Liontamer Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 "Ignition Keys" - Acoustic piano medley of 2 songs from F-Zero. Link: ReMixer name: trople Real name: Paul Email address: paulrahme@yahoo.com Website: http://www.youtube.com/user/trople UserID: 25231 Name of game arranged: F-Zero Name of individual song/s arranged: Mute City, Big Blue Own comments: After sitting at the piano & playing around with a lounge version of Mute City, I realised that it sounded really good when played at full speed too. Since Big Blue was also uptempo, segwaying into that worked almost effortlessly. I had originally included a slow section based on Port Town before the Mute City reprise, but it didn't quite fit in with the energy of the others. This was recorded to midi, wrong notes cleaned up where necessary, then performed back using a Yamaha P60 digital piano. A live performance can be viewed on my youtube page. --------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=fz - "Mute City" (fz-09.spc) & "Big Blue" (fz-02.spc) The overall volume was too low, and the hiss was too loud. The lo-fi-ness of the soundfield was a negative; it just made this less engaging of a listen. A more overall interpretive arrangement would have made that less of an issue. I actually thought the segues to "Big Blue" at 2:02 and back to "Mute City" at 3:07 were a little weak, IMO. They weren't jarring transitions, but didn't feel cohesive and strongly connected/developed to me. There's definitely personalization in the arrangement though, with more interpretive substance displayed in the Big Blue section. There was some in the Mute City section, but not as much once it picked up at 1:04 and mimicked the original. I might be in the minority, but there could have been even more unique ideas and embellishments to make this stand out more as a unique piano arrangement of the two themes. As is, there were some good moments, and some good new writing, but this still felt relatively conservative overall and didn't stand out to me as a unique enough rendition. I enjoy the track in a vacuum, as I love both themes, but I've gotta push for more uniqueness in the arrangement ideas, Paul, sorry man. Good luck with the rest of the vote though, this is still a good track, and I hope we hear more from you no matter which way this goes. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 My favorite bit of this is the first 1:04. The triplet feel gives Mute City a really unique feel and the slow tempo gave it a lot more poignance. It was disappointing to hear it become a lot more conservative past that, sounding like a straight cover until the melody came in. The additions to the melody aren't that interpretive and get a little predictable. 1:47 was a decent section, with new dynamics and some keyboard escalations. 2:04 was another very conservative section, followed by more substantial interpretation at 2:25 until 3:08, when Mute City came back to close it out. Not an easy call. There are chunks of this that really work and others that play it too safe. The transitions were a little awkward but alright (they may have been eased by changing the key of Big Blue). Recording is a little boomy because of all the very low notes, which tend to drag on the ears. I think I want to see another pass at it, it doesn't sound quite there yet. I'd say spice up those conservative sections a tad, and cut down some of the low frequencies. I could see this easily passing with some small modifications. Who knows, it may anyway. Good luck! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Right off the bat it's too quiet compared to the hiss. The piano tone is okay but could be processed to sound fuller. Also going easy on the bass notes (especially 1:04->) would help this sound less muddy. EQ is also your friend but with piano you have to be careful about the playing too, maybe arrange it with less octave bass and instead more melodic basslines? Some of the playing seemed a bit rushed, make sure your triplets are even. I enjoyed some of your phrasing like at 0:44-0:53 during, really gave the impression that you were into the piece. The arrangement during the first minute is really cool. I, like Vinnie, love the triplet feel you gave Mute City. It gets less interpretive during the second part and the transition between the two themes could have been handled better. The other substantial interpretation appeared at 2:25, very cool ideas. I think this one needs some more work before it's passed. First work out the arrangement, try to be a bit more interpretive with the sources. Especially the bass figures could be altered to sound less like the source and maybe don't take up as much space at the same time. Production needs another go too. You have good ideas and your playing is good but you're not quite there yet, keep submitting though because it's obvious you've got talent. NO(resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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