Corridors of Time Remix

[L'Anthony]

Yes, I know it has been remixed probably more than any other song from any other game, but with good reason... This is my first remix ever, and I tried to take a drastically different approach than anyone else. I still have some things I want to do with it before I submit it, but I'm curious to hear what everyone else thinks.

Link Removed. Submitting

Edited October 10, 2013 by L'Anthony

[k-wix]

Hey Anthony, I'll post some thoughts for you

- The intro is solid, the ambience, thick reverb, and layering of sounds all do a good job of putting the listener into a nice mood. The beginning is a pretty good take on a classic.

- Your lead synth is nice, at times it can feel muddy or sloppy, but it lends itself well to the mood of the track and sounds ok.

- The reverb is thick and juicy, This is helpful because it creates a nice thick atmosphere for you to layer sounds into, but there is such a thing as too much verb' and certain sounds can feel muddy and drowned out.

- The biggest issue I have is that the song doesn't really go anywhere, or progress past the nice intro. Sure, you have the lead doing some interesting things and occasionally there is a new drum bit to be found, but you could *easily* cut the length by 50% and have the listener end up with the same experience. I think you need to flesh out your ideas, develop the song more, and just do more in general with it. The ambient reverb is nice for building atmosphere, but if you don't do anything with it, it feels hollow and empty. That being said, I would love to see where you could take this.

Hope it helps

-Dusty

[L'Anthony]

Thanks for the critique. I feel the same way, there's something else I need to do with it. Gonna be on hold for a few days, though, as I'm currently 13 hours from home.

Appreciate the input.

[Trinity Dragon]

Okay. First up: I like the delay effect and the bass humming in the background. To tell the truth, it reminds me of Front Mission. I'm not sure it's as drastically different as you're aiming for, though. You might try easing up on the percussion in the latter half--it sounds overly synthesized, and I think that will count against you when you submit. Also, I would try changing up the lead and the choir in the background. I do like how you played with the melody at about the 4 minute mark. But overall, it lacks the sort of personal touch that a great remix needs.

[L'Anthony]

The percussion was not synthesized at all. It was all samples and timed hard, but not synthesized. The snare hit, however, is pretty heavily edited, which might be why you think it sounds synthesized.

[avaris]

Just want to echo what k-wix said.

Another big thing. The synth playing the arpeggio needs variation. It gets old VERY quick. Try out some modulation. Or make two slightly different versions and pan them hard left and right. Having that synth panned middle is completely masking the lead sounds. Which have too much reverb IMO. It de-emphasizing the beautiful melody.

Snare has to much reverb. There needs to be a thick sub bass panned dead center mono in the mix. There are some nice bass frequencies in the mix but they are washed out and have too much stereo image.

[Argle]

I feel like you created a great intro, a nice thick atmosphere, then kind of squandered the potential. I think it should build up to something more, with more changeups along the way.. The sine lead sounds a little overbearing. Might want to EQ some of those stuffy/nasally resonance freqs that sine leads always have.

[timaeus222]

Might want to EQ some of those stuffy/nasally resonance freqs that sine leads always have.

I'll add on to this and say that try to use internal EQ modules if you can, since they have a "keytracking/keyfollow" effect. External EQ is static and only applies to particular still ranges, not specific harmonics. In other words, it's more consistent/effective.

[Argle]

I'll add on to this and say that try to use internal EQ modules if you can, since they have a "keytracking/keyfollow" effect. External EQ is static and only applies to particular still ranges, not specific harmonics. In other words, it's more consistent/effective.

I'm not aware of any plugin I have that can do that. It sounds like an awesome feature though. For sticky situations like that I usually end up using a dynamic EQ with a couple bands spread across the problem range. But you've piqued my interest with this key tracking EQ.

edit: oh man, turns out I do have an EQ that can do key tracking. That is sooooo awesome. Thanks for the sweet idea!

