*NO* Castlevania Adventure 'Primal Fair'

[Palpable]

Remixer Name: Verdegrand

Forum UserID: 31241

Name of Games arranged:

Castlevania: The Adventure (Game Boy)

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES)

Name of Songs arranged:

"Death Fair" from Castlevania: The Adventure (this would be the primary title of my choice)

"Beginning" from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

Composers and Originals are already listed on the respective pages.

Remix Name: "Primal Fair"

Comments: This arrangement is actually a fragment of a larger Castlevania Piano Medley, but I felt that the combination of these two pieces could stand well on its own. I have always thought that the music of the handheld Castlevania games was underappreciated, and Death Fair was always my favorite track from the early ones. I start off calmly only to escalate at a second loop and relieve the built-up tension with 'Beginning' from Castlevania III. So, 'Death Fair' serves as kind of a 'Prayer', if you like ('Prayer' and 'Beginning' were combined at the beginning of Castlevania III). I had originally planned to make more of a transition between the pieces, but I found that 'Beginning' fits perfectly at the climax of 'Death Fair' without any meddling, and that any attempt to create a more complex junction would end up artificially ruining that perfect moment.

Many greetings

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[DragonAvenger]

I'm kind of on the fence on this one. I think the playing is great, but there is a lack of original arrangement that puts me on the edge. It's more like these two pieces were transcribed for piano than arranged, if that makes sense. However, it is handled very well, and the quality of playing is really good. The transition between the pieces worked out very well, as you stated, and without knowing beforehand I wouldn't have guessed that they were two different sources put together.

There is a nice use of dynamics throughout the piece, and it adds a lot to the soundscape. The mix as a whole feels pretty quiet, especially at the start, and takes a while for the volume to really kick in. It would be nice to have this a bit louder overall.

I think the playing itself and how well the piece was put together brings this one over the bar for me, although it is very close. This will be interesting to see what the other judges think of this. I enjoyed listening to it, and would like to hear more in the way of original material/arrangement from you in the future.

YES

[DarkeSword]

I always end up saying the same things about good piano mixes. Nice dynamics, nice part-writing, great performance. The blending of both themes is quite seamless. It all sounds like one song.

YES

[OceansAndrew]

The piano sounded a little thin in some parts, but otherwise this was pretty cool, and the sound actually worked pretty well for some of the runs to keep it sounding clean. It is pretty vanilla sounding overall, but the transitions were strong, the playing was good, and it felt like one song. It was a little short, but there wasn't any fat on it, so props for a concise arrangement, but i think even adding a little bit more character would have been ok, in the form of an extended passage or something.

It's not blowing me away, but it is very solid and enjoyable, and fits the site's guidelines.

Yes

[Palpable]

I feel like lately I've been NOing everything that people are passing, maybe I'm getting too old for this. There were a few problems I saw, the biggest of which was the lack of arrangement. It did feel more like a transcription for piano, like Deia said. Apart from a run here or there, it was almost entirely direct source. Dynamics helped push it more in favor of a pass, but it still missed that mark for me.

Less of a concern was the production of the piano, which could have used some sparkle. It also sounds like it's slightly distorted in the low-end in the loudest sections (check out 2:25-2:27). Overall, even though the track is enjoyable, I'm not able to say YES to this.

NO (resubmit)

[Vig]

It's a solo piano piece; why did you compress the piano so much? Maybe it's just the sample.

Main issues are the fact that it's too close to the source, and the register is too high much of the time. Maybe try transposing down a fifth, or some parts could even drop an octave.

NO

[Jillian Aversa]

Woah, yeah, the lower sections definitely sound weird. This is overcompressed; you can hear the pumping. Verdegrand: your playing is great, and it certainly qualifies as a solid piano transcription, but yeah... I hardly heard any original writing in this at all. I wouldn't call it an arrangement yet, at least not in the OCReMix sense of the word.

Why don't you play around with it some more? If you're not sure where to start, take a look (or listen ) at the Mozart variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Perfect example for a piano piece like this; maybe you'll get inspired!

Vinnie: no, you're not getting too old for this. Don't worry. ^_~

NO (Resubmit!)

[zircon]

The compression is a big issue (and honestly makes this unpostable, especially around 2:20 which is almost pure distortion), but it's something that could definitely be fixed easily. If you need help with that, just let me know. I recommend something like TLs Maximizer or TLs Pocket Limiter to more gently normalize your volume level without killing too many dynamics. Aside from that, the sample is good as is the performance. Very dramatic! My only criticism on the performance end is that there could have been more tempo changes (ritardandos and accelerandos for added drama.)

In terms of the arrangement, the beginning is really kind of simplistic and underwhelming, with a very basic melody and harmony for a good chunk of the intro. I much preferred the latter half. However, I do think there is more you could have done on the interpretation side of things. You generally used very simple rhythms, straightforward voicings, and more-or-less direct copies of the original chords and chord progressions. There's so much more you can do with such harmonically-rich source material, but you stuck to the basics without going any further. Be more adventurous with rhythmic, melody and chordal changes and ease up on the compressor!

NO, resubmit

[CHz]

Yeah, the lower register is pretty thrashed. I'm with z, even with a stellar arrangement, that would have to be cleaned up for a pass. The arrangement stuck too close to the sources too, but there was some nice personalization here and there and the performance was pretty good. Work on that production and try to be more interpretive with the original tunes.

NO