Liontamer Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Contact Information * ReMixer name: Cato * Real name: Jordan Gagne * Email address: knee_scrape911@hotmail.com * Website: n/a * Userid: 23345 Submission Information * Name of game(s) arranged: Blue Dragon * Name of individual song(s) arranged: 'The Landshark is Coming!', 'Waterside' * Additional information about game including composer, system, etc: Nobuo Uematsu, XBOX 360 * Link to the original soundtrack: * Comments about the mix: Well, I've always been a huge Uematsu fan, so when my Xbox-owning-RPG-starved self picked up Blue Dragon and saw that Nobuo Uematsu had done the soundtrack, I thought it would be a great opportunity to do a remix without jumping on the FF7 bandwagon (Although I admit, I'm a long time FF bandwagon member). During the game I found myself constantly nodding in time whenever 'The Land Shark is Coming!' started playing, and I wanted to do a metal-ish version of it. And no metal instrumental is complete without a slow-paced midsection, so I had the perfect opportunity to melt it together with the softer 'Waterside', which was another of my favorites from the game. Then I wanted to bring the song right back up to speed, ending with a melodic breakdown with an army of recorded guitar tracks devouring my computer's shameful running capacity. The end result was 'There's Sharks in Them There Hills', which I hope you guys can enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 The arrangement idea here was pretty cool. Kind of a garage-metal sound with some interesting dynamics, especially towards the end. Using Waterside was quite unexpected too, and that was a pretty drastic change from the original. In general, I thought your usage of the sources was creative. The production here is just messy though. It's muddy, there's some minor clipping, and the parts are unbalanced. In particular, the drums really pale next to the guitars. Even in the sparse Waterside section, they are reduced to a very small section of the sound spectrum. Give them a more natural sound and push it closer to the forefront of the mix (I hope this doesn't mean re-recording them, but it may), maybe put some boost on the high end, and carve out of the guitar and bass to give them room. They are your backbone and they need more of a presence. I think this one has a lot of room for improvement in the production, but if you can make it work, this will be a solid arrangement. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHz Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Arrangement is pretty good. The Earth Shark Is Coming! works pretty well with guitars, and hitting up Waterside in the middle for some variety was nice. Production is megaouch, though, like Palp said: clipping, drums, poor balance, etc. The lead guitar feels rather weak, especially at 0:40-1:03. It definitely shouldn't be overpowered by the rhythm guitar, and it feels like it could use more punch also. You've won half the battle with the arrangement, but the sound quality is holding this one way too much back. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 22, 2008 Author Share Posted March 22, 2008 Blue Dragon Original Soundtrack - 103 "The Land Shark is Coming!" & 101 "Waterside" Nice source tune choices, particularly "Waterside". Onto the track, the tone on the snare didn't fit the track, and the part was also somehow buried in the back of the track. The clipping was definitely noticeable. The guitars sounded decent when harmonized, but using a single guitar, the performance could have been smoother and the sound itself was very flimsy even when beefed up by the rhythm guitar, especially during the "Waterside" section when the drums did nothing to actually fill out the background. Your production needs a ton of work, but the other Js have given some good insight on what could be touched up. You should try entering Dwelling of Duels sometime, Jordan; you'd learn a lot from The Shizz community as well. Use the ReMixing and Works forums here to get production advice as well as solicit fan feedback for future submissions. Keep at it. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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