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OCR01991 - Final Fantasy VIII "Seasons"


djpretzel
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I can hear the source in there, although this remix pretty much completely scraps the original feel of the source. I thought the drums were pretty nice, and the warm synth pad. I thought a lot of the other instruments sounded too "MIDI". This could have really benefited from some real instruments, or even volume variation on the sequenced notes.

It's not bad but it could have been better!

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http://squallsdead.com/

>>Implying.

The vocals were pretty weak IMO. Vocals are always welcome at my book but I really didn't get excited for it. But I did liked the music itself and the transition from english to japanese. Kinda reminding the "Melodies of Life" from the 20020220 concert version.

Edited by teh1archon
Making it relevent
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I really wish ziwtra put more of the source in the mix. I also feel like a few notes here and there are off from the parts of the source that are used, but I don't have it here to confirm. But that's my only gripe. This is great otherwise - great sound design and the instrument choices are very nice, even though some are obviously pretty fake. It's also a mix that really feels like it moves somewhere, like you've gone on a bit of a journey after listening to it.

Very nice work overall.

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I'll be completely honest here, I want to like this song a lot. The arrangement is pretty tasteful and the chords create a very melancholy, breezy ambiance. However, having listened to some of the songs that Young has released in the past, especially for the Xenogears project, I think this one falls way beneath the bar he's set for himself from a quality point. Almost always, he's been able to mask his poor samples in a way that doesn't detract from the finished product, but not only are the samples weak here, but the humanization is almost unbearably nonexistent, especially with the piano. Everything is rigidly sequenced to the nth degree and it does become a distraction.

I want to like this song but I really think it needed a bit more polish before coming out of the gates. The arrangement is so enveloping and captivating, but it's hard to truly get lost in a song when the production is so sloppy :-(

Sorry Ziwtra, I'm still a huge fan of your music and will download this because it does have many redeeming factors that are too good to pass up, but this is not one of your strongest efforts :-(

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@Red Shadow: I think the unrealistic sequencing was what put me off more than the unrealistic samples. The sounds used were, I suppose, appropriate enough but the way certain notes are played on the piano, there's no swing/sustain/believable transition... whatever you want to call it, between the short notes, especially with the piano. The low-quality samples and robotic sequencing accentuate each others' weakness and make them more blatant.

I could forgive the samples if the everything wasn't quantized so rigidly, but when those two issues culminate into one song, it's an issue that affects the listenability for me, and I've never had that problem with Ziwtra's mixes in the past, despite the fact that he's using the same samples as always. He's my most listened to OCR artist on last.fm currently so I've obviously got nothing against the kind of music he usually makes. I'm not sure what happened here :\

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great arrangement, really nice, relaxing, and peaceful. I do think sound and sample quality plays a part of music, otherwise why bother with different instruments? Low fidelity is great and definitely has a place, but with music being a form of expression, having a wider tonal palate is just like a larger vocabulary.

Regardless, excellent work.

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I'm of two minds about this one.

I like the arrangement for sure, but the production and soundscape just isn't meshing with me. Distortion going on in the drums, altho I know its a style preference... I don't think the guitar or the piano are amazing in terms of sample quality, but I don't think they bring down the mix as much as people are saying... I wasn't sure the piano sounded quite right to me tho, a little bit too upfront for my liking.

Not sure i'm a fan of the mix myself, but for sure its a solid effort that others will like, and I have plenty of Ziwtra in my itunes to keep me happy for now :D

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I kinda love this piece. I'm glad despite differences of opinion, the judges panel functions to let something like this through.

The samples don't bother me one iota frankly. Anyone who has tried and failed at remixing a lot (like most of us starting out) and are slightly poor for buying good samples, hit various brick walls. The thing is with this, the dynamics are treated so expertly I find it genuinely touching.

I'm sure there's a lot of budding remixers who only in their wildest dreams could come up with such an awesome arrangement.

If there's any cross over to the original midi nylon guitar, it works as a nostalgic call back to the original as much as anything. This remix for the most part hints at the source through tonics. It's only when the notes of the bridge from the original are picked you feel a strong link with the source.

To sum up. If something like this ever gets rejected, it would be criminal. Also to be clear, this remix kicks the complete ass out of many, many remixes with 'better' samples. I wont say 'better production values', since, the production value here is HUGE.

PS. Ziwtra, do you ever listen to My Blood Valentine? This reminds me somewhat of their style in places.

Edited by MojoHamster
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  • 2 weeks later...

I feel bad for ragging on this mix so much earlier - I focused a lot on production and didn't spend nearly enough time talking about the things I did like. Sorry about that :\

The drums are, of course, great as I've come to expect from Young. The chord choices are very evocative and give the mix a very nostalgic, pensive feel, which I've really come to appreciate a lot more than I let on in my previous posts. It's a great song to listen to when you want to just sit outside, watch the clouds, and contemplate.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Excellent remix, I especially love the opening and ending pieces of the song.

I cant speak for anyone else but I love the distorted and dirty sound. It reminds me of http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01053/ zeal love the best corridor of time mix on the site as far as the distorted piano goes. There seems to be quite a depth of emotion going on with the piece and I believe that "cleaner" samples and better production value wouldn't necessarily enhance this. The song stands powerful on its own as it is.

Ziwtra is easily my favorite mixer on the site and I imagine ill be chilling while listening to this song while surfing the web for years to come.

Thank you ziwtra.

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