*NO* Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days 'A Nobody's Tale'

[DragonAvenger]

Remixer Name: Blue.Nocturne

User Id: 22091

Submission Information:

Remix Title: A Nobody's Tale

Link to Remix: http://www.gamefront.com/files/20873034/A_Nobody_s_Tale_mp3

Name of game arranged: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (Yoko Shimomura is the composer)

Name of songs arranged: Dearly Beloved, Sinister Sundown, The 13th Struggle, Roxas' Theme, Xion's Theme

Link to Original Songs: Too many:

- Dearly Beloved

- Sinister Sundown

- The 13th Struggle

- Roxas' Theme

- Xion's Theme

Additional Comments: It has been a very long time since I last submitted a remix to ocremix, but I wanted to do at least one more before I entered graduate school.

Soon I may enter pharmacy school (assuming I get accepted), and this is just in case I do not have as much time later.

The song is a medley remix between Kingdom Heart I, II and Xion's Theme from 358/2 Days, and since every song is in 358/2 Days, I would say this song encompasses that specific game.

I tried to make a medley with a conservative approach (I do not like changing the song up too much), but being very careful to integrate each section into another.

Normally I tend to do orchestral pieces, but I'm trying to learn how to effectively master and include synthetic elements in my songs.

It was really difficult trying to balance orchestra with synths, since some synths just don't blend well and the orchestra has a tendency to be overpowered by sharper synths.

Overall, I'm happy with the end result and I hope you all enjoy it.

[DragonAvenger]

I think there are three things here that are issues in terms of our submission standards. The first is that this is certainly a medley, which while not against our rules, tends to pull the remixer away from developing on a theme in favor of pasting together a lot of themes. Because we like a substantial amount of arrangement to a theme, the second issue is that generally each of these themes are played pretty close to the source and don't have a lot to show that is different aside from the genre change. You already know both of these things, based on your submission letter.

The third issue overall is your samples and the mechanical feel of the song. The samples overall are pretty thin and overall pretty fakey. I think finding some more robust sounds overall would add a lot to the track in terms of filling the soundscape. The second half of this is that everything feels robotic, and could use some overall humanization, especially on the 'real' instruments that you have playing.

In the end, if you wanted to do something more towards our standards, I'd suggest focusing on one or two of the themes, expanding them out and adding more of your original flare to them. Working on the production stuff is going to help you no matter what types of songs you write, so I'll suggest that regardless of OCR or not. Good luck!

NO

[OceansAndrew]

The track started out pretty good; the main issue is some of the samples, such as the solo violin do sound brittle and fake. The more exposed the sample is, the more I am not feeling it. You added some nice delay to the piano, but some of the other instruments like the violin, and a few of the synths are super dry. You may want to integrate them together a bit more for a cohesive sound. The orchestra and synths were actually pretty well combined, as a whole, though I think adding some sub bass would help it feel even more gelled.

Arrangement-wise, it is a medley with good transitions, but still a medley. It has some minor personalization throughout, and while I enjoy it, I think it'd need to further personalized to really shine, though some sections do feel really unique. The section with the slowdown was a bit forced, IMO.

I enjoyed it a lot, as it's some of my favorite KH themes in one place, and as a whole sounds good, but between the conservative arrangement and some of the samples, I think it needs a little more refinement. It's actually pretty close, in my mind, but the deal breaker is that violin sound. :/

No, please resubmit

[Emunator]

Hey, it's you again! I was definitely a big fan of your older submissions, let's see how this one stacks up...

Well, I do appreciate the attempt you've made to fuse your orchestral sound with something new. I'm definitely a fan of the unique style and how it fits with the sources you picked. Deia and Andrew have correctly pointed out that your track plays it pretty conservatively, but I'm personally hearing a lot of little moments of personalization that add up over time in your favor. That said, some more original writing would definitely be a good thing, even though I think the style change-up, fusion of themes, and little melodic additions here and there make it a pretty close call.

Production-wise, your sounds actually seem pretty cohesive for the most part to me. The only sampled instrument that I thought was weak enough to be worth mentioning was the lead violin, which unfortunately comes in a lot and just doesn't have a very strong presence. When it plays the fastest runs, it's most noticeably fake. If you can, tweak with the sample as much as possible to get a better sound out of it... if not, there's plenty of resources on the Workshop forum that will help you out, either with replacing the sample or getting a live performance.

Your synths are pretty cool, but they're sooo dry Throw some reverb on them and they should sit much nicer with the full orchestra.

That said, I really enjoyed what you did here and, even if you're too busy with school to go back and touch this up, this is a keeper for my personal playlist. I hope you come back and hit some of the points mentioned here, this would be an awesome addition to OCR with some production/sample fixes and a bit more personalization on the arrangement to get it up to OCR's bar.

NO (resubmit!)