Eternal Battle - FFVII Battle and Boss themes

[Kruai]

It was originally meant as more of a re-orchestration, so I'm sure this probably will be labled as "sticks to close to the original." But yeah... been working on this for three days now and I'm wondering what you guys think of my first possible remix?

Any clear, descriptive criticism would be appreciated - thanks!

Asa

Edit: mp3 version heh

http://www.mediafire.com/?cgdyusuydyz

[MadGonzo]

I think you should also put a MP3 version up,.. 50 mb is just to much

[SnappleMan]

Hahaha... wav

[Uboichi2]

Sorry, but you stick to the originals way too much. Might as well listen to the FFVII OST.

From what I hear I think you're very inexperienced at audio editing. The sounds are just general midi and there's no post-editing done on the wave. No reverb, no effort to reduce/remove the amount of clipping and low sound quality. Also, the original versions actually use a lot more different sounds.

The only thing I can say is: Keep practicing. It took me 3 years to figure out all the functions on Cakewalk I needed. It took me 2 years more to learn to use them properly. And learning how to (re-)orchestrate is something which takes an entire life-time (as in, you always keep learning new things). I think all Remixers have had a period where they were creating basic tunes like you just did. It's something you'll grow out of with practice. Lots of it.

[Kruai]

Sorry, but you stick to the originals way too much. Might as well listen to the FFVII OST.

From what I hear I think you're very inexperienced at audio editing. The sounds are just general midi and there's no post-editing done on the wave. No reverb, no effort to reduce/remove the amount of clipping and low sound quality. Also, the original versions actually use a lot more different sounds.

The only thing I can say is: Keep practicing. It took me 3 years to figure out all the functions on Cakewalk I needed. It took me 2 years more to learn to use them properly. And learning how to (re-)orchestrate is something which takes an entire life-time (as in, you always keep learning new things). I think all Remixers have had a period where they were creating basic tunes like you just did. It's something you'll grow out of with practice. Lots of it.

Ouch! But yeah, I kinda knew that was coming. I think this is a start-over

But I'm not quite sure what you mean by the general midi thing. I mean I'm using VSTs and stuff, or do you mean besides that?

[Nekofrog]

ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION

[X] Too conservative - sticks too close to the source

PRODUCTION

[X] Low-quality samples

[X] Drums have no energy

PERFORMANCE (live recorded audio/MIDI parts)

[X] Wrong notes, general sloppiness

STRUCTURE

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

[X] Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough)

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

Many, many, many issues with this piece right up front. Let's take it from the top in terms of the checklist.

1. Too Conservative -- it's pretty much just the two original tunes pasted together. I wouldn't be surprised if this was just a midi rip with soundfonts applied to it -- that's how close it follows the source tune.

2. Low quality samples -- the instrument that plays throughout the entire thing and seems to be the anchor of the entire piece (having trouble deciding if it's supposed to be an acoustic guitar or a Japanese stringed instrument of some kind, the sample is that poor).

The piano is drenched in delay, while also being drier than beef jerky. Not good.

Brass sections also sound incredibly low quality.

The organ is the only sound which "fit" the piece.

3. Drums have no energy -- yeah. Really. Totally. I don't know what set you're using for drums but there are better things out there -- free better things. There's no beef to the parts that need beefiness. They also sound incredibly lo-fi; every time the snare or kick drum strikes it's just a mass of hissy fuzz.

4. Wrong notes -- even though it sounds like a midi rip to me, there are still points in the piece that just aren't right in terms of clashing sounds - :48 for example. It seems like a bad chord on the organ is briefly played.

5. Lacks coherence -- it's essentially, as I've said, the two themes put together with a very small bridge in between.

6. Not enough changes in sound -- this might not be so bad if the samples/synths themselves weren't so bad.

[Kruai]

OK yeah, got the conservative part. And I've been looking for better samples/VSTs/whatever the heck you're supposed to use on remixes (Seriously - are you supposed to use VST, samples, soundfonts, what???) but I'm kinda stuck. Could you please share how you make remixes, then? I may have started out completely wrong.

[SplinterOfChaos]

I love the originals, so I'd love to hear you pull off this remix. Unfortunately, it just won't cut it yet.

The whole song has no energy. Bring the volume up a little. For example, you have a nice piano roll at 0:23; this is where I should start enjoying this piece--it should start rocking. Instead, you chose to bring up the volume at the seemingly arbitrarily chosen 0:32, about.

I agree there isn't much originality in this piece. I don't hear anything that sounds TOO ripped in terms of instruments, but the arrangement is completely unimaginative. I like little you added, but you didn't change enough and, frankly, it's too obvious when you switch sources. Even someone who'd never heard the OST would be able to tell where it is you switch sources.

If you don't play two sources at the same time, or in some way combine them, you might as well do different remixes with similar instrument sets.

Most of the song feels pretty hollow to me. This is the part I'm bad at, but you might try beefing up the base.

Good luck. I really would love to see this remix refurbished.

[Kruai]

Thanks, but I think I'm gonna try something else for now. I'm tired of this song, unfortunately.