OceansAndrew Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 ReMixer name: Pleiade Real name: Jarkko Matilainen Email address: Website: http://www.youtube.com/user/DJLuode ReMixer name: Eino Keskitalo Real name: Eino Keskitalo Email address: Userid: 20708 Game: Wild Arms Arrangement name: Sanctuary Source name: Ancient Shrine Source link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp2YwgvllPI Link to arrangement: Additional info: Here's a trance arrangement of the Ancient Shrine theme from the Wild Arms project. It'a collab between me and my friend Jarkko a.k.a Pleiade. When I became aware of the WA project, I remembered that Jarkko had mentioned liking the music, so I suggested we should try to arrange a piece. Or possibly that he should do one, and he suggested that we should arrange it as a collab, I forget. It's been worked on a long time, since we were only able to work on the piece bit by bit over time. It was first finished over a year ago actually, but since it was a headphone mix, and Jarkko just recently got proper studio monitoring, we went and mixed it again last month just before the project cut off date. The basic division of labour was that the piece used Pleiade's sound and style (not to mention it was done in his home studio), while I looked at the source material and came up with variations of the melody. But it was not as clear cut as that - for instance, the lead starting at 2:21 was modified by Jarkko from the previous lead, while I came up with the synth sound for it. I recall we also wrote the basslines together Most of the time on the piece was spent working together in Pleiade's studio, so it was a pretty organic collab all in all. It was also a lot of fun, so hopefully there will be some more arrangements coming from us. Synths used are Yamaha MO6, Roland SH-201, Dave Smith Instruments Mono Evolver Keyboard, Korg MicroX, Korg Microkorg XL and Jomox MBase01. Mastering was done on TC Electronic Finalizer Express, Lexicon MPX 500 and Behringer Tube Composer. Software used: Anvil Studio and Audacity. All the sounds are from the hardware synths. We want to thank Jade and everyone from the Wild Arms project who gave valuable feedback & support at various stages of making this song. Source usage: The first six of the eight bars in the source are used. The source plays nearly throughout the song. Here's the breakdown: 0:00-0:02 0:02-0:59 --- the "whistling" melody from the first two bars of the source is gradually introduced by the lead on the top 0:59-1:25 --- backing string chords from the first two bars of the source are used (with variations) by the pad, with the lead continuing 1:25-1:39 --- shameless snare roll (can't seem to find it from the original.. ) 1:39-2:21 --- "plucked" synth plays a melody synthesized from the whistle&strings from the six source bars, as a 12 bar sequence for additional tension build-up 2:21-3:02 --- previous sequence modified & treated differently 3:02-3:59 --- 16-bar version of the same 3:59-4:33 --- a third variation on the source material is played by the weird synth in the background 4:33-5:31 --- final minute wind-down; no source usage Counted this way, there's 74 seconds without source usage. I did (and lost) a stop-watching with rests inside parts counting against source usage, but the usage was well over the unofficial 50% mark that way too. cheers, --Eino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted September 26, 2011 Author Share Posted September 26, 2011 There is a long intro and outro, but based on the general length of the track, there is a good deal of source here. Most of the sections feel pretty good, but there are a few where it's just the melody, a quiet bass part, and a beat. No harmony, no counter melody, just a lot of background emptiness. Overall though, this was pretty nice, good variation of the theme that transitioned well into itself, and balanced and clean production. I wish there were some light pads added to the emptier sections, but beyond that, there is a lot to enjoy here. Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 I like where you're taking the source, and I think you've got a lot of good stuff here. I'm going to have to say that there a few issues I think need some fixing up before it's good to go, however. I think the intro and outro are a little long overall, and could use a touch of trimming. I'm looking more at the ending than the beginning, as that seems to have less melodic interest, and the drums become static there as well. I'm also feeling like the bass could be brought down a bit in the intro, as it's a little overpowering. Lastly, as Andrew mentioned, there are some of those areas that are just too sparse. I think some areas are OK, but you've got a couple too many here. If the other issues were fixed, I could probably overlook this, but it wouldn't hurt to have it fixed up as well. All and all, I think this is a fairly easy resub, so I'm hoping you touch it up. NO (resubmit, please) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I hate to say this, but this mix just feels really generic to me :\ The arrangement and the transitions are pretty cookie-cutter trance. It's not to say you're lacking in detail necessarily, and your cool ambiance work and sfx were not lost on me (I actually thought the intro had some cool ideas but just ran a little too long) but when you get into the meat of the track it's just pretty plain. The synth choices across the board, the beat, and a lot of other elements are stretched pretty thin throughout the mix and end up sounding pretty repetitive. I may be unnecessarily hating on this mix, which is by all accounts pretty solid and, despite some repetitiveness and some sections that were longer than necessary, might be technically above the standards, but I just wasn't really feeling this one Sorry guys. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halc Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 unfortunate to say, I agree with Emu, I thought the overall generic-ness of the sounds (percussion not excluded) and some sparse textures brought this down, despite being pretty tastefully mixed. as the others mentioned, I dig the arrangement here, I agree that it could be slightly condensed but I won't hold that against you. I just think the sounds here are too amateur-ish sounding at the moment. NO(resub) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 To partly echo what's already been said, while there are solid elements here (mixing, arrangment), but other issues are bringing this one down (sound design, spare arrangement in places). From 1:26 to 3:02 (and, to a lesser extent, beyond that), the track really is sparse without much energy. Sounds were a mixed bag for me. A lot of the synths really could've used some more interest to them as they did come off as pretty generic. Some were better - the sequenced synth lead at 2:21 for example - but felt like it was over-relied on to carry the track for long stretches. The snare really could use some more power behind it. But yeah, I can basically repeat what Emu said here. Not a bad mix by any means, but not yet ready for posting. Hope to hear back from you guys soon. No, resubmit please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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