*NO* Phantasy Star 4 'Inert (Will to Move)'

[DragonAvenger]

Ribbit! Guifrog here!

Game is Phantasy Star IV. Source is Field Motavia (

).

Link to the mix:

1)

or

2)

Mix name: Inert (Will to Move)

Hey! Time to go to CHINA!

Right after a failed comeback (ahem last sub), I cooked this up. My last rejected mix inspired me to do this, as it describes my current situation, which is not only music related.

I feel... inert. No matter what I do, where I go to, it looks like I've grown up, but after my 20s it always feels like I've never moved a pinch from the start position. For example, during this vacation, I took many different decisions in order to organize my actual (and future) life, learnt some cool things, but still, it's as if I kept staying still. Never took decisions, never learned a thing, nope. I'm still the same desoriented guy from before, feel no different emotions, sensations, gratifications and such. Odd.

When I was younger, no matter how distant my goals for everything were, I always felt some adrelanin to keep walking on the most mysterious roads. Apparently, nowadays, my brain seems to want me to stop going through ways that I've never seen, so I can stay in my comfort zone. But damn, I'm so stubborn.

All in all, and in the context of music, this mix is my try to dive more into World Music and less into Electronica, coz it's more familiar and comfortable to me. If it succeeds, that'll definitely mean something, but I'll keep wondering when/whether I should try going through deeper electronica or not, as I never seem to learn much from the feedback on it... Well, they say nothing's impossible, right?

Which is why I kept doing mixes after 100 rejections until now.

Related note: for those who still remember on the OCR Forums, I'm the guy who believes the rocks are sentient.

LT EDIT: (8/23): Got an arrangement breakdown from Guilherme:

Hit me with this when you can, as far as what's arranged from what parts of the source tune, and what parts are originally written by you and not having to do with the source. Thanks!

Roger! I'm sorry I stopped doing that

So again (in case of any trouble), source is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlRXQ8GPFl4

Breakdown off mah mix:

0:00-0:08 -> nothing.

0:08-0:26 -> corresponds to source first section, 0:02-0:19 (or 0:20-0:39, all da same anywayz).

0:27-0:48 -> same thing, but besides chord progression, melody's pretty heavily modified I guess

0:49-1:18 -> up to this part, more direct take on 0:02-0:19.

1:19-1:26 -> continuation of the previous, but just a bit more modified.

1:27-1:45 -> corresponds to source second section, 0:40-0:54 (or 0:55-1:11)

1:46-1:54 -> nothing to see here.

1:55-2:14 -> this one's a different, original chord progression I set for the Motavia Field melody to come afterwards.

2:15-2:22 -> here it is, from source first section.

2:23-2:33 -> even though this part's original writing

2:34-2:52 -> again, source first section.

2:53-3:01 -> same, played by the synth.

3:02-3:11 -> original writes.

3:12-3:30 -> same as previous, tried to make a bridge for the ending.

3:31-3:50 -> source second section, more focused on 0:55-1:11.

3:51-4:01 -> nothing, end.

That's it!

[DragonAvenger]

Definitely some interesting textures here. Arrangement-wise, as usually you've got some great interpretation here. If I were to nitpick anything, I'd say that the piece doesn't quite have the amount of direction I'd like it to. The lack of a strong build does kinda affect my attention overall, but it's not a serious factor (again, a nitpick, and I do it because I know you can handle it ).

Production is about at your normal level. Personally I'm not crazy about the bass sound, but it does what it needs to do. The rest of the sounds are passable, but not great. I think you could finesse some more humanization and emotion out of the flute and strings, but again it's a nitpick in an otherwise strong track.

You do a great job of delivering some strong arrangement ideas, and I love hearing your stuff!

YES

[OceansAndrew]

For some reason, the rhythms aren't totally lining up in my mind. It sounds like the bass is a millisecond behind, and the pizzicato strings aren't quit locked either.

I think the sample for the bass isn't quite hitting the mark, but I understand why it was chosen, as it fills up the low end and the low mids pretty well. I would suggest swapping the sample for something a little less pointed, and then double it up an octave with an epiano or something so it still fills things out, but doesn't sound so pasted on.

The arrangement I really enjoy, and I think that the samples are fine, but the use of them could be improved. Overall I think it'd clear the bar if the bass was sounding a bit more integrated. It's really close, and I'd love to hear this polished a bit more.

