Liontamer Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 Hey David, It's been a while. Life has taken me on quite a trip since I left the vg arrangement community. I never thought i'd come back and do another arrangement. The one thing that always draws me back is the music. I was listening to the secret of mana soundtrack recently and these three tracks caught my attention, "Phantom and a Rose", "A Wish" and "I Won't Forget".they are flowing ethereal songs. Little bit more calm. I love this soundtrack, it's so vibrant on the snes, I'm amazed at how Kikuta was able to get these songs sounding so great. So anyways, here's the scoop. It turned out to be more of a simple orchestral tune medley. I did it all live, just me, my keyboard, sound module synthesizer and "audacity". I don't have all the tools I once had, but I had a ton of fun making it. I didn't want to stray from the original too much. I love the sound and feel of the original. It's more like chill background stuff, not like the more epic orchestral medleys. Here it is. Game: Secret of Mana Original Titles: "Phantom and a Rose", "A Wish" and "I Won't Forget" Arrangement Title: Time Flows Like a River Remixer: JAXX Website: http://feelingthroughsound.org Link: (final) -Patrick Jacks -------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=sd2 - "A Wish" (sd2-16.spc), "Rose and Ghost" (sd2-03.spc) & "I Won't Forget" (sd2-03.spc) The solo string used from :40-:49 wasn't executed well; the articulations didn't sound natural, and the unnatural decay was exposed at :49 in the transition to "Rose and Ghost." Just being a devil for the details, as the rest of this mix was put together reasonably well. I liked the little personalized, interpretive touch of 2:28-2:33, but that was basically it on that level. Overall, there's nothing wrong with the performance or overall execution, beside a lack of developed transitions. I didn't mind the fadeout ending. (In this case, it stuck out as more of a negative due to the lack of interpretation, but there's notion inherently wrong with a fadeout.) I've got Secret of Mana bias, so I enjoyed this cover. Regardless, the structure was just too similar, so the arrangement approach was too conservative, something Pat was pretty aware of anyway. I know from your history that you can get more interpretive when you want to, Pat, so if you feel compelled in the future to make any more game arrangements that show off more interpretation, I'd love to hear 'em! Glad to see (and hear) you revisiting VGM. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Thanks for reminding me what a fantastic song "Rose and Ghost" is. I hadn't heard it since the game came out. I enjoyed this for what it was, a gentle cover. There were small flourishes here and there that added to it, but it isn't interpretative for OCR. Even the mood and instrumentation is not that different. Cool hearing from you again though, JAXX. I'd love to hear something more interpretative if you've got something. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Very nostalgic indeed. Has an overall very reminiscent feel to it. I don't have a lot to add--it's definitely too much of a cover to not clash with our guidelines. Also, if I had to sum up the track in just one word, it would be mechanical. The samples and instrumentation and articulations are very very right-angled, all across the board. I wasn't a huge fan of the flute patch at the beginning, and the backing strings were awfully choppy as well. There is also hardly any (if any at all) bottom end to speak of, and unfortunately that gives it a very "incomplete" feel. At any rate, glad to see you subbing something again. A!bol Hardcore is probably one of my favorite tracks on here. Just bear in mind, site standards have gone up--samples and music software are getting cheaper and more available--gotta keep up NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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