Chrono Trigger 600 AD Electronic Remix

[AnchorMe]

Hey guys! Been fixing to get my work on the site for a while. Hoping you can help me make that a reality. Here's a song I've been working on, based on the 600 AD theme from Chrono Trigger:

Source:

Remix:

https://soundcloud.com/anchorme/chrono-trigger-600ad-untitled

Please tell me what you think! I'm excited to be a member of the community here.

-Kevin/AnchorMe

Edited September 3, 2013 by AnchorMe
Finished the mix; looking for final critique

[Seperoth]

I really liked this.

And I don't even like this genre!

The drums got a bit repetitive though and you should put some more work into the bass, give it some melody or something to make it more interesting.

I'm looking forward to the finished version

[timaeus222]

I'm finding the sounds to be very dry and narrow. Chiptune is fine as long as it isn't so upfront that harsh frequencies are overexposed.

The sounds in general are very basic saw waves playing generic sustains, so this needs more attention to detail on tone crafting, and synth modulations for vibrato, portamento, etc.

And... did you change the tempo suddenly throughout? It sounds like it.

[AnchorMe]

Thanks for the input! Here's the output:

https://soundcloud.com/anchorme/chrono-trigger-600ad

I took your advice, timaeus222, and reworked the synths considerably, gave them some nice, easy vibrato. In my playing around with that, I came up with a totally different sound for one of the sections of the song, which I really love.

Seperoth, thanks so much! I did a little tweaking on the drums, adding in a different arrangement for the B-section. Tell me what you think! The bass I didn't touch this time, but give it a listen and tell me if you still think it needs something.

Thanks guys!

[timaeus222]

The kick seems to sound a little like

, which isn't what I would have expected to hear as the kick in a chiptune remix. Try to get it to sound like this. Or, you could just use that if you want. The snare is a little quiet, maybe by about 0.8~1.6dB.

At 0:42, the lead on the left seems to be accompanied by mainly right-speaker material. Intuitively, it would make more sense to have that lead in the center, and to spread the backup widely, whether you do it with Stereo Shaping or pan instruments left and right in a balanced way. That lead is also a bit too loud, by about 1.6~2.4dB. If it's not entirely apparent, try turning the volume of the lead down to 0, and then turning it up slowly until it sounds just right.

Drum rhythms are sounding better, and the synth modulations are helping a lot.

Edited August 18, 2013 by timaeus222

[AnchorMe]

Bleep bloop update! https://soundcloud.com/anchorme/chrono-trigger-600ad-1

Heyo! Got some changes done. I did some polishing on the overall mastering, and took your advice, timaeus222, on the panning and stereo width, including taking the melodies back into the center and spreading the accompaniment. Didn't change the kick sound -- I like your idea, but it isn't essential to me that this be a "pure" chiptune mix...it's already reaching beyond NES capabilities besides the drums, haha.

What do you think about the mixing? I had some trouble with peaking so I'm hoping I didn't make it too quiet. Also, I was afraid that my main melody synths are getting too loud and screechy in some places (2'25'' for instance)

Other than that, unless I'm missing anything major I plan on submitting this thing to the judges pending y'all's advice! Thanks again!

[AnchorMe]

Hey guys! So, I've finally come to a point where I am happy with my mix, so I'm switching from WIP to "Finished".

Here is a link to the final version:

https://soundcloud.com/anchorme/chrono-trigger-600ad-2

(source:

)

Please tell me what you think! I'm eager to get this thing submitted!

[Argle]

I like the chippy goodness. My criticism is that neither the bass nor drums fill out the low frequencies. Even if you want to keep the chiptune concept I think you could get more in the low end and it would be good.

[timaeus222]

The bass' tone seems fine in my opinion (especially in the lowest notes), but yes, the bass frequencies are a bit weak from what I can hear, and as a result the song's frequency distribution sounds narrow to me.

At 1:04~1:07, I'm finding it a bit awkward how the lead just jumps suddenly to the other speaker. Do you think you could find a less jarring way to write that automation and still have the reasonably clean stereo separation you have now?

The panning right afterwards isn't anything more than a nitpick for me, but I personally find that a bit awkward too in that it's the lead that's panning, so we have to follow it around.

I still like the extra work you put in with the modulations, because it helped improve the character/personality of each of the leads in particular to an extent that fares rather well compared to higher quality chiptune sounds. As for submission, in my opinion it's not quite ready. I think you should keep working on it until you really think it can't be adjusted anymore. This is why I think so:

- It does sound a little bit dry (little perceived reverb) to me

• Synthesized and sampled elements must be reasonably sophisticated.
  

• General MIDI sounds from low-budget soundcards are not sufficient when superior samples are available online for free.
  
• Overusing common presets, relying heavily on prerecorded loops, or employing nothing but basic tones or "chiptunes" is discouraged.
  

- Basic sounds, albeit with great modulation work (basic qualities implies simplicity or something of a somewhat low complexity from the perspective of a musically adept audience). It does not mean it's a bad thing to keep it simply because you like it.

- It does say on the submission guidelines that chiptune tracks are discouraged, so that means this would have to be exceptionally good to have a good chance of passing. People like halc, Ben Briggs, and PROTO·DOME (yep, with a middle dot in his name!) who often write chiptunes and 8-bit material would be able to help you with this very effectively, from what I've gathered.

Edited September 4, 2013 by timaeus222

[AnchorMe]

Thanks for much for the input, guys! I feel like I'm really improving here.

https://soundcloud.com/anchorme/chrono-trigger-600ad-3

I did some more tweaking as per your suggestions. I upped the bass more (Compared to the prior WIPs I reaallly see what you mean... Let's get that umph back!) and put the B section panning in the center, but put the panning on a different instrument as backup -- I think it REALLY adds something to it, and I like it a lot.

Reverb - hoo boy. Tell me what you think. I'm not terribly experienced with adding reverb effects, so I tried to go light. Too light? Too heavy? I see what you mean about the dryness though, the reverb fills it out pretty nicely.

Also added some limiting... trying to keep it loud.

I don't think there's much I can do about the simplicity of the tones -- The whole track would have to be reworked if I changed it too much I think. But I'm not afraid of trying to make this a really excellent track if that's what it takes to get it posted Still, I don't think my track is quite the same as a "vanilla" chiptune.. is it?

Thanks again! I've already learned a lot, guys. Can't wait to get finished on this one!

Edited September 9, 2013 by AnchorMe