Earthbound - Eight Melodies remix

[Sage Orpheus]

First post ever - be gentle.

http://tindeck.com/listen/gpdc

Here's some specific feedback I'm interested in:

Arrangement:

-Do you like the eight melody theme from Mother 1 being brought in during the minor portion, or does that take you out of the moment? I'm especially curious to hear answers from fans of the series.

-Does the first variation, with the 16th notes in the right hand, keep your interest? I was toying with the idea of making it 16th note triplets instead wondering if that would "keep it moving" so to speak, but I also worry maybe that would err in the other direction - too busy.

-I had an idea for another variation...it'd be another simple one, but I could modulate to the dominant key to keep it fresh on the ears hopefully, but I also don't want the arrangement to end up being too long to keep interest.

-I was also thinking maybe I could add the new variation after the 16th note portion, then have a 16th note triplet variation after THAT. If I decide to remove the Mother 1 theme this is more likely, because I want to make sure there is enough of an aural journey for the romantic octave section to feel like a dramatic arrival, which was a problem in my earlier drafts.

Mastering:

-I'm very, very new at mastering. All advice welcome. How is the reverb? How is the quality of the instrument? I can change it to a "softer" attack, but then that took away from the impact I wanted in the big romantic octaves section. Thoughts?

Looking forward to your insights - thanks!

[timaeus222]

Well, here's what I can really say right now.

It sounds too quiet at 0:54 - 1:36 and after 2:21. It would be great to turn up the volume there by about 10 dB. There are times when it's not even registering on my audio editor (2:27-2:29).

The piano sounds good. I think there's reverb, but it might be a little subtle. Maybe increase the wet mix just a little.

[jnWake]

The piano sounds nice, maybe more reverb like timaeus said. Don't overdo it though.

Regarding the arrangement, it feels a bit disconnected since all main sections are pretty different style wise.

On the first section I feel that the chord progression could me much more interesting. I'm not sure what the chord progression is on the original, but the one you used is a tad boring, repeating the base chord way too much. The part with the left hand playing the melody sounds better.

The minor section is very cool and shows much more interesting arrangement ideas. However, it feels a bit disconnected with the previous section.

Second version of the main melody sounds a lot better, the octaves are a nice touch. Ending is pretty.