[WIP] Golden Sun - The Element (Sol Sanctum remix)

[Solatrus]

I'm debating submitting this. What do you think?

http://www.solatrus.com/mp3s/The%20Element.mp3

Also, I've already done some tweaks to it since then. The "crunchy" drums in the middle go through slow filtering now.

All critiques are welcome.

Updated version:

http://www.solatrus.com/mp3s/element_2.mp3

[Rozovian]

No source link, no source comment.

Panning is interesting. Snare's got way more reverb than it needs, at least for something that loud. Dunno what you were going for, but that's not particularly pleasant sounding. Too ahrd, and too much reverb.

Once the drum loops come in, the whole track just... repeats, with slightly different backing chords. No, you gotta write something more interesting. You looped the melody too, which makes everything feel far more repetitive. Cut some repetition, or vary it.

Flute section suffers the same problem. It's basically just repetition with some added elements. Needs more variation than that.

Yours pads are pretty, but they're also kind'a fat, and probably mud up the frequency range a bit. See what frequencies they're not alone in, and drop those a little.

Most of your instruments are passable, but the flute has a dry breath noise that doesn't really fit into this otherwise distant sounding track. needs more processing, or another sample. Or, you can pull the attack slider to give it a softer attack. 50 ms might work, you shouldn't need more than 150.

Interesting, but too repetitive atm. Certainly worth working on. Good luck.

[Escariot]

Doesn't vary from the source enough. You have a cool idea with incorporating the (nearly) same sound as the original with the flute thing, but you do have a bit too much attack on it.

Nice idea, needs to be taken back to the drawing board, though.

I love the game, and love the OST, so I look forward to hearing a second version of this relatively soon.

[Solatrus]

Noted. Already on some changes.

I'm going to extend the melody so it doesn't loop, change up the chord progression during the flute part. Possibly redo the drum loop, but I'm not entirely sure how I want to do that, I honestly like how it sounds now. (Though, yeah, it's overly repetative... I'll get right on that.)

Flute's attack is much slower now, and I'm doing more drastic velocity changes throughout it's melody.

Are you guys suggesting I rewrite the melody entirely?

[Rozovian]

I don't think you have to rewrite it entirely, just change some iterations of the melody so you have different versions of it, supported by the changing chords.

[Solatrus]

Sorry about taking so long to work on this and reply, my grandfather passed away. Haven't had much inspiration for a few weeks.

Anyway... a good bit of reworking, I didn't really cut anything yet. Needs some EQing, still sounds kinda muddy. (Edit: Woops. Flute is too loud in this iteration, will fix.)

http://www.solatrus.com/mp3s/element_2.mp3

I've got a little bit that I think needs to be reworked and a part that probably should be cut.

[Rozovian]

Horn needs to cut through better, needs more highs. Hope it has any.

Recurring 6-note pattern is a little annoying, not sure why. Could be just the pan effect, could be that it's too loud. You could fade it out a bit.

Interesting that you choose to use really close sounding drums in an otherwise mellow and mostly distant track. The filtered version of the loop you've got under the flute is pretty nice, tho, I suggest you use that earlier in the remix, introduce the drums with that.

Yeah, flute is too loud, and it sounds a little too close. More reverb, some cuts to its highs and lows, stuff like that would give it more of a distance. You could also delay the whole track a little. If you want it to sound more distant, thatis.

Repetition is still a problem here. It's mostly just looped sections. Adding some rhythm, by using tremolo on the pads, adding a backing track of something other than a pad, adding a shaker or other percussion/rhythm instruments, something to provide a little more momentum would keep the track from getting too loopy. Then again, just changing the sound of the synths using automation or layering could also work.

Still don't like how the lone snare sounds. It's more balanced now, but there's still something about it that I don't like.

It's got the makings of a beautiful track, tho. Lovely chords. It's definitely got potential if that's a direction you're heading. Good luck with it.

[Solatrus]

Thanks for the comments and complements.

I actually really like the choice for the drum beat. It gives a nice offset to the rest of the very mellow track. I just happen to like the sound of mellow pads with an energetic beat. I'm gonna rework the beat a bit and make it less repetitive. However, as for filtering it throughout... I tried it once and I wasn't particularly impressed with the feel.

I'll think about it with the recurring 6 note pattern. It's necessary, but I suppose it could be a little too repetitive as well. As for the flam snare, it might just need to be darkened... It stands out too much in the higher frequencies.

Lastly, the horn, if I bring up the higher frequencies too much, it sounds like a trumpet. That's completely not the sound I want. I want the dark sound of a French horn. But, I'll see what I can do and mess with the EQ on it a bit.

Huh, I wonder if adding a bassline in might help with the momentum, as you say?

[Rozovian]

Bassline might work, tho make sure not to make it too strong in the softer parts.