Final Fantasy X - To Zanarkand(The Dreamer Departs)

[Magellanic]

So, basically, I've been putting together a remix of this lovely piano piece from Final Fantasy X. I've been aiming for a laid back dancey-type of ReMix. Its very different from stuff I've done before, so theres quite a bit of experimentation.

I've just finished (I think) the musical arrangement and was hoping for some feedback on what's good, bad or if you like it.

In regard to production, that hasn't been touched. I've spent about 10mins fiddling here and there but thats as far is it goes, this is un-mixed and unbalanced. I can't do any proper mixing until I'm back home (currently visiting parents and only able to use some cheap, crappy headphones)

Enjoy (Hopefully )

Edit: Link to completed remix and source in latest reply

[DjMystix]

One of my favorite videogame tracks of all times; I like it. Bass is nice, the synth string chords are way too loud, some times overshadowing leads. The piano lead at 1:38 is a bit out of rhythm. You converted the track to a 4/4 measure so you should also improvise a bit on the lead. You may want to introduce some synth arpeggios.

Keep it going, would love to listen to a more polished version.

[Magellanic]

Many thanks for the feedback Mystix It is a big help. I'll try out some more improvisations and mess around with some arpeggios.

I did wonder if I needed to add more variation / improvisation so cheers

[Guifrog]

Yay! \@/

Apart from the mixing problems, I'm SO in love with the arrangement. It's really, really beautiful... Feels like a world with lilac skies, hi-tech technology in harmony with the environment, in a moment where it rains purple liquid.

I'm okay with it already, though some arpeggio could be even better. Also, the 0:00-1:07 part of the track sounds low in volume compared to the rest. Elements like the TCHAN, TCHON, TCHUN that comes in 2:15 could be slightly brought backwards.

So, yea... TCHAN, TCHON, TCHUN XD

[Magellanic]

Aw Guifrog, you brought a massive grin to my face with your poetic description. Thank you

Thanks for the input and I'll have a mess around with the TCHAN, TCHON, TCHUN haha. Love it!

[Rozovian]

Nice arrangement. Careful with the bass and kick, they seem to overlap a bit here. Separate with eq. I know you haven't done much with the production, but that's really the only thing this track needs now imo. The 2:23-2:59 section could perhaps use some source bits sprinkled in, but it's better to leave as-is than to overdo it.

Sounds design is unexpectedly varied but it works imo, it just gotta be mixed right. This stands a good chance of getting on ocr when you're done with the production. Nice work.

[Magellanic]

Many thanks Rozovian. Its really encouraging. The comments have been really, very helpful!

I'll be back home tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to having a good listen with some speakers as to what's going on. I will no doubt tweak some bits of the arrangement as well as mix it.

I'll post an update tomorrow. My only question is, do you think that I should perhaps reduce the number of timbres? I am aiming for an orchestral-like effect with synthesizers, hence the variety of sounds.

Thanks again for the kind words

[Magellanic]

So having taken on board feedback and tweaking the arrangement, I've gotten to the stage where its very nearly finished. The mix is essentially done (the delight of mixing on speakers you're used to ).

The last thing which I need to do is just apply some EQ and extra production sparkles, saying that, I am considering adding in a bit of filtering on bits.

Before I go beyond this point I was just hoping for a bit more feedback. One thing that sticks out to me which I'm wanting to ask is whether the reverse cymbals and crashes work at 3:27. Of course, feel free to give me thoughts on anything else <3

*Link Removed*

[Magellanic]

Here is the link to my completed mix:

Link Removed

Feedback ,again, very welcome

[Guifrog]

Love the intro... But now I think you've exaggerated on the amount of instruments playing at the same time! XD

Or, maybe it's a mixing problem. Really, it's very difficult to understand what's going on in some parts of the mix, specially during 2:53-3:27. I LOVE the emotion you put in it, but things are so, so muddy and distorted. Overcompressed? If there's a limiter in your work, try taking it away, then re-adjust the levels

[DjMystix]

Absolutely loved this! No more complains other than mixing. This track deserves to be EQ'ed a little better. As Guifrog mentioned, take out the limiter if it is enabled and focus on your master tool (what are you using?). Also, not important, but sometimes, leads (especially synths like the one at 1:47) can sound a lot better if you apply heavy reverb on them (try experimenting).

