Zelda 64: Zoras Domain Remix Untitled (feedback appreciated)

[Tensei]

^^^ Nice remixer tag you have there buddy

Edit: Right, so, let's see. Nice atmospheric intro, but the single repeated notes on the steel drum REALLY tick me off, it almost sounds as if you're gating them while I believe they're supposed to be rolls, velocity editing should fix this.

Strings are okayish. Could do with a bit of envelope tweaking (a bit longer attack and a bit longer release) on the long legato notes so you get a realistic "fade-in" on the notes. Marcato strings sound good.

Around halfway this shifts into SGX-like awesomeness. I love the bitcrushed drums and the strings combined though I can't really recognize the source. The FM bass that comes in a bit later is kind of annoying, you might want to consider going with something a bit more subtle.

Keep working on it, I'd like to hear more

[PhiJayy]

Hey,

Thanks Avaris. That whole post has definitely shined some light on producing this mix accurately. I'll try to incorporate your advice into the mix.

I'll work on the steel drums, vary the velocities to give it a humanized feel. I'll try to make everyone satisfied with the drums and the buzzing synth by tweaking the compression level a little bit. Generally your whole post is very beneficial production-wise, I guess I can use another pair of ears.

Yes panning from left to right would make this mix even better.

I'm going for it. Your post is most appreciated thanks man.

Tomorrow I'll edit my comments on the wip into this post, it's way too late to come up with anything sensible right now.

Thanks dude. I'll be looking out for your thoughts on the wip.

Yeah you better go to bed, its late over there.

[Nohbody]

Im glad you put in the steel drums. Good job with them, they miraculously do not sound too close to the source.

That last roll at the end, cant say I enjoyed it.

[Nekofrog]

ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION

PRODUCTION

[X] Too loud

[X] Too quiet

[X] Low-quality samples

[X] Drums have no energy

[X] Mixing is muddy (eg. too many sounds in the same range)

STRUCTURE

[X] Lacks coherence overall (no "flow")

PERSONAL COMMENTS (positive feedback, specifics on checklist criticisms, any other thoughts)

Aw, why do you do this to me? Has a ton of potential just from the great source tune alone. Here are my problems with it right now.

Too loud/too quiet; yeah, there are definitely volume issues here. When the steel drum is playing, it pretty much crowds out every other instrument -- until the strings come in, and then all of a sudden the strings are crowding out every other instrument. You're going to want to work at getting a happy balance between these.

Drums are just not working. Stick is incredibly dry compared to a piece that seems to be completely drenched with reverb; EVERYTHING but drums seems to have the reverb just pumped up. Percussion also seems to just plod along without much else to do other than keep the beat; I like drums that are part of the piece; a living breathing part.

1:39 actually literally hurt my ears the first time, even with the volume down slightly on my headphones. Either drop the volume or drop that part entirely.

Btw, the acoustic guitar sample is terrible, find a new one.

The upside? I like the general melody and progression of the tune. I would say my complaints are almost completely from a production viewpoint, but they're so big that it literally overwhelms everything else.

Edit: I also got a PM a week or so ago and debated whether or not this meant I should feel flattered or not. Then when I asked around the usual WIP review suspects and found that no one else had gotten it there, my ego was somewhat stroked. No reason for the delay in reviewing this other than just forgetting about it

[Rozovian]

Dropping a quick line here, got no headphones with me atm so it's not complete as feedback goes.

1:39 and forth, that instrument seems to be pushing the track compression, and is otherwise too loud anyway. Aside from that, I like the soundscape, at least as it sounds on iMac speakers.

Make up your mind on how ambient you want this track, sometimes it's really soft and nice, other times it's approaching raw/rude.

Strings sound better than previous version, at least on these speakers. The newby sound v1 had is gone for most part, it's more refined and complete, but it still has some distance to go before it's done, in terms of both length and refinement.

PS. Nekofrog - I'm not a usual WIP review suspect?

[The Joker]

So, I've finally listened to this enough to get a good grasp of what I want to say. Overall, i like the direction this is taking. Loves me some glitchy ambient music!

Now, onto the critiques. Firstly, & maybe this is just me, but I think a more synthy tone would work better than the steel drum you got for the intro. better yet, processing the steel drum to sound a bit more synthy.

The strings also sound a bit to dry for my tastes. Add a bit more reverb. Also, since you're glitching the beats, don' be afraid to glitch the staccato string, or hell, even the legato ones for good measure!

Speaking of glitching, panning stuff is really good for keeping the soundscape fresh & interesting. Pan the glitched drums left & right. not to much, just enough to give it a little variety.

Hmmm, that's about all I have right now. Hope that helps, even just a little. Like I said, I like the sound of it so far!

[PhiJayy]

Thanks guys for all of the advice. I'm incorporating some of your feedback and the track sounds better already. I'll post a 3rd wip before this week is up.