Gerudo Valley

[DJSoto13]

"Hey, DJSoto13, why are you rushing out all these 'remixes'? They're pretty bare, yet you keep moving on."

Eh. When I hit a creative wall on one song, I save it and move on to another song.

After slowing down while working on the Orchestral Link to the Past one, I threw this together - a pretty conservative, yet nice-sounding (in my opinion) version of Gerudo Valley (Ocarina of Time).

Too conservative for your tastes?

I know it's not balanced THAT well (fades in/out, mastering, etc), I KNOW.

This is just a rough draft.

[No Escape]

I guess I'll shoot a review first. Although I enjoy the composition over-all, that lead setting has got to go. It simply doesn't sound good at all with the track. Since this is obviously a midi track, it shouldn't be hard to shop around for a new setting and keep the composition. Also, the whole track needs a serious boost in gain (at least 6db on everything). 1:45-2:06 has major pitch issues (It's not even close to key). Intentional or not, It does not suit the track, and is actually painful to listen to (something I'll rarely say). This carries on a little ways past what I mentioned in the harmonies. The track comes together at the end, but the ending is a bit abrupt (although its a good ending, it needs something a little more, maybe some hanging notes, or a feed back into the intro). I hope I don't sound like I'm bashing, because I've personally produced tracks far worse than this and enjoyed them, but this track needs a ton of work to get it to where it needs to be, IMHO.

[Rozovian]

There's something panned slightly to the left that sounds a lot better than anything else in this. Learn to tell what sounds good and what doesn't. Then avoid the stuff that doesn't.

[No Escape]

Spoken like a true engineer... nothing short of poetry

[DJSoto13]

All right, I revamped it a lot.

Changed the guitar, because, yeah, that was very out of place

Added reverb (seems a little [too] grandiose... But at least it's better than it was before [iMO])

Changed that solo for the guitar

Messed around with the intro and a bit of the end.

Changed that panned too-good-to-be-true thing

Thar ye go.

[Sbeast]

Ok I just listened to the latest version, here are my thoughts. Firstly it needs way more interpretation. Aside from the intro riff (00:01 - 00:09), and the solo section (01:45 - 02:09) theres not much new material. Stylistically, its very similar to the original aswell, using mostly the same instruments (acoustic guitar, trumpets, percussion). There's still a few off pitches in the solo section. Try to stick to F# Minor (F#,G#,A,B,C#,D,E). Sorry if it seems a negative review, just being honest and want to see this improve.

[Cyril the Wolf]

That trumpet sample is pretty blah. sorry.

The guitar isn't too terrible, but i think you added reverb to the entire track? Please don't do that. It's really too much, and with the acoustics being panned, it doesn't add size, it adds mud.

Reverb individual tracks, and use far less reverb than you are using.

Unfortunately this track basically sounds like the original to me, other than that guitar solo that has some cool little licks, but it also has some moments that really clash.

Sorry about the equally negative review man. I was in the same boat not 3 years ago. Keep at it!

[No Escape]

WHOOAAAAA REVERB!!!! Cyril hit it right. You can't put verb on the entire track. In this track, only use effects like that on the leads (the guitar, horns, some cymbals). There's still some pitch issues here, but they've improved. Also, think about using echoes and delays as well/instead on some instruments. They add a very epic feel, but don't move an instrument to the back line in a mix (reverb does). All things said, this is much better than what I previously heard, so you're moving in the right direction.