OCR01818 - *YES* Final Fantasy 6 'This Hazy Place'

[Liontamer]

* ReMixer name - Brand New Retro

* real name - Liam Fairclough

* email address - brandnewretro@gmail.com

* userid - 24173

* Name of game(s) arranged - Final Fantasy VI

* Name of individual song(s) arranged - The Serpent Path

* My track title - This Hazy Place

As I have particularly nostalgic memories of this track, I wanted to create a version that sounded a bit distant and hazy, like a past memory. I attempted to achieve this by recording some of the synth melodies to old analogue tape, giving a slightly warbled, aged effect. I'd like to think this track evokes nostlagic childhood memories of playing this wonderful game.

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Just prefacing that I loved Quinn Fox's "mode serpent", so I know that this rather unassuming theme has a lot of potential.

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff6 - "The Serpent Trench" (ff6-119.spc)

Ultimately I listen to this, and this sounded fairly purposeful and skillfully put together. The stuttering synth at 1:45 sounded super cheap and exposed, plus slightly behind the beat, which was probably the main negative about the track.

The arrangement also managed to avoid being melodious until 3:03 when the strings were brought in for the final minute, which I gotta tip my hat to. This was some pretty crazy shit. The cut-and-paste repetition of the string writing 4 times was disappointing. Even subtle but meaningful variation within the iterations would have made the string usage much more substantive.

Liam, I'm feeling the core concept of what you've got here. It might seem nitpicky, but it's pretty difficult for a track like this to feel cohesive enough without some refinements to have everything clicking. If you tighten the timing on that synth at 1:45 (and possibly use a new/better sound for it), and consider varying up the final string usage from 3:03, I could definitely roll with this all the way. Really cool stuff so far; hopefully the others see the same promise in the track that I do. Good luck with the rest of the vote!

NO (refine/resubmit)

[anosou]

Interesting take, I give you that. Very electronic and fresh. Very Ableton Live

When you pitch up the drums, at :30 you leave them at a note that is very out of tune and doesn't match the rest of the song at all. Since this goes on for a while it really hurts the track (and my brain).

The glitchy drums coupled with the 'traditional' drum sounds really works. The pad-combination used for the main chords is pretty sweet too. As Larry pointed out the 8th note synth entering at 1:45 just isn't cutting it. It's slightly (VERY SLIGHTLY!) behind the beat and the sound itself sounds quite cheap. It doesn't really need to be repeating as much, at least change it the chords up from time to time.

The try at a melody at 2:05 was a try indeed. Too bad it's both off-key (2:16-2:21) and with a sound that is very difficult to make out in the soft synth soundscape you've created. 3:05 was really cool. Though some slight variation in the melody as it loops wouldn't hurt. The synth from 2:05 comes back and is still off-key at places. If only you'd fix that it would've been a pretty cool counter-melody.

Another thing that struck me is that the piece is pretty repetitive. If you introduced one or two more elements, maybe the source melody but with another instrument, earlier in the song it would really help. Even some chord changes for 4 bars or something.

As it is now, this is really cool and a unique concept. Sadly the execution isn't really up to par with that just yet. If you work a bit more on varying the piece and fixing the other issues this would be an easy YES. So please, resubmit this!

NO(resubmit)

[Palpable]

I LOVE this. I was totally feeling your concept, and I thought it really captured the mood you were going for. The textures were unique and incredible, especially the section incorporating vocals (?) at 1:08. This had an amazing sound and it used the source well.

The synth at 1:45 does sound a little cheap and behind the beat, but I didn't see it as a very big thing. It's a background instrument so it isn't too prominent, and I thought the late timing actually added to the song! We had a recent submission that sounded wobbly and off, and I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not. With your song, I can tell the off bits are intentional - the weird timing, the slightly out-of-tune instruments. Or if they're not intentional, at least they enhance the piece rather than detracting.

The only other criticism Larry and Mattias brought up that I'd agree with is that it's repetitive at times. But I felt it had a lot of subtle detail to make up for it, and the song stayed interesting the entire duration.

