"Lost in Time" - Chrono Trigger (Corridor of Time) ft. XPRTNovice

[XPRTNovice]

You want sax collab? PM.

[Light_of_Aether]

I think the intro synth could be a tad louder.

As others have already said, your piece would really benefit from live sax.

When all is said and done, you should submit this; it's a great remix.

[XPRTNovice]

Sax has been delivered for this piece...interested to hear how you mix it in!

[ad.mixx]

Thanks a whole bunch to Joseph for pulling this out. He seriously rocked out!

I want to go ahead and put this out here so I could get some new ears on the song. The sax sounds awesome, but I feel like I'm so used to the old sax sample that I don't know what sounds good anymore. So yeah. I feel like the chorus' may need more filling out, though. Like another synth or an electric guitar or something.

I messed with the mixing since the last version too, so there's that. It's not as loud right now, but that'll be fixed once I can properly master it.

https://www.box.com/s/kiw2lco0viq3vg781ygm

[Argle]

Yeah, that sax is a great addition. The drums feel kind of monotonous in places, give them more fills and stuff and I think this could easily pass the judges.

[XPRTNovice]

Not to toot my own horn (bada BOOM) but I think the sax could be a touch louder, and with a little less up-front reverb. The wet mix makes it sound like I'm holding notes for longer than I am, rather than adding depth. But I don't have a very good ear for this kind of stuff so I could be just stupid.

[timaeus222]

I think that initial sine wave sequencing needs to be fixed up. The portamento is a bit excessive, and it'd be great if you could give it more phrasing. It sounds like there's portamento between every note, or almost every note, and that's kinda awkward, rather than ethereal. Maybe in some spots, instead of portamento from one note to another, you could try stopping a note slightly short, then adding a quick note before the next note. i.e. a grace note.

Yeah, the sax could be louder, and the wet mix could be slightly lower. Right now it sounds almost as distant as the sine wave, and if I were you, I'd push it forward a bit further than it is now.

That's what I got at the moment.

[Light_of_Aether]

That sax sounds awesome! XPRTNovice did a great job. Definitely make it louder, though. In general, a sax solo should be a bit louder than everything else. This is a good example:

.

[Trinity Dragon]

Oh god. That live sax is just gorgeous. It adds a nice passion to the piece--that extra oomph that really puts it over the top. I still think the cello at the beginning could stand some lower volume, though. Otherwise, it just keeps getting better and better.

[ad.mixx]

Sorry for not updating this in a while both to XPRT and everyone who really likes this song. I've been pretty musicless for the past few weeks, which sucks. But I'm gonna get back on track now.

I tried something new with the Sax. I did bring it up a little more (in terms of reverb and loudness), but I added delay to it. Maybe it's just me but I really like the wide sound it has, but I'll just let you guys comment a little bit before I finally submit this. I might even have to bring the sax up a little more...but it's getting close, though!

Also, doing this has made me realize how much mastering sucks. It's hard to keep the dynamics of the track while still making it loud for some reason. Hopefully there isn't any clipping I'm not hearing.

https://www.box.com/s/d9w1mdw6k7kd92uwtumj

edit: and I completely forgot! I'll add some drum fills in the submitted version to keep that aspect more interesting.

Edited February 9, 2013 by urdailywater

[jnWake]

Yeah, mastering is terrible. I really dislike lowering too many dBs through compression and avoid reduction when limiting. It's better to have not that loud mixes IMO.

The reverb on the sax may be a bit too much. I'd lower it a bit since it takes too much space.

The bell-ish instrument has too much reverb or is too loud too, it generates too much noise.

Anyway, this is sounding great, just a bit reverb-ish

[SuperiorX]

I just stumbled along this and haven't heard any of the previous versions so I can't comment on that... but yeah just wanted to say I really enjoy this. It's got a nice mellow vibe (sorta similar to the original) going on, and yeah that sax is killer. I'd agree there is probably just a little too much reverb on the sax though. I really like the square synth that opens up the song too. They fit together well.

The arrangement feels like it meanders a bit, mainly after the first sax part at 1:22 - 1:55 until the piano change-up. The piano solo section is a really nice interlude though. Sax at 2:30 is great again. The ending feels a little anticlimactic after the sax solo. The piano fadeout is ok, but it feels like it happens too fast, like going from almost full volume at 3:25 - to nothing by 3:33. I'd have a longer fadeout, personally. Nice job though, I really like it.

[Trinity Dragon]

Oh lord. Downplay the reverb and get away from the delay. It sounds muffled, like the musical equivalent to a washed-out photo. I think you were closer on the last version.

[Eino Keskitalo]

Great to see an update (two in fact!)

The bass harmony remains problematic, I have a little more in-depth analysis/feedback below as it's killing this gorgeous piece for me.

If I got it right, the bass 0:33 goes:

F# F# C F# F# | F# F# C F# F# | E E B E E | E E B G# G# |

I love how having F# as the first root note of the chord sounds unexpected (at least to me), but the C should really be C# in the first two bars of the bassline. It's hard to hear that it's wrong, but it is off-key and sounds awkward. (If you really want to keep the C, you could resolve it by playing C C# in sixteenth notes instead of C in an eight note, that would sound good I think).

