Chimpazilla

Hi everyone, I am trying to arrange a new remix of a few songs from one game, and I want to make sure I'm not creating a medley. I'm using snippets from each song and trying to weave them together. There are portions of my arrangement when just one theme plays, then there is a transition section where another theme is woven in, then just that second theme plays for awhile, then a few bars of a third thing, then back to the first one, etc. So, it's not like A-B-C, it's more like part of B, then all of A, then C then part of A, then a different part of B, all with tiny snippets of D and E showing up. Arg that is confusing, sorry. Could someone just please tell me what definitely NOT to do? Thanks!

It's very repetitive (but isn't trance repetitive by its very nature?), so not sure how it will fare as an ocremix, but this Zelda fan loves it!!!

Hey Cash, your style is improving, good job! The lead synth sounds pretty good! The drums are groovier than your other remix, but the style doesn't really match yet, the pattern is way too busy up until :46, especially the kick. Try out some different patterns, experiment. The pattern in the second part from :46 (with the claps) works better. Bass and lead synth sound pretty good so far. Keep going.

Well alrighty, then! That completely settles the issue for me! I'm going ahead with the mod. I've got the new key section mostly written, still struggling somewhat with the turnaround, wanna make that kinda dramatic (4-5 chords)... but it'll get there. (currently sidetracked finishing up a resub) OA thanks for linking that great song. I do love the double mod fakeout at the end, very nicely done! Subtle, yet very exciting. *considers using technique in own song* edit: Darangen, just gotta say, every time I see that KSC signature of yours I crack up!

Thanks, Darangen. You raise a great point. Will look into that. Working on the Monobrow issues right now. The next version should be quite nice!

That is unbelievably beautiful... speechless...

Hey MB, thanks for the thoughtful crit! Those are all excellent points, and great ideas. Gonna play around with them and see what we come up with. (hhhmmm choir, I LOVE choir!) (and more Zelda nods, how bad could that be?!) Skinner, glad you like the song. Maybe we will allow downloads when it is finished, as clearly it isn't, yet!

Hello fellow ReMixers! A Stormy Affair, resub version as of 3-5-12 by Chimpazilla & Anterroir David and I submitted this song to the judges in November, and the good news is that it seems they liked it! The bad news is that they found fault with it! But the crits were totally valid, and David and I have been working diligently to improve the song. The judges' primary criticism was that the entire first half of the song was devoid of lead writing. Shame on us, how could we have overlooked that? So we have added some very cool new lead writing, with some new and unique takes on the storm theme. The judges' secondary criticism was our static "auto-pilot" drumming. Yup, busted! So we've varied the patterns and added quite a bit more groove. We also removed one of the two breaks that occurred in the first half of the song, making it kick along at a better pace. Rozo, I believe you were the one who disliked the two breaks. Good suggestion! The judges also mentioned that the song was a bit bass-heavy, and this too has been addressed and corrected. So now it's time for more criticism, or better yet... praise! Is it resub-worthy, yet? Thanks in advance for helping us finalize this!

Thanks for all these great replies and very specific advice, everyone! I've been reading up on this... going to try many of these ideas over the next few days, then flesh out the section that will follow it. I confess I'm new to music theory so I'm having to get up to speed on this as quickly as possible (which is never quickly enough for me, haha!). But I feel like the key mod is going to work and not be cliche (or, at least be "good" cliche!). You guys can help me decide if it's working when I post my wip. Thanks again, really, so much.

I love the mix of ideas, they flow together brilliantly!!!! There is definitely some distortion in the piano though. What piano are you using? Not sure about the tone, hopefully someone will chime in with a good opinion of that. (I'm working on this issue myself) The big issue I have with this song is it is waaaay too quantized and blocky. It needs humanization! The notes are all hitting right on the beat, with all the same velocities. Also, the melody always is played the same way, try varying the pattern somewhat, and you could add some extra fills here and there. The great thing about doing a piano piece on the computer is that you can add more stuff than just one human can play! Have fun and definitely keep working on this one, I'll keep checking for your updates.

