OCR01972 - Xenogears "My Child"

[djpretzel]

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

[OceansAndrew]

Great stuff, A very good arrangement, by Kennith, though near the end, I don't think the repeated phrasing of the "my child" line was as elegant as it could have been. Otherwise, great work turning a shorter source into a cohesive track.

Justin does his thing here, and everything sounds nice. The only thing holding this guy back from some hugely epic emotive sequencing are his samples. They get the job done nicely, but I think that's what's holding him back now- his chops are certainly up to the task.

Deia is really the star of this track, and no offense to some or her earlier work, but it's like 2 different singers. I honestly didn't know she had it in her, and this is easily her best vocal performance yet, though it definitely won't be her best ever.

Keep on pwning, shawty.

[djpretzel]

Great stuff, A very good arrangement, by Kennith, though near the end, I don't think the repeated phrasing of the "my child" line was as elegant as it could have been. Otherwise, great work turning a shorter source into a cohesive track.

I was actually gonna say the same thing in my writeup, then just figured it wasn't worth it; most of the vocal has some good vibrato on it, but that line - repeated at the end, in particular - seems to sit & hold when it should probably flutter a bit more... then again, who am I to nitpick vocals?

[DragonAvenger]

I was actually gonna say the same thing in my writeup, then just figured it wasn't worth it; most of the vocal has some good vibrato on it, but that line - repeated at the end, in particular - seems to sit & hold when it should probably flutter a bit more... then again, who am I to nitpick vocals?

That was probably my one regret in singing this that I couldn't get a good tone quality, intonation, and vibrato out of those long (and one VERY long) held notes. Vibrato's always been a weakspot for me, since I tend to be very tense...all the time actually, but it's been improving slowly.

I have to say that I was very impressed with how Kenneth worked the original into a 3 minute piece. It certainly takes quite a bit of skill to expand so much on the source while still staying interesting.

I also have to say that Nutritious really brought this track to life. Listening to the original finale version and the finished version, the sounds and emotion are so different that it really brings out the emotion.

It was great working with these guys, and I hope I can again soon!

[Liontamer]

Agreed with Dave/Andrew/DA on that last held vocal note having some unexploited potential. That and the way the string decayed at the finish were probably the only two crits even worth making. As I told Kenneth at MAGFest, I absolutely loved this track, hence the DP. I liked the deliberate pacing and mood in this one. If you read the lyrics, they definitely gets the eyes CLOSE to tearing up. (I held my composure, I'm gonna cry. But I could see how someone else would. )

I really liked listening to it when I first heard it when tagging Humans + Gears, but it wasn't until reading Kenneth backstory on the imagery that the gravity of the arrangement really hit me. Very powerful lyrics, nothing but enhanced by Deia's vocal performance, which was both sad and stunning. Justin really polished this up nicely.

Also, props to Kenneth for incorporating the source theme on some level at practically every point of the song. When I realized it was going on in the background during several portions of the arrangement, I was definitely impressed at how thorough and sophisticated the overall treatment of the theme was. Great job, guys!

[Abadoss]

In regards to that last note, I actually felt the same thing and add an ornamentation to it every time I sing through it on my own. By the time I realized it though, the song had already been recorded and submitted to Avaris.

[avaris]

This was an awesome surprise near the end of the project. Def DA's best vocal performance. Despite being extremely short I think the song has a lot to offer. After listening to it for the first time I thought it was ~4mins. Says something about the writing and production on this mix.

[Hale-Bopp]

DA's vocals are solid in this. It's such a sweet and sensitive remix. Great for letting your mind drift off into dreamland.

[Bahamut]

So reading the writeup, this song makes a lot more sense.

I agree with what others have said about the last note, but that has been addressed so I won't go there. One thing I felt though is that the backing to DA's vocals is a bit too loud and drowns out the vocals a bit.

The second half of the song is excellent in contrasting a touch of sadness to the first half, and I feel that's where this song really shines (that being the second half), as the main part with the source is used in a more uplifting manner than the original.

Great job trio!

[Emunator]

Hey, really killer work on all fronts I've loved Abadoss's collabs ever since I heard him on FFIV, and this just shows how much potential he has to branch out and do something completely new and different with every song. The orchestration and vocals have their flaws, but in the end it's nothing that makes a serious dent in my overall enjoyment. The lyrics are incredibly touching once you know the story they are trying to portray.

This was a surprise for me when I heard it on Xenogears, you guys all really rose to the challenge on this one!

[yosefu]

I love this mix and the vocals are just awesome.

[Gasaraki]

I can really feel the sadness in this, it's almost making me tear up. So much so that it's kind of hard to say I like it.

Incredibly emotional to say the least.

[42]

The word that comes to my mind on this one is "Gothic". It has these very dark, haunting overtones that really cause one to pause and just dwell on life for a while. Everything is executed just so perfectly here.

Abadoss described this as a lullaby that a mother might knowingly sing to her child who might not survive the night, and its the fact that even if he hadn't told that, it still would have been clear that would have been the vibe that they were going for. The fact that this is so rooted in those notions that it accomplishes what it sets out to do is what makes this so awe worthy in my opinion.

If what I just said made any sense ._.

Everything here though just works together so well, especially DA's vocals and the slow methodological orchestration.

Definitely an amazing song.

[Eino Keskitalo]

First I'll repost what I wrote for the album thread:

My Child has probably the best DragonAvenger vocals yet, and the piece is quite gorgeous as a result. The lyrics are hard to hear for me too, but I don't mind that with this sound and melody. To nitpick, I hear some slight weak points with some beginnings of phrases and some intervals, but overall it's a powerful performance. The rest of the arrangement is good, but when the vocal is so strong, I wish the arrangement would have concentrated more on supporting it. Towards the end, it even seems to compete with it for attention. I believe a stronger overall piece could have resulted, although what is here is very good and enjoyable.

There have been some comments that the last "my child" line should have more stuff going on in it. I feel quite the reverse, the power of the vocal is in that it is so understated and is not overselling itself at any point. The emotion comes across the best that way, I think.

I still feel that the arrangement is overpowering the vocals towards the end, around 1:30-1:55 or so. It sounds a bit busy perhaps, though I find it hard to be more precise than that. It might be a mixing issue with the levels or frequencies or stereo separation too. The vocals have some timing issues here and there too, which contributes to the slightly cluttered feeling.

Overall though, this is a wonderfully serene, and really, really sad song. I enjoy it very much. The vocals are powerful and clear and emotive, the writing is overall good, the piece sounds good and everything overall comes together in a really nice way, and also in a way unique to OCR ReMixes so far, as far as I can tell.

--Eino

[Crulex]

First things first, the vocals sounded heavenly. The vibrato kind of makes it hard to hear at some points, that's minor to me. This has an easy, haunting and "elegance in darkness" kind of feels to it, and it really did the trick. Nice work.