Liontamer Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 Title: Of Legends & Heroes Remixer Name: VikingGuitar Real Name: Erik Peabody Email: vikingguitar@hotmail.com Website: http://www.myspace.com/vikingguitarmetal UserID: 25242 Games Arranged: Final Fantasy I, Final Fantasy IV, Chrono Trigger (Link to whichever you'd like. Probably has more FFIV than anything else.) Songs Arranged: Final Fantasy I - Battle, Final Fantasy IV - Fight 1 & Red Wings, Chrono Trigger - Frog's Theme Recording Setup: BC Rich 'Thousand Lashes' Mockingbird Guitar EMG 81/85 Pickups Tradition B-105 5-String Bass Shure SM58 Vocal Mic Line 6 Toneport UX2 Gearbox Amp Modelling and Effects software ezDrummer w/ Drumkit from Hell expansion Reaper DAW iZotope Ozone 3 Mastering Software This is a mix that's gone through a few different incarnations. I recently started playing guitar again after a two year hiatus and found that I sucked at it. I'm planning on recording a full, original metal album, but need to get back in shape first. I've always loved video games and covered songs before, and thought that doing some remixes would be a good way to force myself to play things outside of my comfort zone. There is no exceptional guitar work in this song. I think that it cheapens a lot of remixes when the remixer puts some out of place guitar solo that wasn't in the original song. However, I think that it's solid, it rocks, and, most importantly, it pays homage to the games that inspired it. FF1, FF4, and CT were some of my favorite games of all time, and I'm all pumped about them again since FF4 just came out on the DS and CT is coming out on the DS soon. All good. There are harmonies added here and there, and the transitions are mine, but it tends to stay true to the source material. The first version of this was shorter and recorded with an amp and a mic instead of direct through the Line 6 Toneport. The whole thing sounded tinny and hissy and basically crappy. I got the new hardware and re-recorded it and like it a lot better. There are some vocals at about 3:36 or so. This was originally supposed to be pure singing without lyrics. My girlfriend (who also loves CT) and I sing Frog's Theme in the car all the time, and it was her idea to put some absurd, not-quite drunken singing in the middle. When we finished recording it, she made an offhand comment about how we should have written lyrics, and spontaneously sung the passage that you hear in the song. I was dumbfounded by how hilarious and awesome it was. I made her record it over what we'd already done. It's not supposed to be in key, it's not supposed to sound good. It's supposed to make you laugh, which I do every time I hear it. Anyway, I'd be stoked if this made it onto the site, but I understand that's up to you. Feel free to email me with any questions. Thanks for all the work you do to keep ocremix running. -VikingGuitar PS: I think the MP3 on Soundclick might be over 6mb. The attached file should fit okay. ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.zophar.net/download_file/8938 - Track 16 http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff4 - "Fight 1" (ff4-08.spc) & "Red Wings" (ff4-02.spc) http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Frog's Theme" (ct-119.spc) The production was on the blistering side. Would have loved to have heard this pulled back just a little to eliminate the abrasive sizzle without sacrificing the power. Balls out stuff though with loads of expansive spices thanks to a lot of new part-writing to supplement the melodies. Some transitions could have been better, but chained together smoothly and weren't abrupt. Overall, the medley was working nicely. Lyrics at 3:36 were so ridiculous. Hahahahahaha! Hey, the recordings felt a bit dry and the vocals could have been more polished, but hell, they're half-decent, the harmonization was working it well for what it was, and it couldn't break this one. I know this wasn't meant to sound polished and was going for humor, but it still could have been epic fail. The fact that it was LOLz instead was a real accomplishment. Erik doing that retard harmonization in the background was awesome too. If I wasn't having any doubts that Laura's vocals weren't clicking, that little detail erased them. I was having a weak day today, and that part made me forget everything negative. You had me laughing hard, guys; nice work. I'd honestly still like to see the volume or EQ tweaked a little for the win, but we'll see if anyone else agrees. Nonetheless homies, now you're playin' with POWAR! YES (conditional) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Hmm. I liked the performances in this, but wasn't hearing much new partwriting except in the drums. Original melody and structure was pretty much intact for the entire song. There were a few chord changes here and there, but for most of the song the backing guitars played parts from the originals, or stretches of sustained chords. Felt like a genre adaptation without a lot of personalization. Oh except for the singing. I'm not even sure what to make of it. I know it's not supposed to sound great, but it's a little much. Context is everything, but I feel weird giving that part of the song a pass, while rejecting other songs for having vocals out-of-tune. I'm curious what other people think. Production was not bad, but it sounded crowded and the drums were a little hollow. I would have liked a cleaner sound. When everything is going at once, some elements sound indistinct. Bigger beef is with the arrangement. I would have liked to see some melody changes and countermelodies, more entirely new backing guitar parts. What's here sounds good but not that interpretative to me. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 This whole recording is sounding thin, and I don't just think it's because I'm listening on headphones..*listens to reference*...confirmed. It's not the headphones. You need more ass on this recording. The drums in particular could use bit more beef. To be fair, the drums sound like they are losing some detail due to MP3 compression. Wow.. Those vocals are precious. Serious points for that section. I was tempted to pass this cause the performances are tight, and the vocal section is fantastic. But I think between the EQ issues and the fact that the song is just about a minute and a half too long, I've got to say NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Best. Lyrics. Ever. Level up! So yeah, I share some of Vinnie's concerns about the arrangement here. It's basically just source without much else. Event the vocals (even though awesome) are practically verbatim to the source melody. I think the thing that bothered me the most is that you stuck so close to the source's structure. The playing was fantastic and the transitions weren't horrible as with most medleys but I was hoping for some more personalization of the source. The backing parts doesn't have enough variation but are performed very well. Production was pretty good. Like the rest of the panel I think it could be improved with some EQ'ing. The guitar's are a bit too sharp at times and the drums sound hollow and clicky. Pull down the volume and focus on giving each instrument space and depth without it getting too crowded. Distortion was a bit too digital for my taste but it's no dealbreaker. Like Vinnie, I think the main issue is the arrangement. It's just so very close to the source most of the time. The vocals doesn't really make it as enough personalization for an arrangement this long either Alter the melodies and comping a bit, add some original counter-melodies or sections and fiddle a bit with the production and you've got a winner. I mean, this HAS to be on OCR so just polish it up for the win. NO(resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Not feeling the medlyitis aspect of this mix. I feel like you did some pretty straight up genre-adaptations of a load of songs, without much thought into developing and arranging the ideas. I can see some people thinking the vocals are hilarious or something, but they're seriously out of place, especially when they're so exposed. The playing and percussion are great, but I don't see a lot of arrangement value in this piece. NO, but definitely resub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts