djpretzel Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 LT Edit - Original decision: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=58586 metaphist aka Paul Ford peford@cfl.rr.com http://www.arcane-d.com Final Fantasy XI Rolanberry Fields theme "Rolan Deep" I tried to address as many of the issues as I could. - shortened the length by about a minute to keep the mix from dragging - varied up the bassline for the intro and the middle section, and also changed the sample (it's clearer and takes up less low end) - remastered the levels and some EQ - the drums are a little less prominent - the horns were toned down and redone - added a slight instance of electric piano help strengthen the lead - the birds are less obtrusive, but used a little more Hope you enjoy it and find it an improvement over the first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FFXI_psf2.rar - 111 "Rolanberry Fields" This was still pretty decent, but had some significant issues going on. The sound balance with stuff like the pizz strings is awful. They should be louder and not sound so far away. Makes the pizz strings sound fake and pasted underneath. For the first minute or so, there's really nothing melodic going on. Even the fade-in with that cool effect at :42 doesn't make it seem like anything melodic is happening. The guitar lead sounded too thin and mechanical while it was obviously striving to sound realistic. It does absolutely nothing to drive the track forward. Finally at 1:05 the melody meaningfully shows up. Some trumpet stabs were there starting at 1:25, but nothing's really cohesively put together with this instrumentation. You can here quiet notes from the supporting work occasionally clashing. Felt like everything's just loosely doing its own thing, as all of it doesn't harmonize well. Things picked up a bit better around 2:38 once the acoustic guitar sample took things over in the forefront. There were some odd notes in there (e.g. 2:59), and the guitar still sounded really mechanical, which hurts the track when you're placing the focus on it even further and expose the sample even more. Decent solo section in spirit though, though it didn't quite work. The pizz strings came back at 3:15 to fill things out further. Everything's still sloppy in tandem, but it's an improvement. The phrasing here just isn't very strong or well-written. 3:35 had that pad with the stuttering effects in there that I liked so much last time. That would have been cooler to use as a chorus for the mix and just change up the stuttering pattern each time to vary it up, because it was one aspect of the mix that I felt worked amidst all the other instances of things not combining together well. The bass presence was good the whole way through, and the bird SFX was used tastefully here as well. Just overall, this needed a lot more help than I could give. It's gotta sound more melodic and focused. The lead guitar needs more body and more realism in the sounds to help. The writing of some of the background elements doesn't complement the melody. The effort is there, but you just need more practice/experience and criticism. Hang in the ReMixing forum, Paul, and see if you can have someone give you a better breakdown of the various issues and offer more suggestions/advice, but I'd still just call this a done deal and move onto the next project. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayLightning Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 I know how difficult it is to resubmit a mix (the wait time, the hope that the judges will feel it's an upgrade, etc.). I can sympathize. Now as far as this mix, in many ways it's an upgrade. But starting the mix off you have these really ugly guitars. It sounds so thin and twangy. This is a problem that I think should be corrected in two ways, re-composition and processing. Consider using chorus then delay/reverb on that guitar to thicken it up. Secondarily as mentioned, it's too mechanical, too perfect, too sequenced. Try messing the timing up a little more to give it a more fluid feel. The pizz's are also a little bland. I would thicken up the composition in that, perhaps use more than one or two notes per instrument. Also I feel they should be louder and have more reverb (they sound rather dry) or possibly consider using early reflections to make them bigger but still upfront sounding. I do like the additions you've added, the bird fx is more appropriate now and the brass stabs are less irritating, but I still feel this is a case of lack of polish. The concept and arrangement doesn't really take form in my opinion. The atmosphere and composition is thin throughout. The top end is nice, and the bottom end via the bass is good throughout, but in between those elements there's almost a void. I'd like to hear more processed percussion at least to give this more umph or some pads in between. Production is much better now, if not a bit vanilla. Other than the gated pads, I think you could try out more things to spice up the mix some more. Like at the end where you have the waves autopanning or shifting from side to side. Things like that add a new dimension to the mix. A processed pad like that could give this mix more appeal on one level or another. Good step forward. But I still think it needs a lot of work. I hope you don't give up, as this has the makings of something special, but right now I think it needs more polish. PS. Whatever you decide, don't change the synth bells at all. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmony Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 I’m definitely hearing lots of positive improvements in this latest version. Not the least of which is the bass that, although still a bit heavy and low, is clearer in quality and more interestingly sequenced. The percussion feels more cohesive and does a better job supporting the melodic elements as well. Unfortunately, there are still significant issues with this mix. The balance between elements isn’t very appealing. I think the combination of the predominately low percussion and the rich bass are a bit much and still need to be scaled back, especially during 0:00-1:04. That would help fix the buried pizz during that section. There are points during 1:50-2:10 that get cluttered with bells, birds, horns and lead all fighting for nearly the same sonic space. There are similar issues from 2:53-3:34. The birds are actually ok but I’d work on panning the other instruments farther away from each other. I hear some harmonic clashes during those sections but they are minor enough that if everyone wasn’t so close together, it wouldn’t register with me. There are still some instruments that are too thin and dry to mesh with the thick beat and gated pads. As Gray suggested, I’d beef up the delay+reverb on the guitar to give it more depth and help it fit more appropriately. Personally, I try to stay away from chorus on non-strummed guitar parts. If you don’t mind loosing some of the realism of the guitar part and you’d like to thicken it up (solo and rhythm work) you might try layering the guitar with an e. piano or something smooth and chromatic. The birds could go for some reverb. The breakdown at 2:10 is pretty cool and I enjoy the delayed guitar that caps the section off starting at 2:32. I’m not a fan of the solo starting at 2:52 though. It’s too mechanical to fit the groove and doesn’t feel very realistic. Working on the guitar sound itself (processing and FX) would be the first step in improving the solo. Compositionally this version is greatly improved over the last version. It doesn’t drag nearly as much and the end result is a much more memorable experience. I’d like to see the intro worked on. The gated pads are nice but there’s little development within the first minute or so. When the lead comes in at 1:04 it’s not nearly as satisfying as it could be had the build up been stronger. Enjoyable, but there’s still work to be done here Paul, particularly on the mixing and production side of things. Keep working at it. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 How the hell am I supposed to follow up these dissertations? Anyway, here's the short version; the guitar sticks out and is ridiculously repetitive. The percussion doesn't balance well with the rest of the track; the low percussion and bass fight for their right to party, which isn't good. The development in this song is pretty bland. The song just plods on and on without really going anywhere. Not a lot of highs or lows; just some instruments dropping out here and there. I like the gating stuff tho', so that's nice. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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