(DUBSTEP) FF IV - Zeromus Battle

[Rockos]

Still in developpement. My friend asked me for this. I did it

Remix: https://soundcloud.com/rockos-1/rockos-ff4-tentative

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ-7Wk42aM0

Edited April 11, 2013 by Rockos

[Kanohi]

Haha this is pretty damn cool! There are some synths that can be cleaned up and tightened a bit, and maybe more in the high-channels aside from just the 8-bit noises.

I feel like the snare could use some high-end love as well, some crackle or hiss just to add a bit more to it. Also I think the kick could use a slight boost in the low to give it a little more punch.

The one sample I don't like is that crash cymbal you use for the silence breaks (for example, at 0:48). It sounds a little cheap, finding a better one would help a lot!

Looking forward to later versions of this

[Rockos]

Updated. Complete version.Play time 5:29

https://soundcloud.com/rockos-1/rockos-ff4-tentative

[timaeus222]

I can't actually listen yet, but cymbals that don't sound quite right tend to be made of an old material (hence, vintage), causing some high end to be tapered off and occasionally making it sound a little dampened in a sense, creating the need to hit it harder and thus overboosting the mids. The mids on cymbals are generated during the drumstick impact and are usually the reason cymbals are hard to mix for most people. Try lowering the mids until you reach the point where the cymbal still sounds normal in the context of the whole mix playing at once.

EDIT: Now I'm home.

The kick and snare are both really weak and maybe even a bit buried. I would say try getting a sound like one of these with the kick and snare:

Something I just made right now

zircon's "Nuclear Dubstep" Shreddage 2 Demo

You get the idea?

I do feel like the synths aren't all that special though. They're generic chiptune synths, and although that in its own right is fine, you can always upgrade their expressiveness with some creative sequencing and/or vibrato and stuff like that.

Onto the actual structural content.

0:25 is a pretty drastic shift into the dubstep. Any sort of transition there that you can think of? Up until 2:20, it's pretty much a dubstep frenzy, and not exactly something you can be addicted to for two minutes straight since it sounds pretty much the same to anyone who doesn't write music. i.e. 0:48 and 1:32 are pretty similar and that's a problem. You need more variation or more interesting synths.

I feel like 2:24 would be more effective with a bass drop, not a static sub bass.

3:05 - hey, some bitcrushing automation.

So, a minute of more dubstep. What can we expect, other than wubs and sub basses? Not much. Maybe you should rework that section? Try to compensate for people who don't listen to traditional dubstep (like me).

3:40 feels like an aimless buildup to me. It just sounds like retrigger on the lead, sort of, with a tiny little pitch rise on something else. Not really feeling the building up there. Polish that a little more. Snare rolls? Resonant white noise filter sweeps?

4:06 is finally a change in mood and a refresher from the dubstep, but it should have come earlier!

5:12 - I would have liked to hear that kind of resonant-filter+retrigger+speed-decrease creativity earlier. Well, that and there's unfortunately no real ending.

Edited March 28, 2013 by timaeus222

[Rozovian]

That snare is superweak. Chip stuff might be too loud.

Not sure about the juxtaposition of simple chip sounds and the motion in the dubstep synths synths. I'm sure there's a good middle ground that works fine, but I this isn't it. Not sure how big a problem it is, but it bothers me.

The track moves well, although the first half feels a little repetitive when the breaks in the bass get predictable. Not a big problem, but it could be more interesting.

Ending doesn't come with much of a payoff. It's not a bad ending, it's just not a good ending either.

Source is there. I like how different this feels form the Zeromus thing on the Ff4 album.

Not much else to say. I think it works well. A few edits and you should have something to sub.

/mr

[Rockos]

Thanks to you both! Thanks to Rozovian and timaeus222.

I'll work on this ASAP. The feedback is welcome and I needed another pair of listener to help me flesh the things out .