*NO* Castlevania 'Passion of the Vampiric Delusion'

[Liontamer]

Contact Information

* CrackMasterK

* Kenneth Boxall

* KennethBoxall@hotmail.com

* www.vampirefreaks.com/cimmarian

Submission Information

* Castlevania

* Vampire Killer

* I wanted to compose somthing for everyone....here is my first attempt

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http://www.zophar.net/download_file/8801 - Track 2

This went in a minimalist direction, generally provided by only two instruments at once at nearly any given time (three from 2:52-3:04), and altering the rhythms.

Cool first effort, with some fairly solid sounds. The final section at 3:28 was a cut-and-paste from 1:18-1:42, which was a letdown. The very ending cut off in the middle of the last notes fading out, which was sloppy.

Had there been more melodic interpretation beyond the rhythmic changes, I could have been down. The original writing additions fit fairly well here, but, as is, I still need some more arrangement substance with the melody, especially in the first half.

Not sure if the other Js will be completely put off by the minimalism, but I thought it was a novel approach. See what more you do with this idea, Kenneth. It's a promising concept so far.

NO (resubmit)

[Palpable]

Sorry dude, but I wasn't feeling this one. Most of the rhythm and note changes came off as contrived to me, changes for the sake of having them. The song had a very unnatural flow as a result, and the lack of smooth transitions didn't help. There's a lot of repetition of ideas here too, with 2:47-3:49 pretty much straight repeating of earlier sections.

You also need to spend some time working on your articulations. There's a real lack of volume changes in your parts, like the intro. It gives it a very mechanical sound. Also, when you have a section like 1:19-1:40, where you repeat the same phrase several times, it helps to modify how the notes play. Altering the note lengths (as well as volumes) would make it sound less like copy/paste.

Spend some more time improving your production skills, and I think the writing may follow. The repetition in this might have been mitigated by a more natural production. The WIP forum is a great place to get feedback quicker, if you don't want to wait on getting a judge's opinion. Good luck on your future endeavors.

NO

[anosou]

Yeah I'm with Vinnie here, didn't feel this at all. A minimalist approach in setting is always ok imo but you didn't use any instrument to it's fullest potential (except perhaps the tubular bells and those you used a bit too much). The articulations needs some work, they didn't sound bad for the most part but the lack of dynamic contrast really hurt this. Also, for the record, harpsichord is played with two hands! Since a harpsichord can't really play sustained note eithers I reommend using thrills (is that the correct english term?) to give off the illusion of longer notes. In a near-solo-piece such as this you can afford to be a little more daring.

I thought the rhythmic changes for the most part (especially in the intro) felt forced and unnatural. May be because of the hard quantizing. That almost never works for odd time signatures and when you put emphasis on uncommon beats. Some more varied interpretation of the source would also help this piece a lot. The ending cut off quite abruptly too, always check your reverb tail when exporting!

Porduction-wise this had some issues too. Because of how sparse this is the production isn't the most important thing but damn there is A LOT of reverb. Pull that back, quite a lot.

Keep working on your arranging and production skills. You've obviously got some know-how but now you have the get even more know-how. Try the WIP-forum and #ocrwip for some generally good feedback. Good luck!

NO