*NO* Final Fantasy 6 'I Hate'

[Liontamer]

Contact Information

Your ReMixer name: Peregrinus

Your real name: Nicolas Galipeau

Your email address:

Your website: https://soundcloud.com/n-galipeau

Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: 52473

e.g. djpretzel (http://ocremix.org/forums/member.php?u=1) has the userid of "1"

Submission Information

Name of game(s) arranged: Final Fantasy VI

Name of arrangement: I Hate

Name of individual song(s) arranged: Kefka

Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site)

Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site)

Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc:

Here is a cover I made of one of my favorite track from Nobuo Uematsu. At first, I intended to simply orchestrate the piece, but then I got inspired to play a bit with it. I tried to go with a darker mood for the legendary "Clown of Chaos". In this Remix, I explore the darker side of this jovial megalomaniac!

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Edited August 6, 2014 by Liontamer
closed decision

[Liontamer]

The string sequencing opening things up sounded noticeably stilted, but serviceable. Not really blown away by the lack of realism feeling exposed most of the way through what felt to me like stiff timing of otherwise good samples.

The arrangement itself was interpretive enough, and the samples are serviceable, but something about this piece's texture seemed really empty, even lifeless in places, e.g. 2:00-2:15. The string decay at 2:55 stuck out the most as super fake and dry-sounding.

What was with the mega-abrupt ending? Sounded like the last drums hit should have tailed off over a few more seconds.

I'm reserving a call for now, because I like a lot of the ideas here, but I'm not quite sure on the execution. Will wait to see how others feel and if they articulate the issues better than I can.

EDIT (8/6): The NOs have it. Through some combination of tweaking the sequencing and/or mixing, like the others suggested, you can get this sounding its best. Right now, the realism and emptiness issues nagged enough that I couldn't approve it just yet. But don't be discouraged, Nicolas, you're in the right direction so far.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Liontamer
added vote

[Chimpazilla]

Ah, 100% orchestral mixes are a bitch to get right! It takes a lot of humanization and layering of articulations and automating of CC11 or volume to get string and brass lines to sound real. The xylophone also needs humanization as each hit is the same velocity. The snare rolls sound quite mechanical.

As for the mixing, the high strings are much too loud. The snare and xylophone are also too loud. Orchestral tracks should kind of sound like a "homogenous wall of sound" and nothing should really stick out volume-wise, if you think about it, picture a live orchestra, no one runs up to a microphone in the front to play a solo! The arrangement needs to be written so that some parts are "wall of sound" and other passages contain just the solo element(s), which will be somewhat soft, giving the piece a lot of dynamic range. But no way will the xylophone be louder than the entire brass section.

I like this arrangement but there needs to be much more attention to the humanizing detail and balance/mixing. Also there are areas of the arrangement that feel strangely empty, for example from 1:44-2:15, something like a harp gliss or glock pattern would give focus to those empty passages.

The ending is much too abrupt, it feels like it needs one more resolving chord or something, also make sure your render captures the final reverb tail.

NO (resubmit)

[Nutritious]

Off the bat, I felt like this could use some tasteful reverb to smooth out the attacks & releases and generally mesh the parts better together. The samples themselves aren't bad, it's just the sequencing and production holding this back.

Right after typing this, I'm getting to the woodwind lead section, which actually feels slightly washed out to me. So, I'm not sure I can make the blanket neez moar reverb statement. I still think it's part of the problem (like type of reverb used and settings), but Chimp makes a good point about how much care needs to go into how you sequence orchestral. Simply automating velocity (and, if it also crossfades samples like EWQLSO does with CC11, which I'm assuming this library does) goes a very long way. Alternating velocities on one shot samples like xylophone helps a lot as well.

The ending was also a big disappointment TBH. It just kind of stops after resolving a chord with an extra snare roll. Not really sure what the thought process here, but to me it sounds like the end of a WIP, rather than a finished piece.

This isn't bad by any means, but I agree with Kristina that this needs some more love.

NO resubmit, please

[Palpable]

I liked the treatment. You brought some great ideas to the table, and used the full dynamic range of the orchestra. Each section had a new approach but the source was almost always present. On an arrangement level, I would pass this. However, the ending could have used more of a build-up - it just... ended.

The production wasn't as solid, starting with a lack of reverb. The strings sounded okay legato, but once you moved to the sharper attacks and releases, it felt like we were transported from a hall to a studio. Be more careful with how your instruments are positioned spatially - like Chimpazilla said, you don't want things to stick out that will take the listener out of the experience. Sequencing is actually not as big a problem here as reverb and balance (which is unusual for orchestral subs we get, where sequencing is typically the biggest problem), but could use some tightening. Fixing those space-related issues will bring you a long way towards a pass.

NO (resubmit)