Final Fantasy IV - Smooth Sun of Magma Redo WIP

[Monobrow]

http://www.songportal.org/katie/robos/wips/FFIVCLEANER_82.mp3

Hey guys.

I released this originally as a BONUS TRACK for the FFIV Project.

I have been off and on redoing it since then.

The original was severely rushed to be a bonus for the project, I got Ari to do drums for me overnight, over a disjointed and unfinished song.

Anyway for the most part his stuff is gone, and I am redoing it all myself.

My questions are as follows:

1. If I fix it up, do you think it is OCR worthy? Why or why not?

2. What do you think about certain instrument choices? What do you like, what bothers you, and do you have any suggestions?

3. Some things may not get the point across as clear as I hear, so what feels "empty" and what needs more meat to it?

4. What do you think of the drums?

5. How is the mixing, does everything sit well?

6. Anything else come to mind? Thanks ahead of time :J

P.S. DOES THE RHODES BOTHER YOU IN ANY WAY? How about the resonance on the rhodes? Are any FREQ too high for your ears or bothering you? Thanks this is REALLY IMPORTANT!

[Brandon Strader]

Dearest Monobrow,

I have listened to your posted work. I find it a bit on the quiet side. Some compression and a light bit of boosting may help to bring up the volume (and more importantly, thickness) of your composition. The bass is far too vacant, and leaves the mix sounding fairly open. However, the bass would probably be a bit more prominent if the song were more compressed as I mentioned earlier.

So to summarize my thoughts, I find it to be a bit too soft. Something that I believe some compression and a boost could remedy.

Thank you.

[Nase]

i think the production fits the tune here. Thought it was gonna be very soft when I heard the intro, turned up the volume a bit, and didn't have any issues with the soundscape at all. sure you could get more loudness out of it without sacrificing anything, but i don't think it's a problem as it is. don't sacrifice the dynamics at any rate, it's one of the strongest points the mix has going for it.

I can't comment on the arrangement much (my total FF experience amounts to about 5 hours of playing time), but I can say that it held my interest throughout. Loved the drumming, the cheese organ, the bell/music box lead etcetc.

i do think that the bass could be brought up a bit more, and at 1:00+, there were moments when the bell lead overpowered the tune, doing those fast runs. nitpicky, it's just a matter of a few velocity values.

zero gripes with the composition itself.

the ending sounds very WIPish, am i right?

Great track, all in all. Funny, I'm getting more of a Kikuta than an Uematsu vibe at times. Gotta check out the original.

Edit: oh, it's supposed to be a Rhodes, haha.

[Monobrow]

i think the production fits the tune here. Thought it was gonna be very soft when I heard the intro, turned up the volume a bit, and didn't have any issues with the soundscape at all. sure you could get more loudness out of it without sacrificing anything, but i don't think it's a problem as it is. don't sacrifice the dynamics at any rate, it's one of the strongest points the mix has going for it.

I can't comment on the arrangement much (my total FF experience amounts to about 5 hours of playing time), but I can say that it held my interest throughout. Loved the drumming, the cheese organ, the bell/music box lead etcetc.

i do think that the bass could be brought up a bit more, and at 1:00+, there were moments when the bell lead overpowered the tune, doing those fast runs. nitpicky, it's just a matter of a few velocity values.

zero gripes with the composition itself.

the ending sounds very WIPish, am i right?

Great track, all in all. Funny, I'm getting more of a Kikuta than an Uematsu vibe at times. Gotta check out the original.

Edit: oh, it's supposed to be a Rhodes, haha.

Thanks and noted. Yeah Brandon, the volume is pretty low atm, and I can see where some compression could help too.

As for the bass, yeah it needs some work. Thanks for pointing that out as well.

Yeah the lead is a rhodes too, someone else has complained about it being overpowering at about 1 minute so that is some confirmation I needed on it.

Sources for your reference.

And yes the end is very WIPish atm... It just needs to friggin come together somehow.

I also think the drums need tightening up somehow, but not sure which direction to take them, maybe more electronic, more compression?

Thanks for the comments so far guys, please keep them coming, anything helps :U