Sinsurance 2.0 - A Final Fantasy X/X-2 Besaid mash up WIP

[Tydin]

Been at this all day, having one of those mused moments where I'm all excited about mixing, which I havent been for a long time.

Bout' 7 or 8 months ago I was told to resub my Besaid remix I worked on, now after not touching it in MONTHS I went back, totally changed the beat (Which I'm alot happier with) and found a ton of nice refills to play with then I thought "Hey, I love the X-2 Besaid theme just as much! lets throw some of that in there!"

Anywho, here are the source songs!

X

X-2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvbiD98IJcI

Latest WIP

First WIP

[Tydin]

Right, a few dozen views and 0 comments tells me the sample I posted was too short, or, just unliked lol.

As promissed I am posting updates as I work on the song, so, heres a bit more. If you guys take the time to listen please comment, even if you hate it

I can take it

I just don't think I can do this without help or support of any kind.

Sinsurance 2.0 April 1st (2nd Update!)

[docnano]

I don't remember your original, but this definitely has a catchy beat. I always loved this source, particularly the rapid arpeggios.

You probably know more about mixing than I do, but an uninformed comment is better than no comment?

All I can think of at this point is:

1) Kick/bass drum is too loud and boomy at times. Maybe you were going for the distortion, though.

2) Chippy intro is cool but a little weak -- maybe do some sort of wah, phase or cutoff changes, maybe also a crescendo to lead into the next part.

Pretty short, but I love the ideas so far!

[Tydin]

I don't remember your original, but this definitely has a catchy beat. I always loved this source, particularly the rapid arpeggios.

You probably know more about mixing than I do, but an uninformed comment is better than no comment?

All I can think of at this point is:

1) Kick/bass drum is too loud and boomy at times. Maybe you were going for the distortion, though.

2) Chippy intro is cool but a little weak -- maybe do some sort of wah, phase or cutoff changes, maybe also a crescendo to lead into the next part.

Pretty short, but I love the ideas so far!

Took what you said and put it into practice! Still havent found an effect for the chiptune Im happy with.

Now the hard part, I havent decided what to add next to he song! any suggestions would be amazing!

Heres the latest WIP, still super short but hopefully one of you guys can help me out!

[Calum]

i'm in love with the source and the heavy side-chaining kick/pads/half-time drums are really suitable.

the start does sound a bit like a bad harpsichord sample, i can get over it but it doesn't create the best first impression.

In terms of arrangement, i would save the chord changing bit until one more repeat of the first melody with perhaps a few variations or something. And perhaps cut out the drums in the middle somewhere. Maybe add a new section, repeat some other stuff and you're done!

I can't really give you tips on the productions but I really like the style and source, i'd be really interested to hear this as it progresses

Calum

[melody]

this take on besaid is excellent man. love the groove-dripping hats, huge drum hits, and the grand ambiance that you have going here. a few suggestions:

- love the reharmonization. an effective technique i've found is to leave some memorable part of the source intact (as you've done here with that harmonic lead synth) while changing up the harmony to appeal to the listener's familiarity. build up some suspense this way, then make a pass through the song with the original chords; sweet relief that at some point the listener's ears will no doubt be begging for.

- the length! the ffx in this mix rings loud and clear but so far the only integration of ffx-2 is that decorative string-sounding synth? it wouldn't be a crime to conjoin the songs here as a medley either. that would be pretty appropriate actually

- since you're already going in a very clear direction with this, i would definitely encourage you run with it and make the song even-more-so. drums are at a good relative level. a very subtle delay on your drums could go far in accentuating your hat groove while adding a sense of space. your entire mid to hi range can use some cleaning. this will give the mix much-needed clarity as well as increase the impact of your pad, which if i'm honest isn't totally working for the huge soundscape you're going for, so switch them out for another sound or layer them with another pad. either way the pad definitely needs some stereo-width. that string-synth is eating up a good amount of your frequency spectrum and is a little fatiguing to hear because of it, especially if it's going to persist throughout the entire song. i would lo-cut or hi-pass filter @50 hz every track that isn't your kick, and scoop around -2db every track but your drums and bass @350 hz, or wherever you decide to boost your bass.

hope that helps somewhat. this mix has a lot of potential and i can't wait to see where you take it. best of luck!

[Tydin]

Thanks for the tips guys! Got some more done, twards the end of this next part is a bit BLAH but like I first said posting as I progress.

Took alot on board to the suggestions your all giving and I think it is all sounding better for it so thankyou a ton!!!

I changed the pad and ditched the chip tune in the intro also thanks to Melody I finially figured out how to use the Automation feature in Reason, lol. (Told ya I was a noob)

I sorted out ALOT of the EQ issues from the first few WIPs and hpefully it all sounds smoother, an they synths dont clash so much.

I want to do more with the drums next, add some dely here and there. Fist thing first is, I need more ideas on where to take the mix, more variations of the source melody maybe? More X? Or moe X-2? Hmmm.Suggestions please

Her's the latest WIP, also I am now posting the latest WIPs on my original post if thats easier for some of you to get an idea of how its comming along!

[melody]

sounding a lot better man, keep up the good work

right off the bat i'm liking the new harmonic synth. the melodic piano additions supplement your strings well but they are in desperate need of humanization if you want them to sound convincingly real. vary the velocities, switch up the timings on every note so they aren't best friends with your quantize grid lines, and make sure that when you're sequencing octaves on the piano that the paired notes aren't triggering at the exact same time. there's also some weird effect on the piano that makes it sound inauthentic, it might be that it's drenched in reverb. i like the addition (?) of the stutter-step bells providing chords but i can barely hear the pad now? those could use a boost in volume, as the soundscape for this mix is really empty.

you've definitely cleaned up the eq a lot, but don't stop your editing here. continually make adjustments until the moment you submit this in an effort to home in on perfection.

in my opinion what you really need to work on at this juncture isn't production (which will get better as you get closer to finishing this) but your arrangement. this is really too short and you are developing these cool ideas yet the track just abruptly stops. the mix definitely stands to be longer and there's a lot of great stuff in both your sources which you haven't integrated yet.

hope to see you update this again