*NO* Lufia 'Hero's Solace'

[djpretzel]

Hey Dave, got another submission for ya.

I thought I submitted this before "Deadly Promises" but I can't find the copy of the email I always save when I submit a song, so I must've been drunk or something

remix url:

Remixer name: Darangen

Real Name: Michael Boyd

email: darangen@hotmail.com

website: www.darangen.com

Name of game: Lufia, and the Fortress of Doom

Name of song(s) remixed: Fear and Courage, The Fortress

Comments:

These are very familiar tunes to me, and I've arranged them more than once. But this time I put down my guitar and hooked up my keyboard. This was recorded via MIDI, not sequenced, through SONAR and I used the Hubbe Classic Grand piano soundfont. Here are some tidbits about points in the mix to help you navigate which theme is being arranged at what time:

0:00 - 0:30 = Fear and Courage

0:31 - 0:36 = Fortress hints

0:37 - 1:08 = Fear and Courage

1:09 - 1:31 = Fortress theme

1:32 - 1:42 = Fear and Courage

1:43 - 1:50 = Fortress theme

1:51 - 1:55 = Fear and Courage

1:56 - 2:00 = Fortress hints

2:01 - 3:16 = Fear and Courage

Hope that helps. Enjoy

-Michael 'Darangen' Boyd

[Liontamer]

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ed.rsn - "The Battle of the Island in the Void" (ed-02.spc) & "Last Battle" (ed-03.spc)

Played this one on VGF45, and I'm actually surprised we didn't get this sooner, now that Mike brings up how he lost the submission letter he thought he sent. And indeed, if I had remembered this more vividly, I would have nagged Mike about it as well.

Thanks to Mike for providing us the breakdown of how the arrangement went, though I didn't need it myself. I'm a big fan of the Lufia source material ever since hearing Arkimedes tackle the Lufia 2 version of the last battle theme. The performance here was excellent; full of beautiful, emotive energy and delicate dynamics.

I liked the changes in the playing style late in the track after the arrangement hit another iteration at 1:57, though I could have gone for more variation instead. Thus for me the feel was a bit repetitive, but this was still an engaging fusion of the two source themes here.

Now you've just gotta get your orchestration up there, but like I've said before, I feel you'll be able to in due time and be able to bring it on a consistent basis. For those of you out there not familiar with Darangen's original or remixed piano material, this serves as a excellent indicator of range you may not have known he had. Nice work.

YES

[Harmony]

Very nice arrangement Michael. The two themes flow effortlessly together and I’ve got no problems with the level of rearrangement. I think that some of the ideas get repetitive though, especially considering the lack of variation in the left hand. It only plays repeated patterns of rather simple chords based in C, Ab, Bb and G throughout the entire piece. More complicated chords wouldn’t really help much but those roots have got to change at one point or another. As a result, I feel that the piece plods and points like 2:55, where a huge opportunity for a new chord addition is missed, become disappointing rather than exciting as they might have been. C minor is pretty easy to play in so experimentation is fun and easy to do; try it out.

You also might look at moving across more of the keyboard to add variety. Rarely in this mix are you outside of a 2 octave range. Where are the reverberant lows that carry so much depth in a well played piece? The highs that are here are very nice, especially towards the end, but they would stand out much more if the lows were there in contrast at some points.

The performance was wonderfully natural with tempo and velocity variations creating a nice flowing atmosphere. I’m wondering how much of a performance purist you are, i.e. how much editing did you do in Sonar after the performance? Most of the off-tempo rolls and notes add a lot of emotion and life to this piece. I’ve never worked with Hubbe but the positive hype sounds to be true. The quality is certainly there but I must mention that the static roll-off from the sampling of some of the notes is pretty abrupt and noticeable, especially on headphones. That doesn’t affect my decisions but it might be worth it in the future to look at using one of the other Hubbe pianos that have a little less of this.

Overall a very enjoyable mix with a lot of heart. A YES wouldn’t be wrong but sadly I think the mix falls a little short in the composition department. The beauty of 88 keys of goodness isn’t being fully appreciated. Vary the left hand root notes, explore the keyboard more and this mix will be a lot better for it. Please resubmit!

NO (Please resubmit)

[Sam Ascher-Weiss]

Harmony is correct about the plain harmonies and you can also add the 1, 5, 1 patterns in the left hand to the list. You can change those sometimes to 1, 5, 9, 3,,,[over C minor C, G, D, Eb] 1, 7, 11, 3 [C, Bb, F, down to Eb] and you don't even have to land on a chord tone you could do 1, 7, 3, 13[Over Ab that's Ab, G, C, down to F]......... these are all viable alternatives to 1, 5, 1 [C G C or Ab Eb Ab Etc...]

Try the following. At 1:06 {right after both hands play C, Bb, G} when the left hand moves to Ab and there's a G in the melody, keep the melody but change the left hand like this while holding G play [F, Db, Bb {then when the right hand plays F} C] then the left hand holds still while the right hand plays the fast F, G, C, then when the right hand lands on G the left hand can go [F, D, Bb, {then when the right hand plays F} Ab] finally when the melody hits C the left hand can go [Eb, D, Ab, Bb down to G] Listen {sorry about the crappy sample}

This is somewhat in keeping with the arrangement style during the rest of the piece [you could also have the right hand play chords in the melody instead of just single notes]. It seems like a lot of trouble for one section, but it's not just about one section. I did this because I want you to see that there are millions of ways you can expand on this arrangement. Play the melody and at first you can just try throwing new notes underneath at random.... it's all about variety, especially when the piece chugs along so slowly most of the time. Hopefully hearing/playing this short passage will help open your mind to all the possibilities you have at your disposal. [even if you hate the way it sounds]

I'm very impressed by your versatility as a musician. Pianist, Guitarist, Vocalist...... seriously. However at the moment I still think the piano needs a lot more work.

n0

[analoq]

if i may nitpick..

This was recorded via MIDI, not sequenced

that's an oxymoron. this is sequenced!

the difference is you sequenced it using a keyboard MIDI controller rather than entering the notes one by one with a mouse.

ok, now that that's straight...

this is very pleasing to listen to but i have to agree with brandon and sam:

this performance has a monotony to it.

there needs to be more stuff like the run at 2:52 to shake things up.

let's see more runs, some modulations and more creativity in the left.

no

[zykO]

this is very nice work, mike and you know already that i like it but your piano skills are frankly not where your chops on the guitar are and its very obvious. not that its terrible; in fact, there are no glaring mistakes at all

however, you really do have to change it up a bit. i may enjoy this a great deal but i can't give it a yes based on that - there is just too much lacking in terms of direction and variety in something as singular as a solo piano piece.

doesn't mean it doesn't work - you know that i, of all people, am a proponent of sheer simplicity but some things have different places.

sorry bro, more ideas.

NO