Castlevania ReMix "The Dungeons of Castle Dracula" (RESSURECTION UPDATE 12/23/15)

[Draconiator]

I'm making a remix of Castlevania's "Poison Mind" the boss theme, heard here:

I'm trying to make it as creepy as I can, and give it sort of a "I'm in Dracula's pitch-dark basement and something is down here with me. It's not human..." feeling.

Here ya go:  https://app.box.com/s/z7lf3myxln6trhblnotahta7cvopcc3z

That "arp" is actually a piano with heavy processing

To achieve the "creepiness" I used heavy effects and played with the tempo as well. Not finished yet though. I may do another keychange drop with an even slower tempo, recalling what Dragon Warrior 1 did with its dungeons. may add a subtle wind effect too.

Update: Updated, I still want to add some stuff, but this is the basic mix.

Update 2: Slightly updated, changed the piano for some distorted pizz. later then it goes back to the piano

Update 3: Replaced the synth bell with a real bell, and added a cymbal swell, as well as other level adjustments. no idea how I'm gonna make the organ I want sound like a real organ, but I'm going to work on doing that.

Update 4:  My last update was 10/30/11, so the FLP file did suffer some synthrot, as in what the FLP expected was in the wrong places, and I had to find replacements for some elements, but I'm working on this again.  New stuff: New choir, new organ from the Fluid soundfont but I made it sound as powerful as I could.  new string patch.  I need to find my cymbal swell I used.  need to add a melody to the second and third parts so it's not too repetative.

Update 4.1:  Just found a new patch for the organ!  Sounds even more like it could be located in an eerie castle now.

[Wiggly Squid]

Hey Draconiator,

For some reason this file isn't playing any sound for me on the link or even if I download it.. I tested quite a few other links and mp3s to make sure I wasn't muted or something, so I don't think it's me. Anyone else have the same problem?

[Phonetic Hero]

I THOUGHT I was having that problem, but it turned out the file was just REALLY quiet. I cranked my volume and could hear it, but just barely

[Draconiator]

I Updated my mix

[Draconiator]

Mix Updated

[Phonetic Hero]

Oooooh MAN this thing is damp and dark. The light percussion adds just the right touch to the ultra wet staccato notes and pads. Key change is well timed, the distant chimes are great. This is the sort of thing people could leave on by their candy bowl outside while the chilluns come for tasty treats. Happy Halloween indeed

pH

[Draconiator]

THIS REMIX HAS BEEN RESSURECTED

[timaeus222]

Hm... well the source is pretty simple! So indeed, the challenge is getting mileage out of it.

I like what's going on here so far. Cool watery piano, and that helps anchor the creepy mood. The piano is pretty resonant though, at 800 (± 20) Hz, so you can do a notch EQ there to make it easier on the ears. You could also raise the dry mix some more; it's actually pretty distant, and while it's supposed to be distant, it can be a bit less distant. At 0:27, when the choir comes in, it's pretty static; you could automate its volume throughout the rest of the mix as well to humanize it with some swells. Additionally, if it's a soundfont, you can adjust the ADSR envelope on it and increase the attack to make your job a little easier.

At 0:55, the snare that comes in, while I get what you're going for with the reverb, it's pretty hissy. You could lower the high cut frequency from within the reverb to decrease the hiss while still maintaining the watery ambience. 1:23 was cool with the low drone, but pretty sudden. Try leading into it earlier on. I'm also not so sure the pulse wave lead really works; it's kinda distracting IMO. At 1:26 - 2:25, am I hearing really quiet pizzicato? If so that can be brought up quite a bit more, because if I can't hear it, it wouldn't count towards source usage.

At 2:26, I hear some sort of organ, I think, but it's pretty washed out from the piano reverb, perhaps, and now the pulse wave lead really ends up being a distractor for me. Maybe try a trebly/cosmic "sweep" pad atop the organ and somewhat low-passing the 'organ'. Also, try lowering the wet mix, or the decay time, a tad on the piano.

It's a tough mix to do for sure; the biggest struggle I'd say, is to get the pacing right in this atmospheric arrangement, and using just enough reverb. I have no problem with the structure, but some more interesting ear candy littered about can help make the pacing less stagnant. Maybe some sleigh bells and long reversed-"cymbal-like" transitions can help signal different dynamics. How about putting a delay on the piano, muting the dry signal, rendering the delay itself, importing it back in as a WAV, and then reversing it? Then you can automate the volume of that up if you want to use it, and down when you don't want to hear it.

[Slimy]

Your sustained chords sound like an organ with everything except ~1400Hz cut out. I guess there's a full range of notes in these chords? But it all seems squeezed out. It sound very thin and unappealing. I think you should use a full range of sound, and only EQ it out occasionally for effect, like at the end of the song when it's fading out. I understand that you were going for an "inhuman" effect, but I don't think this is a very good way to do it. Perhaps you could use "inhuman" sounds on top of a "full" sound?

The chior sounds very quiet overall. As with the organ, I think you should use it to it's full effect. Bass can be powerful in an ambient song.

Since this is supposed to be atmospheric, maybe you should try adding various textures to make it sound more interesting. For example: A bass note that slides down in pitch before a chord change. Tubular bells, the sound of wind, or a harpsichord in the distance?

The drum seems way to dry compared to everything else. But instead of reverb-ing it out of existence, maybe you could add more percussion, like tubular bells or timpani, so that it doesn't stand out and sound awkward.

I like the piano though.