OK Rozo, I am laughing so hard tears are streaming down my face... that is the best video I've ever seen bar none!!! Thanks, I needed that! *wipes tears away* I'm officially (sorry, more cliche here) ROTFLMFAO!!! Gonna play around with my key change. Wish me luck with my turnaround chords (not even sure how to ask for help with this)... hopefully I'll have something for the wip forum soon. THANKS!!! edit: Darned near forgot to say congrats on your latest posting. "Spume" is really very good! Downloaded it.

Hi all! I'm working on a piano tune (remix). The original is in 3/4 but I've adapted it to 4/4 with a jazzy "8th note shuffle" swing beat. It's sounding quite good! My plan was to modulate the key upward toward the end, up from D to E, and I've started the process but got stuck on the turnaround. So I googled it and found this website where the guy goes on and on about how tired and cliche key mods are. Before I move forward with doing this key mod, I want to get your opinions on it. Is it tired and cliche? The song is very groovy with an old-fashioned feel... so maybe it works? I think it will sound fine, but I don't want any listener (or maybe, judge) to GROAN when they hear the key change! Opinions, please. And... if I do move forward with it, maybe you guys can help me with the turnaround chords! Thanks guys.

Great thread I think. I'm trying to come up with an example of a great game that doesn't disparage women (or exclude them completely)... and it's really difficult... but as I'm typing this, Zelda is in my upper right corner... Zelda games are my favorite... she isn't oversexualized, she's beautiful though, and while she doesn't appear too often throughout the games, she has an undeniably powerful and important role!

I don't have anything helpful to add... but that sounds FABULOUS... what sample library did you use?

You may want to add the link for version #4!

I think those two themes go brilliantly together! They flow easily one to the other, nicely done. It still needs work, more filling out but so far so good, and nice sounds. I like the improv in part 2, and at some points the bass is more pronounced which I like. I think at some point you could start bringing in the second half of the kaepora theme, at least once or twice. Keep going please!

Thanks very much Rozo for those eq settings to try, I will certainly try that out. Also gonna experiment with some other piano vsti's. Somehow I will get that piano sounding good! And wow, what a cool idea, never heard of taiko but it looks amazing! Explosions... hhhmmm not sure about that! But definitely some more interest will be added to the intro (and throughout). Thanks for the cool suggestions!

Sounds very cool and mellow. I like it, a good start for sure. The source is recognizable enough I think, and very nice improvisation. More potion shop please! How about some chimes? Nice choice of song combination! Nice guitar playing. I like the phasing that starts halfway through.

Thank you so much Rozo, and everyone, for the helpful crits! Gonna work on the issues of adding some midrange instrumentation, and the drums. Will check out Zircon's tutorial on that. Are there particular areas that need more midrange more than others? I know the Dark World bridge has been mentioned, anywhere else? What parts are OK as is? Maybe I'll work the Beast Ganon break out completely. Will experiment. I thought the piano sounded pretty good... clearly my ears are not well enough developed... could you describe the "terrible" for me? Give me that "aha" moment, please! Can someone recommend orchestral samples that may work better? A piano you like? A flute that sounds real? I've used Miroslav Orchestral samples... are there better ones that don't cost thousands of dollars? Or, can you recommend specific treatments for specific instruments? I'd sure appreciate this specific advice, as I'm a little lost here... (or, a lot lost here) I want to try all I can with the samples, before resorting to (gulp) re-doing it with all synths... I really REALLY want to make this song good. Thanks again.

And who doesn't love Ganon? I know I do. But what would it sound like if Ganon... (yikes...) prevailed??? "For the Love of Ganon" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Briefly, the story for this song: Intro - Link enters Ganon's castle and begins to ascend the spiral staircase. His heart beats louder and louder as he realizes this will be no easy fight! Verse #1 - We meet Ganon. He begins to speak, giving his explanation of his evil plan, his hatred, his cursed sword and how he plans to blot out the light forever. Verse #2 - Ganon is finished talking. Now he stands tall. He is evil, but man is he dignified. He paces slowly toward Link. Break - Ganon now shows his full ugliness. He growls... unsheaths his blade. All seems lost... Bridge - But wait... maybe there is hope! Maybe Link can take on this challenge! Maybe there are health hearts around, or a fairy in a pot! Maybe Ganon is not so bad after all! Transition - The horror of Ganon's plan sinks in... this is going to be a bad fight... it is getting darker... Ganon laughs as the first lightning ball comes flying! Verse #3 - Lightning everywhere! Ganon is laughing! His cape is flying in the wind! Link struggles to keep up the fight... Finale - The fight is ending... Link is losing... Ganon's evil plan prevails... low heart warning... Ganon laughing... very sad... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Constructive criticism is requested and appreciated! Here are the sources for this song: intro: Ganon Castle OoT verses: Hyrule Castle LttP break: bridge: transition: Hyrule Castle LttP (from 0:55 to 1:10) ending: (four songs layered) Hyrule Castle (from 1:02 to 1:18 ) : Special thanks to two dear friends: Dubsteppy bass solo performed by Liam (itsclipping), thanks friend! Dubsteppy drum pattern performed by David (anterroir). Thank you so very much for being my mentor, cheerleader, mixing coach/helper, advisor, and great friend!

Better! A bit groovier... but I'm not sure I like that tom pattern? It's like it isn't sure what kind of groove it is going for... tried tapping my feet to it, but they got confused! Maybe if you added a regular kick drum at a straight (or nearly so) 4/4, the tom pattern would be a cool accent instead of an un-followable pattern, make sense? Please try that. Keep the kick mellow, though. Also I think the drums drop out completely a bit too often, leave something in there during those breaks, even just a hi hat pattern so the song remains continuous. OK so the break starting at 2:00 should be drumless, at least the first tiny bit. The discordant break from 1:00 to 1:19 is NOT working for me at all... some seriously wonky harmonies there! And your drums got off the beat at 1:29. And the background piano needs some writing or timing variation, it's still too static. Except the ending piano, that's pretty good. But the leads are gorgeous, and that background sitar-y thing, love it. Really nice soundscape here. Please keep working on this, I like it!!! edit: also, put some breathing breaks in the flute, no one can play that whole section in one go without asphyxiating!

You added Dark World, coooool!!! Gorgeous soundscape, interesting melodies and perfect mixing make this into a listening treat!

I LOVE the melodies!!! What a great way to honor some underloved music! Very mellow and nice! TP is my favorite Zelda game! But... the background grooves/arps are way too static and they get old... piano and other synths are too perfect and need some velocity/writing variation... too plunky and repetitive... drums are too soft and also need variation. This could really go somewhere I think, just needs a bit more groove. Also bring the leads up front a little more. Looking forward to the next version.

Getting that timing right is job #1. After that, I think things will start to fall into place, and much more easily. If you want, you may send me the flp and I'll see if I can help!

Hey Jim! Nice first attempt! My first observation is that the drums aren't actually keeping time with the melody. I would do as other suggested, and make a very simple drum pattern with kick, snare and hat, and paste it over the entire song, for now. Use this simple pattern to get the synth melody timing right. Then, once that is sounding right, add another element, maybe another synth playing a counter-melody, or a bell accent or something. And you just add from there. Later, you can add more drum elements, and more patterns, but start with the basic one as a backbone for your song. At least this is what I do. Is there a bassline there? If so I either couldn't hear it or it also doesn't match the melody timing. I think you have the right idea about using the source, then progressing into your solo-ish variation, this is good. But just start by matching up drums, bass and melody, then see where it takes you.