*NO* Legend of Zelda 'Hyrule Jam' *FT*

[JJT]

Hello sir, I want to report what I suspect is a fall-through. I posted my song just after christmas, which is about 4 months ago. It's based on the original Zelda theme and is called "Hyrule Jam", and is located at

Here follows the song description:

Hyrule Jam is a mix of genres which plays around the familiar zelda theme in an adventureous way. I wanted to make it different from the interpretations I've heard earlier, so I tried to make it groove-orientated while incorporate some light symphonic elements and wrap it all up in an semi-organic 'loose' production inspired from 70s prog rock and funk. Hope you like it =)

Thanks and let me know if there's any problem =)

Peace, Eivind

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This is borderline.

On one hand the arrangement is over the bar, and the drum programming is spot on for the genre. The bass is sequenced well (with the notable exception of 2:15).

The organ samples sound really, really dry though, especially when they're exposed during the sparse parts of the arrangement.

The pocket is definetly there and the organ playing (or sequencing) itself is convincing.

The section starting at 2:06 makes me cringe. The introduction of the more "symphonic" elements does not strengthen this mix in my humble opinion. The strings sound really fakey and dry (like the organ does at some points). Ditto on the flute.

*sigh*

I could have let the organ samples slide, but the sound quality in the latter half of the arrangement knocks this mix down a couple pegs. Sorry but I'm giving this a NO with the strong suggestion that you resubmit. I'd suggest either ridding the arrangement of the last half, or upping the production value to make it more convincing. Don't be afraid to throw some reverb onto those samples.

NO RESUBMIT

[GrayLightning]

Yeah this is a tough one.

I think the intro was ugly sounding. It sounded like a chiptune trying to sound like an organ, bitcrushed perhaps? But once the organ and drums section evolved things got pretty good in my opinion.

I really like the organ section, it does really give off the 70s feel more than the percussion/drums in my view. I can almost hear this being in a 70s tv show or trying to be a faux-Mancini (that was a compliment).

Production here is underwhelming though. There needs to be quite a lot of work done on the organ, it sounds so plain, bland. I would work on eqing it at least in the mids and it needs a boost in the highs, it sounds so muddy. A little reverb would help too.

Drums are plain jane. They need everything under the sun, better compression usage/color/eq/maybe even reverb. They are thin, thin, thin! Very good drum work though, it does fit the 70s era.

The middle part where the organ goes into some kind of arbasque type scale was completely surprising, and perhaps not fitting, but you know what, I loved it. Also at the end where you went to the sitar out of the blue. I don't think it necessarily fits, but I'm giving you kudos points for trying.

The strings are ok, I personally wouldn't want to add too much reverb to this for a 70s type sound. A lot of 70s pop stuff tends to be very dry. Maybe a small room with lots of eq to simulate the ageing sound would work better. I do agree that the flute is ugly though, it's painfully dry too. For me this was the weakest element. Flutes need either reverb or delay or they're going to sound crappy!

The samples are passable in my view, now get back to work on making them shine with some production work. EQ, Reverb, Compression at the very least...

NO

[Vig]

groovetastic. sounds quite flat, but sequencing is cool. actually, once the organ starts playing whole notes, i get bored. neither the rhythms nor the voicings are interesting.

There's a lot of good melody and improvisation going on.

the arrangement is very good. Keeps my interest, has lots of subtlety.

by the end i'm still really impressed by the arrangement and the melodic/countermelodic parts. unfortunately the sound quality and the monotonous comping keep this one below the bar. I'd really like to hear a resubmit and I look forward to hearing more from you.

NO

[Liontamer]

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/zelda.zip - Track 1 ("Title")

Organ introing this is so flat. It's got no energy whatsoever, but it does have a little of that oldies feel to it, so like the others I could let the quality slide a little. Drum writing starting at :10 on the other hand is lame. The beats are too basic and repetitive and don't add any energy to the song.

Source didn't come in until :39, going right to the bridge. Organ/keyboard performance shouldn't sound so rigid and robotic. You can barely hear the hand drums here, they're basically a non-factor this low; punch them up and make sure you're varying the patterns on those too. Soundfield is pretty sparse as a result of not using everything optimally. The only thing I thought was fine as is was the bassline, but even then it didn't really fill out the track for the first section and felt pretty buried in the back until 2:15.

Uh, not feeling the runs played at 2:06 at all. Everything just sounds flat and unexpressive. 2:39 though brought a quiet belltone lead with some synths occasionally on support. Arrangement picks up with a little more ornamentation, but it's basically on cruise control and isn't really going anywhere new; I figure it'll come around later...

And there we go at 3:37-4:05 with some crazy comping. Backing strings there sounded so thin and used in beginner-ish way. Some basic woodwind stuff at 4:25 almost merely sounded like an attempt to add something for the sake of adding something, but the layering of another wind instrument at from 4:35-4:44 helped move away from that.

Ha! Sitar at 5:04 comes in there with no real thematic connection to any of the previous material. Ooooook.

Anyway, everyone else covered the main crits, (including smellzy Vig who got in his vote while I was halfway done writing). The arrangement is monotonous and lacks energy. I disagreed that that aspect of it was even over the bar on its own. Vary the arrangement up, fill the soundfield up, and spruce up the production.

NO