DragonAvenger Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Contact Information Your ReMixer name: urdailywater Your real name: Aaron Corbitt Your email address: Your website Your userid: 33000 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Touhou: Mountain of Faith Name of arrangement: Then Who Can Be Against Us? Name of individual song(s) arranged: Faith is for the Transient People ( )http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Mountain_of_Faith Composer is Zun as usual with all Touhou games What's this? WHAT'S THIS? urdailywater submitting a non-chill/ambient, straight up chiptune rock remix with a little piano spice added into it? So true. First time I've tried something like this, so be harsh so I can do it better next time. : D This remix was so different from what I'm used to. It was an attempt for me to get better at drum programming and mixing. Ironically, the drums end up being the least interesting part of this song, IMO. But they still sound well mixed after some help from the WIP forums and Jamison Randall (aka TheGuitahHeroe) who also mastered the song for me (THANKS A LOT DUDE) Also, speaking of TheGuitahHeroe - his Castlevania mix "The Whip's Memory" happens to be a lot inspiration for this track. Also, I probably wouldn't have made this track without listening to the doujin circle "FELT"'s remix of this first, found here for those interested (you should be, it's good): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hRh82D5eb4 I love this song so much, and a lot of this actually inspired me too (so much so that I used the chorus' melody from the song for the outro for this song as a tribute : D). Lot's of crazy stuff going on in this song overall. Chiptune arps, dubstep, and super fast hat patterns. After the half way point, I decided that I wanted to tone down the crazy and keep with my philosophy of "simple is better". Hopefully that works out well and doesn't feel to weird in the context of the song as a whole. Time for a source breakdown: 0:00 - 1:52 it's pretty much completely source with my own little tidbits thrown in there to make it sound more original. 1:53 - 2:42 original material for the most part. I don't recall throwing any source in there at all, actually, but I don't want say for sure and be wrong. But I'm pretty sure. 2:43 - 3:08 Brought the arp and chords back in from the source with my own little solo on top. 3:09 - 3:36 source played at a higher key 3:37 - 4:11 fadeout and end, chords from source playing with that chorus from the doujin remix I mentioned playing So about 196 seconds out of 251 for source material, which also includes the solo's with only the chords playing in the background and arrangements I made to the source myself. So yup, I hope that helps. Don't think there's anything else to say, so just enjoy the music! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Nice build to open it out, I reaaaaally wish you had added more modulation to the synth leads, they sound really dead without any vibrato on the longer notes; it started out cool, but once 1:37 hit, it was so straight. There is room for a ton of attitude to be squeezed in there; take a listen to Crash / Restore by Zwitra on the Xenogears album (http://xenogears.ocremix.org/) for a great example of really expressive synth lead writing, even at a super low fidelity. I liked the buildup and the overall sound; great monoglide synth in the backing parts, and the beats and sound choices gelled together. It felt like everything was really nice, soundwise. There was a little bit of strange dissonance in one of the low backing synths at 1:15, but it wasn't enough to kill it for me, just felt unfocused. The ending felt lackluster to me, and I think it should have gone out with a more exciting flourish, but overall I think this clears the bar. I encourage you to continue to push, and get some more expression into your lead writing, as this arrangement shows you really can get some awesome results. Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted December 15, 2012 Author Share Posted December 15, 2012 I think your approach to the source here is pretty cool (and I do think you're on the right track) but I'm gonna be harsher on this, unfortunately. The synths to me felt overall a bit dull and lifeless, and while it's ok at first, it really started to wear on me over time. As Andrew mentioned, you can definitely work more life out of the synths to make things feel stronger and more emotive. A little bit humanization will help that as well, as the straight rhythms make things feel a bit stiff. The same applies to the piano. Some areas feel a bit cluttered in the same sound range. 1:15-1:28 is a good example of this, even with the lead synth on top. There are a lot of elements fighting for the same range, and the piece loses focus because of it. Arrangement-wise I am liking a lot of what you're doing here. The personalization is good, and you really approach the track in a way that compliments it rather than fights with the source. Couple strange notes at 2:25 and later at 2:38. Just something to note that stuck out for me. The soloing otherwise was fine, but again felt a bit stiff. I do, however, think the transition for the key change was pretty weak, and think it could be reworked. A stronger lead-in might help. Once you're into the key change there's a bit more of a clash between your synths, but aside from that I don't mind the ending. I really do think you're on a good track here, and hopefully I was as harsh as you'd have liked. Do fix this up for us though! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Drums were pretty weak and the snare sound was cheap-sounding and prominent, so the song never had as much energy as it should have had. Some of the synths were cool, while others sounded bland. Overall, I liked the writing but sometimes the notes weren't working that well within the chord. Sorry, not feeling this one much. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Really couldn't agree more with Deia's critiques on this. I get what you're going for, and the mix is definitely a strong idea in theory, but the execution feels rather lackluster and lifeless, mostly due to sample quality issues across the board. The synths, piano, and drums all fall a little bit flat unfortunately :\ I'm not sure how much of that could be solved by mixing your existing samples better, adding vibrato/other effects to certain notes, or just replacing them with livelier samples altogether, but I don't think there's very many issues with your actual writing/arrangement aside from the minor moments timestamped by the other judges. But I have to agree, this doesn't have the necessary energy or life to carry the arrangement. Send it back our way after you've given it another pass! NO (resubmit!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Opened pretty interestingly, reminding me of Mega Man 8's soundtrack with the sounds. I liked the chiptune stuff at :24 as well. Though the snare shots seemed like they were all the same velocity (boooooo), the drums brought in at :37 sounded alright, though perhaps should have been pulled back in volume a bit. The piano should have been louder and shouldn't have competed as much with the supporting instrumentation. Deia really nailed it here; you really need some EQ love here to separate the parts more and give them room to breathe when things are busy. The piano timing was OK, but could use some humanization with the timing; if everything else was clicking, that wasn't an issue that would bother me enough to reject the piece. Yeah, the synth first brought in at 1:27 needed some more life to it, and the wild cymbal shots from 1:44-1:46 were a minor thing but seemed out of place; they make good accents, but didn't gel with the instrumentation when they were off-beat. I didn't agree with Deia's call on some notes being off; everything seemed fine to me. Poo on the key change at 3:11, but no big deal. I'm a little sour on using the doujin arrange section for the finish; it was just a cameo and well integrated, but there's no permission to use it, so I'd modify it. I may not have anyone co-sign with me on this, Aaron, but aside from Palp, I thought all the Js were pretty positive with the arrangement itself, and I would even go as far as to say the arrangement and concept themselves are an easy pass. The mood and writing are both strong, IMO. On the other hand, the articulations is holding you back. There's definitely a lack of energy and expressiveness in the instrumentation that's undermining an otherwise great arrangement. Lean on the Workshop and veteran feedback on how you can get your sounds to be more expressive, and seriousnly nag the hell out of anyone who's good and will listen. But don't mess with this arrangement, it's fine. In say 2004 or 2005, this could have made it. See if you can pull this up to a YES, this has great potential. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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