Eino Keskitalo

Thanks for the kind words. I do intend to finish my track eventually, I've wanted to do something from FFMQ since forever.

Nice to see all these newer indie games get some coverage. Hoping to see some of these worked into OCR submissions!

Good stuff as always! Nice chills in Frozen on Mechanical Island. You should totally write a soundtrack and have someone do a game around it.

Though I liked the acoustic drum sound, these seem to gel better with the rest of the mix. Good update!

Sounds cool! I'm already looking forward to the soundtrack.

That version of Space Invaders seems to have been a simultaneous release for PlayStation and Windows (plus a N64 release a month later).

Didn't manage to transcribe much more than the bassline, apart from the intro and the eight bars in the middle of the source that served as the starting point for the adaptation to this sound. So it's a skeleton, but maybe it'll be an interesting skeleton to listen to nonetheless.. I'm happy to have started this tune, as FFMQ was one of the first soundtracks to make me really notice VGM, and it's still a really good soundtrack. Transcribing the piece is making me appreciate it even more.

I'm assuming it's a live acoustic drum track, so layering it with samples sounds like a ton of work.. btw Phonetic Hero, that was a good explanation about the fundamentals in drum sounds and stuff - immediately useful for me!

I've got a 13 seconds WIP done! I notice the thread topic says voting stage, but the deadline on thasauce is still 14 hours away? I'm cool either way, I'm happy to have started something out of a nostalgic source tune, and even if I managed to continue this one, I think it's probably pretty non-MnP so I'd only submit is as a bonus, most likely.

Pretty good start and an interesting genre adaptation! I think the style works quite well. The intro is very nice - it's good to start off strong. Transferring the melody between strings and trumpet is a nice touch, xylophone is cool. Love the triangle, too. Percussion and bass seem pretty repetitive and slightly overpowering, though I'm sure you're yet to adjust everything, add variation, work on the velocities etc (but right now it took a second listen to notice how much variation in the instrumentation you had in your a-part behind the beat). The backbeat with the orchestra was kind of strange to hear, though I wouldn't say it wouldn't work! The sound of the percussion is kind of soft compared to the snappier sound of a rock drum kit. Perhaps you can imply a backbeat rather than being so explicit with it, if that makes sense. Very good start! It's a fun and unexpected take on the fun original.

I'm a huge fan of sticking to the exclusives* with something like this.. though it would make sense to me to allow ports IF the music was different - this is a VG music project/site after all. Just my 2 eurocents. *) or games-that-debuted-on-this-platform

Pretty groovy! Lovely drumming, and a nice, varied arrangement with initially a dry "narrow" chiptune soundscape, but branching out to include more varied and "advanced" sounds. In a sense, I thought the drums could've been a bit more forefront in the mix. I'm not sure if it makes sense, but I also thought they're a bit stuck in the centre and could be wider in the mix - some stereo sweeping during some fills might be a nice effect. I thought the arrangement had a pretty nice ebb and flow structurally, growing and then going back to the basics, or more restrained part here and there. And I agree, the vocoded vocals add quite a bit, it's a nice texture - I think you don't recognize them as vocals unless you pay attention and that works just fine.

This IS the right opportunity. I'll do my very best to participate to honour the return of Dj Mokram! =) edit: haha, not my kind of tune at all.. let's see what I can figure out to do with it.. ooh, there's a nice little Chrono Trigger/Castlevania: Symphony of the Night -type bit in it. And come to think of it, this isn't that far off from say Legend of Silpheed music or Zeliard, which I like quite a bit.. (it's not that I didn't *like* this type of tune, just that I don't know what to do with it. ok enough blabbering)

Oooff, looks like I've "slept" through the deadline.. there's some other deadline on 28th, right? Anyway, I should be able to work on the track this week. Sorry..

