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Forest of Purple Mist - Faron Woods from Zelda: Twilight Princess - Version 8


jordanrooben
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The title of the mix is a nod to the area within the game. I tried to keep it atmospheric, while retaining the personality of the orchestra. I also modified the melody, and applied some effects to keep it interesting. Anyway, listen and enjoy!

Version 1: http://soundcloud.com/jordanrooben/forest-of-purple-mist

Version 2: http://soundcloud.com/jordanrooben/forest-of-purple-mist-version

Version 2.1 http://soundcloud.com/jordanrooben/forest-of-purple-mist-2

- I unintentionally clipped the ending off, and I fixed that now.

- Re balanced a few volume levels.

Version 3: http://soundcloud.com/jordanrooben/forest-of-purple-mist-3

- Humanized some of the backing parts

- Added more diversity to the backing

- Added a lot of variety to the drums

- Added and removed backing parts to try and have a more dynamic arrangement

- Increased the drum volume

- Increased the lead volumes

Version 4: http://soundcloud.com/jordanrooben/faron-woods-4

- Stopped the drums from randomly disappearing.

- Added a drum to mark the beat.

- Replaced the chords causing dissonances.

- Changed some note durations so it sounds more realistic.

Version 5: http://soundcloud.com/jordanrooben/forest-of-purple-mist-4

- Changed the fake-sounding harp into a vibe synth

- Added more variation to the drums

- Put some EQ in (that may not be noticible, however)

Version 6: http://soundcloud.com/jordanrooben/forest-of-purple-mist-5

- Replaced the vibe synth with a steel guitar synth

- Changed the drums to more traditional kick/snare/hi-hat style. (It's an experiment, so tell me if it doesn't sound good.)

- Replaced the cello with a warm pad

- Modified some volume levels and EQ in an attempt to make it sound better.

Version 7: http://soundcloud.com/chimpazilla/faron-sc1

- Too much to describe

- Revisited this as a collab with Chimpazilla!

Version 8 (Mod Review): http://soundcloud.com/chimpazilla/faron-mr1

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I LOVE the melodies!!! What a great way to honor some underloved music! Very mellow and nice! TP is my favorite Zelda game!

But... the background grooves/arps are way too static and they get old... piano and other synths are too perfect and need some velocity/writing variation... too plunky and repetitive... drums are too soft and also need variation. This could really go somewhere I think, just needs a bit more groove.

Also bring the leads up front a little more. Looking forward to the next version.

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I LOVE the melodies!!! What a great way to honor some underloved music! Very mellow and nice! TP is my favorite Zelda game!

But... the background grooves/arps are way too static and they get old... piano and other synths are too perfect and need some velocity/writing variation... too plunky and repetitive... drums are too soft and also need variation. This could really go somewhere I think, just needs a bit more groove.

Also bring the leads up front a little more. Looking forward to the next version.

Next version up! I did a lot with the drums. I humanized the piano parts. I also shifted around parts of the backing, so it's less repetitive. Enjoy!

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Better! A bit groovier... but I'm not sure I like that tom pattern? It's like it isn't sure what kind of groove it is going for... tried tapping my feet to it, but they got confused! Maybe if you added a regular kick drum at a straight (or nearly so) 4/4, the tom pattern would be a cool accent instead of an un-followable pattern, make sense? Please try that. Keep the kick mellow, though.

Also I think the drums drop out completely a bit too often, leave something in there during those breaks, even just a hi hat pattern so the song remains continuous. OK so the break starting at 2:00 should be drumless, at least the first tiny bit.

The discordant break from 1:00 to 1:19 is NOT working for me at all... some seriously wonky harmonies there!

And your drums got off the beat at 1:29.

And the background piano needs some writing or timing variation, it's still too static. Except the ending piano, that's pretty good.

But the leads are gorgeous, and that background sitar-y thing, love it. Really nice soundscape here. Please keep working on this, I like it!!!

edit: also, put some breathing breaks in the flute, no one can play that whole section in one go without asphyxiating! :-)

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You've got some pretty unpleasant/clunky sounding dissonances in there, particularly at the strange break at 1ish minutes. We're good again at about 1:20 - things are on the up!

I hear the humanisation in the piano - good job on that... the sample isn't amazing but it seems like you've worked fairly well with what you've got.

