*NO* Final Fantasy 3 'She's from the Void'

[Palpable]

Hello,

ReMixer Name: Jojipo

Real Name: Oskar Räisänen

Email: leisahtag@hotmail.com

User ID: 29163

Name of game: Final Fantasy III

Individual song arranged: Last Boss

Name of my composition: She's from the void

Genre: Drum 'n Bassish

Comments: Absolutely one of the best final boss themes in the series. I've been working on this for quite a while and just recently decided to pretty much remake it and finish for good. Probably needless to say but I had really fun while making this one.

Well, I'm afraid I don't have much to say. Hope you enjoy!

Sincerely, Oskar "Jojipo" Räisänen

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[OceansAndrew]

Interesting intro - I liked the SFX and such, but that flute sample is teh weakz. Once the song kicked in, it was hardcore awesome. I loved the stutters, dives, filtered madness, and additional runs. The melody sometimes got obscured by the carnage that was happening, but I was feeling it.

The breakdown was a little weird, and the ending wasn't awesome, but this is a very well-interpreted track with a super strong first half. The intensity is almost too strong, because there is so much awesome for the second half to live up to, and I don't feel that it really does.

It's a close vote, but I think overall it skims over the bar. If this was an official remix made by SE, people would be freaking out over it.

Yes

[Palpable]

Very reminiscent of Sole Signal's D&B mixes: high-energy, playful, but still kicks you in the ass. Good arrangement overall, maybe a little overuse of glitch though still within the boundaries of good taste. The intro was not a good start, the flute and bell samples aren't that strong and they are very exposed. In fact, in general, the arrangement on this is much stronger than the production. The song is pretty overcompressed for starters, making it hard to make out individual components and wrecking havoc with the dynamics of the quieter sections. A lot of the leads sound too buried, though with compression so high, it's hard to identify whether the mixing needs to change. I also think some of the instruments just don't sound that great, like the plain synth lead at 0:43, and the muted trumpet at 3:00, in addition to the ones in the intro.

I think this needs some real work on that end before this could pass. It's really not up to the production level of songs on the site, as cool as the arrangement is.

NO (resubmit)

[DragonAvenger]

I think both gentlemen have hit this on the head, but I'm inclined to agree with Vinnie a little more. The arrangement is really good, and the glitching and also the panning are used very effectively (if not a tad much). The lead melody is incorporated well, but sometimes is a bit buried. Take some care to get the balance worked out.

The samples that are weak unfortunately do stand out and are dragging the track down, especially in the beginning section when they are much more exposed.

I think this is on the right track, but needs some adjustments before it is a pass. NO (resubmit)

[zircon]

I like the level of energy here - reminds me of how I like to approach my own uptempo remixes. The use of glitching might be a little on the excessive side (I can hear dBlue a mile away) especially since the glitches are all fairly similar. Even 1/2 the amount of glitching might be too much. If you went for maybe 1/3 or 1/4 the amount that would be better, especially if you really varied it up with some different effects besides the default dBlue stuff.

Some of the samples here really don't sound too good, but overall I feel like the production basically works. The arrangement in terms of structure and dynamics is awesome, and while the interpretation is a mixed bag earlier on, the massive buildup and breakdown in the middle is very creative. I also liked the clean guitar break after, which was unexpected and welcome. Another thing this reminds me of, as I'm hearing the sax part, is the chaotic style of Super Mario BRos "Dirty Mix".

This is crazy, but in a good way. I know the production is not very clean, and certainly a lot of the samples are not amazing, but I do think everything glues together really well somehow. However, there are just too many glitches, particularly in the first half. Please cut down on those (or vary them up, like retriggers with speed up/speeddown, less tape stops, some modulation, automated bit crushing, freezing, rhythm shifts to triplets etc.) and I will give this a full YES.

YES, conditional

[Jillian Aversa]

Arrangement is spot on - I have no issues there. I guess I could live with fewer glitches as well... But nice job!

The production needs some more substantial work, though. I'm surprised Vinnie was the only one to touch on the overcompression. What's weird is that despite that, this song actually sounds pretty quiet overall compared to other things I listen to. I had to turn up the volume 4 or 5 notches higher than my usual setting on the compy. (I'd prefer not to have to do that, and I think most people would generally agree.)

The sax sample you have is pretty caustic - which works for the style, for the most part... but starting at 3:04 as the line rises higher, it gets a little too ear piercing in my opinion. I think you could tone that down a lot. The high frequencies in the mix from 3:20-3:42 are just too much as well. It might be a particular synth you're using, but hard to tell?

I would go into more depth about the mixing, but like Palp said: once you change the compression settings, many of our detailed comments could be moot.

I'd like to give this a conditional YES like Andy did, but I'm afraid that there is just too much to change mixing wise for you to do it in a timely manner. That combined with some of the other suggestions you've received, I think it would better warrant a resubmit.

NO (but resubmit, or else!)

[DarkeSword]

Great arrangement with awesome processing and effects, but wow, way too much compression. It's actually killing the sound; something like this should sound huge, not crunched and tiny.

Love that guitar break, but unfortunately the guitar gets buried in the soundscape by the synths really quickly, and then it just becomes an over-compressed mess again. Muted trumpet is an interesting choice; not sure it works.

Needs work on the production end. Look at that compression.

NO, resub

[CHz]

Possibly worth noting: the linked source from FF3DS omits the intro from the original NES tune (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXLrC0SblMc), which is also used in the mix intro (first thirty seconds). The tune is separated into three parts on the remake OST, so that video just has the track containing the main loop. No one's complained about the arrangement, but I thought I'd point it out.

The arrangement through the first 1:45 or so is actually really close to the original. The melody is played straight through, and the bassline is the same too in a few parts. Most of the personalization is through the effects and beats, although there are some new parts here and there, and changing the accelerando in the intro to a decelerando was a nice touch. After 1:45, the arrangement gets a lot better with that build, the guitar break, the off-kilter section at 2:59 in a different signature, etc. Overall it's passable, but I think it'd be better off with more interpretation in the first half.

Okay, the production. First and foremost, the compression is murder. 1:36-2:21 should be this HUGE, BADASS BUILD, but instead it's actually boring because there's zero dynamic change. All the instruments are also mashed together by the compression. I don't mind a little dirtiness in something like this, but the mixing is definitely bringing this down. The sequencing & samples weren't great, but aside from the flute at the beginning, nothing really hurts this too much. It's the compression that does this one in.

NO (resubmit)