Liontamer Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Well shit fellas, it's been a long while, hadn't it? ROFL sup dudes It's Kevin "Lorenzo" Sisk, aka debeerguy007 I've decided to finally to make another remix submission to OverClocked Remix. This time it shall be in the form of a Zelda II Remix entitled "The Eleven Day Journey" Some of you may remember that this mix was originally part of the 1st ever FLMC competition, in which this very mix tied 4th with OCR's own Mythril Nazgul. The original version took 11 days to put together, thus the source reason of the title. Since it's initial incarnation, some work has been done but mostly in it's overall mastering and in filling out a few places with a bit more instrumentation, now that the limitation of using strictly FL defaults was no longer an issue. The original mix clocked in at 6 mins and 15 secs whereas this version is a leaner 5 mins and 47 secs. I have to actually thank Pixietricks and DrumUltima for this as they made the suggestions a long while ago to play with taking out a few bars here and there. My only reservation about submitting this mix is that, from a judge's perspective, the only real thing it has going for it is it's arrangement and style, not necessarily the instrumentation choices or the choice of samples. I mean, we are talking mostly default FL stuff for the most part here, and they are pretty, um, unforgiving for the most part. While I could've just gutted the mix and replaced all the samples with better ones, they at the same were what gave the mix its spirit so to speak, and I just didn't have the heart to even try it. Now about the mix itself: I am a huge fan of Disco Dan's "Triforce Majeure", and I really wanted to make a mix that was in the same spirit, if not in the caliber. I tried to expand on the material in places with new pieces of melody that weave the original music's motifs(rhythms mostly) in an attempt to break up the repetition that is commonly found in classic NES music. I'd be lying though if in the 2nd half of the mix, that Mazedude's unique style didn't have some effect on me. The man is the master of wobbly chip tones. HEHE. I wanted the mix to be a narrative of sorts, with Link just starting out on his adventure, traveling long perilous roads and such, then arriving at his destination(wherever it may be) in which his goes in, battles monsters and dodging huge obstacles, then emerging victoriously in the end with whatever treasure(s) he was fortunate to acquire. You know, that hero kinda stuff. ROFL I find myself at an interesting time in my life. As I type this, I'm approaching my 25th birthday and I can't help but to think about how much I've changed since we last met with my Terminator 2 remix. I've lost weight, I've had three jobs, and I've become a more outgoing person in my personal life. I can honestly say I'm a much happier man for it. And if that wasn't enough, I've managed to land a gig of a lifetime. I am fortunate enough to be participating in the highly anticipated free 3rd party HalfLife 2 modification "Black Mesa" (www.blackmesasource.com) in which I am a voice actor and the assistant dialog editor on. No matter where my life takes me from here, I just want you guys to know that that OverClocked Remix has been like a 2nd family to me, and in ways has helped to shape the man I've become. Whether it's OCR or Black Mesa, the love and appreciation for the things that make all these games what they are have been a fundamental drive in my passion for them, and for that, I thank you for nourishing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Beginning is wobbly. Obviously going for an intentionally wobbly sound (as noted), but I wasn't feeling it. Finally, at 0:42 it started to unwobble, as instruments filled in the gaps in the soundfield. 1:02 brought in the main melody on another wobbly instrument. I dunno, the first minute and a half really tread the line of being intentionally low-quality for an effect and... just being low-quality. I also wasn't a huge fan of the treatment of the source up until this point, as it kept two original parts the same, albeit with minor background instruments and processing. But 1:25 was a turning point, introducing new chords and countermelodies. Nice interplay of instruments in that section. From there, I think it had a great, unique-sounding groove and a good balance of pairing the original melodies with more interesting backing ideas and countermelodies. There were structure changes and some sections that sounded wholly original too. Some excellent ideas, in all. 5:02 sounded like an ending point but I wasn't disappointed that it went on for another 40 seconds. Great job on production. Everything seemed to be firing right. I'm interested to hear what other judges think because I'm pretty much torn. On one hand, I hear the last 4 minutes of this song and think YES, but then I play it from the beginning and feel like the long intro doesn't quite work. I think I'm still going to go borderline YES; may reconsider. YES (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 Congratulations on your success. As for the mix, really, No way. Your instrumentation is nice, good textures and frequency range. But the writing here is soooo simplified. It's like you sacrified arrangement ideas in favor of instrumentation ideas. The melody itself is almost incidental. The track would be just as good with any other melody. Don't get me wrong, you're clearly demonstrating some serious creativity as far as synthesis goes, but the writing is just an afterthought. