Majora's Mask "Stone Tower Temple Theme" - Stone Palindrome (V3)

[Enduar]

First post, here- you can find my Remix here:

Stone Palindrome V3

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My first foray into digital music production was a remix of the Stone Tower Temple theme in FL Studio- I picked something simple to learn with and the result was pretty good (or so I thought, at the time). I (unfortunately) submitted it here before realizing how much the song could have been improved and before asking for any real feedback or analysis. That was two years ago. Since then I've learned the program better and while most of what I know is still self-taught (I've never taken the time to look up tutorials or anything and I don't really have any good excuse as to why I haven't), I have improved.

Unfortunately I'm at a point where, with the death of my poor laptop, I'm unable to produce- but that's not to say I can't look for feedback on the last rendition of my remix and hope I can improve it further in the future. "Stone Palindrome" is my effort to stylize the Stone Tower Temple theme with a bit of a darker, more powerful feel to it and give it some of my own personal spin. I'm not doing anything overly dramatic to it and have mostly stuck to the source material, but I have begun to add more variation to the melody itself in V3.

Some self-critique here I will mention is that I do have some habits:

-Firstly I am notoriously susceptible to overpowering the bass tracks in my songs, something that carried over from when I was composing music with only earbuds or terrible headsets to rely on (that was... horrible). I do not know how most of my tracks sound on actual speakers setups, nor how the base might distort or otherwise mess up the song as a result.

-Additionally I am not very good with drums and tend to forget about them leading to a serious lack of variation- something I've been working on changing (This track is pretty minimalist regarding drums anyway)

-Finally, I feel like all of my music could use some additional variation using filters/effects/what-have-you on repetitive parts of the melody and it's something I've been trying to learn- this also encompasses use of volume in general and I feel that I could improve greatly in this regard.

Now.... About this track, specifically.

-Upon completion and rendering the track I almost immediately regretted forgetting about the guitar piece that starts up 30 seconds in- I'd like to keep it in because it paces the song nicely, but it desperately needs variation as it pretty much just loops for a little while before the melody moves past it.

-Orchestral instruments are unfortunately the basics that come with FL Studio, and for that reason I really don't like using them (though I've learned to make do) and would likely swap them out for something better given the opportunity. Everything else is Toxic Biohazard.

-Specifically the guitar I may look into having my brother play them personally and have them actually recorded. primarily because it's the most notable part of the second half of the song and it falls into the "I-suck-at-making-things-not-too-repetetive/unvaried" category.

-As a sort of addition to this, the background strings that fade in at 2:00 suck, and I'll definitely be making them more than just a single predictable note at each step of the progressing chord.

Finally, I don't believe this track is OC-worthy for most of these reasons, but most of all that I don't think it varies the source material enough to qualify- I probably won't submit this unless convinced otherwise by how the track eventually ends up. However, I have been debating on using another Zelda track to compliment the Stone Tower Temple theme and making it a combined mix... I'll get more into that in the event that I'm actually able to start composing again.

At any rate, apologies for being a bit too long winded, and thanks in advance for those who take the time to leave feedback. Majora's Mask is far too under-represented here so maybe I can help to change that.

Edited September 26, 2012 by Enduar

[Rozovian]

Some really cool ideas in here, and you've obviously got the ears to find flaws in your own work. That's great.

The original touches you've got, like the 0:30 guitar, complement the source well. If I were you, 'd see how I could break from the source more - screw with the melody and rhythm of the source to create new things akin to what your original bits are. I'd also try to break from the structure of the source, and it'd probably end up a meandering mess as most of my tracks.

If you're concerned about frequency balance, import some well-mixed tracks into FL and compare their frequency balance to your with the same analyzers. If you've got too much bass when played at the same level, mix it down. Learn how well-mixed stuff sounds like and copy it.

The drums are so minimal here that they don't need much variation. For more drum-intensive tracks, just pretend to be a drummer and have fun with rhythms and stuff.

Automation of filters and other effects are a nice way to inject some motion into build-ups and other repetitive parts, but you can also just copy the writing you have there and make small edits to the melodies. While you should definitely focus on the notes in the underlying chords, just sticking to the same scale should keep the melodies from sounding bad. This source actually contains several examples of this repetition with variation. Study the source.

You've got a lot of dynamics in this track. Just figure out where you want to change the dynamics and put more thought into the structure and arrangement of your tracks and you should do just fine.

About time you started posting. Welcome to the feedback board.

[Enduar]

It's been a year and a half already? Well, regardless- I brushed the dust off of this gradually evolving track and have been picking away at it every now and then. I think it's at the point where I can nail a new number on the end and say it's up to my current standards.

Stone Palindrome V4

Notable improvements other than general tweaking/balancing include an entirely new addition of drums, improvements to the guitar, and a little bit more original composition added at the end. The song moves smoother with the drums and, though as usual I'm falling into a lack of variation there, I'm satisfied with the outcome for the time being. The usual pattern seems to be that I make a new part, let it sit for a long while, then come back during creation of the next version and fix it.

As far as submission for judging goes, I still think this track lacks the sort of variation from the source that OC Remix seems to value. I am still considering adding another track from Majora's Mask to Stone Palindrome to give it that extra nudge I feel it needs to succeed here- specifically the use of Ikana Valley theme as a sort of intro/build up to the actual track. Nothing to show for that, though, as it's just something I've been mulling over. Maybe in Version 5, eh?

Anyway, some long overdue thanks to Rozovian for giving me his time, good advice, and kind words. I honestly can't remember why I didn't respond at the time. Hope you guys enjoy the track!

[TeraCMusic]

Ahhh this sounds so awesome!! I do feel like it could be a bit more personalized, but this is really good I'm an avid fan for anything LoZ haha. I definitely prefer V4 over V3. Keep it up! Can't wait to hear more!

[Enduar]

Thanks! Typically when I listen to a new version of song that makes the old versions sound wrong somehow, it means I've done something right. The drums really helped fill out the song I think.