June Mermaid (Xenogears) Remix

[Chris ~ Amaterasu]

This is my first thread, and wanted to post my first remix here(have to think of a name for it =)

I was playing some vgm on my violin the other week and somehow ended up playing a lot of Xenogears so I decided to make it into a remix.

Some bits from guitar/violin need tweaking, but most of the ideas are there.

Violin/acoustic guitar was done by me, although I don't know how much better I can make the guitar sound atm since I've been learning for under a year, need more practice T_T

Feedback is welcomed =)

Edit:

-Updated 'Final' version, would love some feedback before changing it to mod review =)

(Still need a name, if anyone has a stellar one, hit me =D)

-Tindeck seems to make the mp3 I uploaded really loud, not too sure why

Source

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIF2crvBSDU

Remix

http://tindeck.com/listen/nddc

[docnano]

The source is one of my very favorite VG songs of all time, and your instrumental work does it justice. Gorgeously expressive violin playing, as usual. The guitar also sounds really nice, at least to my amateur's ears. The parts are well separated in space and mixing is good, apart from some overload on the piano at times.

Piano work is very nicely emotive, not at all mechanical as I often hear on the site. I especially like the new-agey improv-y stuff at the end, probably my favorite part of the mix.

I think you could back off of the percussion a bit, at least in the beginning. The tambourine hits seem at times too harsh for such a tender moment in the piece. Decreasing the velocity of the tambourine hits, or adding lot of wet reverb, might help. I like how you vary the percussion, but in general you could be a little more repetitive (within a section) so that a constant feel or flow is maintained.

Arrangement-wise, I'm wondering if this is too conservative for OCR. The first couple of minutes sound a great deal like the Creid track (which is to say, beautiful). Maybe you could think about exploring more of harmonic space, or adding some countermelodies earlier. You do this in the last minute or so of the piece, I just would like to hear more and earlier!

I like how you change things up at 1:42, but something seems missing... it seems like a high point of the piece, yet it's sparse, like the song is screaming for a more quickly moving melody or countermelody here (maybe on violin?). Or a moving/syncopated bass part.

Apologies for talking your ear off. Terrific start, keep up the good work!

[Chris ~ Amaterasu]

Thanks Doc Nano for the great feedback, as per usual you have some fantastic suggestions. I changed a few things, some from your suggestions and some from things I also wanted to change.

I guess I'll change the status to finished and try to get some more feedback before I move it on to mod review =D

I hope it's loud enough without the quality dying

[Emunator]

This is absolutely stunningly beautiful. I love how each of the instruments seems to create a lot of its own ambiance. The arrangement is fantastic.

Up your bass, you're not filling out the low ranges at all like you could be. Oh, it looks like you did boost the bass later in the song but now it's too much and making the whole song muddy. Maybe it's just your bass tone that's not working out for me, but that sticks out as a weak spot to me.

I do wonder if it's too simple/conservative for OCR standards, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying this to the fullest.

We should collab on a song sometime Hit me up if you're interested, I play piano.

[docnano]

Nice.

The whole piece seems more full and original now. I like the new middle section, much more climactic. The new violin countermelodies shine through and provide a better flow. Actually, that new violin sticks out just a tad, maybe try lowering the volume on that instrument part.

Other than that, some sections could be tighter rhythmically. Sometimes the bass, violin and piano seem to sit in slightly different grooves, so it wouldn't hurt to check it with a metronome.

As for a title, I was gonna suggest Emerald Tears, but that's apparently already an album by a British jazz bassist. I'll let you know if I think of anything else.