OceansAndrew Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 > ReMixer name: HeavenWraith > Real name: Antanas Palaitis > Website: N/A > Forum userID: N/A Submission Information > Game: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest > ReMix Name: Stellar Eyedrops > Original Name: Bloody Tears This piece is the second ReMix I've ever done (the first being the remix of "Mystogan's Theme" from Fairy Tail, but it sucks, so who cares). Previously I've been composing soundtracks for movies, made by my friends, so this remixing business is new to me, but somehow "Stellar Eyedrops" turned out pretty well, so I decided to give OCR a shot. The list of my inspirations is quite a long one, so I'll just highlight the most influent ones: *Black Mages* This is pretty much the kind of sound I've been aiming for. The use of rock/drawbar organ and backing string ensemble and certain guitar solo/riff techniques in "Stellar Eyedrops" was greatly inspired by this band. *Takanashi Yasuharu* For my ears, this music is a representation of "perfectly mastered". *Sekito Tsuyoshi* When I needed ideas for symphony and metal fusion, I could always trust Sekito's "The Last Remnant" soundtrack to inspire me. If anyone is curious, this piece was recorded using a MIDI keyboard, an electric guitar with physical and digital (VST) distortion effects and a drum sequencer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Some really neat ideas going on here. I love the expansion of the source you have in the intro. So many people focus on other parts of this source, so it was refreshing to hear a different approach. The into does hold on a bit too long for my tastes, and I think you could have cut about 10 to 15 seconds there and still had the same effect. I felt like once things settled in you hit autopilot on the arrangement. The melodies remain pretty conservative to the original, as well as the structure. The drums also become static, which drags the energy down. The solo section also overall feels a bit aimless, and some of the note/riff choices felt a little haphazard and didn't fit the chords well. Overall the arrangement needs to have more in terms of your own voice with less repetition. Sound-wise I wasn't feeling the overall mixing. The guitar sounds a bit muffled and the organ could come out a bit more. The drums overall are weak; the snare sounds halfway between a snare and a bass at times, and I had a tough time hearing the bass drum overall. The organ comes in at 2:47, and it feels very crowded by the guitar and other parts going on. I had a very difficult time making out what notes it was playing. The overall muddiness comes back in some other sections, like 3:30(ish). There's no clear lead instrument, and the arrangement falters from that lack as well. Lastly, the overall playing isn't very tight. Nothing's wildly out of time, but because things aren't matching up as well as they could it gets very distracting to listen to. Overall the timing needs to be tightened up. I don't want to sound overly harsh on this, but there is definitely a lot of work to go here. I did really enjoy how you started the mix out, which was a pretty fresh and creative take on a source that is mixed quite often, but when things get going the issues start to pop up. I'd suggest using our WIP forums to get some more feedback on improving your mixing skills and to keep working on the arrangement as well. Good luck! NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 I think Deia has covered the most important aspects of the mix that need improvement. There are some really nice arrangement aspects in the first half, but eventually it hits a point that it goes into autopilot with some solos. The most important aspect is to reduce the reverb on the drums and some other elements, as the track is swimming in it. It's fine for the more subdued sections, but the higher energy parts sound really weak because the drums are so far away. The solos are well written but could be tightened up a bit performancewise. Overall It needs a good deal of polish, but shows promise. No, please resubmit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Really great vote by Deia that hits just about everything I needed to say. I pretty much cosign with everything she said, I just want to add that your piano sample is noticeably weak and the sequencing/performance is coming off as sloppy at times. Lots of stuff to work on with this mix, there's some great melodic alterations and creative arrangement of the theme, but there needs to be a much higher level of polish in order for this to pass, if you choose to resubmit. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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