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*NO* Chrono Trigger 'Turning Time Around'


Liontamer
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Contact Information:

ReMixer name: FroZeNspAce

Real name: Mike Feinstein

UserID: 19721

Submission Information:

Title of ReMix: Turning Time Around

Name of game: Chrono Trigger

Song Arranged: Memories of Green

Comments: My goal with this mix was to integrate a classic lo-fi feel into a modern sounding mix. I've always loved this tune, but it can get a little stale if you've listened to it as much as I have; I tried to vary it as much as I could without losing the original feel of the source. And yes, this was made in Garageband. Enjoy!

Linkage:

Thanks for your time.

Mike F.

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Skipping the good for awhile, It seems this mix's biggest problem is sloppy execution, both in production and performance related areas. The piano in the intro is a bit too dark and understated. I'm having trouble forgiving the guitar samples. Sorry. Maybe other people won't care as much, but around the 1-minute mark, the right-channel solo guitar is awkwardly written. Same goes for the left guitar after 1:30. Really spastic and amelodic.

WTF is going on at 2:39? that's just painfully sloppy. Then you have a bunch of ideas aborting themselves left and right. This section of the song is really chill and the texture is great, but there's nothing going on compositionally. can you please inject a complete line? 3:40 there is some harmonic contrast between the pads and everything else.

OK. That said, Here's what's good: Your texture. You've got a million instruments playing at once sometimes, and other times very few. The tones you choose are great, and you obviously put a lot of effort into combining them and separating them in ways that are texturally interesting. Unfortunately that is leading to some choppiness in the individual parts. I think you should strive to keep the texture you have here, but do a little more to make some of the melodic lines smoother and more musical.

Really interesting.

NO

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  • 4 weeks later...

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Memories of Green" (ct-1-05.spc)

I loved the overall vibe to start. You could very well be Quinn Fox's bastard cousin, as there was lots from his typical soundset, as well as some of the same compositional sensibilities. But onto the criticism.

The drums (not the rest of the percussion) were a little weak; they need a beefier or airier sound to them to fill out the soundfield more. Everything seemed to be pretty solidly put together, though not blowaway for the opening. The electric guitar-like synth at :54 really needed more finesse in the sequencing; sounded way too robotic as is, along with the note intensity always sounding about the same.

As SOON as the track went into more freestylish territory around 1:27 though, it started falling apart. The freestylish stuff with the lead sounded terrible, with the sequencing being too robotic sounding, the lead writing being really meandering and unmelodious (mostly 1:27-1:54) and the textures being too thin. Aside from the leads, the sounds chosen for the textures are alright, but the soundscape often sounded too empty. Same from 2:37-2:54, and to a lesser extent with 3:03-3:43; just awkward and unfocused. Definitely agreed with Vigilante on some harmonic clashing due to the notes of the pads.

So yeah, nothing new I'm telling you there based on Vigilante's stuff. This would need a lot of work to polish this up and get the writing much more focused. Good concept, but the execution isn't quite there yet. I like the potential here though, so definitely keep working on it, Mike.

NO (resubmit)

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Strangely, I found myself really digging some of the dissonance in this. 0:34-0:38 and 3:44-3:52 sounded off the first time, but on the second listen, I thought it fit the restless mood of the piece. Anyway, the dissonance didn't come up that much and I thought it created interesting texture when it did. The rigidness of the synth guitar at 0:54 didn't bother me either, because it didn't sound like it was trying to be a guitar. The song is a little meandering at times, but I never thought it really lost its direction. And the textures are pretty awesome. It seems like I dug this one more than Jesse or Larry.

Nevertheless, a lot of their criticisms still hold. Things were very thin at times, in the sections Larry pointed out. It often felt like more bass presence was needed. I didn't think the lead introduced at 1:27 was well-chosen, nor were the notes it played (and that ended up being the most prominent element in the piece). I think that instrument really needs to be reworked. Drums were also a little too thin in general. Easing up on the 'verb and EQ will probably restore that lost power; if not, try some layering.

You have a lot of good elements in place here, but there's still some work to be done. Give it another try!

NO (resubmit)

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