OceansAndrew Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Weeping Shards Arrangement of: Crystal World (Final Fantasy IX), Terra (Final Fantasy IX), To the End of the Wilderness (Wild Arms) ReMixed by: Kenogu Labz (Nathan Armstrong) User ID: 24234 Comments: This song is based off of one of the best themes in Final Fantasy IX: Crystal World. It's an eerie rendition of The Prelude, replete with some of the most haunting harp you'll ever hear. But the original song never pushed the original melody of The Prelude, so I decided to mix the two together, and this is what came out. I also mixed in a little To The end of the Wilderness, because Crystal World was feeling lonely. This is a tracked song, so the style is pretty calm. Most noticeably, the guitar teases until the end, when it breaks out in full. The mix is intended to be chilling, with brief flashes of uplifting emotion. Have fun listening! Crystal World (Final Fantasy IX) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_dHPu3f-4A Terra (Final Fantasy IX) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlhdZQWmteI To the End of the Wilderness (Wild Arms) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-DdO10gR6g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Alright, chill mood, liking the instrumentation and buildups, possibly a little repetitive. And then I hit the acoustic guitar. I can't tell you how not getting the job done that is. If you're gonna use something that fake sounding, please don't solo it and bend on it. Tuck it away. Or better yet, enlist a friend to help you out if you know one who plays. But besides that, this song has other issues. The use of Crystal World/Prelude gets somewhat repetitive and there isn't a whole lot going on to make up for it. Sequencing is rigid and samples are thin. There's also some mixing issues, the buildups don't quite get loud enough, the leads don't stand out much. Afraid this isn't going to cut it, but there is a lot to like about this so don't get discouraged. Almost every problem here comes down to production, the writing is pretty good. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 I agree it drags a little and could use some editing, but otherwise the writing worked well enough. I think having some additional backing parts would be helpful, like a counter melody in some parts, and more defined swells would really help. you don't need to do it with percussion, but even a pad or string bed crescendo + some suspended cymbals would really work nicely. The leads aren't super great either, and I'd suggest changing them up a bit. The first one would definitely sound good with a live recording, but if that won't work, maybe a more realistic sounding patch will have to do. The second lead worked well, but the soundscape was still a little empty. Either thicken that one up by doubling it, or fill out things with some extra instruments. A great start, but it needs some polishing up. no, please resubmit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Orichalcon Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Starts off nicely. Was hoping for some of the reversing that happens in the original crystal world track. About a minute in, it sounds kind of Tomb Raiderish. I actually don't mind the fake guitar bend sounds. It reminds me of the early 90s when those weird music formats were around (like *.mod) where the mixers had no choice but to screw around with the samples given to them. It kind of reminds me of the Jazz Jack Rabbit 2 Soundtrack. The mix could certainly use some polishing up. I don't find the samples too thin, though you could build up the more intense areas to heighten the mood you've attempted to convey. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here for encouragement's sake. I can't see this passing until it's been tidied up a bit. But I think it's good enough to post as is. so it's a YES from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 I like the concept that you have going on here, and overall the writing itself is doing pretty well. Combining the FF9 themes with Wild Arms worked surprisingly well, especially the work towards the end. To me it takes a little long to establish each theme individually before they combine, maybe having the two themes start to bleed together a little earlier (the WA theme comes in at ~2 out of less than 4 total), or something else to keep the interest level could spice things up a bit. The production is your weakpoint, unfortunately. The samples are generally thin or mechanical sounding; combine that with a generally sparser texture like you have here and it becomes even more apparent. Take some time to hone up on how to get these sounds more humanized and maybe beef up the structure a little to get a better blend and more enjoyable sound out of everything. If you can get a live player, that would also help things out. Good concept, I'd like to see this one again after some work, especially in the production aspects. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 Cool arrangement; fits together surprisingly well! That acoustic guitar sample is killing me. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so exposed, but it's pretty much soloing there. No good. The rest of the soundscape has some weird balance issues. The bass stuff sounds really muffled, and everything else sounds thin and over-exposed. I like it, but it needs work. Try to beef up your soundscape and work with some better/more appropriate samples. NO but please resub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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