounds great in my opinion. I think the overall feel and flow of the track will improve greatly when you look at the rhythmical and structural issues of the first two parts. It will make it easier to appreciate and evaluate how well the later parts work. Please keep working on this! --Eino

One of the most memorable tracks on VotL. I love the "cyberpunk" feel I get from this. What a tasty bass! There's a lot of space in the mix which is really nice. I love the subtle, eerie synths, and the big "wide" distorted guitar chords which are like sheets of metallic sound. The middle ska section with the piano and organ is fun, even if I like the other parts much more, and the sections complement each other well. Can't complain. A fantastic track! --Eino

Very solid track. Sounds great, and the viola really takes it to another level. Great work, guys! --Eino

I'm not a rave fan, but I'm impressed what you've done here! Hearing the first few piano chords is just.. chilling. I really like how you've changed the first part after the tempo change into minor key. Try to make the chord at 01:33 a major chord. As the next part is in major key, that might make an awesome transition. Or not, but I hope you try it! --Eino

I think the lossy audio compression MySpace probably applies to the track is really harming the track. The violins especially sound really lossy. Trying to listen past that, I really like what you did with the strings - they're a great addition to the track. --Eino

Oh yes, I second the request. I've only played the Master System version. It has mostly the same score, although of course with different sounds. I think the Clock Tower track in the SMS version is not on the MD/Genesis soundtrack though - and that's definitely my favourite. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emOlaElAmds --Eino

I agree, it's a great, if subtle, soundtrack. The geoscape music and the tactical battle music are wonderful electronic ambient, and possibly quite tricky to ReMix. But then there's also a good bit of rocking out in the aerial combat and briefing pieces, I recall. Note that the PSX version has rearranged music, which are definitely worth checking out. --Eino

Hi BGC, I must apologize. Thank you for posting the link to the link to the review guidelines. I have read them (believe it or not), but it's pretty embarrassing to see how I managed to break the very first one with that post. You're of course correct that what I posted was opinion, not fact. I have a strong opinion in the matter and I was ranting, and this was definitely the wrong place for it. I think I may made a similar comment in another review post, and I apologize for that as well. Finally, I wasn't very serious, but there was very little to indicate that and I now realize I that it was a pretty idiotic post. On top of that I recognize that some or most of the "constructive criticism" bits in the post weren't very helpful, and come across as fluff thrown in to make the review seem valid. I should have let the ranting out and given a bit more thought on those. Agreed.. I should thought better about pushing "submit reply", as this was a wrong place for such a rant. Frankly, I probably haven't even played enough of current generation games to come across a recent soundtrack I really really liked. Well, I'd love to attend VGL or a similar concert, and rest assured, I'd attend with an open mind. Looks like it's coming to Scandinavia in 2009. A trip to Sweden just might be feasible for me then. Heh, a fair point. I knew what I meant but didn't know how to phrase it. A question I'm myself asking now is if I don't appreciate the style, how do I critique it fairly?Anyhow, I've now listened to the piece quite a few times, and here's hopefully a better review: I'd label this one "blockbuster action film soundtrack styled orchestral electronica". I don't generally like this style, but this is an accomplished mix that I find fairly enjoyable despite my reservations, and those who like the style should appreciate it. The piece opens with an eerie synth, then drums and a bubbling synth bassline come in. I like the "cold ambient" sound of the synth, and the drums aren't being pummeled with 110% power right from the start, which leaves a bit of room for growth later on. Brass and strings come in at 00:39 and the tension starts to build with additional breakbeat fading in. The brass part sounds good, and it builds up very well. I think the string part is a bit too busy this early - it detracts the attention from the building tension. I felt less would have been more in this particular section, although it's probably good to introduce the figure. Maybe a something like a plucked version of the figure would have been good though, that would have added more sense of growth later on. The next section has no bass (just the less-is-more effect I meant before), keeps the breakbeat and adds a slightly harpsichord-like synth to a great effect. Then there's a similar figure like the previous string figure, only on lower strings, and here the feeling of build-up is tangible. In the next part a "modern" beat enters. I really like the electric guitar -sounding thing on the background! The lower strings sound a bit out of rhythm with the beat. It's only slightly so (and doesn't happen with just the previous percussion), but it gives the impression that the styles don't integrate as well as they should. It seems to bother me a lot on every other listen, other times it sounds fine. There's a lot of big overlapping brass and string lines, and it starts to feel a bit much for me, but it does work and there is a sense of build-up throughout, which is very important. I like how the bass guitar (?) comes in just before the breakdown. The breakdown is a refreshing breather after the build-up of the previous few minutes. I feel the piano is a bit busy in the breakdown - there certainly were a lot of notes before, so the part could afford to have a bit more "space" in it in my opinion. In any case, it's a good transition and I really like how it develops into double-time electronic beat very seamlessly. I definitely like those little pauses. I generally enjoy the last half of the mix quite a lot - it takes the tension built in the first part and goes wild with it. I feel the timing issue again when the string part is added back in towards the rock section, although it's not as noticeable. Also for a brief while before the synth solo the guitar and strings/bass seem to compete against each other for the same space and they sort of steal thunder from each other. Nevertheless the idea of reintroducing the string/bass is good, and ties the ending to the beginning neatly. Overall the structure of the piece works very well. It doesn't feel like a six minute track, and I mean that in a good way. (Not that I dislike long pieces in general). Also, I don't know the sources but the pieces are obviously arranged together very well, as it feels like just one cohesive piece. Not a keeper for me for genre reasons, but nevertheless some very good work here! --Eino

Yeeaaah, I guess, but especially I do think those two tracks segue nicely. It works well in the game too, as the second world has a very similar feel to the first one and this is reflected on the soundtrack as well. --Eino