One more request, although I could hear some arpeggios but I think when the lead plays for the second time, you could introduce those overused synth arpeggios that goes from one octave to another while panning ( OCR loves it )

Great stuff dude!

[Magellanic]

In reply to Guifrog: I'm pretty sure that it was a mixing problem but I did remove some parts as they were unncessary and cluttering the mix. When I had finished the previous mix that I posted, I had been working on various audio stuff all day so my ears were tired to say the least.

In reply to DjMytix: When I mastered this before I was using the L1 limiter and api- 2500 compressor. It was far too messy before. I don't think it was so much the compression that was the problem, more that the input to the compressor was peaking which was where the distortion was coming from.

I wasn't exactly sure by what kind of arpgegiation you meant, and I couldn't find another type that really fit. I did, however, use a fair amount of panning automation on the arpegiators used and brought them up a bit in the mix. I also tried some reverb. I applied fairly heavy reverb to the pipe-like lead but panned the reverb to the opposite side of the mix to give a bit more presence.

Thank you again for the feedback and encouragement, much love goes to you both <3. It has been a big help, but I think I'm at my limit with this mix. I think this might be the best I can do with this remix, but again, I would love feedback. Good or bad

EQ, light compression and finally some limiting used on this version.

New Link: *Link removed*

Edit: Just listening to the soundcloud link, there seem to be some light occasional pops. These aren't on the mp3/wav files I have

[Guifrog]

I feel that the snare that appears at 1:48 could appear right after the key change, at 1:44, but... BLAH!! LOVE IT ^________^

[DjMystix]

Beautiful! I love the bass a lot. I still have two concerns which can put this mix at risk on Judge's evaluation. The lead instruments are not very strong, although I love them as is, but I know how hard it is to meet the OCR bar. The other is mixing, may I point you to one of the most awesome mixing/master tools ever, Ozone Izotope. It will solve your mixing problems almost completely since it has TONS of templates you can choose from and keep the one that makes the most sense. Finally, do very minor adjustments here and there and you're done.

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/

Try to turn off your current limiter/mixer and pass the track through izotope and see the difference yourself. (EDIT: If you want, pass me your track with limiter/master/mixer turned off and I can do it for you and PM you a few mixing options that you can evaluate before going for this tool)

For leads, maybe #2 will solve it. You might want to either EQ/reverb them right or find better alternatives.

I would love to see this on OCR, it has tons of potential. Best of luck!

[Magellanic]

This is a final version of the remix. I don't know if this would be considered by the mods as a vaild candidate to be judged by the panel, so I'm hoping you can shed some light

Source:

Finished Remix: *Link Removed*

[DjMystix]

I think this sounds absolutely fantastic!! I love this mix and really hope it makes it through the mods/panel.

Just noticed a tiny piercing at 0:49 on left ear but maybe you can ignore that for now. Make sure it is gone once you submit it to the panel though.

Best of luck with mods/panel! Hope to see this on OCR frontpage someday.

[Guifrog]

Too bad you realized that you can't work on VV album ._.

I mean, your music is just insanely beautiful.

[WillRock]

Very nice arrangement here, I'm fairly sure this would pass the panel on arrangement alone. Digging the feel of this, its really quite an interesting sound you have here.

Production has some quirks tho. Generally its pretty good, but it suffers from having rather weak/bland drum samples, and there is a tad too much reverb/delay on various instrumentation which makes this sound too saturated. This is most noticeable in the intro with the guitar harmonics and the harp at 0:07.

For the record, I did also hear the piercing at 0:49. I don't think it would affect your vote but a little polish can go a long way

As far as I can tell your samples are fine. Things get ever so slightly muddy near the end when it climaxes but generally mixing is pretty good. I'll get Emunator to look this one over and see what he says, he'll probably love this

I think its VERY close, but like I said, i'll get Emunator in here so we can wrap this up

[Magellanic]

Cheers WillRock. That's fantastic. I'll wait then for Emunator before I go back and polish things up.

