DragonAvenger Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 CountSymphoniC Cory Culley countsymphonic@live.com http://forums.qhimm.com or http://www.facebook.com/CountSymphoniCwOTAwMUAxMzEyMDIyNjAx 46642 Final Fantasy VII Crisis from the Heavens J-E-N-O-V-A I think you guys already know everything there is to know about the original composer and the original soundtrack. Ahhh, yet another J-E-N-O-V-A remix. That's right. I couldn't help myself, this song is just so catchy to me. I wanted to do something that beats the official remix done in Advent Children. Yet something that was a bit more closer to the original. This is actually how I imagined it turning out if Square was ever to remake FFVII and redo all of the music. Of course no remix on OC ReMix is complete without an original touch to it, right? The first half of this remix stays fairly close to the source material... with some noticeable differences, while the second half of the song is very original. I structured it as if it were a mainstream song, and gave it a jazzy feel at certain parts while maintaining a heavy and musical atmosphere. Anyone that is a fan of electric guitars will probably love this song! Now, it's very difficult to mix something like this with orchestral instruments and guitars + drums. So I had trouble bringing the mix up to a reasonable volume without clipping and distortion, but I think it's close enough to be acceptable in OC's standards. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this remix. I had a lot of fun recording my guitar playing to this one. ----------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Symphonic rock with a more orchestra mixing style is definitely something I can support, and though some of the samples are a little weak (mainly the strings, which sound a little 2 dimensional), there is a decent amount of variation while remaining very true to the source. I was actually getting concerned that it was just going to be a cover, but then the inspired breakdown hit. I think the ending came a little soon, and one more run through the main section would have been a stronger ending, but as-is, the guitar playing is solid, the rhythmic variations are classy, and the strengths outweigh the weaknesses. Plenty to improve on for the next submission, but I am feeling this one. Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 First half barely adds anything to the original imo. The breakdown and second half are more original yes but it kinda feels like you've forced yourself to do it for the sake of OCR. Given the chance I wager this would have been straight cover. The production is very hit and miss... Some very weird samples, and the fast stabs sounds incredibly static in velocity. Drums are generally okay but need a lot of humanizing especially in the kick/snare because it's a single sample. Guitar performance is very loose at times especially in the rhythm guitar. The tone also isn't as tight or full as it usually is in this style. The strings are taking a huge backseat in the mix when the track is in full rock mode. I appreciate something like this is very hard to balance, and while the balance is okay the sequencing of the support instruments is letting that balance down. Not enough humanization and velocity variance. I think this could be cleared up significantly and there are much better examples of the style in the catalogue already. I'd like to be more specific about what you can do but there are issues with almost every instrument to a degree. I think you've got a good thing going but there is easily enough room for improvement to warrant a resub. I know I'm being negative but honestly it's because I feel you have the ability to do better and we would all like to hear it! NO, plz resub I want to make it clear I'm rejecting this only because of the production, but I'm also a bit disappointed by the 'direct cover + forced original touches stuck on end' attitude displayed here. If you want to make straight covers, make them. We won't think less of you, but that's not the point of OCR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 First half barely adds anything to the original imo. The breakdown and second half are more original yes but it kinda feels like you've forced yourself to do it for the sake of OCR. Given the chance I wager this would have been straight cover.The production is very hit and miss... Some very weird samples, and the fast stabs sounds incredibly static in velocity. Drums are generally okay but need a lot of humanizing especially in the kick/snare because it's a single sample. Guitar performance is very loose at times especially in the rhythm guitar. The tone also isn't as tight or full as it usually is in this style. The strings are taking a huge backseat in the mix when the track is in full rock mode. I appreciate something like this is very hard to balance, and while the balance is okay the sequencing of the support instruments is letting that balance down. Not enough humanization and velocity variance. I think this could be cleared up significantly and there are much better examples of the style in the catalogue already. I'd like to be more specific about what you can do but there are issues with almost every instrument to a degree. I think you've got a good thing going but there is easily enough room for improvement to warrant a resub. I know I'm being negative but honestly it's because I feel you have the ability to do better and we would all like to hear it! NO, plz resub I want to make it clear I'm rejecting this only because of the production, but I'm also a bit disappointed by the 'direct cover + forced original touches stuck on end' attitude displayed here. If you want to make straight covers, make them. We won't think less of you, but that's not the point of OCR. I had my own thoughts, but pretty much this, so I'm quoting it in full. The opening JENOVA melody is pretty much made to sound like a photocopy of the original, and there isn't much interpretation beyond the adaptation to guitar. The other area you had to really put your own spin on things with interpretation and originality, the supporting instrumentation, was too sparse-sounding with inhuman velocities that weakened the overall sound. I thought the guitar performance was solid enough in a vacuum. It could be more powerful & expressive, but it was capable, it's just that the other pieces, especially the drums, aren't working. The velocities issue Fishy mentioned is primarily what hurt this. The original section for the second half was solidly composed for the most part, but the drums and other supporting instrumentation were flimsy and left the background feeling a too empty and underdeveloped. Some additional fleshing and humanizing of the background instruments would get this sounding more expressive. And adding some more creative, personalized ideas for the first half would help that part of the arrangement sound more unique and developed. I liked the original part in the second half and thought it pieced together nicely with the JENOVA arrangement that opened it up, so once you got the supporting instrumentation ironed out a bit, it sounds like everything could be clicking. I definitely hope you give this one another shot, Cory, and see what more can be done with it. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Yeah, unfortunately I do have to side with Cain and Larry on this judgment. For well over 50% of the mix, the song is simply a straight cover with no interpretation added whatsoever. The other section is pretty cool when taken in a bubble, but in context of the remix, it feels pretty detached and tacked on. The production also felt underwhelming, with nothing sounding as intense or loud as it could be. It sounds like you had some issues with getting your mix as loud as it is, so maybe this would be a good point to hit up the Workshop forums about and get some advice from other remixers The issues with this have been hit pretty extensively by the two judges before me, so I'll just leave this by encouraging you to continue to submit stuff that has better interplay between source and original writing, and get some specific feedback from other community members on how to improve your mixing/mastering on a more specific level. You've got some talent, so keep at it and see how far you can push it with a more unique arrangement structure! NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 I'll be even shorter since everything has been said. I can see why OA wanted to pass it, because the second half is quite good. There's a lot to like and admire here, but it sounds way too much like the original for the first half. There's some more minor issues with the non-live parts sounding too rigid/unrealistic too. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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