DragonAvenger Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Hi there, This remix was created for ARMed and DANgerous, the Wild Arms project directed by JaDE ARaN HaRuNo. Remixers were asked to incorporate the Alter Code F version of the source in their arrangement, when possible. This is my third submission, and another step toward improving to hopefully become worthy of OCR someday. ReMixer name: Dj Mokram userid: 28433 Game arranged: Wild Arms / Alter Code F Song arranged: After the Chaos and Destruction (WA), Migrant Bird of the Wilderness (WA), Ruined Town (ACF) Arrangement name: Within Despair Lies Hope Link to the arrangement: Source link: After the Chaos and Destruction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U36Dvkrph4I Migrant Bird of the Wilderness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcCiRgn-gAo Ruined Town: Original Composer: Michiko Naruke System: Playstation, Playstation 2 Comment: Wild Arms is a very unique jrpg with cool gameplay mechanics, a distinctive cast of characters, an immersive story full of twist and turns, and a ton of fond memories. I also had the chance to play its PS2 remake, Alter Code F, which drastically modifies some game elements, and feature an arranged soundtrack (in a true spaghetti-western style) by Michiko Naruke. About 90% into my first remix attempt, Jade and bLiNd sent me some feedback that, unfortunately, I wasn't ready to hear. Difficult times IRL leading to a grim re-evaluation of my life, plus a string of harsh critiques on most of my tracks for other OCR projects, made me react in a very impulsive and immature way. Responding admirably under the circumstances, Jade told me to calm down, take a step back and look at the big picture. This put in perspective for me the fact that, despite years of practice, I had more attitude than real musical proficiency. Fast forward a few weeks later, and a brand new remix was underway, merging elements of african, middle eastern, indian and east asian music, striving to take this sci-fi western for a wild wild trip around the world. Incorporating the Alter Code F version of the source (Ruined Town) and adding motifs from Rudy's theme (Migrant Bird of the Wilderness), I tried to recreate this tale of bravery, friendship, love, golems and illegal arms possession. xD In his quality of co-director, Stevo99 stepped up to help me circumvent my hearing impairment, providing invaluable feedback and making use of his mighty beard to master my track. Mad props to him! I also wanna thank Jade for being so patient and understanding, and for giving me a chance to remain onboard and set things right. Overcoming issues and finding the courage to start over made me realize that even after the chaos and destruction, you can still find a ray of hope, lying within the remains of what used to be despair. Thank you very much for your time, guys and gals of the judge panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Super tough judge here. I like what you did with the soundscape, it really matches what's going on in the original and adds a lot of tension. That being said, I'm a little tenuous on the source usage. I'd love some backup from another judge on this, and I'll have to listen to it a little more myself. The transition into Rudy's theme was awkward at best, I'd say it definitely needs to be fit in stronger there. I'm also noticing the string notes at 2:03 and 2:06 aren't good. I think you were going for dissonance there, but it needs to have a resolution for that to work. I'd say overall the soundscape is pretty nice, but I'd look into changing the strings up. The attack is especially slow, and it's making things feel a little out of time. The swell isn't great either, which is really noticeable at 1:07 where the strings swell the same note kind of awkwardly. I focused on the stuff that needs fixing up, but I think this is one of your best submissions to date, Mr. Mokram! The ideas you have here are mostly solid, and minus being somewhat unsure of the extent of the source usage, when you do incorporate it it's pretty solid from what I'm hearing. Production is also on the upswing. Keep improving, you've come quite a ways already! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Deia hit most of the points solidly, my biggest issue here is with the sequencing. I feel like the production is fine, but your sitar sounds really awkward when it starts to play fast notes, like you need a sample capable of more articulations than just the one that you're using here. The strings have a similar problem that I've noticed with some of your other submissions, and I think Deia was absolutely right when she pinned it on your attack being too slow to keep up with some of the melodies you're throwing at it. Koto, piano, and drums all sound really good to me. This is mostly a really solid track but I too am having issues hearing the source usage on top of the production. I get the feeling that there's a lot of it in there but not used in the most obvious way, so it's hard to pick up on. If you choose to resubmit I'd really appreciate if you could accompany your own personal breakdown to help us figure out what you've done here On the production/sequencing side of things this is real close, but there's a few critical issues I feel like still need to be addressed (and I remember mentioning them as the track was being created for the project) before this can be a pass, and the source usage is still sort of up in the air. Since it seems like this is going to be a resub decision anyway, hopefully it'll come back to us with a source breakdown attached so we can be more thorough! Good luck man, hope to see this one again. NO (resubmit!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halc Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 not much to add here, the other J's have covered the bases pretty well. that said I think this is a solid piece of work and some of your most well-produced yet; I'd probably pass this is if weren't for arrangement concerns, which I seem to agree with here. perhaps a breakdown is in order. extremely close call here, gonna close this one out instead of holding up the vote; take one more once-over at this one and send it back our way. NO(borderline, please resub) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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