The bass from 02:29 goes:

G G D G G | G G D G G G# | E E C E E | E E C G# G# G# |

G sounds really off-key in this section, and C as well, although not as obviously. Changing them to F# and C# respectively would make the harmony work and, I think preserve what you were going for. I think the small change in the bassline from earlier you've done here works incredibly well (rising the notes) It's a really effective move! Just fix the harmony - the root notes remain in place in my suggestion, but after playing with it for a while I really think it has the same effect/impression on the listener. Again, you might get those C's and G's in there by quickly resolving them to C# and F#.

Other thoughts:

• You could intro with the clock + synth string alone for a bit longer (it's completely fine as it is though).
  
• Adding more vibrato (or perhaps tremolo, or just life in general) to the sine wave instrument's long notes would do a lot. Phrasing, like timaeus said.
  
• Snare could stand to be a bit brighter.
  
• The sax sounds absolutely beautiful.
  
• I love the soundscape and stereo image change at 01:23.
  
• The exposed piano sounds a bit on the cheap side, especially playing chords.
  
• I really like how the clock starts ticking when we're exiting the middle lull section.
  
• The percussion loop in the middle still sounds stiff and bare. Applying more FX/filtering/stuff might still help.
  

Not much longer to go! Good luck!

--Eino

[Light_of_Aether]

Oh lord. Downplay the reverb and get away from the delay. It sounds muffled, like the musical equivalent to a washed-out photo. I think you were closer on the last version.

I think the reverb/delay works. It really gives the impression of being "lost in time". The sax volume sounds perfect.

Keep up the excellent work!

[Kruai]

Although I think the excess delay on the sax works for the sound of this piece, part of me is sad: the sax is beautiful, and I'm sure the clean recording is great.

I'm loving this piece as a whole, though. Keep up the great work!

[timaeus222]

The reverb is slightly too much. Things are blending together a bit too well. If it's slightly too much on these headphones, it's probably too much. Reduce the wet mix by about 1 dB.

The piano does sound pretty thin when it plays chords. Maybe EQ up the treble to brighten it up a bit.

2:34 - the bells are too loud, or too wet. It's burying the sax.

[XPRTNovice]

The reverb is slightly too much.

I have to agree here, but that's part ego Also the 2nd sax section is too far in the background.

[ad.mixx]

Just wanted to post to assure im still working on this. My charger crapped out, and a replacement shipment justcame in, but im going to be in louisiana until sunday, so wont be able to touch this until then.

Sorry for updating this was such a crappy update. That reverb was a bad idea i see now.

I think fatigue was the big issue, im trying really hard to get this sax to fit in with the song cause it just sounds so darn good, but im not as used to mixing live audio with alll electronic elements. Ill make sure to apply as much of yalls tips as possible (especially the bass issue which i now hear the issues) T hanks for all the posts by the way. Im going to make this sound as good as possible for OCR.

Edited February 22, 2013 by urdailywater

[ad.mixx]

So I've updated this, and I'm going to put it on finished because there's no reason for it to still be labeled as WIP IMO.

I was gonna wait to get an opinion from a friend on this.. but he hasn't responded so yeah..

I brought the sax up, took off the delay, took back some reverb, rode the volume on the sax so that it could be a little louder in certain parts where it's too quite, fixed the bass notes, messed with the synth a little bit so it doesn't sound as "awkward", added some drum variation, did some stuff to the EQ and piano, and mastered things a bit better.

I don't know much of anything else that can be done to it at this point. I've listened to this on a couple of speakers now, and it sounds clear. Any other opinions? I want to submit this sometime this week when my two week limit is up.

[Light_of_Aether]

Sounds fantastic! I've listened to most (if not all) of the Chrono Trigger remixes and yours is one of my favorites.

[Eino Keskitalo]

Good work on addressing the issues! When I listened to this earlier today I thought the piece was just really, really together. All the polish you've put to the piece has paid off. It's still the same piece as a couple of iterations ago, where I was already enjoying it, but it works so much better now.

I'm particularly impressed how you made the stiff percussion work - it's still stiff, but now it sounds right. And that piano, it sounds like it's the piano sound I've used myself ten, fifteen years ago in crappy tracker modules I made, where it sounds really cheap, it's still the same piano sound but now you've made it work, I think the sound really works for the song.

--Eino

[ad.mixx]

Alright, song's finally done. I did a little bit of composition work, specifically adding some variety to the bass at the end because it sounded boring after a while. The piano also has some more to it.

This has been subbed, posted on youtube, soundcloud, facebook, etc. So yeah, wish it luck on the panel! Hopefully you guys enjoy it 'till then. And thanks a bunch for ya'lls help with this. It was much appreciated!

https://www.box.com/s/f8o3ykmicsis7nl96ekj

[Argle]

Sounds solid to me. Live sax is great, pushes song over the edge from good to great.

[Necrox]

Nice remix! I like the reverb and the laid back atmosphere quite a bit. I'm downloading this.