It seems like you're suffering from the common condition of randomly taking out loops and putting them back in for no reason, particularly with the drums. It sounds random and doesn't create any more interest or keep peoples attention (maybe it does but not in a good way). I like the piano ending - some interesting harmonic interpretations - would be nice to hear this kind of material in the fully orchestrated parts.

Think about layering some of the instruments (maybe the drums) and sticking a limiter on the master/some individual tracks. I think the drums could be a bit fuller and louder as well as most of the other tracks.

Main advice - sort out the horrible dissonances at the start/middle-ish. Don't take out and put in parts for no reason (mainly with drums). Try to get a grand scale simple structure and stick to it. At the moment it sounds a little directionless.

This is pretty good - i like some of the melody-lines and the harmonies at the very end.

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It's been a while, but here's a new version. I added a slightly higher pitched drum, and moved the bass drum notes onto that track while I used the existing one for a 4/4 beat. I changed some of the notes in the melodies for a more realistic performance. I also filled in more drums during some of the sections where I took them out. Finally, I changed the backing at and around 1:00 to fix the dissonances.

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  • 2 weeks later...

While good feedback is indeed what you'll receive with a mod review, have you checked the guidelines on using mod review? More specifically, do YOU feel that this track is submit-able to the judges panel? If not, you'll want to wait before marking it as mod review.

EDIT: I should not that I am mentioning this without having first listened to the track, so this post is in no way, shape, or form a reflection on what I think of the state of said track.

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While good feedback is indeed what you'll receive with a mod review, have you checked the guidelines on using mod review? More specifically, do YOU feel that this track is submit-able to the judges panel? If not, you'll want to wait before marking it as mod review.

As for the first point, yes. More than once actually. I suppose that makes me a bit rude. The only point for my defense is that a recent mix was put into mod-review multiple times without waiting a period of time in a finished state.

As for the second point, that's a bit of a loaded question isn't it? If you mean literally do I think it's submit-able to the panel, I would say yes. It's at least as good as some of the stuff on there. If you mean: do I think it would pass, then no. But I wouldn't think that at all for the first time I submitted something. :lol:

Looking at it, I'll admit I did rush it. I'll put it back to WIP state. Would someone be kind enough to give some feedback though?

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Not a mod review, just quick listen. I'll give you a mod review later, unless you get one from pretty much everybody else (or change this back to wip or something).

Sound-wise, no. That drum you're using through much of the track gets old fast. The idea works, but it sounds like the same sample played over and over, and a real drummer, even with just a single hand drum, would be bored fast. Just adding a ghost note and doing some velocity edits can go a long way to liven up a track like that. Still, it doesn't _sound_ good. Whether you need to add a touch of reverb, screw with EQ, or just glue it in with the with some subtle output compression, it doesn't sit right in the mix. This goes for a lot of the instruments.

Arrangement-wise, not quite. There's parts I think work well, and there's parts that don't work. I know the source, I've tried remixing it myself (we seem to have played and attempted to remix a lot of the same games, actually), and I think there were parts that were well adapted, parts that I know are difficult to work with because of the strange harmony, parts that felt liberal, and parts that felt conservative.

I'll get you a more proper mod review later, if you still want one for this version. Just remember that the mod review thing is for tracks you could submit, not in-progress stuff. Feel free to solicit feedback from any member on the site (no promises they'll provide any), there's ppl like evktalo and Darangen who've been making rounds on this board for a while, there's us mods who can provide feedback even if a track isn't in mod review yet, there's posted remixers, staff members, regular track reviewers on the review boards... Doesn't hurt to ask. :)

Seems like my suggestions to experiment and try stuff are paying off, tho, you've improved a lot since last time I listened to one of your tracks. I kind'a held off on listening to your works for this reason, your growths is much easier to notice this way. And you've grown. Keep it up. :D

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  • 1 month later...

After quite a while, I'm putting up a new version. I didn't do a whole lot to this track though, because I feel that the only thing It needs is a better drum sound. I tried to find some better samples, but nothing turned up. Anyway, unless someone can give some advice, or direct to good african/tribal drum samples, this track is pretty much finished. Enjoy!

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I still love this song. It has such a great feel. But those drums still aren't working, sorry to say! I love the ethnic sounding samples, but I still feel that they should be accent drums and not main drums. You still need a real kick (or, maybe use that low tom as a kick substitute?), and a snare or some sticks to establish the groove. The patterns being played just go nowhere. This song could be so groovy... but as of now it just isn't. Also I think some kind of low-volume continuous shaker thingy (used here and there) would add such a nice touch. Also there are areas in the song that are instrumentally too sparse. There is so much more that could be done with this song, it all sounds so promising to me but it just isn't there yet!

