Thunder Force IV - Lightning Striker

[Dew]

Remix

I've always been rather disappointed in the amount of Thunder Force remix material out there, and I've been wanting to tackle this for quite some time, so I went ahead and remixed the TF4 intro, Lightning Strikes Again. My greatest difficulty here was stretching a mere 30 seconds of material out into a song of respectable length, and I did my best to keep it fresh without deviating too far from the source, although I kinda go for a ride during the second half of the song.

Although this version is more or less a complete song, I've tagged it as a WIP, since I still feel that there's a lot more that could be done with it.

I also somehow managed to resist granting it the title Lightening Striker... feedback is much appreciated.

[K.B.]

Holy fuck.

I'm not a remixer, so pretty much all I can say for certain is that this rocks. Hopefully the appropriate folks will chime in with regard to source usage and sample/mixing choices.

But, from a simple listener's perspective, I wouldn't change a damned thing. It's that good. Tons of variation with the lead; you kept things fresh and, more importantly, building throughout. Digging the guitar effects (ex: 0:20), driving drums, and synth usage. 1:30 and 2:05... oh hell, all of 1:30-2:25 is a fist-pumping climax.

This is going directly to my player. In-fucking-credible.

Also, Coop post in this thread.

[Rukunetsu]

Amazing work here man. Serioulsy.

[Dew]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. After listening to it in my car a few times, it seemed that the bass and one of the guitars were a little loud and really saturated in some lower frequencies. It was making it a bit painful to really crank it, so I changed the EQ on them a bit and adjusted some volumes on the percussion and lead. The file has been updated accordingly.

Criticism is still appreciated, always looking to improve.

[The Coop]

Being likely too familiar with the source tune, I can say first off that this is a great remix. However, there are some things that I think could use some improvement...

- The cymbals feel pretty weak for what's basically a metal remix of this. They lack some of the punch one would expect of them with this kind of song. As such, I believe they could stand being brought forward more than they currently are and being given more presence in the mix.

- There are a few spots where it seems like there should be a cymbal crash, but there isn't. An example is right after the drum roll at roughly 00:00:09, the areas at approximately 00:00:27.10, 00:01:39.21, 00:01:42.00, 00:02:24.29... places where the one set of harmonies and chords ends and others begin. I understand if you're truing not to go apeshit on cymbal crashes, but I think you underplayed them a bit, leaving areas that feel unfinished because there's nothing to punctuate such changes.

The mix itself if very good. You made good use of variations on the short source material, keeping Tecno Soft's synth metal vibe alive and well in the remix. But I feel your cymbals are the weak spot in it, as they aren't matching the intensity of the rest of the song, while also leaving areas that feel oddly empty due to a lack of them. If you give them a boost, I think you'll have a fine remix that you could call finished.

Kudos on the selection by the way. Nice to see I'm not the only one around these parts trying to give the best 16-bit shmup out there some remixing love

[Dew]

Thanks for the input, Coop. After some further listening, I definitely agree with you on the later timestamps, and gave a little bit more attention to the cymbals in some other sections, as well as boosting the mics on my cymbal channel a bit. The first two timestamps, however, I intentionally went with a double tap on the snare in lieu of a cymbal crash. It may be just my preference, but I feel it suits the introductory part of the song better. The link in the OP has been updated.

[Dew]

Gave it a couple of days, just swapped it to Mod Review, hoping for any additional input or suggestions. I'm thinking about submitting and would like to know if there's anything I could still improve before I do so, although the majority of feedback I've received here and elsewhere has been positive.

[LuketheXjesse]

I have to say that this would be 10 times better without fake guitars.

Otherwise pretty good. I was wanting to do a metal cover of this some time actually. Guess I'll stick to the boss themes...

[Nutritious]

Ok, at the start, it feels like everything has a HP filter on it. Is this on purpose? Sounds like I'm listening through some really small speakers .

It's hard to crit this as is: the drums feel tiny, but this could easily be due to the fact that they have no low end. I can't listen to the source at the moment, but the arrangement sounds really cool.

See if you can figure out what's going on with the complete lack of low-end and repost. At that point, I should be able to crit it better.

EDIT: Ok, listening again, I take PART of it back. The rhythm guitar has some low-end to it, but that's all I can hear. Is there a Bass on this mix???

[Dew]

There is a bass, but I toned down the lower frequencies because it was completely overpowering when I listened to it through anything but my headphones. I'm actually rather confused, as I was under the impression that I was going completely overboard on the low end, particularly with the bass and kick drum.

What frequency ranges should I be looking at?

[prophetik music]

my studio headphones - both the open-ear and closed-ear - are giving me a decent amount of bass. i don't think there's an issue there.

seriously, through, real rhythm guitars (at least!) would make a huge difference.

[Nutritious]

my studio headphones - both the open-ear and closed-ear - are giving me a decent amount of bass. i don't think there's an issue there.

seriously, through, real rhythm guitars (at least!) would make a huge difference.

Interesting, could be my headphones here. I'll listen again on my studio phones when I get home.

[Nutritious]

Ok, sorry for the delay on this. Listened at home and while I do agree there is a good low end presence (which I don't think my lower quality headphones were picking up), it does still feel pretty empty in the low-mids (200-500 range). Though it's getting old at this point, I used this mix at a reference point, which might be helpful.

Disclaimer: it's entirely possible that it's just me and I'm crazy, so I'd wait for someone else to listen for this (other mods?) for the low-mid presence before making changes.

Anyway, I really like the writing here. I can't listen to the youtube link at the moment, so I can't talk towards source usage. However, there was good variation on the drums, the piece moved well between sections, and there was a good balance of various elements. Everything sat pretty well in the soundscape as well.

On the guitars, I think they work pretty well in this context. You'd be pretty hard-pressed to top this without a live performance. The only part I'd change with these is the repeated chords at the very end - when everything drops out and the rhythm guitar is exposed it sounds fakey and isn't a great way to end a song with this much energy. Highly recommend you rewrite the ending.

Not much more to say here. I'll try and compare it to the original when I get a chance to check arrangement. In the meantime, maybe someone else can chime in as well.

[halc]

Nutri's pretty much nailed it, imo. the bass presence is definitely there but I agree that the low-mid's could use a boost. i don't like that distant phaser-y effect on the guitar that opens the piece but as soon as the rhythms come in it's no longer an issue. i feel like some of the lead guitars and synths are a little buried under the rhythm guitars, but overall it's pretty well balanced and as Nut mentioned, everything sits pretty well in the soundscape.

arrangement checks out. keeps the foundation close to the source while taking the expansive route with the melodies/soloing. nice job expanding on such a short piece!

also, agreed on the ending. it's weak. this is pretty good though overall! put a few more crits to work and this should be sounding pretty solid.

[Dew]

Hey guys, many thanks for the criticism. I'll definitely take another look at the ending and see if I can't do something to fill in the low-mid range.

[Eino Keskitalo]

Another cheap headphone listener here, I agree that something's missing in the lower end. Sounds quite cool and tight otherwise!

--Eino

[Dew]

http://dew-owns-it.com/oops/Dew%20-%20Lightning%20Striker%20v1.1.mp3

I finally got a little bit of time to revisit this. Keeping the critique in mind, I messed with my amp settings and EQ a bit to try to produce something a little bit more desirable in the 200-500hz range. I'm not sure how much of a difference I made, as my intention was merely to fill that range in a bit so it wasn't quite as empty. Unfortunately, my guitars seem to sound terrible when said range is even slightly audible and I'm at a loss as to what else I could use to fill the gap. I also modified the ending, adding some synth and lead so the rhythm isn't all by its lonesome.