djpretzel Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 ----- Original Message ----- From: jamesgeo@jamesgeorgemusicandsound.com To: submissions@ocremix.org Sent: Sunday, April 23, 2006 3:40 PM Subject: Kid Icarus Medley Sorry for being a turdy little newb, I just realized I didn't quite submit my Kid Icarus Medley in the proper format, my apologies: Contact Info Your ReMixer name - James George Your real name - James George Your email address - jamesgeo@jamesgeorgemusicandsound.com Your website - www.jamesgeorgemusicandsound.com Your userid (number, not name) on our forums - 82440? not sure what you need ReMix Info Name of game(s) ReMixed - Kid Icarus Name of individual song(s) ReMixed - I seriously don't remember anymore, email me if you really need this info and I'll dig it up. I took my most favorite stuff from Kid Icarus and blended it together, so there's several titles. Link to the original soundtrack if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site - http://www.flyingomelette.com/kidicarus/kidicarusmidis.html Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc. - Remixed by request. I did my best to bring out the subtleness of the original melodies; they were always full of great ideas but, of course, hindered by NES capabilities. I also tried to do so while maintaining the march-like feel of most of the soundtrack. The middle of the piece actually blends together two boss/dungeon themes; it's pretty chaotic and comically unplayable. Posted at: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 http://www.zophar.net/nsf/kidicar.zip - Tracks 1, 2, 3 & 10 The track is slightly over the size limit [6MB (6,291,456 bytes)], and sounds fairly lossy regardless. Encode it in VBR to get more bang for the the buck (or I guess more mojo for the meg...or something). I'm certainly glad to see James back in the community again after not hearing from him in a long while, basically since I started getting serious about the community. This definitely sounds better than the WIP version, which was really thin, though the reverb is over the top and makes everything sound too muddy. I feel it can be more tastefully done, as this affects most of the track. Can't help but feel that the stereo in the intro felt too imbalanced toward the left channel, since the support work was much quieter on the right side; nothing major. Keeping in mind that the reverb/processing here really needs to be redone... Good transition to a subtler approach at :38 taking on another section of the first source. The transition at 1:42 was jumpy and non-existent; definitely a poor way to segue to the next movement. It sounded like the instrumentation simply skipped in at full volume. The tone of the drums at 2:07 sounded completely out of place, IMO. Transition at 2:24 was also strange in that the mood changed without much buildup or connection to the prior stuff. The drums at 2:54 again felt completely out of place in this setting, not to mention mechanically sequenced. 3:18's transition worked better, I felt. The sounds for the 3:18-3:47 section didn't quite capture the intense energy of the writing. The transition at 3:52, on the other hand, felt like you didn't know how to move from the previous section to the next with that horn letting out some sort of death squawk, then just pausing and moving to the new section. There are so many points where the transitions either aren't smooth or simply don't connect the sections effectively, creating that medleyitis I was talking about in the WIP thread, i.e. making a larger arrangement simply by covering several themes in a row with little to no connections between the themes. That wasn't the case the whole way through here. The last few minutes were alright (even though the final note cut off). The small orchestra work here is decent. You had some fairly good ideas for covering the original material, but then expanding the instrumentation/parts to give things some additional depth. Nonetheless you need to more judiciously use reverb and figure out how to flesh out the soundfield without swamping it, you need to build better transitions that don't make the tone change in such jarring ways, and also need to change most of the percussion sounds (i.e. that drumkit) to something that gels with the orchestration. You certainly have a good base in place; keep at it on this one, bro (and go for a more creative title for the arrangement). NO (rework/resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Tip on reverb: don't make it sound like it's being played in a large concert hall. Make it sound like a recording you could play in a concert hall, and allow the concert hall to make the song sound cavernous. In other words, use just enough reverb to keep the instruments from sounding "dry" instead of trying to fill out your soundfield with residual sound. As for the arrangement, pretty nice stuff throughout, but I think that some of the brass samples are so-so, and that the percussion in that section around 2:07 sounds horribly thin and out of place. Also, your basslines don't have enough definition. This makes the song sound top-heavy. The low strings sound like a big blur of sound; they're detache, they shouldn't sound like a long "whooommooommmooomm." You need to make those low strings sound marcato. Don't rely on the sample alone; tweak the sound and work with the reverb and EQ to give it a sharper, more defined sound. Definitely a lot of skill here, but you need to work on production and presentation. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcos Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Reverb level is way too much, just makes everything sound wishy-washy. Transitions don't really flow, eg that part at 1.43 where everything comes back in sounded really awkwardly done. The drumbeat that came in at 2.09 didn't suit the vibe of the song, and instead of chaging it it just went away again. At aound 3.20 - again a very jarring transition. In terms of production, dues to the reverb mostly I think, the whole thing sounded really muddy and undefined. Needs a total rework. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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