No, please resubmit

[halc]

can say a lot of the same things about the samples and such as my fellow J's, but I was digging this quite a bit personally. I actually thought the synth bass kinda worked well- coulda gone for a more sophisticated sound, but I thought the mix of acoustic instrumentation with the electronic drums and bass worked really well. definitely one of my favorite soundscapes of yours, as generally in your past subs I've felt the mix of world/electronic stuff never felt entirely cohesive. this one hits the sweet spot for me.

nice job on the composition as well; hadn't heard this source, but I was digging it, and wasn't sure what to expect when I started your mix. very interpretive, with some nice harmonic changes. no complaints really, I thought this was a solid package in most regards. definitely a yes from me!

YES

[Palpable]

For some reason, the rhythms aren't totally lining up in my mind. It sounds like the bass is a millisecond behind, and the pizzicato strings aren't quit locked either.

This a hundred times. It's not just the bass, but also the drums in the intro and some other instruments. It mars what is otherwise a great production. Apart from the bass which didn't quite fit the vibe, this felt like a step up production-wise for you, Gui (I hope I can call you that). Fantastic instrument clarity - I hope you continue stepping things up. Sadly, I can't pass this as is, but you could turn this one around pretty quickly I bet, and get it passed.

NO (resubmit)

[Emunator]

Definitely siding on the NO's here, the rhythms don't work for me. Also, those string stabs sound REALLY exposed and weak... the rest of the samples are fine, but the ever-so-slightly offbeat rhythms are making this really hard to listen to once you notice them

See if you can polish this one up, Gui! It's an excellent arrangement and I absolutely dig the style! Excellent instrumentation choice, just get the timing to click better and see what you can do about those string stabs, while you're at it.

NO (resub!!)

[Nutritious]

Great arrangement are nice instrumentation for sure. Really liking this track, Mr. Frog. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, the rhythm parts are distracting as they're not quite lining up throughout. It sounds like you may be using a swing-type setting on some of the rhythm parts, which could be the culprit.

Really want to hear this one on the site and only minor fixes are needed. Bring back fast.

No, resubmit please

[DarkeSword]

I must be the only one not hearing the rhythm issues here. I mean it sounds loose rhythmically, but I feel like that's really part of the charm.

The arrangement and sound design in this piece is fantastic, IMO. I really love that big string sound and those really expansive pads. Gorgeous. Reminds me a bit of Enigma at points.

YES

[Liontamer]

I like the track in a vacuum, and I'm actually in DarkeSword's camp there. But the rhythmic alterations compared to the source tune are really making it difficult for me to wrap my head around the arrangement and what's directly used from what. It sound pretty liberal from what I can tell. I recognize some aspects of the melody in brief pieces, but then it seems like wholly original writing follows for a few seconds before going back to another brief altered version of the melody.

Very loose breakdown: :19-:27, :49-1:13, 1:21-1:24, 1:26-1:33, 1:36-1:45, 2:14-2:23.75, 2:33-2:38, 2:43-3:02, 3:31-3:52

I'd need a breakdown from someone before I could sign off on this arrangement, so I'll holler at Guifrog.

[Fishy]

The kick is swung, the bass isn't. It's a very slight difference but once you notice it that gets annoying. I'm also hearing it in the pizz stuff.

Some good sounds in there, the pads and strings are quite nice.

But yeah the groove not lining up across parts is a pretty basic error that we shouldn't really be letting slide. If you've been using the FL swing feature make sure it's the same across all patterns.

NO

[WillRock]

The kick is swung, the bass isn't. It's a very slight difference but once you notice it that gets annoying. I'm also hearing it in the pizz stuff.

This basically. Its a sizeable issue in what is otherwise a great track. I see what people mean about the bass, but I think the other sounds all work quite cohesively together. I found the arrangement tricky to follow, although I do hear it in there. Still, the timing issues are too problematic for me to sign off on this one.

Sorry

NO

[Liontamer]

Sorry for the wait on this one; I held it in order to give this the fairest look at the arrangement that I could alongside your breakdown. I didn't quite agree with some of the most liberal aspects of the arrangement counting as overt source usage; some moments you gave yourself credit for sounded too liberal and too loose of a connection to count. That said, there were also some brief spots here and there where a note or pattern based from the source was trailing off that I'd count.

The track needed 120 seconds worth of overt source usage to pass on arrangement with over 50%:

:19-:27, :49-1:13, 1:21-1:33, 1:36-1:48, 2:14-2:23.75, 2:33.5-2:38, 2:42.75-3:02, 3:31-3:52 = 110.5 seconds or 46.04%

I didn't find the production bothersome enough to have any criticisms of it, but I'd say this is a great base where you could tweak some of the mixing and add a few more overt references to the source that don't get too liberal and you could easily get this mixes passed. You're 90% of the way there.

NO (resubmit)