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OCRA-0013 - Tales: Summoning of Spirits


KyleJCrb
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And this is why you'll never see me get picked up for an "elitist" OCR project. :lol:

Anyway, thank you very much for your feedback on my Phantasia tracks, 'talo. (lol don't know what else to refer to you as!) You got it right on that I have issues with drums mastering, and that's rarely something I can get done right, but I still feel happy enough with my compositions nonetheless.

Concerning patches and stuff, both tracks were made in completely different production settings. "Middle-Aselia Bilogy" was forged in a music tech classroom some cold December of 2006, and "Gentry" was cleared with my current home setup as per April 2008, with what was then seen to be one of the most powerful keyboards in the UK market. None of the tracks have any patches in common at all, so I wouldn't see them directly affecting each other at all.

Of course, for the lead-writing in the aforementioned Treant work, I somehow ended up taking a few tips from some of Yoko Shimomura's tracks for Live-A-Live and layered different instruments on doing similar motifs. You may not notice it, but there's also a string patch underneath the flute that plays more of a straight conversion of the melody, and I thought that would help try and soften the tone a bit here. Besides, since it was a forest mix, I thought it would be more natural to make it more woodwind-oriented to try and reflect the tone of the setting, which was what I was feeling with my initial direction with this.

It still kinda irks me that you have a long way to go to reach my other two tracks for the project (which I think are both heads and tails above what i managed to do on the Phantasia side IMO) but for now, I'd have to say thanks very much for the informative feedback :)

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Man, "No Better Time Than Now" is awesome. Dang.

This could be doable...

Or maybe not. A lot of the earlier PMs are gone, and file dates are unreliable. Hmmm...

Well you can fudge the actual dates, just a general idea would be nice. And you can always check the dates in the finished tracks forum.

And for OverCoat:

http://dhsu.vgpiano.com/misc/ToP_MysticForest.mp3

(This is not me. Also lol @ 32kbps 11KHz MP3.)

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And good morning again..

Anyway, thank you very much for your feedback on my Phantasia tracks, 'talo. (lol don't know what else to refer to you as!)

Heh, 'talo is fine. =) My handle is actually my initials ("evk") with the last half of my surname tacked on. "Talo" means house. Not that you actually asked. But I did think just a week ago or so how incomprehensible the handle must be for non-Finns especially.

Concerning patches and stuff, both tracks were made in completely different production settings. "Middle-Aselia Bilogy" was forged in a music tech classroom some cold December of 2006, and "Gentry" was cleared with my current home setup as per April 2008, with what was then seen to be one of the most powerful keyboards in the UK market. None of the tracks have any patches in common at all, so I wouldn't see them directly affecting each other at all.

D'oh, now that I've read this and am listening to them side by side, this is really obvious. The flute isn't the same at all. I also do note that "Gentry"'s overall sound is a notch better, which probably has to do both improved equipment and skill. The way "Biology" begins with such a cool sound made this more difficult to notice, which means it was good work on the intro. ;)

I can tell that you like soft production, and I think it yields some great things, as the bass in "Gentry". Overall though, these two mixes would benefit from having more crips aspects in the mix (the drums). This helps the softer aspects shine. I'm no fan of soft pop or new-age or so, where an overall soft sound might be the genre-appropriate thing.

Of course, for the lead-writing in the aforementioned Treant work, I somehow ended up taking a few tips from some of Yoko Shimomura's tracks for Live-A-Live and layered different instruments on doing similar motifs. You may not notice it, but there's also a string patch underneath the flute that plays more of a straight conversion of the melody, and I thought that would help try and soften the tone a bit here.

Ah yeah, I notice it now. That is indeed a nice touch that does soften up the sound. (The flute is still quite shrill). I also forgot to mention that I definitely like those little trills on the flute.

It still kinda irks me that you have a long way to go to reach my other two tracks for the project (which I think are both heads and tails above what i managed to do on the Phantasia side IMO) but for now, I'd have to say thanks very much for the informative feedback :)

You're welcome! I'm very happy if you've found my ramblings useful, so thanks for the feedback on the feedback. :)

--Eino

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I was gonna wait until you got to all my tracks, Evk, but I really do appreciate all the time you're spending on my tracks. Good & bad that you find, it's awesome that someone is actually picking them apart. I think, for the most part, the things that are irking you are the things I tend to do on purpose, because I'm weird, & have strange tastes.

