djpretzel Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 Hello, I (Paragon) am still planning on reworking that Zelda 2 song that got rejected awhile back, but in the meantime, I'm still making mixes for the Dwelling of Duels compeition (dod.rock-out.net), and here's my latest. It's "A Wish" from Secret of Mana in sort of a soft rock style. It starts off with clean guitars, sparse percussion and a conservative arrangement that basically recreates the sad/desolate feel of the original song, but then moves into a more rockish style complete with a wah-guitar mini-solo at the end. This song was originally recorded in a different form (with an brooding metal ending) for a theatre class--as part of a group presentation on the play "Oleanna" I elected to present a song that 'represented how the main character feels throughout the play' over doing any actual work, haha. I named the song 'Iridescent Memories' because in a way it can be seen as representing the process by which one meager memory can remind you of something else that happened, of some else you knew, and before you know it all you can think about is a lost loved one, a missed opportunity, etc. . .the memories are shining brightly in your head, so iridescent that they force you to take notice of them. Actually, I chose the name because it sounded pretentious, artsy, and cool. But I had you going there for a sec, didn't I? Remixer name: Paragon email: jparagons@gmail.com Website: Paragon's NES tabs - http://www.geocities.com/jparagons/ Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Finally! I'm glad I'm not the only one who has tried to remix this track. SoM's soundtrack deserves more attention overall, not just that one main theme. but anyway.. I was a little disappointed with where this went after the intro. The overall production is passable, and the playing/timing isn't bad, but the structure is where it suffers. Where is the inevitable climax or 'heavy' section that was being built up to? The drums never really do anything interesting, but just keep time, and nothing happens much with the guitar parts either. If you're going to go from a clean/relaxed style into a rock-ish one like you suggested, go all out! The latter half of this is way too tame, and perhaps the mix itself is too short for any new ideas to develop. Not to mention that earlier on, it's pretty sparse. This kinda sounds like a wip to me. I think you could easily take it in any one of many great directions, but I think if I had to give only one piece of advice, it would be to work on the latter half of the mix and expand on your sound and ideas there. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Yeah the second half with the distortion is really weak sounding. I don't mind it being mellow, but with a sound like that it's gotta have a really deep feeling to it. It sounds sparse and uninspired like that; a really shallow, getting-through-with-it feel. It's boring! Needs more emotion and energy. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/sd2.rsn - "A Wish..." (sd2-16.spc) Certainly not a bad track. I played it back on VGF44.99 and it displayed a lot of skill and potential. Paragon's definitely an up-and-comer to watch. Check out his Zelda 2 mix, "Rupees in the Ivy," which was rejected but also was a prime candidate for a resub, as well as his Metroid remix from the Dwelling of Duels: Metroid competition, "Fallen Stars Tell No Tales" (beg him to post it to VGMix or send you the file). The beginning started out pretty nicely. For some of the way, the sparse construction of the track worked well, much like another Secret of Mana mix that (unfortunately, in my opinion) ended up being removed, Brad Smith's "Mystic Invasion." Around 1:09, as the track picked up in intensity, I felt as if the composition needed to go in some other direction to keep things fresh, rather than retreading what came before, since the mix is relatively brief. There was a little bit of new instrumentation added to the second iteration of the source theme to thicken the sound up, but otherwise it was indeed a very conservative arrangement. There's nothing inherently bad about the piece, but at the same time, it's very limited in how interpretive it gets on account of the source tune being so straightforward AND the arrangement being so repetitive. The way the guitar work didn't synch up with the percussion was a little odd, but I'm not bashing that. It worked most of the way through, though around 2:09-2:38 you added some harmony guitar work that threw the timing off a bit too much at times. The ending at 2:43 was pretty sudden/I-give-up-ish there, though I like how it faded out at 2:50. I would have used another cymbal tap like the one at 2:44 again at 2:46 - just a small suggestion that might make that sudden ending a little stronger as a resolution. In any case, I don't feel like you need a huge contrast in the energy level to tap its potential. Keep the mellow feel, James; you definitely pulled off the sad/desolate mood well in my opinion. But the composition does need to avoid the mere retreading route and bring some more pronounced interpretation and development to the picture. Keep up the good work, and resub this one if you're interested. Personally though, this one fits the bill as more of a cover-style piece and doesn't need to be altered, per se. If you're actually up for rearranging it more thoroughly though, I'd certainly be up for it. Really looking forward to the eventual resub of "Rupees in the Ivy." NO (resub) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayLightning Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 I actually like the melow vibe here, but for a chill out piece there's not much going on here as far as texture or interesting elements like harmonic/tonal color beyond the guitar part. It really sounds very sparse. Emotion and the Chill out factor is certainly missing, what's left with is a slow piece begging for more polish. Production as a whole is decent. Arrangement isn't very daring, but it works well enough. This really is begging for more work and expansion on the ideas. It just sounds underdeveloped as it is. There's potential in this mix waiting to be explored. Keep at it. Could be quality stuff with some more work. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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