djpretzel Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 LT NOTE: The artist messaged me saying he fixed some clipping in the original version of the mix. Download the current link in order to evaluate the proper version. It should be 4:00-long (as opposed to the old one which was 3:59-long). Do not use a copy from the judge-FTP. Remixer Name: tweek Real Name: Brian Arnold Email: bmarnold@uga.edu Game: Halo Songs Remixed: Covenant Dance and Main Theme (both found at www.vgmusic.com). This song has been a long time in coming. Started it about 2 years ago. A very straight forward mix with elements from the two songs meshed together to create one. I wanted to create a tribal rock mix that captured the tone of the OST but also took it in a different direction. After posting this a year ago, there was an overwhelming opinion that suggested some electric guitar work. The people were right, and so the guitar was added. It was performed by a friend of mine (not a member of the site) and was recorded by me. Special thanks to David, my guitarist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 Halo Original Soundtrack - (26) "Halo" & (14) "Covenant Dance" MIDIs: http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/microsoft/xbox/CovenantDance.mid http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/microsoft/xbox/halo_theme_v2.mid Both sources are at least somewhat similar, as "Covenant Dance" is structured a bit like the main theme "Halo." Sequencing on the "Halo" MIDI is bleh, but I don't feel like getting the MP3 copies of the sources. Onto the mix, the opening was fairly decent. Not very different from the original, but personalized to some extent anyway. The brief piano in there felt mechanical and MIDI-grade. The hand drums were a nice idea for a more organic feel though. A little rigid and loopy, but they were OK, so no big deal; the piano was definitely worse. Some weak/flat beats and a low quality bassline came in at 1:11 along with some MIDI-grade bells or xylo at 1:19. The low-end sounded a little muddy once things picked up. And still, the energy level was decidedly flat. There were decent/basic effects on the piano along with at least some degree of thought put into velocities, but the sequencing was very rigid so the performance didn't sound the least bit natural. Things briefly slowed down at 2:00 only for it to pick back up at 2:15 with more very rigid piano work, before seguing to some very flat, indistinct guitar work at 2:38. Tone had no meat on it at all for any of the guitars, plus the mixing on them was pretty bad. The lead guitar didn't stand out very far from the others, and everything else was mushing together. The beats once again were very tame and unprocessed, hampering the intended energy level. The concepts were decent. The source material still wasn't interpreted very creatively, IMO; the arrangement could stand to be more liberal and personalized, rather than what basically amounts to a cover. The samples were pretty weak, and the sequencing was too rigid to allow the performance to flow nicely or compensate for the sample quality. The live guitar stuff had no bite to it either. Really needs a lot of work on the fundamentals and further fan feedback to at least address some of the more obvious basic problems. Needs a lot of work as is. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcos Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 This is an example of where the sample quality really let a mix down. The arrangement (definitely not a re-arrangement, too similar to the original imo) would have been much better suited to higher quality samples. The drums in particular sounded very mechanical, probably in stark contrast to their true intentions. Things did pick up with the guitar part, but it definitely wasn't enough to bring the level up to the yes standard. I think the mixer should try to invest in some higher quality samples and work on their arrangement skills, as well as adding some personality to their stuff. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Well, that's certainly true, but it's also about what one can do with their existing stuff. Anyone else have an opinion on how well these particular sounds can be used? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 Well, that's certainly true, but it's also about what one can do with their existing stuff. Anyone else have an opinion on how well these particular sounds can be used? Gotta have more varying patterns on a hand percussion line than that. I'm guilty of it myself sometimes, but it always pays to go the extra mile. Percussion isn't bad overall though. Piano is really mechanical. Come on, at least play with the velocities. The development of the piece is pretty boring for the first half; a lot of the same stuff over and over again. Guitars sound bunched together and lack definition. They also feel tacked on, and you pretty much said they were in your email. I don't think that the guitars really work in this arrangement as well as you'd hoped. They don't feel integral at all. I think that if you're going to have that kind of guitar in this piece, you really need to make it more of a focal point of the piece and bring it in earlier. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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