Though, I am a bit surprised that you liked what I did to the ending of Momentary, as I thought that section was the weakest in the track. But it's awesome that you're putting that much thought into your critiques. I love reading them!

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As a HUGE fan of Tales of Symphonia, I had to comment THIS. As many, I've waited years for this album. I'll give some feedback (that can't be compared with evktalo's ones, I'll be very simple, and not "long and constructive" as pu_freak said... not that I don't want to, I just can't :oops:), mostly on the Symphonia part. And sorry if my english is bad ¬.¬

First of all, The Unholy Wars. That's the style I love, and the arrangement is so good that I can't dislike it. The intro is just amazing too. Perfect opening for the entire album.

Smile and Forgive now. IMO, the theme isn't that good in the game, so I didn't expect to appreciate that much the track. The sadness in there is very touching. Just love the rythm, the melody...

Café Mantra is a bit too "oriental" for me, but even if it's not my favorite style, I can just admire the quality of the arrangement. A very good job.

Chaotic Heart... just by listening to the intro (I saw the remixer's name after) I knew I'd love this. Didn't imagine the theme being remixed like that AT ALL, but it fits ridiculously well, especially when the chorus is playing... Rocky Raine = WIN.

Desert Nights. Disco time. I don't really like this in general, but that made me laugh when I made the comparison with the atmosphere of Triet xD

Strike of the Devil's Axes : two words. EPIC. WIN. I wanted that kind of remix for THIS track since the game came out. This one is just awesome. Definitely one of my favs.

The Fall of Iselia - I'm not fond of happy themes. But this track brings me some good memories, and I LOVE the dramatical part (2:50 :shock:). Too bad it doesn't last longer IMO. The reference to the story of Iselia along the track is a good idea.

Continental Divide is not very far from the original. I liked a lot the music in the game, it put a particular atmosphere. Continental Divide enhance it with a great arrangement.

Like A Glint. Rock and solid arrangement from a battle theme I like a lot is more than enough to make me love this. Though I think it lacks something... I couldn't say what . Anyway, very nice additions to the original track, especially the guitar riff beginning at 1:21.

Sacred Ashes is really beautiful and sticks well to the original. Ozette (is it the name in English too ?) has a special atmosphere, and is an important place in the game for me since I love everything around Presea. As a fan, I can say this track is a success.

Altar Perception. The instruments in this track are a very good choice IMO, and the entire mix feels nice. Not much else to say... it goes smoothly and sounds perfect.

Ah, Dream Traveler. I said it earlier, I'm a Presea lover, so it's only natural for me to fear this remix and to think "Please, it MUST be perfect !". I have to say I'm not disappointed. I don't know, there's something that "elates" me (is it the right term ?), and that's why the title fits also perfectly. The string coupled with the piano result in a great arrangement. Beautiful.

My Secret Forest is a bit too far from the original for me. The moments I prefer are when the original music is easily recognizable. Still, the whole track is composed with a master hand and feels very good to listen at. R.I.P, Reuben Kee.

Apogee. The intro is just totally awesome. Actually, the whole track is. Very nice variations from the original melody. I especially love the intro, outro, and at 1:40 and 3:16 with this amazing bass ! The original track was great, this one is even better.

Holy Judgement... damn, I didn't except something like that. A 12 minutes track, are you crazy ? And are you allowed to create such an epic arrangement after all these amazing tracks ? I must admit I was afraid at the beginning. In 12 minutes, there MUST be something I dislike... no ? Could everything in this track be incredible ? I don't know if it's me or not, but you just CAN'T hate this arrangement, at least if you already beat the game once. I won't give you the details, it'd be even longer than the track itself.

First, the different characters' voices fits perfectly... even Genis' one gave me the chills (thanks to the choirs). Every instrument is played as and when it has to be played (I know what I mean, that's the important :tomatoface:). Every part of the arrangement sounds very epic. I think there's not much else to say about it. Thanks, guys.

And to finish, Summoning of Spirits. Another "Fighting of the Spirit" remix, but still very different. IMO, it closes the album (without the Ratatosk bonus) perfectly, with a very beautiful and calm arrangement. The piano section at 3:41 is just... wow. Well, almost everything else in the track is great, but I particulary loved this part.

That's all for me now. I hope you appreciated the feedback, though a bit "noobish" (and frenchie too).

I will just thank all of you for making this entire album, that's some incredible work. One last thing to say : :nicework: (much better than a speech)

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You know, I wish the alternate tracks got more attention. It's really interesting to hear where other people arrived when they approached Arche's theme.

Also, I'm amazed at how different the project version of "Cold Memory" is to the initial finished one.

Plus, I wonder how "Chronometrical (teh epicness edit)" is being recieved, as opposed to the project version.

Quick note, I listened to the project in one sitting, while I did other stuff, it is indeed an exquisite ride. I'm really, really proud to have been a part at what was, & will probably continue to be, the best project I've had the honour to be a part of.

I shout , "We had some good times, didn't we?" And you'd whisper back, "Yeah, I guess!" Then blue dong appears & destroys a city.*

*I watched the Watchmen the other day. There was a lot of dong in it. Both blue, & of bird. it had boobs, too, so it wasn't a complete sausage fest.

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I was just going to plug in my link in spreading the word around...but I see you guys found the COE Podcast episode already. I plugged your stuff when we were finishing up our gaming discussions toward the end. :)

I've downloaded the torrent a couple of days back but I always postponed listening to the stuff 'cause it's overwhelming. Right now I just finished the bonus stuff from Dawn of the New World and they're all great tracks. I was especially surprised with "No Better Time Than Now" 'cause the male and female vocals were really cool(despite being drowned out at times) and the music is very Sakuraba-esque.

I'll continue giving some ongoing impressions here. Once I'm done perhaps I'll whoop up something for the gaming site I write for. Wrote a review of Voices of the Lifestream awhile back.

http://www.projectcoe.com

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First off, congrats on finally releasing the project.

Second though, I must say I was very disappointed ;_; I actually felt that the sound quality of some tracks or their samples was really odd, which made them a pain to listen to. Especially my favourite tracks didn't do it for me.

That's not to say that as a whole it was bad; it just didn't work for me even though I had high hopes after having heard the preview compilation a while back (the things that bothered me back then still bothered me now).

The project was a great community effort and it's good to see it still came out after all that time. :)

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What ever happened to The Law of the Battle aka Battle Royale? I thought PriZm and Christian had one cooked up and ready to go.

Edit: Never mind. I found it in the bonus tracks section. Shame it didn't get in the final track list. Absolutely adore it.

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What ever happened to The Law of the Battle aka Battle Royale? I thought PriZm and Christian had one cooked up and ready to go.

Edit: Never mind. I found it in the bonus tracks section. Shame it didn't get in the final track list. Absolutely adore it.

Never got done. Couldn't get any extra guitarists or rappers to commit to it, sadly. I think PriZm could try and finish it now though: Maybe get Sixto, Prince of Darkness, and Mega Ran in on that shee-it?

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Never got done. Couldn't get any extra guitarists or rappers to commit to it, sadly. I think PriZm could try and finish it now though: Maybe get Sixto, Prince of Darkness, and Mega Ran in on that shee-it?

Well I don't have the midi file anymore, but if you or Christian still have it, it might be worth giving a shot.

But since myf and kungfuchicken aren't around anymore, it might be hard to find rappers.

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Well, I don't have a full MIDI, just two older versions (and the rendered MIDI-turned-MP3 that was released as a bonus track): http://kngi.org/miscstuff/PriZm%20-%20Law%20of%20the%20Battle%20WIP.mid and http://kngi.org/miscstuff/PriZm%20-%20Law%20of%20the%20Battle%20WIP%20V2%20Intro.mid

Maybe you can still make use of them and whip up a new version, eh?

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To be honest for just a second, I'd say you guys could have done well to tighten up the quality control on this album overall. There are a lot of great tracks, but there are some (and I won't point fingers) that are much more... unbalanced. They take away from the experience as a whole.

But on the whole... I was pleased with the final product. You guys did good.

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