OceansAndrew Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 ReMixer name: DarkSim Forum ID: http://ocremix.org/forums/member.php?u=33879 Game ReMixed: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Song remixed: "town_04" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePbPB-FqiSk Original Composer: Jeremy Soule Hello again OCR! This time I've tried to expand my electronica skills into the realms of trance, with what I hope is an imaginative source interpretation. The name of the track is taken from Patrick Stewart's opening monologue as Emperor Uriel Septim, "...these are the final hours of my life." I've always been a huge fan of Jeremy Soule's music. I spent well over 200 hours on Oblivion when it came out, just wandering around off the beaten track doing side-quests and soaking up the atmosphere, heavily enhanced by Soule's original score. It blew my mind when I realised he had also worked on Total Annihilation, a game I grew up with, and I wanted to show my appreciation for both his music and the phenomenal game that is Oblivion by remixing something from it. I chose this particular town theme because I feel it has the most recognisable melody from all the themes, and I often found myself humming it after playing the game, which I find is a great indicator of a remixable tune. I've tried to keep the airy, expansive feel of Oblivion, whilst transforming the orchestral score into a more upbeat affair. Trance would be the genre of choice for this kind of feeling, so I've given it a go. It still has some nasty bass in there though, which I really enjoyed writing! With Skyrim coming out later this year, I also thought it would be a nice way to bid farewell to the game, and get ready for the next Elder Scrolls adventure. Judging info: Source usage is all over this track - I used the string plucks to create a soft synth arp that crops up now and then, the main melody is used right from the start (at least the first part of it), and some of the string builds are used in the breakdowns, for both pads and progressions. I don't think there's a part of the source I didn't use at some point, and it should be 80-90% source as a result, if not higher. Thanks, DarkSim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 Nice source! I am a little disappointed that the awesome melody from the original was fragmented so much, though, and that just the first phrase of the main melody is played. Technically the source is throughout, but I don't really like how it was treated in a lot of ways. The rest of the track was nice, and the bass was excellent, and when the melody actually hit, it was great, but there was too much teasing for too little payoff. :/ The opening synth was a little harsh in some frequencies, and overall a lot of the track felt really strongly compressed. The synths and soundscape all worked together well enough, but everything being pushed so hard hurt the sound. Overall I think you have something that's very close to passing, as the arrangement (though annoying to me with the constant melodic teasing) is creative and works, but the over-compression is hurting things. I'd adjust the mixing a bit and send it back, this is very close, IMO. No, please resubmit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halc Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 pretty much in agreement with OA here. the arrangement and sound design is good, but things need to be re-balanced a bit. as is there's just too much noticible overcompression and distortion. take another look at this one and send it back. NO(resub) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Wow, very nice source. Makes me kinda wish I'd played this game/series. I think OA makes a good point on source usage. For the first 2:20 of the track (nearly half), only the first few notes from the source are used - and used repeatedly in the same manner each time. The intro itself got me interested as it does a good job capturing the listener and building expectation. However, when we do get the rest of the melody at 2:22, we get one basic rendition and it's on to another part, which actually is lower energy. I'd recommend throwing in some more source parts (you can use other leads, plucks, bass, whatever you want) as countermelodies, or interjections or something to break up the repeated source pattern and get things building more. Then when you hit the full melody section, really break out the energy level. After that, a drop in energy as it is now would be quite effective IMO. Agreed on the overcompession - these audible distortion due to pushing the limiter too hard. I think overall this needs a bit better balancing. The lead seems to take up too much mid-low space, which could be cluttering things. Bass synth is very cool, just make sure it doesn't clutter with the kick and other synths. You've really got a good start here and are showing a good understanding of the genre and production techniques. With some work this could definitely hit the front page. No, resubmit please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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