Liontamer Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Original Decision: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=18757 Contact info: Remixer name is Jabond23. Real name is Joe Nichols. Email address is jabond213@gmail.com Website is http://www.myspace.com/nintenjoe64 UserID is 25151 I did a rock remixed version of the dungeon theme from the original Legend Of Zelda for the NES. It also includes very small parts of the magic whistle and the item discovery theme but the overall song is the dungeon theme. Its an awesome song that always brings back the days of old. I used a keyboard with a virtual instrument found in Mixcraft 4 called Square Lead that has an old Nintendo sound to it. The virtual instrument has an almost identical sound to the old nintendo games. When i was making this song I really wanted to do an almost epic version of it by taking the original and making the riffs and solos soar. This is actually the 3rd submission for me for this exact song, so hopefully my mixing has dramatically improved enough for you guys to pass it! I completely revamped the song all the way through. So please let me know what you think? Thank you, Joe ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.zophar.net/download_file/14178 - Track 4 Opened up with the 8-bit style. Melody sounded a bit flat. Rock stuff kicked in at :19. The lead synth was mostly panned hard left while the rock stuff was mostly panned hard right. On headphones, it sounds awful, and you really shouldn't be doing it that way anyway. The lead synth didn't mesh with the rest of the instrumentation either. It's got to be better couched in the soundfield. Not sure why it goes into big chugs that bury the synth melody & vox countermelody at :38. Same issue at 2:52. It's trying to be a wall of sound, but there's still no attention to balance; you need to be able to easily hear how all of the parts contribute. Still think the transition at 1:55 just sounds goofy and out-of-place, but at least it's brief. Somewhat better balance at 2:09, even if the texture was still really messy. You could at least here the soloing a little bit. Really weak programmed drums at 3:31. The snare was weak and the drums didn't fill out the background at all. Ending at 4:09 was sudden and anticlimactic. Arrangement-wise, the overall energy is good, particularly the guitars, and obviously this expands upon the source material. More attention to production and balance would really help this, as well as properly padding out the background; right now it just sounds like the drums are the only element in the back. This was still mixed extremely sloppy, and the most cluttered parts (:38/2:52) sounded like a bad bootleg recording. I'd put this on the shelf and revisit it when your production chops improve; as long as you stay hungry and improve on that level, you'll come back to this in a couple of years and realize this is really poorly mixed. Don't be discouraged though, you're showing some potential with this piece and these resubs were an improvement. If you're not participating in Dwelling of Duels, you should be. Just keep at it and use the resources here and in other communities to improve. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Larry was thorough with his vote so there might be some repeating, prepare yourself! 0:38 was definitely a weak link production wise. Everything suddenly got squished together and sounded distant but cluttered. The melody was constantly buried and the loud (but simple) saw waves left a lot to the imagination. Overall the production was extremely cluttered, loud and lacked focus. The solo at 2:10 was barely audible. The arrangement was pretty cool though. Some of the stuff was handled ok (0:58's guitar chugging, 2:10's solo, some synth noodling) but overall this could've used a more interpretive approach to the source. The instrumentation, drum sequencing and simple synths brought the piece down too. Overall, this has quite some way to go. The main issues are definitely production-related but it also has enough issues with the arrangement to call that a problem area. I urge you to get some feedback and brush up on your mixing skills before you attempt to rework this. #ocrwip on irc.enterthegame.net and the WIP forum is a good place to start! NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Sorry Joe, but I can pretty much copy and paste my older vote. The mixing is still really unclear, with a lot of parts fighting for space. I know EQing and fitting everything in can be very frustrating (I struggled with it for years, and still do on occasion), but this absolutely needs more work there. There's a lot of instruments that can be cut in places to get a cleaner, less cluttered sound. For example, try cutting those opening synths in the lower frequencies and reducing their volumes a little if it's still muddy. I'd recommend you experiment more with EQ to get a feel for what you can cut. Pay close attention to the sounds of instruments in professional recordings that have a similar style to your song. You might find that they aren't as bassy or full as you think they are. All the best, man, you've got playing and arranging talent. I'd also recommend hitting up Dwelling of Duels if you haven't already, because your music is up their alley. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I'd just like to add that I think the main sonic problem here is overcompression. Exhibit A: Anytime the kick does the fast triplets, you can hear everything else getting squished in time with the kick. It's just really crushed. afk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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