Liontamer Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Original Decision: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4255 1st RESUB: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4378 Contact Information * OA * Andrew Luers * andrewluers@gmail.com * oceansend.com * 14963 Submission Information * Lufia 2 * Boss Theme Original: http://www.ocremix.org/game/lufia-ii-rise-of-the-sinistrals-snes/chiptunes/ Third resub attempt: http://oceansend.com/5502/rockp3/ocr/Lufia%202%20-%20Last%20Chance.mp3 Third time's the charm? This was the second song I ever tried to remix, almost 2 years ago. The production was terrible, but I always thought the arrangement was pretty good, even if the melody was pretty much the same. I kept it, the bass, and redid all of the counterpoint and drum rhythms, as well as added a few new sections. I didn't mess with the arrangement much from 2 years back because I still think it is interpretive enough, if a bit on the conservative side. Hopefully the production is better. >_> For hilarity, the 2-year old second resub: http://oceansend.com/5502/rockp3/ocr/OCREMIX5u.mp3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ed2 - "Battle #2" (ed2-113.spc) Seems like the guitar work could be a bit more upfront. The piano at 2:25 was too quiet; I see what you were going for, wit the genteel touch, but it needs to be a little louder. The mixing actually felt a little weird to me; the synth lead felt a bit pasted on top of the soundscape. Sometimes it's so distinct from everything else in the soundscape rather than meshing into it. The synth was left alone at the very end around 3:29 and seemed unintentional. Most people wouldn't catch it unless they had headphones on, but perhaps tighten that up so it doesn't mess up the resolution of the piece. Otherwise, the arrangement was solid, like last time around. Good job improving this. It feels a lot more fluid than before, that's for sure. Great energy, Andrew. You've still gotta get your mixing/sound balance smoothed out in some ways, but this was still pretty on point. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 LOVE the arrangement, Andrew. The combination of instruments is a little unusual (especially that weird hard-left-panned synth) but it completely works. The jumpy 0:59 section is like a sudden injection of energy, and I just love the dynamic contrast and thrills this song offers. I can see why you kept going back to this one. I think my only complaint about the arrangement is very minor: the dissonance of the synth run at 2:56. I'm normally the first person to dig stuff like that, but it seemed out of place here. I do think the mixing is a little off, but it's not a dealbreaker. The synths and strings are a little loud and tend to drown out some of the guitar and drums. Turn the volume of the song down and you'll really hear what I mean. And the piano at 2:26, though it's quiet, sounds thin. I've YESed songs with bigger problems before. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 Fantastic blend of instruments. Fantastic arrangement. I love the jumpy synths coupled with the acoustic drums and guitar. I'm jealous man, you've really found your style! The mixing is a little odd, the guitar sound is very compact and seems to lack some important frequencies The drums are really great and you're getting closer and closer to human-sounding drums but the sound of them isn't the best. I'm also going to echo Vinnie's problems with the production since they're all valid points. Work a bit on the mixing for your next project, compare it with commercial music and try to find out what's missing. Honestly though, this is good enough to YES as it is now , good jorb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 I liked the arrangement here - nice amount of variation, interpretation, and original material. I'll skip straight to production. I thought the string voicing at the beginning was a little awkward. Try to avoid playing chords in the lower registers and space out your notes more - it will make things sound cleaner, generally. I disagree that the guitar sound lacks any frequencies, but the lead could definitely be louder and punch through more. For some reason the entire mix was not normalized... there's 1.1db of headroom that wasn't even used. Always normalize at the end of your process or slap a limiter like George Yohng's W1 Limiter or TLS Maximizer to squeeze out that last bit of volume. The synth break at 2:02 sounded awkward to me with a sort of plain drum rhythm and meandering notes. Why does everything sound so compressed, yet the song seems actually quiet? The lead also takes up a lot of sonic space somehow. Cut some of the low end off that and maybe brighten it up a bit. The piano following that section is definitely too quiet, while the synth lead is then too loud and should come way down. The kick is too rumbly; I think it could be tightened up or replaced. With all those fast patterns it just adds a lot of mud. For your synth and guitar leads I felt like the sustained notes were too plain and could have used some kind of vibrato to spice them up - particularly the synths. Melodies in general seemed to be barely louder than harmonies, and in many cases the harmony was actually louder to begin with. I noticed this in a lot of your WIPs. In denser parts of your songs you tend to under-emphasize the melody. Take another look at the mixing and I think you'll be pleased if you revisit it. I'd like to YES this because the arrangement is creative, but there are too many production problems right now for me to comfortably pass it. An hour or two of tweaks should yield a great result. Keep at it man. NO, resub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Rhythm guitar sounds crunched up. I hear what AnSo means about it missing important frequencies. Dunno what's up with that. The synth does take up a lot space, like Andy said. Might be worth it to balance things out a little more. Great arrangement though, don't change anything about that. Conditional YES - Work on levels, balance, and EQ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHz Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Love the original tune, and as everyone else has said the arrangement is nice, so I'm not really going to spend time on that one, especially since it's the production that we need to talk about. Thought the panning on a few of the instruments was odd, most notably the lead guitar, which is to the right for a good portion of the song without being balanced on the left, so it's kind of distracting. At 2:27, the piano and strings panned hard in either direction, and I think those could be pulled in a little bit. The sound balance has been hit by everyone, so I don't really need to go into that too much. I mentioned sound balance with the lead guitar; I think 1:42-2:04 and the rehash at 3:10 could be killer if the synth and strings were bumped up in volume. The rhythm guitar too, not much else needs to be said aside from a "what's up with that?" I'm definitely feeling what zirc said about the drums. The sequencing is actually pretty good, but the kick could definitely be sharper. Not so bad in the slower moments, but during the faster ones the drums are a bit too blobby. The production is holding this one back from something I think could be great. Check it out or get someone else to tighten the screws on it and send it back. You're pretty close, but it still needs a bit more love. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 26, 2008 Author Share Posted July 26, 2008 Keep it movin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 I'm lovin this. The guitar doesn't sound great in the mix, but the lead synths are brilliant. The drums have a lot of energy, even if they don't have a lot of tone. The whole thing is compressed quite a lot, but the energy is also massive. I can see where most of the issues about the production are coming from, but I don't think they are damaging to the mix or anything. Sure the levels and panning could be more balanced but its not as if I'm thinking that while my brain is being rocked. The arrangement is great, especially the twiddly synth lines which earn you exactly 12 prog points (thats a lot). Basically I wouldn't complain if you did some tweaking to the production, but I really don't feel the need to jump in the way of this. Its not as if whats there already doesn't rawk. At the very least a conditional yes imo, I'm with AnSo on this. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Short and sweet: Great arrangement, and lots of energy! Honestly, I was so distracted by the sheer intensity of the mix that I didn't even notice whether it had extra headroom or not. There's a small amount of portamento synth abuse here, but considering the effectiveness of the piece otherwise, I really don't feel compelled to gripe about it. Despite whatever production issues have been mentioned by my fellow J's, I can hear the drums, bass, pads, guitars, and leads just fine throughout, so that to me says that there's no need for necessary conditional voting here. I like it, great work from one of the nicest dudes in the community! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts