Palpable Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Remixer: ziwtra Game: Final Fantasy 8 Song: breezy It's been a while (2+ years?) since my last submission. I'm still remixing and there will definitely be some older mixes for people to hear once the Xenogears remix project is released. This is the first mix I've done since putting my head down on the Xenogears OST. yh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FF8_minipsf.rar - 114 "Breezy" I don't know if this was one of the older mixes you mentioned, Young, but I thought the production was not as strong as your most recent mixes on the site. When the guitar and piano stand out, they definitely lack realism, and I'd say the guitar has the same rigidity and tone of the source. The coda is especially damning. I guess one could argue that as a fake guitar it doesn't need to sound realistic, but the comparability to the source hurts this IMO. I also think the mixing could be tweaked to get things in better balance. Otherwise, it's a great arrangement with the same lush detail and mood we're used to hearing from you. I'd love you to fix this up for us. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 The arrangement is really hot, but the leads are a bit on the rigid side, and the gated synth is a little overpowering, frequency-wise. It's a tough call for me, as it is a negligible issue most of the time, but there are a few times where it really sticks out as something that gets me out of the mix itself. The samples themselves I am ok with, as they feel like they have had a lot of care put into the effects, and they are arranged intelligently. I guess ideally i'd prefer the leads to be humanized a bit more, and for the gated lowend to be brought down, or EQ'ed a little more narrow, but I would be ok with this passing as-is. yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Z-man has always had a knack for creating ridiculously expansive and interpretive remixes. His ideas still amaze me. I really wish he were more than a music hobbyist because it just seems like there's so much more awesome music he could make if he had the time. Anyway, so Andrew's spot on about the arrangement, it's super hot. I love everything about it. Well, I did think the pause at 5:40ish went a little too long, but not really the deal-breaker. The production on the other hand seems a lot more rough than I'm used to hearing from Young. I think the main problem with it is that the bass is so loud at parts that it's doing unpleasant things when it hits the master limiter. Sounds like there's a LOT of overcompression going on. Like if I were to take any normal song and slam the master volume up about 10db and then run it through a brickwall, it would produce a similar effect. It is worth noting that Ziwtra is also kind of a master of that lo-fi, dirty sound, kind of like you can hear on the drums here. I don't think that's to be confused with the distorting that's occurring because of the volume of the bass. If you listen to his other tracks, he's done that a lot before. I'm just making that clear in case anyone might want to say "yeah, these drums sound distorted" or whatever. I'm all about wanting to throw a YES on this, but if I do, for the sake of fairness and consistency, I feel I have to make it strictly conditional on tweaking the mix a little. Tell you guys what, if y'all want to hold off, I'll fire him an email and see if he could tone that bass down a bit and get rid of some of the way way over compression. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 Z-man has always had a knack for creating ridiculously expansive and interpretive remixes. His ideas still amaze me. I really wish he were more than a music hobbyist because it just seems like there's so much more awesome music he could make if he had the time.Anyway, so Andrew's spot on about the arrangement, it's super hot. I love everything about it. Well, I did think the pause at 5:40ish went a little too long, but not really the deal-breaker. The production on the other hand seems a lot more rough than I'm used to hearing from Young. I think the main problem with it is that the bass is so loud at parts that it's doing unpleasant things when it hits the master limiter. Sounds like there's a LOT of overcompression going on. Like if I were to take any normal song and slam the master volume up about 10db and then run it through a brickwall, it would produce a similar effect. It is worth noting that Ziwtra is also kind of a master of that lo-fi, dirty sound, kind of like you can hear on the drums here. I don't think that's to be confused with the distorting that's occurring because of the volume of the bass. If you listen to his other tracks, he's done that a lot before. I'm just making that clear in case anyone might want to say "yeah, these drums sound distorted" or whatever. I'm all about wanting to throw a YES on this, but if I do, for the sake of fairness and consistency, I feel I have to make it strictly conditional on tweaking the mix a little. Tell you guys what, if y'all want to hold off, I'll fire him an email and see if he could tone that bass down a bit and get rid of some of the way way over compression. YES, conditional. My big issue was with the piano and guitar realism, but I'll relisten to whatever fixes he's willing to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Well, to be fair, I don't think he was going for the "realistic" guitar sound. I mean, I'm not sure, I'll have to ask him, but I don't think it would sound any better (maybe even right at all) if it actually had a *real* guitar. I can live with the piano simply going back to that lo-fi tendency he has. It's like it's just his style I think. Suits the mix/vibe/tone/whatever. And again, I'm not sure a Bachstein concert grand would be all that fitting in this context *edit* Figured I'd just post this instead of recapping. [01:21] Palpable: dunno if you saw my comment on the Ziwtra sub, Jimmy [01:22] Palpable: that guitar, I dunno [01:22] Palpable: I've NOed a lot of mixes for guitar like that [01:37] BGC: yeah, I just resonded [01:37] BGC: I don't think the mix would beneift from a real guitar [01:37] BGC: it's gritty and lo-fi to begin with [01:38] BGC: I suppose it's all about the context [01:38] BGC: I mean, if someone was definitely trying to write a pop song and pass their guitar off as a real one or whatever [01:38] BGC: If the arrangement sounded like it needed a real guitar then sure [01:39] BGC: here's a good example - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QapwJpAe7w [01:39] BGC: that's obviously a fake guitar [01:40] BGC: sounds exactly like the 12 string guitar patch on my old Yamaha keyboard. Not realistic at all, but it's just the sound they were going for [01:40] BGC: Actually, the piano in that song sounds decidedly choppy and synthetic as well [01:42] BGC: but it's just how the song is. Nothing wrong with it IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Whilst this arrangement is clearly very musical, the source is a little buried due the the new chords you've imposed on it; so its not particularly obvious that this is breezy in quite a few sections. It does become very obvious towards the end though, and its definitely 50% plus, I just kinda wish it was more obvious due to my source love. I think ziwtra is a production genius, and his xenogears tracks were pretty awesome; I couldn't believe the sequencing I was hearing at times. This one - which is a bit older? - is not quite as hot, but still pretty sweet. I enjoy the way parts swell and flow together, and while there are a few general mix issues (fake-ish guitar, slightly hot gated synth), they're pretty easily overlooked, and don't make the track any less enjoyable. I think the rigidity of some parts was a stylistic choice and imo it worked fine. Good stuff. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I'm definitely fine with the guitar sound, as well as the piano. Clearly doesn't need to sound realistic. Putting the drums way left is an interesting decision. I love the arrangement. There's a little mud in the low mids; a bit washy, but it's really not egregious. There's a ton of cool stuff going on. Love the backwards strings. Pretty easy YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 You know, since this thing has 3 solid Y's at the moment, I'm gonna go ahead and just change to a regular YES as well. Young is arguably my favorite remixer anyway. Oshi- that makes me biased doesn't it... I do think the bass is a little too aggressive (volume wise) but the sequencing is undeniably and reliably stellar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Guess I'll go ahead and give this the final push. Source was at times buried in all the cool stuff you added but I didn't think that was an issue because it was identifiable and dominant in other sections. The arrangement is very chill, very laid back. It's a perfect fit for the source. Like Fishy though, I would've loved to see a bit more source crammed in there. Production's pretty cool. The bass is slightly overpowered and the piano/guitar lacks realism but not so much that it hurts the track. The effects are tasteful and definitely builds an interesting mood, great work with that. I see no reason this shouldn't pass, solid work. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 btw, I did talk to Z-man about this, and he's gonna get us another version where the bass isn't quite so loud. Just FYI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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