Liontamer Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 (edited) Re-mixer: ZeroSynapseEDM Game: Final Fantasy VI Name of song: Destination of Souls Song arranged: Cyan's theme ------------------------- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi_Zex0qILc Edited January 21, 2014 by Palpable closed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 The arrangement is personalized nicely, though there's an overall muddy and cluttered sound here, IMO. Obviously, it's meant to have an ethereal quality, but the melodic leads and piano were overpowered too much by the beats. The heavy kicks from :26-:52 & 1:30-3:06 were also a bit on the plodding side. More dropouts here or there could have prevented it from sounding plodding/fatiguing, but I can live with them as is, especially if the levels on that kick were just pulled back a bit. This may pass as is and I actually enjoy the arrangement a lot, but it's just a bit too cluttered and could use a tweak. That said, I'll go ahead and tip in favor of it. It's not groundbreaking for the genre, but it's definitely still a very creative, energetic take on Cyan, even if it muds together some. It gets it done! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 I wasn't a fan of the piano lead for a good portion of the mix. I felt like it didn't follow the energy and speed of the rest of the track. That being said, I think there is a ton of really good personalization here that adds some fresh takes to the Cyan theme. I agree with Larry about the track being a little cluttered overall, but I do think all the major parts are still clear enough and muddiness wasn't to a point where it was a solid negative. I would have loved more variation in the drums overall, and maybe some rhythmic variation overall, to spice things up more as well. I think this could go either way, but I'm on the yes side of the fence here. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 dammmn this is mixed hot; way loud! The piano is lacking high end, is pretty mechanical, and is buried a good deal in the mix. I do think that the first and last issues are connected, as it'd carry more with some high end sparkle. The other judges were not joking when they mentioned a lot of mud, this really could use some cleaning up. I think the arrangement is good and above the bar, but there are enough production concerns that I am more comfortable having this be revised. Giving the piano a bit more high end and cleaning up some of the low mids is a great place to start. Humanizing the piano lead a bit as well would also be nice. Besides that it is sounding good, I look forward to hearing a resubmission! No, please resubmit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Yeah, I'm leaning more in Andrew's direction here. Arrangement is solid for sure. But man, this mix is really loud - especially the kick. As mentioned, the piano lead has a very dull tone that tends to get buried. Clutter is a big factor as well. Nice breakdown at 1:06, but the saw lead is buried under a ton of reverb, which is causing a lot of mud and washing out the lead. I like the effect, so I wouldn't take it too far into the other direction, just scale back the wetness a bit. Cool, creative high-energy mix. Would like to hear some production cleanup, though. NO resubmit, please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexstyle Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Ooh, trance! This is one of my favorite genres, so I'm always happy to hear more of it. There's a lot to like here. I think I can feel the type of atmosphere you're going for, with the etherial pads and the piano 'n such. I like that little arp that comes in during the breakdown, adds some cool flavor. Here's my thing: I think this arrangement could be a LOT better if you were to take better care of the genre itself. Let me explain. Trance is a genre that relies on the flow of the song. Abrupt stops don't really do it any favors, and a well-placed buildup will do wonders for a song. Every element needs to follow the flow of the song that has been created, otherwise the energy level suffers. A few things in this arrangement that go against this ethos, to me, include the bassline and some of your drum fills, as well as your abrupt re-entry into the song from the breakdown. First off, the tempo could stand to be changed a bit. With the tempo you're at--I'd guess high 140s to low 150s, without actually tapping it out--you're dealing with the kick covering a large portion of each beat. What I mean by that is that the decay of the kick drum covers more than half a beat, which automatically creates problems for anything that's trying to be in that same frequency range. It's not necessarily something that needs to be changed, but try experimenting with different tempos and see if that helps a bit. The bassline is a bit thin, although that's somewhat necessitated by the super-thick kick drum. If you were to change up the patterns so that the kick complements the kick drum, rather than trying to be its own rhythmic element at the same time--sort of a call and response thing--that would help the flow of the song a lot. Even adding some sidechain to the bassline would really help. Thickening it up, yet allowing it to live in harmony with that kick drum, would give this song a lot more body and character, I think. Your breakdown is pretty abrupt, with not so much as a snare roll to signify that something's coming. Same thing goes for the entry from the breakdown into the rest of the song--even though you've got a soft sound effect going in there, it's the kind of effect that would signal for more breakdown (to my ears, at least), rather than adding the kick drum and the rest of the elements in there. More sound effects would help your case, adding atmosphere, as well as maybe a secondary lead that mirrors the melody that the pad is already carrying. During the last portion of the song, you really haven't given us much variation on your original ideas. At least give me some amped up percussion--busier hats or something, make it sound like it's a true climax of a trance piece! Doing a bit of variation on the themes would help, too. I do hear the countermelody you've put in there, but it occupies the same frequency spectrum as everything else, making everything become a bit messy in that high-midrange EQ spectrum. In summary, here's what NEEDS to be fixed: - Kick drum is too hot, creating distortion at parts (especially during kick rolls). - Give me more variation or something during the end, allowing it to stand by itself as a final part of the song. The rest of the advice is yours to take or leave, but I think this piece will become something spectacular if you take the time to give it the detailing it deserves. NO, please resubmit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 I think the other J's, especially Flexstyle, covered the issues here to perfection. That kick is just too loud/hot/compressed, and has a bit too long of a decay for the busy writing. Way too much reverb overall, creating a washed-out soundscape (and I love reverb... so you know it really is too much, haha!). Flex has some great points about the trance arrangement too, like the drumless breakdown feeling abrupt, the transitions into and out of that breakdown will make that section work or not - needs better transitioning. What about trying a halftime section somewhere? Flex is also right about the lack of original writing, toward the end is a great place for some fun soloing and really varying up the source. That piano needs some more volume and sparkle/high-end to compete with the saws and sweeps. You could also notch the saws/sweeps a bit to let the piano cut through more in the higher frequencies. There's a lot to like here. I love the reverse sfx in the outro. I don't think this is too far from being passable. I think with some of the suggested changes made, this will really be a great track! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Right from the outset, I'm already sensing a problem. The compression on this is quite high - the intro feels as loud as I would expect the chorus to be. The piano is also buried in a way that doesn't really suit the material - take down those synth blocky chords and carve out some of the kick to make room for the piano. Apart from that, you've got a really sweet arrangement. It's a little by-the-numbers at points, but executed well. Lots of energy, great details like the reverse echoes and chimes in the outro, overall cool mood. With the production stuff fixed, this would pass. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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