Zelda wip- Dungeon From Hell

[990racle]

Howdy. Could use some feedback on my remix of Labyrinth (Original Zelda)/Dark World dungeon (A Link To The Past), aiming for creepy and hopefully catchy. The percussion in parts still needs a lot of work.

I do want to submit this once it's done, so any input about well... anything would be really useful, thanks.

Here's a link to the WIP:

Zelda-Dungeon From Hell by Alaster

http://www.zshare.net/audio/5780181769882a9d/

[Spakku]

C'mon, Or, you wanna call it Dungeon From Hell then make me fear it.

This track feels jittery, tops. Aim for terror and agony with a kick-ass dance beat.

As for tangible criticism:

Everything's too quiet and too gentle. Don't let the melody notes just slide in, make them punch in.

Your Zelda 1 dungeon feels rushed. This is partly due to the previously mentioned slipperiness of the main melody, partly due to the high notes that sound like all you did was hit fast forward.

One small idea (coming from a layman, mind you):

Cut out every second high note from the Zelda 1 dungeon. I think it would change the feel of the pacing to not sound as rushed. As an added bonus that would replicate the effect of being almost dead, since the low-health siren made those notes go away.

[Rozovian]

Spakku's suggestion of cutting out the repeated notes is a pretty good one, just don't do it for the entire track. The heartbeat-like bass drum is a cool idea. Transition from one source to the other... not that good. You should blend the two together more, perhaps by using the melody or rhythm from one to use on top of the other.

It's also not as much a ReMix (arrangement) as it's a remix (different sound, same basic arrangement). Two sources stacked in succession, there could be more arrangement in this, and it will hardly get on ocr nowadays without more arrangement in it.

I don't need the melodies to punch in, the nightmare organ you used for the alttp tune sounds pretty creepy, it doesn't have to be totally in-your-face. It'd be good for the labyrinth to be more foreground, more driving, more aggresive, more in-your-face. Aside from being kind'a unrefined, I like the soundscape here, you have a good sound concept, with noise, organ, creepy bubbling sounds, all that. Processing, mixing, it all needs work, but the idea you've got is good.

I suggest you listen to all kinds of creepy stuff you can find. The Doom albums, Children of the Monkey Machine, some of the Relics of the Chozo tracks would work to start with. See what you can find and learn from. When it comes to arrangement ideas, you should compare remix to source.

Biggest concern I have is the arrangement one. Mixing is easy to change, but the arrangement isn't. Put more work into the writing, stuff like where which part comes, what parts you can combine, and how you want it to progress.

[990racle]

Thanks guys. (Oops, posted a stupid link by the way.)

More than anything this is still in concept form, so I'll definitely be taking into account your suggestions. Subtle creepiness is more my thing, normally, but with this I am covering a different sort of soundscape. I'll post an updated link when I've made some significant changes.

[SLyGeN]

Non-functional harmony sounds creepy.. specifically a lot of minor triads where they don't particularly fit in any one minor key. It'll sound diminished, and that's good for a creepy piece. Augmented triads sound a little trippy too. Experiment with those.

Chromatic scales also sound creepy.

Apply all of that theory to some choir aahs, or even just add some atonal choir shouts in places.

Just a few ideas to experiment with.

Listening to COTMM, etc is also a good idea. Along with that, listen to the Eternal Darkness soundtrack. Silent Hill is okay to listen to, too, but it's got a lot of JPop chaff thrown in, which really kills the mood of the game for me at times.

Don't just listen to them, either. Study them. Ask yourself what they're doing with the music when that chill runs down your spine.

Let me also say that I think your beginning is fine.. to a point. See, the whole piece feels like an introduction to me.. so I'd recommend leaving it as is (subtle changes are OK of course..) for a few bars.. and then move on to a new idea. My ear wanted to hear some crescendo after a while.

[SaxxonPike]

Aside from Zelda, this also reminds me of some creepy track I heard from Grandia 2.

Anyway, at the beginning, I think the white noise sounds are a bit loud. I got the vibe that this was going to be an ambient track, so the driving beat starting at 1:50-ish took me a bit by surprise. Not particularly a bad thing though. Again, after 2:15, the white noise sounds are a bit overwhelming. The heartbeat bassdrum is great after 2:45 is an excellent touch to the track. The earlier one in the song sounds great as well, but if the driving hard bass drum beat is going to follow that, you could perhaps lead in with it using a fill or something.

Just some nitpicks. The track itself is pretty good, I dig the dissonance this track offers. A bit more of a smooth transition between the parts and toning down the white noise would definitely earn a spot for this in my playlist.

[HoboKa]

Feels like Super Metroid lol. Good job.

Very sweet drum distortion you have going on there. Except I didn't get a hell-ish feeling, like some other people have stated. The notes need moar punch.

And the melody shouldn't be pushed in the background so far by the beat.

Like Rozo said, the melodies are much too close to the sources - gotta remix 'em up - otherwise this is just a very abstract cover. The transition for me wasn't so bad though, but I guess I'm less picky with progressive music

Also, if you're going for a creepy ambient feel, we need scarier pads and/or demonic or ghostly SFX.

Check out http://www.meanrabbit.com/wavhtml/wavepage.htm

and

http://www.tallarico.com/index.php?s=thesfxkit (just use the demo stuff - the full kit's wayy too expensive for VG remixing, unless you're Zircon or DJP in disguise)

Be sure to check out KVR audio as well. If you're stumped, PM me and I can hook you up with some creepy .wav files - as well as some scary pads.