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 I wonder how many people have subbed remixes inspired by Triforce Majeure? Can't be a small number, and that's how I got my first mix passed... Anyway, I agree the beginning of this mix is kind of weak. Quiet sounds, a bit thin, a bit too much vibrato, and not enough spatial effects (eg. reverb/delay) to keep interest. 1:02 had things filling out more, which I liked, but the drums didn't really seem to fit, in my opinion. Maybe it's just the sequencing, but I thought that section on could have used more energy. At 2:06, things picked up, and the added percussion at 2:19 helped. Likewise, 2:36 bringing in the heavier beats and the arpeggio was a good move. The soundscape starting at 3:23, another improvement. I can't help but thinking that this could use a sound upgrade in general. This sounds like all default FL synths, no external plugins. Pick up some stuff from KVR Audio, get some soundfonts, hit up the ReMixing forum... boost those sounds! A lot of the synths are basically simple chip waves. The drums are weak until the heavy distorted loop comes in, but even that could be layered more, with varied rhythms. Additionally, the square lead is basically exactly the same throughout. I would have loved to hear significant changes in the texture, more layering, and/or acoustic instruments too, not just the chips + distorted drums. What you did with what you have is creative, but there's free stuff within your grasp that would allow you to expand your pallette more. I liked the arrangement, actually. Seemed to be some nice new harmonic ideas, some counterpoint additions, and original material. The execution is what could use the work. I wouldn't mind more melodic variation either, but focus on the production first. Very promising, Kevin, please resub. NO, resub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted June 7, 2008 Author Share Posted June 7, 2008 http://www.zophar.net/nsf/zelda2.zip - Track 8 (or 9) Heheh, definitely hitting me with the FL-defaulty vibe in terms of the sounds. I thought the timing of the beats coming in at :20 were slightly off compared to the melody and weakened the flow a bit. I don't mind the defaulty sound, but for the first 40 seconds, the intro was way too thin. Same at 1:01 and 1:24. The treble at 2:20 was a bit piercing with those snapping sounds. I'd tone that down. There were a lot of points where the leads ended up too loud and trebly, so I don't agree at all with the production being called solid. It's OK, but it needs some tweaks. Gotta agree with Vig on the treatment of the source tune. Nowhere is the simplification of it more apparent than when the very thin and straightforward melody was juxtaposed with the busiest background material from 2:34-2:49. The reason why Rellik's winning mix from FLMC 1 was so strong despite the same constraints was because he was a lot more consistently creative with the production. The first few minutes had tons of thin sounds and textures that really made the mix feel too hollow. Even the swirly pads employed there didn't adequately fill out the background. It wasn't until about the halfway point when things picked up and you were starting to make the most out of the imposed limitations. From that point on, things were a lot stronger. I don't think you need to seek out other free sounds if you actively want to stick within the FL-default framework. But zircon's criticisms on the lack of spacial effects to start, the overuse of the square wave lead, and coasting on the same textural ideas with the lead + drums once things picked up were dead on. Alongside some more melodic interpretation like Vig alluded to, those are the things I would refine so that this is ready for primetime. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 A lot of the other joojes covered most of my gripes (like the simplicity in the writing and the thinness of the synths), so there's not much more to say aside from "where's the bassline?" There are some places where you start dropping some classy beats, but there's no meaty bassline to play with that. I think that it's hurting this piece. This is so close to a YES for me, but I think with a few tweaks this track could really shine. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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