Production is definitely my weak point but I'm trying to improve there, I'll just make sure to spend more time on it

[Monobrow]

Okay.

First impressions are. Great arrangement. Nice sense of dynamics and build. My problems are with the implementation.

Here are some problem areas, and please I am going to be highly critical, but it's because I like this song:

Way too much reverb on the entire song. If you have it applied to the master channel, turn it off, create a few sends, and apply to those instead. Overall the entire song could use less reverb IMO. You might way to try automation for slower/more intimate parts with more reverb on the master channel (or sends), then turn it down again for muddier parts.

:00 - first 30 seconds. Way too much reverb on that harp/lead. If you want that much reverb in the beginning, I would automate it down as the song progresses and more instruments are added.

:45 kick drum clicks. There is a weird delayed clicking that happens with the kick drum Did you put delay on the kick? If so, I'd definitely take it off, if it's on an entire kit, separate the kick drum from the rest. I think that leads to problems with the later mix when everything starts to get cluttered. Or is that delay on reverb on the kick? Because if so, very little reverb is necessary on the kick.

And also VERY GENERAL rule of thumb that you might already know, try to keep the bass and kick freq separate, bass fills lower end, drops off where the kick should be, and then is EQ'd up for that "click". EQ the kick up where the bass drops off (but use your ears)

:49 your lead has some overpowering resonance here, on the left pan, hurt my ears... I'd EQ as many spare freq as possible that are not useful (look for a sweet spot and EQ the rest out when listening), and I'd decrease any release/sustain a TAD so as not to overpower when the song gets muddy if you re-use. The point being, do only what is necessary to get a point across in terms of production on your music and you will be helping yourself in the end (I have learned this the hard way believe me lol)

1:25 piano is pretty nice, but could probably still use some EQ. Maybe a LITTLE too much release/delay on it as well.

on a side note:

piano at the end of the song is clipping, and it may be related to the bass. Once again, search for a sweet spot with that piano, and EQ other freq out. I also think the delay is a bit too much, you can turn it down a little bit, reduce the feedback, or the amount of bounces, and still get the same effect. It could help unclutter the mix.

1:33 that very high freq hit, seems very out of place because it only hits 3 times, it is very exposed, and doesn't match up with the atmosphere of the rest of the song. When it rejoins the (mandolin?) lead later on, less intrusive, but I don't think it's necessary at 1:33.

1:40 I like that (once again mandolin?) lead that comes in, but I think it would sound better overall, and wouldn't have to complete with the rest of the song if the rest was cleaner/EQ'd better. Work on the surrounded environment more and I think it will be easier to make it stand out.

1:55 + arpeggiatiing stabby synths are cool, but a little too distracting, panned to the right. I think it's just because they are competing with the lead too much, I think maybe a better choice would be to use both channels with this one, you'd get a depthier effect, maybe a slightly less harsh pan on one side, and filter in and out on both R and L channels

2:19 I like that piano there, and the toy piano reverbed in the background, but it is kind of taken away in atmosphere, by the delayed synths (toyish stabs), they are either too loud or need some more space on them.

I also think overall, their delay seems to clash with your drumbeat, throws it off, when they are joined together later on and throughout the song.

2:19 + I also think the bassy gated rhythmic synth is either too exposed or too loud

2:47 those flute stabs are cool, but a little too loud, then you start following them and they disappear, which I understand is clearing up room for the climax/soloing... which means maybe turning them down would make me miss/not expect them more

Overall cleaning up the rest of the frequencies on the previous stuff mentioned might help leaving you more breathing room for climatic parts like that, so you don't have to choose as much.

Drums:

I also think your drums might sound a little bit too generic, in both the writing (the highats) and the sound... I can tell you can write, so it might be a stylistic choice, but IMO it might help to work a little more with your beat... AND it might do better to work on your kit's sound a little bit, or something a tiny bit more organic/realistic, with electronic fx... To go with the feel of the rest of the song. I like it when it's joined with everything, but when it's exposed more it doesn't sound as good.