I don't mean to sound harsh... I'm only telling you this 'cuz I really dig the song. :-)

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This isn't mod review again, is it? Remember to change the thread prefix when bumping after a previous mod review. (this is why getting multiple mod reviews is problematic)

Everything is really raw and upfront, see what you can do about giving them their own space. Notice how the strings and the flute thingy at 1:50 sound more subdued than the rest of the sounds. Figure out why, use it.

As a hint, consider an effects chain of instrument->eq->reverb->eq where the first eq would soften the raw sound, and the second eq would bring out the important frequencies of both the instrument and its reverb. Also consider how the reverb sounds, and whether a single reverb is enough. I think it was Ghetto Lee Lewis or Blue Magic who mentioned using three reverbs on low-quality instruments to hide their low quality. What's the ideal placement and settings of a second or third eq? Experiment, research, see what you can come up with.

Good luck. :D

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This isn't mod review again, is it? Remember to change the thread prefix when bumping after a previous mod review. (this is why getting multiple mod reviews is problematic)

Everything is really raw and upfront, see what you can do about giving them their own space. Notice how the strings and the flute thingy at 1:50 sound more subdued than the rest of the sounds. Figure out why, use it.

As a hint, consider an effects chain of instrument->eq->reverb->eq where the first eq would soften the raw sound, and the second eq would bring out the important frequencies of both the instrument and its reverb. Also consider how the reverb sounds, and whether a single reverb is enough. I think it was Ghetto Lee Lewis or Blue Magic who mentioned using three reverbs on low-quality instruments to hide their low quality. What's the ideal placement and settings of a second or third eq? Experiment, research, see what you can come up with.

Good luck. :D

Actually, this was meant as another mod review, not just a carry over from the last one, but, this is enough advice for me to put more into the track without a mod review. I'll change the status back to WIP until I'm ready for a full mod review. Thanks so much for the advice, I've been stuck on this track for a while.

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  • 1 month later...

I don't know how well I did on this latest attempt at making the song sound good, but I *think* it's better than it was. The drums are no longer the same tribal styled ones I was using, because I simply could not get them to work. If they don't fit in the mix, I guess I won't be surprised as it's an experiment. Anyway, listen and enjoy! Don't forget to review though.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Forest of Purple Mist - Jordanrooben / Chimpazilla collab version 1

I am very pleased to unveil this new version of Jordan's Faron Woods remix. I have loved this song since he first posted it here. Jordan has been kind enough to allow me to take the reins on this song for awhile. Quite a bit of loving care has been put into it. As you can tell, I did a little more than just drumming!

Jordan and I are both very pleased with this version and would like very much to submit it. Constructive criticism is requested and appreciated. We will leave it in a "wip" status for awhile before bumping to mod review. Please tell us your thoughts! And enjoy!

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Chimpazilla, I love the nature samples you added! :smile:

I think the sample of the bird tweeting at 2:19 sounds off and strange, though.

Also, the hihat during 0:50-1:45 and 2:33-3:06 sounds very mechanical, it could use some more humanization and/or fills.

A very good mix, though. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Good luck :smile:

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Chimpazilla, I love the nature samples you added! :smile:

I think the sample of the bird tweeting at 2:19 sounds off and strange, though.

Also, the hihat during 0:50-1:45 and 2:33-3:06 sounds very mechanical, it could use some more humanization and/or fills.

A very good mix, though. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Good luck :smile:

Thanks very much! That "bird" tweeting at exactly 2:19 is not a bird at all, but Link's "

," followed at 2:24 by Epona's whinny reply. I always like to add some sounds right from the game (although I made the Epona whistle myself, couldn't find a wav anywhere)

I can certainly add some hat fills, I'll look into that. Thanks for the kind words!

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I like the overall feeling of the mix, it has the same forest-ish mood than the original.

I'm not very fond of the strings intro, it just sounds dull IMO. Maybe with pizzicato strings it would sound better. The song gets a lot better when the horn-like instrument comes in.

Part starting at 0:50 is beautiful, the pad adds a lot. The snare could use some tweaking to sound a bit better though. Also, I think a ride cymbal would sound better than the closed hi-hat.

All the rest of the arrangement is quite nice, though the volume is a bit too low. The piano could use a volume boost in the small section where it plays. You could work a bit on the mixing of some instruments that are too low.

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