djpretzel Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 A friend told me about ocremix a while back and since then I've just been lurking and downloading songs but never thought to try my hand at remixing something. Well, I finally did and this is the product. ReMixer: Awksijek Name: Gibson Starkweather email: awksijek@gmail.com website: http://www.awksijek.com forum userid: 33868 name of game remixed: Phantasy Star Online (Ver.2 for Dreamcast) name of song remixed: Image of a Hero I've always loved the mixture of classical music and a sort of funk/jazz approach to music. I've always thought of this song (Image of a Hero) as my favorite out of all the songs of PSO yet I never thought of it in the perspective of classical, so I gave it a shot. You can find the song here: The filesize (by the way) is 5.97 mb I hope that works. Thank you. -Gibson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Oh man. PSO's music is absolutely fantastic - I just picked up the soundtrack a week or two ago and this was one of my favorite tracks. Let's hear what you did.. I'm definitely liking the atmosphere that you set up, but there are a few things that I noticed within the first 1:30. For one, the strings are really mono.. you gotta treat those somehow. If you check in the ReMixing forum, you'll find my tutorial topic stickied - check out #2 and #4, and you'll find some tips to get you started on expanding strings and making them more realistic. The key here is reverb, and possibly delay. Also, I thought that the drums didn't quite fit in. The hats were sort of cutting in regards to everything else, and the sequencing didn't really create much of a groove to speak of, and the pattern got very repetitious after awhile. Consider looking for some better drum samples too, as these are pretty GM-like in quality. Finally.. the tubular bells playing the melody? Not cool.. try a different instrument for that. They sound kinda cheesy in their current form. The arrangement was kinda straightforward for the most part. You did add some neat harmony patterns and a few variations here and there, but you have to go the extra mile and really make this YOUR interpretation. You did keep some of the chill mood, but because your sounds aren't that great, it almost felt like a downgrade from the original rather than a unique remix. And there was no ending! What's up with that? Hit the ReMixing forum and keep practicing. You've got some good ideas, now all you have to do is refine them. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Phantasy Star Online: Songs of Ragol Odyssey: Soundtrack Episode 1 OST - 03 "Image of Hero" Oh sweet, Phantasy Star Online, so good. Never played the game at all, but I also was a huge fan of the soundtrack. The strength of the original will carry any conservative arrangement; not a bad approach of wanting to slow it down and go for a more atmospheric rendition. Things sound a bit lo-fi, but I like the strings being used like pads. Woodwind sample at 1:10 for the melody sounds very artificial and unrealistically performed. Same for the supporting instrumentation at 1:37. The melody and the countermelody are verbatim with the source tune and the strings and drumwork don't do enough to make up for that. We get a bell on lead at 2:56 to change the feel a little bit, but the strings and drums are still the same; no variation. Doubled with the returning woodwind at 3:23 and the same countermelody. Wish this went somewhere more creative with the source material, as it's awesome stuff. Some basic rearrangement ideas were there from 3:49 until the end, using some lighter instrumentation and changing the rhythms a little bit. Track abruptly ends at 5:09 with no actual ending being written. A pretty long mix that could be decent chill stuff, but needs more arrangement substance and better use of the sounds involved. Cool stuff regardless. Keep at it. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayLightning Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 The real Lightning round: - straightforward and basic arrangement. Structure, and pacing is too similiar except the note and tempo are obviously different. Consider changing up the progression or expanding the melody or harmonic support or adding more instrumental and compositional backing. - lo-fi sounding instruments - the woodwind was ok, I don't expect too much more from free offerings (or what sounds like it anyway) - lovely set timbral combinations. Really enjoyable vibe. - I personally enjoyed the tubular bell section. Again, the arrangement is the major downfall here, the production isn't hot, neither are the samples but I didn't find them that displeasing. Work on the arrangement next time, that aspect needs a major overhaul. Weak/abrupt ending to boot. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Orichalcon Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 The way this mix starts is really quite promising. But the laid back and basic atmosphere set up from the beginning lasts too long. When the extra percussion kicks in at 1:10, you really needed to beef it up from there. Bring in some thicker strings and a bassline, rather than continuing the thing and atmospheric sound of the beginning. I'm not so caught up on the woodwind sample. I think it sounds all right, but it definately would be complimented a little more with some proper backing to it. The mix is just missing the power of a proper buildup. The percussion stays the same pretty much all the way through, you need to switch it up to some proper drumwork. The bell sample that comes in at 2:56 is just plain awful, please scrap it. Overall it's definately not a bad sound here. I think you have a good basis for a mix, but it needs work. Consider beefing the mix up at 1:10 as I suggested, and try playing with the melody a bit more to give it an extra edge in the arrangement. 2:56 would be a perfect place for a switchup in the pace and power of the mix to give it the peak that it needs. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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