DragonAvenger Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Hi there! DDRKirby(ISQ) here, submitting my Touhou 11 stage 5 remix, titled "Lullaby of Flame". Contact Information =================== *Your ReMixer name: DDRKirby(ISQ) *Your real name: Timothy Wong *Your website: http://sites.google.com/site/ddrkirby *Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: 8933 Submission Information ====================== *Name of game(s) arranged: Touhou Chireiden: Subterranean Animism (東方 地霊殿 ～ Subterranean Animism) *Name of arrangement: Lullaby of Flame *Name of individual song(s) arranged: Lullaby of Deserted Hell *Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site): This is another game in the Touhou series (you already have data on some of the other games). Also see http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Subterranean_Animism. Composer: Junya Ota Published 2008 by Team Shanghai Alice for Windows References: GameFAQs: http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/946151-touhou-chireiden-subterranean-animism Gamespot: http://www.gamespot.com/touhou-chireiden-subterranean-animism/platform/pc/ Homepage: http://www16.big.or.jp/~zun/html/th11top.html Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subterranean_Animism *Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site): For a quick YouTube stream, go to *Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.: So, it's been =over 7 YEARS= since I last tried to submit to OCReMix. Needless to say, I've gotten much better since then. Of course, your standards are also higher now, so it's an interesting sort of arms race. This one has a bit of an interesting story behind it. I've gotten pretty involved in the social dance scene recently, and waltz has always been my favorite dance (even though much of my music is more of the UNTS UNTS variety), so I had the idea of composing some sort of waltz in my own style... ...around the same time, I ran into one of those "wait, what is this tune I'm humming from?" moments and traced it back to Touhou 11's stage 5 theme. The two ideas eventually clicked together, and this mix was born. I basically spent a grand total of two nights working on it, which might seem like not much, but you have to keep in mind that I'm used to working even faster than that because I do One Hour Compos over at thasauce.net every week. HUGE shoutout to all of those OHC peeps, btw--I wouldn't be half the mixer I am today without all of that experience. I originally had the tempo of this at 160BPM but eventually scaled it back to 155BPM to make it more accessible for those who aren't looking for quite as quick of a waltz/redowa step. Of course, dance DJs should feel free to modify the tempo to suit their own group. I also modified things a bit and made a slower version that's more suited for "cross-step waltz", which you can listen to at http://db.tt/ITMzRdhI if you're feeling curious. Richard Powers, who's the social dance instructor at my university (Stanford), also DJs dance events from time to time, and he premiered both versions of my waltz after I finished it. You can watch those two videos here (again, if you're curious): I had actual dancing in mind when I was producing this one, hence the just-under-3-minutes track length. One other example is the slowdown and boom at the finale, which is perfect for a spin spin spin spin->dramatic dip sort of move. I considered two other alternatives: one was a dramatic end without the slowdown, but that might catch dancers off guard if they didn't know that the song was ending. The other was a more gentle fadeout, as in the original track, but that would lead to a sort of awkward "okay are we still supposed to be dancing or not" moment. Hope you enjoy! --DDRKirby(ISQ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 Touhou music is interesting to me. I like the overall epic feeling of the source tracks I've heard, but a lot of them sound very similar in the long run. Regardless, I'm liking this source. I think you have a good approach here, and I like the overall chip feel you've got going on. Production is also clear, and the drumwork is really nice. I'm liking the intro to 1:29 and from 2:06 to the end, even if the melody sections are a bit same-y between the two. I especially like 1:14, where you've got some nice countermelody stuff going on. From 1:29 to 2:06 I'm not really feeling it. The arpeggios and stuff are nice, but I feel like it's a placeholder part between the other two, and there isn't much direction to it. In a longer track it wouldn't be an issue, but as is it's a quarter of the overall length, and put square in the middle of things. To me it causes things to lose steam. I'm pretty on the fence on this one. It really comes down to that one middle section to me, and I could see this going either way in the votes. Personally, I think I'd like you to take a second look at that section and fix it up. Good luck on the rest of the vote! NO (resubmit, please) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Pretty sweet chiptune cover to start, though it didn't get hugely interpretive beyond the genre adaptation until the dropoff at :51. Good variations on the theme with the busier section at 1:10. 2:06 could have gone somewhere else besides the key change, as far as showing another interpretive take on the theme. That said, what's there was OK. The different mood, original countermelodies during the more cover-ish melody section, coupled with the substantial interpretation from :51-2:05 all set this apart from the original nicely as far as the arrangement goes. Everything was mixed/balanced solidly, so I was diggin' this. I wasn't put off at all by the 1:29-2:06 section from, as that was all based on the source's acoustic guitar intro, and did a good job of giving that part a new style. In the big picture, the overall dynamics of the arrangement felt somewhat flatter than most mixes given the very deliberate tempo, but it was more than OK. Sounds like Tim's got all the pieces in place for a solid track. Count me in! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Ahhh, DDRKirby... nice to finally see you submitting something to the site. I've noticed your incredible speed-composing skills thanks to the One-Hour Compo, I'm always blown away by your infectious harmonies and catchy riffs. This mix is no exception, I for one found it pretty enjoyable all the way throughout. Production-wise, everything sounds strong and smooth, reverb levels were tasteful... Sounds solid to me. I'm not even timestamping this, so I'm not sure which part Deia is talking about, but nothing stood out as "placeholder" to me during my listen. Each part in the mix seems to contribute something to the overall arrangement, IMO. Either way, I feel like this would be a fantastic addition to OCR's library, and given recent discussions on chiptune remixes and their status with regards to the standards, I feel much more comfortable passing something like this. Good luck! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halc Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 good stuff here, really smooth, pristine soundscape and a catchy arrangement. great drum programming too. I like it. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 whew, this is a borderline call for me, as it feels very close to the source. It adds some good counterpoint and harmonies, and overall I feel that it adds enough to be unique, but dang it's close. Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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