I think this will probably get NOed, but I'm going with YES because I thought it was great. There really isn't much I think you should change!

YES

[zykO]

i'm with vinnie here. this was real neat.

i was coming in strict and critical as hell on this track because i'm a huge quinn fox fan and mode serpent is legend. and i still walked away refreshingly impressed.

maybe because the track, itself, is rather refreshing. yeah, anso, the note that he amps his drumps up to is a very jarring place to leave your drums for any duration but it is also particularly bold and, SURPRISE, totally works for me, i think. the instrumentation is tripped out, for sure... reminds me of a late 80's film score. this has a lot of skill in it and i can hear it through out... the production is truly top notch even if the drums are thin and repetitive, the instruments a bit cheesy (though the ambience is so ET... wait, did i actually hear ET in there?)

i can hear intention, friends. i've always had that gift more than any other. i can't hear some of the frequencies and levels that my colleagues can hear and criticize but that's not what i'm good at. i'm good at smellin out bullshit and this track is legit.

yeah, it's a little hard to swallow but i think and believe that this is the part of ocremix i understood and fell in love with a long time ago. the part we accept things for pushing the envelopes since this community, as a whole, is living proof of pushing the envelope.

push it some more.

YES

[Vig]

I definitely dig the sound design, and I have no problem with the interpretation, but my problem is that the spectrum is kind of harsh. You really need to fill out the bottom end, say around 125 Hz and below. This is a serious issue, otherwise I think you've got a pretty good thang.

NO

[Fishy]

The textures in this are beyond awesome. Very BT. zyko kindly summed up my thoughts: everything sounds intentional. No one with a poor sense of production could create something like this, everything had to be done with intent. Not once listening to this did I ever feel like anything was out of place. I disagree with a lot of the crits on this.

This is easily comparable to Overcoat's Cave Story remix, which was passed despite repetition and weird production. This is imo stronger in both arrangement and production then that. I didn't have to think much about passing that, so I don't see this any differently. I think this is a great remix, extremely creative, and it worked like a charm for me.

YES

[Malcos]

It is not often that we receive mixes like this one. Although I agree with some of the criticisms made, I think that the good points far outweigh the negatives.

As Vig mentioned, there is a distinct lack of low frequency content in this mix. Although the texture itself is already nicely filled, some bass or a lower frequency kick in addition to the current one would balance out the soundscape a little.

The strings that enter the piece at 3.03 don't seem to fit in with the rest of the instrumentation. While that may sound odd (as the strings are the only acoustic instrument in an almost entirely electronic arrangement), I think perhaps a different patch would have been more appropriate.

With a mix such a this one, it is difficult to include the quirky sounds and slightly behind-the-beat rhythms with such musicality, and it takes a skilled remixer to do this.

This is a good addition to OCR.

YES

[big giant circles]

Gosh, I can see why this is such a split. I can definitely agree with both sides of the vote, and honestly almost go either way.

I'm not really hearing BT so much, but I suppose this is some type of IDM, so I guess that's where the comparison is coming from.

On a seperate note, despite the fact that I bought This Binary Universe not long after it came out, I've not actually REALLY listened to it until recently. It's awesome.

Back on track, I'm glad Fishy made reference to Scott's Cave Story track. I could pretty much copy paste my vote there ultimately, and that's pretty much what this vote is. Seems repetitive and minimalistic in a way, but at the same time, it's very unique and creative. I can understand Vig's concern about the lack of bass-age going on, but at the same time, granted the style, I'm not sure what could appropriately be thrown in to mute that gripe. Therefore, it's not a fatal flaw to me.

I'm gonna go ahead and lay down a YES here.

Unique, creative stuff.

[DarkeSword]

I love the clicky synths in this, they really add a lot. You did a great job of achieving a dreamy texture without resorting to using massive amounts of reverb, which is saying a lot. The progression of the piece is really great; never gets boring, but at the same time the evolution is slow and steady. Nice.

YES!