Great atmosphere from the start and that stays throughout. The harmony of the piece has a nice tension (Picardy third stuff?) & the sounds compliment that feel very much. It's quite optimistic but also excited.. anticipative, if that makes sense! Cool interpretation of the source - I thought the source itself had some iffy writing that didn't quite work but you didn't seem to include those portions. I very much like the gradual introduction of the beat, and the pacing of the piece was pretty good. I thought the bell writing could have been a bit sparser in the beginning to enhance the development of the mood.. it's slightly noodly to my ears. There's a couple of weird harmonic choices at the end (around 2:45-2:49) that stick out and don't make sense, hurting the impression of the track a bit at the end. My favourite bit was the backwards-y synths around 1:40-1:47, very nice also writing-wise. The chords going back and forth to build up around 2:00 was also a nice touch.

Nice initiative! I like that you're going for games with no posted ReMixes yet. It's also nice that people get opportunities like these to bypass the usual waiting time (that's a huge appeal for albums intended to have short development cycles too).

I'm hoping to see that too

I simply loved this song, getting goosebumps. I like how solemn it is and I also was a fan of keeping the vocals dry, center and singular the whole tune - a harmony might have been nice but for me it really delivers as it is, without additional oompah or sugar coating. It sounds more direct and earnest this way (I'm guessing, anyway). (Also, I'm glad there's no thundering drums and stuff, or modulation coming in, that kind of thing ) Can't say I was bothered about the guitar sound either, sounds good enough to me, might be better if it was better sounding but no problem. The swelling string/pad is very nice, the single line bowed string is pretty weak and pushed to the side, but not a huge issue. I can hear the autotuning, it doesn't bother me, though I'd prefer without (tough of course it's nice that it's in tune). I enjoy Dustin's voice quite a lot here. Well done, and that it was made for the occasion is super cool - thanks for sharing!

Pretty interesting stuff from a quick listen here and there. Wishlisted for later..

Thanks k-wix! The Cave Story Remix Project was one of the pre-OCR remix things for me and there's a couple of really good ones in there. I didn't realize you worked on the 3DS/etc version, it's my soundtrack of choice for Cave Story+ actually. Thanks for the detailed feedback & walkthrough, it is really appreciated. I also got other feedback just now and it's clear to me what I'm trying to do with the piece isn't quite happening - I'm just hearing it in there! The staticness is an attempt at a kraut-rock style "monotonic bliss" that keeps things quite reined in and simple (but driving) until building into a cathartic climax/pay-off (usually). Except that the moment the bass finally variates, and the ending, aren't working as I imagine they are.. (one thing that is lacking is the organic band playing from krautrock, where subtle interplay and dynamics are happening all the time despite playing the same thing over and over). And the lead, yeah I can hear now that it needs at least one more pass at reining it in. Very well described in your feedback! I may alternate it with some other sound too some more so it doesn't play all the time. Do you mean it's good that it stays static up to that point? I'd like to think yeah, it works up to that point but after the break it gets repetitive. How do you mean bad? Compositionally? In sound? Structure-wise? I would really like to make this part of the piece to work, though if it won't that's ok, I can drop it. So I was thinking of trying dropping the drums and building the beat up again after the break and at the start of the outro, to make it build up to first the bass change, and then to the final chord. Or in some other ways signal those changes. I might well shorten the piece too if it comes to that. Thanks once again, this does require & deserve a bit more work.. (and a bit of killing darlings)

