Liontamer Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Contact Information * XTREEMMAK * Jamaal O. Ephriam * HUFO_2000@yahoo.com * http://www.myspace.com/keyjizat * Userid = #11647 Submission Information * Ristar - SEGA Genesis * Original Arrangement Name: Busy Flare * This Arrangement Name: Burning Star * Original Composer: Tomoko Sasaki * Information about the Mix: The mix was made using a plethora of different programs including software from the Easy West series (Orchestra Elements), software from the Spectrasonics series (certain Ambient Elements), and Reason 4 (underlying loops and certain one shot samples). There were external instruments recorded as well utilizing a Yamaha SO8 keyboard, a Korg Triton LE keyboard, and (lol) a Fender Squire Guitar run through Guitar Rig 2 (looking into Line6 software modelers now). I'm not much of a guitarist.....yet. Some instruments were recorded through my Pro VLA External Compressor. For the time being I use a Onyx 1220 mixer w/ Firewire card running through KRK Rokit Power 5's in my tracking room, and in my Mix room, DynAudio BM15a's. The mix was created using Nuendo 3 and after, dubed down with PSP Vintage Warming on the Master bus and then sent to WaveLab for home mastering (considering I dont have access to a mastering house). All I added was the Waves SSL Compression with not too much threshhold activity but more makeup gain, and then under that, I added the L3 Multimaximizer a.k.a. the Multi Band Compressor plugin. Before I added the plugins though, I did normalize the first orchestra section to keep it in line with the other section after it. Then I added a fade out. After setting it, I dithered down with the threshold set to the default settings and the output set to about -0.1db with Auto release so nothing hit's 0db or goes over, also considering I recorded this in 48kHz. The orchestra was recorded in sections and then summed at the end so I dont max out all my resources. Out of the two Ristar tracks that I always wanted to do, this one was a very unexpected outcome. Considering I didn't have all the resources I needed to record the next one (which needs to be mixed now) which I always wanted to do, I did this one mainly for practice and liked where it was going. I developed this track little over a year ago but never had the time to finish it (mix it). Recently I finially got time to finish it and am submiting it now . I do question the translation but I'm very interested in the opinions that will folow after this submission. -------------------------------------------------------------- http://project2612.org/download.php?id=55 - "Round 3-1 - Busy Flare" It felt like there was something slightly off with the timing of the percussion throughout (one example, :30-:42) that made things not flow as smoothly as they should have. The transition at 2:04 felt pretty abrupt, but it could have clicked had the overall product been more cohesive. It was then that we hit some pretty bad/indistinct mixing that hurt the execution of the concept, i.e. beats meshed with orchestration. The beats were too loud, the strings/orchestration was marginalized, and the leads were quieter than the beats. Definitely too bad, because the arrangement for that area was pretty cool and had the energy and sensibilities of stuff like the NiGHTS soundtrack. Cool stuff there that just needs better balance between the parts. Would really love another J to shed some light on how they'd specifically try to polish this up. Fadeout ending around 4:00 that I loved. Felt a little too fast, but the fade idea was executed fairly pro. First person to complain get kicked in the balls, since this was a perfectly fine close. Just make sure the few seconds of silence afterwards are trimmed off. Solid stuff. Make sure everything's synched up properly and the parts are properly balanced, and this would be a lot closer to passing. The arrangement itself was pretty much fine and really doesn't need any kind of dramatic changes, Jamaal, so don't muck with success and end up throwing out the baby with the bathwater. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 Love the intro. Great energy, and I like the way the theme is handled by brass, while the woodwinds provide subtle countermelodies. The staccato section starting at 1:20 is also really nice. And then 2:04 happens. You a crazy man, Jamaal. I think this could work but the transition is really jarring. Like Larry, I felt the orchestra was marginalized and the beats took over too much. I think keeping more of the orchestra there would make the transition smoother. Great piano work from there on out, great jazzy feel. The transition to the 3:21 section was again a little awkward, and guitar sounded too prominent, but the kick back to the main section was cool. One thing I didn't mention but should be fixed is the timing of your instruments. Before 2:04, there's some timing problems, possibly because you recorded MIDI? Just a guess. I think some of the instruments are too loose (especially the percussion) and you get strange moments like 0:55 and 1:01 where it sounds like nothing is playing for a quarter beat. A steadier percussion and moving instruments closer to playing on the beat would really help things. The attack on some of the low brass and strings also sounds a tad late, but this is not as big an issue. I don't think this is very far from passing. Great ideas, just need to tighten the execution. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Reminds me of Soul Calibur. Lovely. I for one didn't think the drums were too loud, instead I thought the rest was too quiet. The timing is off in places, when the flute takes the lead at 0:42 it sounds sloppy in terms of timing. Quantizing is your friends but don't quantize the whole track, just the problem areas. Really work with the timing in detail, in a piece such as this it's needed. ROFL, did NOT see 2:04 coming. Very fresh but mixing-wise it needs some work. It sounds weak and most sounds bleed into each other. Work with EQ and compression to really make that work. The beat seems a bit out of place together with the orchestra and jazzy piano, again mostly a timing and mixing issue. The piano was however great by itself. An example of a mixing issue would be the lead at 3:35 being WAY back. The arrangement is interesting and imo it's as good as done. If you feel like polishing some stuff up, that's fine with me, but the issue here is with the timing and mixing. Fix that with some skill and this should be on the front-page in no time. Solid first sub! NO(resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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