DragonAvenger Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Remixer Name : Dissection1776 Real Name: Gerard Ancel Email: Website: https://twitter.com/#!/Dissection1776 UserID: 48097 Name Of Games Arranged: Skyrim Name Of Arrangement: The Dragonborn At The Winking Skeever Name Of Songs Arranged: The DragonBorn Comes Link To Original song: Additional Info: This is the first remix I have ever done for a video game. I had the idea to do a folk/metal styling after I heard the in game vocals.Thankfully my friend Sheila can sing, so I had her do the vocals after it was finished. My buddy Derick also did the keyboards. I recorded and composed the guitars, bongos, egg shaker, bass and drums. I recorded the Bongos and Egg shaker with a mic. I was looking for something more natural than what FL studio could offer, so I bought the Bongos and Egg Shaker at a used music store and mic'ed it. I like the way it turned out. I recorded the guitars with my BC Rich Stealth through my Line 6 POD and Cakewalk. Same thing with the Bass. Drums are programmed from EZDrummer. I had issues coming up with a song title, so my friend came up with the idea of using a tavern from the game in the title, so that’s how the DragonBorn at the Winking Skeever came about. I can only imagine that would be where our hero would chill after the adventure was over. It was a long process putting this song together because this was a first for me recording with other people. A lot of emailing back and forth, lots of posting multiple mixes trying to find the right sound that we all wanted, ect. made the process longer than I wanted. Mixing became a hassle too because I wasn't used to mixing tons of instruments while keeping everything level. So I tried to put the guitars at hard left and right to make way in the middle for the bass and vocals. It fixed a lot of the spiking and distortion issues. At the end now, I am very pleased with the mix. The guitar solo was just a random solo I put into the song to break up the monotony as best I could. The outro came about because otherwise, the song would have ended abruptly. So I had an idea to fade in and out a fingerpicking acoustic and had my buddy Derick put in an improvised piano that sticks to the main theme. I think we accomplished everything we wanted with this song. I'm very happy with the mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 Interesting take on this theme. Not something I would have thought of myself, for sure. Arrangement-wise the first thing I notice is how repetitive it is overall. The source obviously is just a couple of verses, so there isn't as much to go with there, but to hear the same chord progression and melody from the opening of the mix up to 2:08 where your solo hits is pretty long. Variation would really help things out here; maybe adding a chorus, or an interlude between verses. You do more of that after the solo, so shifting things around might help. Production also has a few things needing work. The bass presence is pretty low, and could come up a little. Similarly, the guitar at times could come down just a little to help the balance out. The guitars also overall don't feel like they are in the same soundscape as the egg/bongos and the vocals. Adjusting your reverb and room presence will help there. The vocals also have an echo at times that feels somewhat strange compared to the relatively dry vocals at other times. The idea as a whole has promise, but I think it needs some work on both production and adjustments to the arrangement as well. Use our WIP forums to get some more feedback! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Yeah, I enjoyed this one as well. Things seemed OK to start, then there was a weird shift in the mixing at :34. Every time the electric guitars came in, it seemed like it was all mid-range, and you couldn't hear much of anything else with the supporting instruments other than the drums. Cool vocals by Sheila at :55. I wasn't bothered by the instrumentation seeming similar for too long, as Deia felt. The overall arrangement was very personalized and interpretive, so everything felt strong there. The soloing from 2:07-2:35 was indulgent but fun; it clicked well and fed back nicely into the return of the theme at 2:31. Too bad the vocals were copy-pasta'ed at 2:35, but the instrumentation for this iteration was changed. Ooooh, bad production at 2:53 with that other vocal line, I see what DA was talking about. The need for de-essing was more apparent, and Sheila's vocals sounded drier and more exposed than how they were produced earlier. The mixing of those vocals was stronger at 1:33 than 2:53. The transition back into the acoustic stuff at 3:31 was a bit weak, because the electric guitars faded out too quickly, but it wasn't a big deal. Awesome final section to close this out with an entirely different feel. Derick's keybopard timing was too stiff, but was alright in the big picture and didn't drag this down. I hear the production issues Deia was talking about, and nothing she said was wrong there, but the level of creativity, interpretation, and overall execution was more than strong enough for me to be comfortable with this. A lot more works than doesn't work. Nice job, Gerard; you, Sheila and Derick made a great team here. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Okay, before I get into any critiques I want to commend you guys on an extremely creative, unique arrangement that is unlike anything I've heard on the panel before. There's a lot of creative energy flowing through the song here. I'm finding some faults right off the bat with the hand percussion loop. The way it currently sits in the mix, it feels like it's competing for space with the acoustic guitar and later the vocals. It might just need some EQ cuts or perhaps some panning adjustments so it's not sitting in the same spot as those other elements in the song. I completely echo Deia's criticisms about the production regarding the bass levels and the overall mixing on the guitars, there needs to be some work with those sections so that everything is less washed-out in the presence of the distorted guitars. The vocals too sound oddly-mixed. They seem awfully quiet and weak, not necessarily as a result of a poor performance but more just in terms of how they're produced. They seem like they could use a boost in volume or some compression, and maybe some other layered effects to get a smoother tone on the vox. The performance was strong and appropriate for the style, so good job there! Some sloppy detail work that I noticed, too: be sure to get clean cutoffs on the front/end of your guitar tracks. The electric guitar chord at 3:32 fades out too quickly and the switch at 3:43 is also not smoothed out. Overall, I think there's a lot of not-so-small issues with this track that don't necessarily have a huge impact on its overall quality, but still are definitely noticeable and detract somewhat from the experience in my opinion. You've got an incredibly creative take on the source here, but it still needs another coat of polish in my opinion. Good luck with the vote either way! NO (please resubmit!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halc Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 lots of good critique here already, and looking over all of that I can't find much else to say. the mixing and balance definitely has a lot of little inconsistencies (and those weird 'shifts' in the mixing as Larry put it, when certain instruments are introduced/taken away) that make the overall soundscape just kinda.. odd, for lack of a better word. it's not bad per se, and the arrangement was great. my gut wants me to go with a pass here but seeing these other NO's and the knowledge that a few easy fixes could produce a really nice resub have me leaning the other way. for now I gotta go with NO(resub) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 The main issue that is causing a lot of the production and mixing issues seems like the compressor is pushing way hard on the rock sections. Overall the performances are really nice, it's just the balance and mixing, as well as the little details that are keeping this back. There is an excellent foundation here, and a lot of good critique from the judges, so taking this back to the shop for some tuning up will improve it a good deal. No, please resubmit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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