Final Fantasy VI - Kefka's Theme Remix

[nprecords]

Been meaning to post something here for a really long time, just never really got around to it until now. Anyway!

Here's the remix itself!

I'm aware the mixdown isn't quite where it needs to be yet, but I'm still happy with how it's turning out otherwise, and would like to see what anybody else thinks about it.

[Byproduct]

Sounds pretty good!

I haven't heard the original, so I'll skip commenting on the composition. But two things I wanted to say. Firstly, the amen loop drumming (or w/e) kind of irritates me, and doesn't seem to fit very well with the rest of the instruments there. The drums early on fit much better in my opinion. Secondly, the guitar~ish instrument sounds unbalanced; either it's not coming from the center or some other aspect of the mix makes it seem panned to the right, which is fatiguing in the long run.

Edited November 19, 2013 by Byproduct

[Gario]

Ooo, I love the sounds that you've got going in here. Byproduct is absolutely right about that guitar, though - it's distracting panning as it is now. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the structure is pretty boring, too - you have the music hang out in the same phrase for far too long. Don't be afraid to explore the rest of the source, as it'll help make the arrangement more interesting overall.

Also, while it's not a big deal if you don't plan on submitting the track to OCR, if you ever plan on making a submission there is a legal restriction against the use of Squaresoft SFX on any submission here - which means if you submit this you'd need to remove the Kefka laugh. Sucks, but that's the way Square-Enix wants it, so we have to comply. Well, you don't have to, but if you submit it you would. Just an FYI for you.

Sounds great so far, though - I would like to see what else you do with it!

[nprecords]

I appreciate the feedback, you guys! I'm not used to actively showing people my music and asking for critiques and such, so this is pretty new to me, so bear with me here.

Now that you guys have pointed it out, yeah, the guitar is definitely not balanced properly! I'll go ahead and adjust that. As for the Amen Break usage, what exactly is it that bothers you about it, Byproduct? Is it the drum patterns, the way it's mixed into the track? I might attempt to add more drum samples interspersed throughout simply for variety, but I'm fond of what I did with the break itself. That might just be my jungle/breakcore upbringing talking though, haha.

Gario, glad you like the sounds I've got set out here! I'll try to mix up the source elements a bit more to make the composition a bit more exciting. As for the squaresoft samples, I wasn't necessarily planning on submitting it to OCRemix; I've actually been working on a remix of the entirety of the Dancing Mad final boss suite, and was planning on bundling that up and releasing it elsewhere on the internet. Personally, I don't know if I'm quite ready to actually submit something officially! But if I do, I'll make sure my mix is VG sample-free.

In any case, I'll see what I can do about tweaking and expanding upon what I've got here. Thanks!

[timaeus222]

The arrangement sticks quite closely to the source. That's the first thing I notice here. I also find the snare rhythm at 0:12 a little bit odd.

0:35 is pretty interesting with the dubstep influence. The kick is clearly nice. The drum loop at 1:00 bothers me like Byproduct had said. I think it's because you're mixing a fast rhythm with a plodding kick+cymbal rhythm and the pacing is conflicting. I agree with Byproduct that the drums before 1:00 seem to fit better in their respective sections.

At 1:28, the guitar panned far to the right does seem a little dragged on due to some sort of overboost near 3000Hz or so. That's where people tend to boost for more distortion presence on the guitars, but that's a common pitfall as I had found on some video someone showed me. 3000Hz is not always the answer, and it really takes a lot of trial-and-error to find what guitar sound/EQ/amping fits best to many people. The drum loop doesn't bother me here as much as the guitar does, as this section could have a genre shift and still work just fine, but it couldn't hurt to simply write on another layer of your own drums on top of the loop there to add more of your own flavor to that section. I personally don't mind if someone uses loops, but I consider reasonably good integration of loops to be pretty important.

I know the source pretty well, and I could say that I hear close to 90% source. It's not like that percentage by itself makes this too conservative, but the remix is quite similar to the source in pacing, tempo, key, and harmonies. Even though you aren't planning to sub this, those would be my main points of concern, as the production seems passable (the orchestral sequencing is questionable).

Edited November 20, 2013 by timaeus222

[Byproduct]

As for the Amen Break usage, what exactly is it that bothers you about it, Byproduct? Is it the drum patterns, the way it's mixed into the track? I might attempt to add more drum samples interspersed throughout simply for variety, but I'm fond of what I did with the break itself. That might just be my jungle/breakcore upbringing talking though, haha.

Not the patterns, they're nice and creative enough. For me it's just the sound itself - doesn't fit nearly as well as the earlier drums, plus it's a bit of an overused cliche. But that's just personal preference that you may well disagree with.

If you've sequenced the drums in from individual samples, I think you could do great things by keeping the same patterns and trying different samples. But if you're slicing up ready-made loops then it's of course not possible.