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Legacy of the Wizard - Meyna's Level Theme


luhny
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Hello,

this is the next thing I am working on - requested by Xarnax42 in this thread - is a piece from Legacy of the Wizard, also known as Dragon Slayer IV in Japan.

I think this game has an awesome soundtrack and one of those awesome songs I wanted to give credit to - Meyna's Level Theme which has been in my head over all those years.

Here is a link to the original:

So yeah, after messing around you can listen to what it sounds like at the moment here: http://www.darksoulproject.com/music/Meyna.mp3

This is work in progress, which you might hear. (aka: I really need to get this guitar intonated, tried several times myself, it does not work in the higher regions)

If you have any comments, suggestions or constructive critism it would be greatly appreciated as always.

I hope you enjoy listening.

Take care,

Luhny

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This just made an already good birthday even better! Digging the harmony with the main melody line (0:22-0:42) and the rhythm variations in the percussion, esp. 0:42-1:02. The original work is killer, and flows seamlessly into the source.

I don't know much about arrangement or production (though I plan to learn and submit something to the site before too long), but for what it's worth, here's what I thought:

A) 0:00-0:22 I totally get a Guns N' Roses vibe. This is a good thing.

B) 0:22-0:42 Perfection. A lot going on here. The melody is clear, the harmony brings it out, and the rhythm and percussion are crisp and clear, but simple and subdued enough to let the source shine.

C) 0:42-1:02 Here, the mid range/rhythm gets a little muddled. You may also want to throw a little variation on the rhythm in the hi-hat. After a couple listens, it really stood out as pretty static.

B) 1:02-1:12 We hear this line a total of 5 times, and I didn't notice any difference between any of them. It's a short piece, so it may not be enough to get "repetitive", but some embellishment or small variations could go a long way.

C) 1:12-1:32 ^

D) 1:32-1:35 The transitions from your original stuff to the source are seamless. Here, it seems a little forced.

E) 1:35-2:05 This is brilliant. I love the nod to the source at 1:53.

B) 2:06-2:26 ^

C) 2:26-2:47 ^

D) 2:47-2:55 The ending comes up really quick and, again, seems a tad forced to me.

Overall, the one addition that I would love to see is a more minimal, slower section. Something to make it a little longer and break up what could be too much repetition of the "B" and "C" sections. Of course, this all touches on personal style and preference. I'd also be content to see this on the site as is.

A really, really promising start, and I can't wait to hear the finished product.

Till then, this version is definitely going on a couple playlists. Thanks so much!

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Heh, thanks for your comment. Glad to hear you like it so far overall.

Yeah... "repetitive" - I know. That is my everlasting big flaw. Even on such a short theme I should think of more alternations. I kinda seem to get stuck to the main melodies. Mostly because I like them as they are the best because this is the way I learned to love them.

Anyways, I know that the song is pretty short and there are still lots of things I want to do, productiong wise and also on the arrangement side.

It's just good to see that it was not an effort in vain. This is where motivation comes from :)

Well, I guess I will update this thread once I get a new version done.

Until then have fun listening, and take care.

PS: Happy birthday :D

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So I'll throw a little review out there as well. This track is supposed to be epic, so get that lead up to snuff! This is my genre, so I know where it should be ;-P. You need more distortion, and you should turn the tone knob on your axe down to about 6 (Intonation doesn't sound like the problem here). I'll leave 2 examples of decent lead sounds. ---->Sixto and ,very apprehensively, Me- At the bottom . <----The drums are very fake sounding, and need some new patches all around (Maybe the kick could stay, but the snare and cymbals have got to go). Xarnas was very nice ( and very thorough in his review) but I felt like a little expansion would help to see some of the problem areas. I really wanna hear your intro after it's been "epic" modified, so please get to it and give me something to enjoy! :smile:

Edit* I listened to your posted remix, and I can see you have a good idea of what needs to be done, so I'll just say get to it! :-)

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Its a good start. Here's some suggested improvements:

Mixing: The drum samples aren' too bad, just need a bit of processing. The snare sounds like its panned a bit to the right, it should really be panned dead center. Adding a touch of reverb to it will also give it some life. The kick seems mostly fine, but I would try to brighten the hi-hat, or even change it to a different sample as it sounds a bit dull right now. Making edits to the velocities/timing of the drums will also help it seem more human.

The bass guitar is present, but seems to be getting overpowered by everything. Either bring it up a notch, or make some eq adjustments to make it fit in with the kick better.

Arrangement: The arrangement is pretty solid, but by the end it begins to feel pretty linear in terms of dynamics and texture. You've got lead guitars, rhythm guitars, bass and drums all playing constantly for the entire song. Experiment around with taking instruments out, then bringing them back in again, or have some softer sections.

Thats all for now, good luck!

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  • 2 months later...

Hello ppl,

I do not know if anyone actually waited for this or still cares, but after what seems like ages I got around to work on this mix again.

Clicky!

The version I present you has the main focus on arrangement and sound design. I still have plenty of things on my list such as: humanizing drums, re-record the sloppy guitar parts or parts with detuned guitar, etc.

But this actually pretty close to what I want it to sound like. There might be some things in the arrangement that you might like or might not like - I guess it might depent on your tastes.

As always serious critism or advice is welcome and much appreciated!

Thanks alot in advance,

Luhny

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  • 1 month later...
  • 5 months later...

Oi! Look at this thread gathering all that dust. Terrible. C'mon peepulz! This track needs some tender, loving feedback so it can hit the front page.

Luhny - I downloaded your update around Christmastime (first chance I got due to this thing the Army does called Basic Training). I came back today to see if this thing's going anywhere to find I never left a comment. My bad.

So...YES. A lot more direction and variation. The drums are way too mechanical, but you clearly already know that. Really, you've taken this past the level where I can offer much helpful critique. I'd say touch up the guitars and drums, and set to mod review.

Really excited to see LotW get some love. Hoping to get out a WIP of my own sometime in the next month or so.

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  • 2 years later...

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