*NO* Singles 'A Piano Arrangement'

[djpretzel]

Email sub file Singles.mp3 - djp

Bio:

Name: Patrick Wagstaff

Age: 17

Sex: Male

Location: Texas

I love making music, movies, playing games, and Jesus!

Instruments Played: | Guitar | Piano | (I want to learn the Cello)

**Kevin Stephens is my true inspiration for this piece. The way he composed the Homes of Hyrule Movements in piano simply just gave me the will and urge to do the same. But where to start? It took me a while but I finally found a piece. The theme from the game "Singles - Flirt up your Life". The pop jazzish song really wasn't what I was looking for but after listening to it for a time the song got stuck in my head. A few weeks later I had the piece ready and was off to do some recording.Relative Audio owned by Relative Films generously let me use there studios to record my song.

So special thanks goes out to them.

A whole Sunday of recording and it's finally here, the theme from Singles in Piano recorded live at Relative Audio.

-Enjoy

[Liontamer]

I sent Pat a PM over at VGMix. Sounds good, but hold off on any voting until we hear back. If you can track down the source tune, more power to ya:

Yo, Pat. We've got your Singles: Flirt Up Your Life piano arrangement on the judges panel at OCR. We need 2 things before we can get ready to vote on it.

1. An actual remix title (or if you're willing to have djp or the Js suggest names for it).

2. A full copy of the original game music(s) that inspired the piece. Any file format is fine. If this isn't possible, lemme know, but that'll delay the judging while we look for a copy.

[Liontamer]

The quality on the original e-mail sub was too poor, as it has some very audible hiss. Pat said he didn't know what I was talking about when I mentioned the hissing, but he e-mailed me a new version which is now hosted at the FTP, which I'll be judging from. Not to come down on the recordings, but neither one turned out that hot as it is.

:30 essentially retreads what started off at :03. :57 has some more activity similar to stuff already heard. The cadance of 1:22-1:32 felt very uneven. 1:43, same melodic sequences coming back again. For only a 2:18 mix, this really could afford to go in many more places as well as display some dynamic contrast. Everything was too similar here. Hearing a lot less hissing in this one, but it's still present on headphones. Nothing impacting the judgement here though, unlike the original e-mail sub that was sent in.

Pat's a guy with a lot of talent who will easily and eventually see the light of day on OC as long he considers submitting in the future. Check out his material at VGMix for one thing. But this won't be what gets him here. This needs more dynamic contrast, and more rearrangement ideas through even more compositional ideas or at least more distinct variation work when revisiting earlier sections.

NO

[DarkeSword]

This is a nice take on the title theme. You took a really craptastic song and made it into something very listenable, so kudos for that.

Nice piano; the human touch is there, and it's recorded well. Nice, dark, sound; just how I like it (omg bias).

The arragment here is a conservative approach; I would have liked something more expansive (the piano has more octaves than that!), however, given the repetitive nature of the source material, I'd have to say that this is more than enough for OC, albeit it's short.

Still, brevity is the essence of wit, or some shit like that.

YES

[analoq]

i wouldn't say this is an improvement over the original -- the original is pretty nifty.

one of the problems i have with this is it doesn't strike me as distinctive to the original

this sounds like a dozen different piano tunes i've heard

rhythm is a little off the dot, but it works. probably better than mine.

on the technical side, it's a little too reverby/sustainy for the tone.

if you're going to make it this dark, you still need to have some clarity to the sound.

add in the shortness and i'd suggest posting this on our wip/finished forum.

this deserves to be heard, but we do expect a lot from piano remixes.

no

[zykO]

excellent piano work there, patrick - i'm impressed by your touch and ability to use dynamic not just as a musical phenomenon but also as an intimate one. lots of human feel to this and that is probably the arrangement's strong point.

i like the fact that this arrangement is not trying to wow you into submission with flashy runs and fancy bells n whistles. those things are impressive but what even more so is the understanding that a single note can carry as much weight as ten.

i like what you put in. and i eventually like how it came out.

YES

[Israfel]

Gah- you took a quirky little piece and turned it into something so annoyingly square and strait-laced.

But still, it's a nice, albeit simple, arrangement with some good playing. And, while it's fairly short, it's nonetheless well-developed, I believe. Pretty subdued, somewhat monotonous in texture perhaps, but not too shabby overall.

a borderline YES

[Malcos]

I can see why this is borderline for the panel. While the standard for piano pieces is high, I won't dismiss an effective piece just because I think the playing style is 'too simple'. The human element is definitely there with this one, and it's 'nice' - a little conservative maybe, but enjoyable to listen to nevertheless. Next time make it longer though please.

YES

[Digital Coma]

Gah- you took a quirky little piece and turned it into something so annoyingly square and strait-laced.

WUT to meh is pretty boring.

It's fine not to be true to an original, but this bears very little semblance to it at all, and is a very undeveloped arrangement to boot (ideas and length-wise). Performance is fine, but nothing interesting. If you passed this off as a pure original, I don't think anyone would notice.

NO

[zircon]

This is a fairly solid mix in a lot of respects. Recording quality is certainly good; sounds like you used an EQ to reduce the hiss though, try mda de-ess next time, it'll maintain more brightness while still eliminating the hiss. I think I have to agree though that the arrangement and playing could be better. The piano is a very expressive instrument, but it simply was not used to its best potential here. I suggest more changes in dynamics, articulation, and rhythm. Structurally, it doesn't really go anywhere either (the original didn't either). Perhaps make the arrangement longer and explore some of your own ideas more to make things more interesting and engaging for the listener.

To quickly summarize, the production sits well with me, but I think the performance and arrangement could use some work. Go for a resubmit if you can. NO

[GrayLightning]

I have no problem with the production here at all. I actually like the soft, gentile, and intimate style here. The soft and warm piano tone and ambiance is great. Now where I do have some problems here is in the concept stage. I love liberal mixes and like artists push the envelope, but I feel the relationship between this arrangement and the source material is tenuous.

The whole package is pleasant and of good quality though. I suggest a resubmit if possible.

NO.

[danny B]

I'd have to agree with the majority here. It's an adept performance. The sound quality is definately passable, the dynamics are fine, and the phrasing is great. However, I have listened over and over again, and I can't find any relationship with the original, without straining very hard to hear it. Even then, it seems like a cursory relationship, and without any attempt to make a link with the original.

Nice work though.

NO

-D