This is my final round entry from the Final Fantasy Crystal Clash tournament. It's a dreamy major-key affair with a noisy beat. The mixing may be a bit washed-out and cluttered, I kinda like the mass of sound thing but I might just be able to hear everything clearly enough because I know what's in there, that might not be the case for the listener, so feedback on the mixing is especially appreciated! Looking to get this posted. final candidate one (2022-02-19): https://www.dropbox.com/s/opbhtwwoans6c4g/eino_keskitalo_-_sovitus-20220219.mp3?dl=0 --- update: WIP 2015/03/13 I've lessened the clutter a bit in the arrangement, especially purging/varying a little bit of the drumming. Nothing drastic. -- old: I know I'm going to work on the percussion, to vary it up a bit more, give it some breathing space and I recall I wanted to mix something a little more quiet, the snares or something. WIP: 2015-02-17 Here's the source breakdown (outdated). The long intro: 0:00-0:07 no source anywhere 0:07-0:24 The descending pizzicato from Lulu's theme (from the start) is there on the violin to the right, adjusted to major key.. if you'll accept that 0:24-0:41 Pizzicato continues; Lenna's bells from 0:00-0:10 on the chippy synth to the left 0:41-0:50 Pizzicato First "verse" 0:51-1:24 Lenna's bells + melody (on the fake guitar, different rhythm) from 0:06-0:28. Second "verse": 1:25-2:00 Bits of Lenna's bells (1:25-1:27, 1:34-1:36, 1:43-1:44, 1:52-1:53) Bits of Lenna's melody (1:25-1:27 from 0:30-0:31, 1:28-1:38 from 0:30-0:38 (as if a lower harmony), 1:44-1:47 (0:18-0:20), 1:48-1:51 (0:21-0:24), 1:52-1:55 and 1:56-2:00 are derived from 0:24-0:30 but different, I guess. From Lulu, the melloflute melody 0:14-0:25 adjusted to key (& rhythm) at 1:27-1:32 & 1:43-1:49, (0:19-0:25) at 1:37-1:40 and (a further adjusted 0:14-0:19) at 1:56-2:00. These on the organ + chippy synth. I think I need to include that bass thing from Lenna's @ 0:39-0:42! 2:00-2:03 A little break First "chorus": 2:03-2:07 The lead sounds like a hybrid of both bells in Lenna's 0:55-1:01.. I might adjust that to fit the source better. Sounds a bit hyperactive, the source is very pretty and it would give a nice contrast in the piece perhaps? 2:07-2:11 Lulu's melloflute from 0:14-0:19 2:12-2:20 2:12-2:14 and 2:16-2:20 you can hear the higher bell from Lenna's at 0:55-0:58 in the background. 2:21-2:25 The descending pizzicato from Lulu's plays @ 2:21. Third "verse": 2:25-2:59 The Lulu's B-part melody from 1:09-1:34 plays twice I believe. Lenna-bells from 0:06-0:28 on the chippy synth. 3:00-3:01 a little break Second "chorus": 3:02-3:10 The lower bell from Lenna's 0:55-1:06. 3:10-3:36 Variations of the previous bit; the original melody is there in the background. 3:36-3:49 a wind-down.

Well, I liked the guitar idea but it doesn't seem I'm picking up the guitar in a while, so I started with the EQ (and stereo!) fixes, plus a couple of other tweaks.. I think this is better: Final Candidate 3

Aw yeah, I need to go back to this game. The bass sounds a bit even with the repeated notes, like it lacked round-robins. I like the "insistence" of the bass though, the repeating figure is great about midway in the piece. I really agree with the previous comments about the lateness of some guitar strums, and the pad hogging the space in the mix at points. The former sounds needlessly sloppy and the latter is obscuring the leading elements of the arrangement. I like how the arrangement seems to sort of evolve subtly in the feel and intensity. Good work!

If I get my first claim done in time, I'm interested in doing something from Rush Adventure. I'm playing that now with my daughter. (I got it after Darkesword recommended it to Chimpazilla in an OCR Talkback, and it's indeed not bad)

The blend of chipzy stuff and the guitar is a good fit here, the guitar with the velvety sustains and the chips sparkling away. Nice interplay in the arrangement. I can see that a little more oomph and variety in the percussive department could've benefited the piece. I didn't mind, but it could've made the piece a bit more grabbing. Have to say though, the bit less bassy soundscape was quite refreshing to the ears. Very enjoyable!