Anyway, EQ, EQ, EQ. Compress when necessary, really go in there and make some decisions on what is really necessary on all channels, look for sweet spots, and try to spread the mix out further, without too much of a harsh panning. Clashing frequencies are the real sin of mixing ... And also to balance, coherence in soundscape will prevail if you do this, I guarantee it.

Overall, nice try, I can tell you put a lot of work into this already, I hate to be the one that tells you to go back in there and REALLY restructure/reorganize your sound spectrum, but I've been there too. You could turn a great attempt into something AMAZING.

[Magellanic]

Many thanks for the feedback Monobrow. The criticisms are really appreciated as I have been struggling to mix this one successfully. I've done several mixes and failed to keep clarity.

The bass drum clicks I annoyingly noticed after I flagged this as mod-review.

But yeah, fantastic! Plenty of direction for me when I revisit I'll attempt to modify the mix that is uploaded with your advice, but I may very well start the mix again from scratch.

I'll experiment with the drums. I'm pretty bad when it comes to drum beats, so spending more time on them is no bad advice for me. I'm going to use different samples when I mix it again

Certainly plenty for me to correct

The lead at 1:40 is a Chinese Guzheng

Can't believe I totally missed the clipping at the end on the piano by the way:tomatoface:, but again, really appreciative of the comments. They're very helpful!

[Emunator]

Yeah, Monobrow's nailed it. I don't agree that this is quite ready for submission, at the very least, you could tune up your drum writing and production so it fits nicer in the soundscape. The drums feel quite robotic and you could definitely do some work on the velocities so that they don't feel so distracting, especially during the ambient parts where the drums are most exposed, such as the intro.

In addition, Katie pointed out a lot of useful, in-depth EQ tips that should hopefully help you get everything sitting right in the song and keep your soundscape from getting too cluttered or too muddy. I couldn't agree more with her feedback here. You've got lots of creative ideas flowing but I still feel like there's a ways to go before this is really ready for submission. But keep at it though, I love your creative sound choices and fun arrangement, this totally has the potential to work.

[Magellanic]

Thanks for all the feedback. Its been really fantastic. I've done my best to address the points made in Monobrow's post.

If production-wise its still sounding muddy or abnormal I will completely re-do the mix from scratch as I'm at a bit of a loss.

As far as the drums go, I have improved them but I'm still not happy with them, the hi-hat being the main culprit for me. Suggestions are very welcome.

Anywho, here is another attempt. I've done as best I can to create more space and clarity.

Link: removed

[Guifrog]

If you can, adjust the timing of the guzheng (1:40-onwards)! Sometimes it's just a lil' disconnected with the overall rhythm. Also, 2:53-3:12, I think you could choose an arpeggio that's more firm and direct to the point. The way it is now, feels random and kinda clashes with the saw melody line.

Nitpicky about what the kick does at 0:43-44. Dunno

Yeah, ummm... anything else?

[ectogemia]

The hats are very dry and blandly written. Process 'em.

I know it's dancy, but the kick is very mechanical which is no biggie, but the 16th note drills around 0:40ish are no fun to listen to. The subby frequencies retriggering at that speed are especially unsettling. Maybe humanize the timing, or more importantly you should humanize the velocity. Maybe even cut the subs just for those drills? Kinda weird, but it would eliminate that subby drill sound.

That plucked instrument (koto?? shamisen??) around 1:40 is gorgeous and very well-sequenced. The kick sequencing around 2:20 has the same issue as the one around 0:40, but it's covered up a bit more by other elements of the mix here, so it isn't so distracting. Nevertheless, it still needs to be addressed.

The chimes around 3:20 are so very fitting Loved em.

The piano outro seems very bright, narrow, and robotic. Give it some more processing and some humanization love. Maybe widen it with some reverb, maybe a tiny touch of delay.

Overall:

Excellent arrangment. Wonderful instrumentation. Poor percussion all around. Needs better EQing, needs more processing in general. It sounds like a 90s eurodance song, like something I could step around to in DDR, hah. I like it! That said, it would need some more attention to the percussion and production before it would pass the panel, or so I think.