djpretzel Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 Okay, we'll try something a bit smoother this time around. Remixer Name - k-wix Real Name - Dustin M. Kulwicki Email - k-wix@buckeye-express.com <mailto:k-wix@buckeye-express.com> Website - http://k-wix.no-ip.com Remixed Game - Chrono Trigger Game Song - Ayla's Theme Remix Title - Ayla's Rollo Cat Trance Attack Comments - Less experimentation, more standard trance. This is Ayla's theme and the theme is increadibly short (like.. 8 bars?) .. so because of that you'll notice a lot of original material is present, i did my best to theme it correctly with the original and give it a nice groovy feel. The lead throughout the 2nd half is almost entirely new and original, but the backing snyths are the classic theme. Since you guys weren't to keen on my bubbleman remix, i think this is a better choice... (infact in retrospect i *should* have submitted this first) its not quite as experimental. I think the lead synth is going to make-or-break me. I'm really curious to see what you have to say. Links http://k-wix.no-ip.com/music/kwixaylasrollocattranceattack.mp3 http://www.vgmix.com/song_view.php?song_id=2561 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 21, 2005 Share Posted May 21, 2005 http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ct.rsn - "Ayla's Theme" (ct-2-19.spc) Heh. Pretty catchy theme. Not great, but all things considered, I never noticed it before this mix. Not sure why all of these synths are so lo-fi. They do an inadequate job of occupying space despite the slight delay on them. There's no power in most of these sounds (c'mon, where be da bass?) and most of them sound generic and relatively unprocessed. There's almost nothing unique in the presentation that I couldn't hear from a whole bunch of beginner mixers in the Commodore scene, since a lot of them pump out the most generic European-style techno I've ever heard although their stuff at least has a fuller, thicker texture to it. This mix here has the benefit of being more progressive and thought-out on the arrangement side however, though detrimental repetition still exists. Reminds me (in a good way) of some of the mid-90s techno/trance they'd play on the radio during the weekend club shows. Opening synth wasn't bad, but we're already encountering the generic trance sounds everywhere, like whatever you call that thing at :37. The melody arrived at :40 and the first thing I actually noticed was that your kicks were really tepid and didn't fill up the background space enough. Things were a little bit more solid at 1:08 on that front though. Unfortunately though, the production here was pretty average; not enough separation of sounds here. Without much presence in the high-end frequencies, everything sounds needlessly muddy and distant the whole way through as well. The lead synth was too shrill/grating, so on a completely subjective point, I think you could do better by dropping the lead a few steps or giving the lead a richer sound. As it stands, it sounded somewhat Megaman-ish, which was pretty cool, but that feel could be retained despite scrapping that piercing lead. Anything you can do to move away from these flat, generic synths would be a plus also. Frankly, they're limiting your potential here as it relates to the overall presentation. Wish Disco Dan was around to give you some pointers as this reminds me of some of his material; hope to see zircon give some solid input on this one. I thought the arrangement was fairly decent. Certainly was a lot more structured than Spiked Ceiling Bubble Bop, and the original sections pieced together a lot more strongly. I'd still say that you should try and rework the actual melody a bit more, though I really liked how you rearranged/adapted the drumline of the source tune to fit the trance genre at 2:10; very intelligent work there, but you retain the use of that pattern for the rest of the track, and you desperately need to change the flow up somehow to keep things from getting stale. The arranged freestyle stuff from 2:51-3:11 is still some of the random-sounding unwieldy composition that I wished you'd reign in. The ideas from 3:11-4:00 were put together a lot more cohesively; the pitch bending of the sine wave seemed to flow from note-to-note a bit more smoothly rather than jump around abruptly. The sine wave from 2:51-4:17 dragged on after a while, so I'd say shorten that idea a little bit. Perhaps cut out 2:51-3:11 and use a different sounding synth and a new composition idea. You use the idea a lot in the track (1:01-1:56), to the point where it becomes very overused and repetitive, so come up with other ideas. Also, on the tiny detail front, use that percussion pattern in the background at the very end for one more time at 4:15. Actually, use the first 3 notes in the pattern and don't use that louder snap at the end. Anyway, very promising stuff that needs sharper production, beefier synth programming and some refinement of the arrangement. Really hope to see this one worked on further to realize its potential. Frankly, I'm not sure if this can be brought up to par in one resubmission, and I know it's an older piece, but I’d say keep on this one, Dustin, and see how much it can be improved. Otherwise, what's done is done, and we look forward to the next effort. Whatever you do, your sounds have got to move away from this generic stuff or figure out how to do more with what you've got at your disposal. NO (rework/resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted May 21, 2005 Share Posted May 21, 2005 There are some interesting arrangement ideas here, but the execution and production aspects, both of which are pretty important in electronic music, are pretty lacking. One of the main issues I noticed is that the drum line is very basic and boring, in both sequencing, and samples used - honestly, these sound like FL default samples drowned in reverb. They're muddy, mushy, and extraordinarily overused. With sharper processing, such as intelligent EQing and compression, and layering with other samples, they might be OK, but in their current state, they are bland and unpleasant to hear. Consider throwing more variation and fills in the drumline as well. I realize this is trance, but you can easily do trance without repeating the same pattern hundreds of times, as many songs on this site show. The next problem I have is one that Larry had as well; the synths are really sort of lo-fi and uninteresting. They too sound like presets from FL generators - the very first thing I would do, right now, would be to head over to kvr-vst and download Superwave P8, Synth1, Crystal, and Ganymed, then preset banks for all four of those, for starters. Currently your synth sounds seem to be more bland and abrasive than musical and flowing, which I think are important aspects in a trance song. There's no easy advice I have for constructing good synth sounds, unfortunately - just experiment more with programming synths and emulating trance songs you like. There seem to be some bad notes around here as well. Starting at 1:01, the portamento lead tends to clash with the harmony, particularly at 1:23. It's not a good dissonance either - it sounds bad. These clashes continue to occur throughout. You don't necessarily have to alter the harmony/melody and progression this much if you don't want to. You can build original material off the source progression or vary the progression slightly and still have a good rearrangement. Bottom line; lots of issues all around. The arrangement is creative where the notes aren't clashing. Fix it up and resub. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analoq Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 the only creative thing about this mix is that lead. it's wobbly, it's wild, it's got a depth to its timbre that one doesn't notice right away. but it doesn't hold its appeal throughout the whole mix.. things get boring very quickly. it's very easy to write in any style of music but like any style of music, it's very hard to write good trance. sorry i can't be more detailed but: this is not good trance. no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmony Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 Yeah buddy that’s a pretty crazy lead synth. Nice stuff there but I think the major problems that keep me from passing this have already been mentioned. Top of the list for me is the general default vibe that this mix gives off. From the loud 909 snare fills to the 3x 0sc sounding background synths, things just don’t sound like much care was given to making the sounds your own. Arrangement of the theme was good but there doesn’t seem to be much development after the intro. We kind of move along and wait for the ending and when it finally comes it’s not good or bad…it’s just bland. A fun song for it’s Chrono Trigger remix value but you can make this piece a lot more interesting, I’m sure of it. Take some of the suggestions from above and keep working at it. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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