Liontamer Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Contact Information * ReMixer name: Suitmonster * Real name: John J. Brandon * Email address: jjbrandon@gmail.com * Website: www.suitmonster.com (Nada y nada mas at the moment.) * Userid: 24383 Submission Information * Name of game(s) arranged - Chrono Trigger * Name of individual song(s) arranged - "Secret of the Forest", and a leg from the "Chrono Trigger" main theme. * A link to the file: * Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site) I'm sure sufficient information exists at OCReMix.org, but the original composer is Yasunori Mitsuda. * Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site) - Available through OCReMix.org, if by some chance there are Philistines who are not already intimately, nigh-sexually familiar with it. * Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.- I've always enjoy the source song, but I did not set out with intent to ReMix anything. This work started by writing an original piece, and while fiddling on the ivories I found that "Secret of the Forest" fit nicely, so I adapted, pushed and shoved until I got a terrible, horrible, stinky remix ready, and then asked for advice from the WiP forums. After months of reworking it and many emails from supportive ReMixers (huge thanks to everyone, and Mustin in particular), I managed to come up with something vastly superior to my original shameful effort. I'm pleased with the resultant mp3, which I feel is (hopefully) an enjoyable and clever ReMix of one (or two) of the most well-loved songs of the Chrono Trigger discography. I have dubbed the aforementioned ReMix "Forensique a la Forêt" because I enjoy alliteration, and also because I grew tired of trying to think of something more clever. It should be mentioned this is the first submission of my first ReMix ever, which I hope is a first-step in the right direction. I look forward to your responses. -- John J. Brandon ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Secret of the Forest" (ct-111.spc) & "Chrono Trigger" (ct-102a.spc) A little cheesy with the SFX at :19, but no big deal. The drums brought in at :26 were too upfront and didn't fill out the background well. The patterns were pretty vanilla since the snare dominated over the other stuff. Much better stuff with the cymbals as the focus at 1:29. Some "Chrono Trigger" usage on top of "Secret of the Forest" at 2:20. Arrangement-wise, the structure was fairly straightforward, but the melodies were embellished with some flourishes and personalization. A bit conservative for me, especially due to several aspects of supporting writing being used fairly verbatim as well, but still a reasonable approach. I thought the finish at 3:24 wasn't strong at all; I didn't mind the SFX afterward though, that was a fine touch to come full circle with the intro. You really need to refine the mixing here, as everything sounded lossy, distant and not well separated. I'd have never realized the encoding was at 192kbps based on what I heard. For the sections with the beefy snare going on, I think you need to scale that part back a little and perhaps add in another supporting part to adequately fill out the background. Re-balancing and cleaning up the track would already do wonders in lifting it up. Good first sub, John. I hope you continue to improve and that we hear more from you! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Arrangement is for the most part fine, source is there relatively conservatively with some nice additions; but really the problems are in the mixing and the general production (which is pretty good anyway for a first sub). The drums aren't good on the whole. The shakers/hats do their job okay, but the rest of the kit just doesn't fit well. I'm hearing two different snares and sometimes one and not the other plays and it just sounds bizarre. Imma disagree with larry and say the cymbal focus part was no better, everything else thats going on is epic, that should be the loudest section as far as drums are concerned imo. Needs more crash. Whatever bass drum is there is inaudible, and you can't get away with not having a proper kick. The levels are a bit strange, and I'm hearing lo-mid conflict quite often and the bass is quite greedy with the soundscape. Generally speaking, the leads - while simple - sound okay and they fit together well enough, as does the piano. Imo some nice new fitting drums with a bit more presence, a more interesting ending and a general clean up of the soundscape will have you on the right track so keep at it and good luck with a resub. NO resub plz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 The main issue is the drums, no contest. As my fellow jdgfgts mentioned they sound very distant. The kick is almost inaudible (compress that sucker!) and the snare is a bit weak, the way it changes between two samples is also quite strange. Work on getting them to sit nicely in the mix together with everything. Otherwise everything sounds quite muddy. Like every instrument is filtered/heavily reverbed. Work hard with the EQ to get everything to fit nicely together. The bass for example had a pretty strange sound and took up a lot of the soundscape. Arrangement-wise this isn't bad in any way. Sometimes it feels a little empty with just the synthlead supplying the melodic content. Gets better towards the ending, no doubt about that, but I'm sure you could go the extra mile with the source. Maybe add some chords or arpeggios? Counter-melodies? A general spicing up of the arrangement would help even though it's off to a good start. All in all, this needs a lot of work in the production area and less so the arrangement. It's quite good for a first submission but needs some additional polish to really shine. NO(resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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