Edited October 8, 2013 by Argle

[L'Anthony]

Uploading revised version as I type this. Should be up in about 10 min or so. Same link in OP should still work for the new version. Cut out once through each section, added some sound effects, killed the reversed sample layered on the snare, tried to widen the stereo image some more, tweaked reverbs in some places and re-eq'd the lead synth. I'm pretty cemented to the sound I have for the lead synth, however, because nothing else I've come up w/ has really fit w/ the mood that I am trying to portray. As I was making this, I kept imagining a huge ceremonial room inside a stone temple in the middle of a jungle. That's the image I want the listener to feel when he's listening to it. Thanks again for everyone's criticisms. I enjoy a forum where one can ask for honest opinions, and no one is malicious in what they say.

With that said, I've decided that this will be the song structure for the final version I submit. I still want more critiques, though.

[avaris]

Not a big fan of the water sample. Sounds like I am in my bathroom. I'd focus on some FX and automation on the water sound to give it some unique life. Birds sounds are good.

Boost lead synth playing the melody by 1-3db.

1:37 Arpeggio needs to go away. Or another instrument needs to take over playing those notes. It's getting really old by this point.

2:23 Needs another instrument supporting the melody. It's good to have variation in the notes played but adding another layer to the melody would really help add to the climax of the song.

Drum samples and decisions are nice. The reverbs have the low frequencies EQ'd out right?

Some hard panning left/right could really boost the stereo image and depth of the track. Make sure both Left/Right are balanced so the mix doesn't feel lopsided.

Choir sounds are nice. Layering some winds or strings an octave up over the choir would be nice. Bring them slowly as you approach the climax of the track. Should help with the pacing.

[timaeus222]

The reverbs have the low frequencies EQ'd out right?

Just a small note, avaris is talking about raising the low cut of the reverb plugin, not literally EQing out the low end on an EQ plugin. You want to have as little low end muddiness as possible, not remove the low frequencies altogether. If you did, that would make the instrument much less powerful. However, if you raise the low cut too much, the sense of space is lessened. Try to get a good balance.

[L'Anthony]

Made some final revisions. Going to submit it now. I'm pretty happy with where it is right now. Thanks again for all the input. Gonna pull the link down in the OP so that the submission will be as much a surprise as possible.

[Argle]

Just a small note, avaris is talking about raising the low cut of the reverb plugin, not literally EQing out the low end on an EQ plugin.

That's worded ambiguously imo and could be confusing. The reverbs I use don't have low cuts built in, I use a separate EQ in the bus. Bottom line is, we're talking about cutting the low end of your reverb.

[L'Anthony]

Valhalla Vintage has a low cut on it.

[avaris]

Valhalla Vintage has a low cut on it.

I guess you got it then. Valhalla is an excellent reverb company btw.

For clarification, I was referring to using anything to EQ out the low freqs on the reverb signal. It's always difficult to ascertain someone's technical knowledge over the intrawebs! Will give a listen to this tomorrow. I really like your style dude! Keep it up.

[timaeus222]

That's worded ambiguously imo and could be confusing. The reverbs I use don't have low cuts built in, I use a separate EQ in the bus. Bottom line is, we're talking about cutting the low end of your reverb.

Well, it seems like the OP knew what I was referring to. avaris was talking about cutting the low end of the reverb signal, i.e. cutting the low end of the reverb wet mix (not the sound's dry signal). Raising the low cut in the reverb plugin does the exact same thing if there is such a knob on your particular reverb plugin, and there has been on every reverb plugin I've encountered at least. So then Argle, you're one exception amongst others.

Edited October 11, 2013 by timaeus222

[L'Anthony]

I guess you got it then. Valhalla is an excellent reverb company btw.

For clarification, I was referring to using anything to EQ out the low freqs on the reverb signal. It's always difficult to ascertain someone's technical knowledge over the intrawebs! Will give a listen to this tomorrow. I really like your style dude! Keep it up.

Yar, I'm actually a working engineer from nashville. As far as technical knowledge, I have plenty. My mixing environment isn't ideal, though, so it comes down to a lot of trial and error, unfortunately. I was offering mixes as I was testing them on various devices/environments, while also trying to decide exactly how I wanted the song to go.

I really appreciate the sentiments. I'm considering trying to tackle a full Chrono Trigger album, including the untouched tracks from the OST. This was my first remix, ever. Have some stuff I've been writing for solo projects, but nothing even close to ready (I can't write lyrics for crap). Unfortunately, when it comes to the creative side of things, I struggle greatly. Often times, I have to play around until I find something that makes me swoon.