OceansAndrew Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 • Patrick Burns • • www.patrickburns.us (replacing 'patrickmusick.com') • user id: 10666 • game: Golden Sun • arrangement name: Chimeras Need Not Apply • game song name: Happy Towns • comments: I made this for a Golden Sun project that dissipated a while back. I appreciate those on the project who gave feedback and encouragement -- the final feedback I received was that the lead instruments could use some more humanization. (Ahh, humanization; so small a word for so boundless a meaning.) I agree that they're a bit stale, but I haven't struck upon an easy way to enliven them in the current project/workflow. If it's a deal breaker, I'll be more than happy to revisit them. In any case, maybe their synthetic feel harkens back to the source and lends to a nice JRPG feel... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF43R2BcHDM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 This starts out sounding like a sound upgrade overall, with a similar instrumentation and feel of the original, but as it goes along it starts to get filled out a bit. I definitely agree that the leads sound too static, as there are few if any dynamics in play, and while the nostalgic feel of the same velocities is pleasant to me, I don't think it's quite getting there for OCR's purposes. I do like the drum writing, and there are actually a few cases of dynamics being used for them, so I don't see it being a huge stretch for it to match the rest of the track to that. Once the arrangement opens up a bit more it feels better to me as well, with some epiano, but I think throughout the dynamics are too static and need some extra humanization. I'd love to hear this revised and resubmitted, as I love the source and feel it's got promise as an arrangement. No, please resubmit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I wouldn't be surprised if I'm the lone YES on this mix, but I really enjoyed this to the point that I find it so endearing I'm willing to forgive the fact that it's obviously not sequenced realistically, and is somewhat of a cover. The JRPG soundtrack vibe is extremely strong, and I'd argue that the lack of dynamics in the sequencing could easily be viewed as a deliberate stylistic choice. The samples themselves are pretty high quality and the whole song sounds very nicely-produced. I particularly love the panflute, that sounds absolutely ethereal and gorgeous! Your arrangement starts off sounding almost identical to the original, but fortunately your writing is a lot more expansive, and you find little ways to make it your own as the song plays out. I don't have any problem with that aspect of this mix. This is definitely an unconventional style that we don't see on OCR very often, but I invite the rest of the judges to compare this to some of Darkesword's posted mixes (that's 3 separate links) that also utilize that unique JRPG soundtrack feel, and I think you'll find that they're very similar in style, production quality, sequencing, and overall enjoyability. This is an awesome mix that I can't get enough of, and I don't think that more realistically-sequenced instruments would necessarily make it any better in the end. The way they're currently written gives this mix a great deal of its charm. I love what you've done here Patrick, this is staying on my playlist whether this passes or not YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 I wasn't bothered by the sequencing as much. I understand the criticisms, but yeah, Emu is right, IMO, that it has a solid JRPG vibe. The instruments don't sound live, but the articulations are good enough/expressive enough to get by despite noticeable stiffness. That said, it took until 2:42 for the arrangement to truly open up into something totally creative and interpretive. Those kind of interpretive ideas need to come in much sooner. As far as OCR's standards goes, when you start off with super-similar instrumentation (pizz strings plus different lead with same struture), that's all well and good, but it should end up branching off into something different relatively soon, otherwise it just ends up being too cover-ish for a decent portion. That's not to discount the additions and changes that were there, but overall it didn't stand apart from the original enough, unlike the second half. You know we love your work, Patrick. If you're willing to revisit this, I know you could add some other ideas earlier on, not to make it busier per se, but just to add or change some things so the overall mood/sound turns into something more unique earlier on. The second half finished it strong. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 I'm somewhere between all three of these votes. I like the JRPG feel, but I think the sequencing does need to be humanized a tad more for OCR's standards, and adding more in the way of dynamics would really help flesh it out. There's some great expansion on the theme itself, and it definitely would be nice to have it happen earlier in the track. In the end I think I'm going to lean towards Larry's side of things. Really hope you take a second run at it, there are fantastic ideas here! NO (resubmit, please) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halc Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 I really like the track, and the way it sounds, a lot. this kinda sound upgrade is a fantastic way to start the mix, and even the kinda simple (but excellent) drum patterns added give it a ton more personality. however I (begrudgingly) have to agree that the arrangement is a bit too conservative to fly on here in this state. I hope we can hear a resub sometime, not just so we can post it on OCR, but because I really think this could become something truly amazing. as Larry mentioned the arrangement spreads it's wings beautifully at the tail end of the mix, but a majority of the track feels too cover-ish. NO(resub) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Yeah, not a whole lot to add here. Things are a bit rigid on the sequencing, but not a dealbreaker. Work on personalization in the first half! No, resubmit please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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