DragonAvenger Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 (edited) original decision Hey! If this doesn't sound good to go in your opinion right off the bat, let me know, but here it is... heavily changed production-wise. Thank you very much for your help and time Brandon Edited April 30, 2014 by djpretzel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Can't argue with a digeridoo. Although I'm sure you can argue with my spelling. I liked the vibe of the intro; where does it go?? The mix isn't great. -kick doesn't cut through, cymbals too loud. -Rhythm guitars overpower leads. The bridge is cool, but the guitar solo is noodly and doesn't seem appropriate at that point in the arrangement. The solo also goes on way too long. It's not adding anything during the middle section. I'd get rid of it and shorten that section. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Man, once the instruments started getting busier at :17, the soundscape became very muddy lossy-sounding, moreso when the guitars came in at :33. The individual parts sound great, but everything just bleeds into each other until 1:23 and it sounds like you had to settle for a 112 or 128kbps encoding. It still sounded lossy, buy we had better stuff at 1:32 once there was less going on and things had room to breathe.The transition to the "Dwelling of Doom" cameo at 2:38 was pretty abrupt, but the move back into "Silence" was smooth. Honestly, this arrangement is nothing short of awesome, but the mixing's putting me off. I'd LIKE to YES it along the lines of Mega Man 3 'Intro Jazz', and seriously thought about it, but that one was a much more delicate track without too many elements obscuring one another. The arrangement is direct post-worthy, and the instrumental combinations here were unique. But the production needs another pass to tighten things up. No hate if this passes as is, but I think it desperately needs more clarity. Maybe change some timestamps in the first paragraph and it's still the same vote. Cluttered mixing culprits: 0:58-1:23 - mallet percussion and strings handling leads were BURIED by the rhythm guitars 2:55-3:48 - the strings are so buried Other areas didn't suffer AS badly, but the whole thing could use another pass. You should be begging Sixto, SnappleMan or PuD for production advice at this point. But EQ, EQ, EQ is your friend. So many things are bleeding into each other and it's messing up the epicness of this top-notch arrangement. I disagreed with Vig's crits on some of the solos/structure. As long as the mixing is de-cluttered, the arrangement doesn't need to be touched. NO (refine/resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Hmm I actually thought Brandon did a nice job tightening this up from the past version. At least, my crits about the overstuffedness seemed to be addressed, whether by mixing choices or arrangement changes. This held together a lot better, seemed to have a good focus, etc. It's still not perfect. Vig's comment about the kick not cutting through rang true for me. Overall, the beat here is a little weak, and the drums might be a little dry. Kind of a toss-up IMO, but I'm willing to come down on the YES side. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Mixing's a little iffy but like I said in another vote on another mix earlier today, nothing that's a dealbreaker in my opinion. I didn't vote on the previous sub, so I'm coming in fresh. This arrangement is pretty killer. Nice variation. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 (edited) Cool approach here by Brandon. Starts with an eclectic mix of instruments, but later transitions to a bit more traditional rock style when the main themes come in. Very cool arrangement ideas here. Brandon's definitely come a long way in a relatively short time, especially on the performance end. Definitely do hear the complaints on the mixing, 3:12 - 3:47 being the weakest section in this regard, but it wasn't to the point where I felt it was an automatic no on my end. Brandon's always super pro-active on production fixes, so perhaps he'd want to take another pass at it anyway? YES Edited August 20, 2013 by Nutritious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Yeah, I can see the crits in terms of the production end of things, but I still think this sits above the bar as-is. And well, digeridoo. Digeridoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillRock Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Oh man this source is great. All castlevania sources are great. Ok, so first off, arrangement is pretty awesome. Some nice variations on the theme that keep things interesting while keeping the source prominent throughout the track. As for production... not so good. Things are very very cluttered all the way through, the strings don't cut through enough in the intro, when the lead guitar is playing, thats pretty clear but when you have that buried lead at 0:58, everything seems to lack clarity, and there are alot of other little parts that are all fighting for the same room. Nothing is particularly clear honestly imo. I'd say the production needs quite a bit of cleaning up, if not a complete overhaul for this to see the pass imo. Really nice arrangement, but fix up the production! NO (resub) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 Wow yeah, 3:12 onwards is a mess in terms of fighting for space, and iffy master compression. I'm with the sayers of nay on this one. At the best of times the mix is just about passable, but those two sections mentioned above are a bit painful. I know y'all can do better that this Brandon as I've heard it before, so let's hear it again . NO, plz resub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Sounds a bit packed, but I think overall it is an improvement over the first submission, which I liked fine. Some elements that are just being used to fill out space could be trimmed out, or removed completely, like some backing strings when things get busier, or at least scooped out a bit so they are more prominent without getting smashed by the super full toned guitars. The organ Should be scooped a bit as well, as it adds a nice texture, but is getting crushed during the parts where there are heavy guitars. I suggest cutting the track in half, and scooping only the part that appears with the heavy guitars. That way you have the nice full organ tone for the quieter sections where it takes center stage, but it will cut more in the heavy parts too. I am not opposed to another cleanup pass, but I think it passes muster as-is. Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts