nOkbient Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 (edited) Original: So there has always been a few tunes from video games I have always wanted to remix but never gotten around to doing. This has always been one of them, if not the FIRST one. Well, I have finally gotten around to doing it, and finishing it! I think I did a pretty good job on it, too! After publishing it I replaced it with a version with a more pronounced snare drum, as the previous one was too soft and was getting buried. Remix:https://soundcloud.com/nokbient/yoshis-island-remix-intro Thoughts? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EDIT #2: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edit #2: https://soundcloud.com/nokbient/yoshi-start-demo-remix-ver2-wip I accidently removed the first edited version I made. Woops. Made some pretty drastic changes this time. -New intro. No longer identical to source. -I tried to do some new things with percussion. I made the kick a little bit more sub-heavy, and made the side-chain more prominent again. Also layered another snare drum, and did some EQ on it. Overall, I think the drums are what I'm having the most issue with. It's a weakness of mine, I suppose. But also I would say the sustained bass part saps any potential energy from the arrangement. For a downtempo song that wants to groove the bassline needs to groovify more. -More variation in with basslines. For a 4-minute song (let's discount the intro) the pacing and energy is pretty samey and it kinda had me looking at my metaphorical watch. There weren't any surprises for me, things that made me sit up and say "Oh!", and the groove wasn't so strong that I was dancing in my chair. -Chord changes and moderate adjustments to the arrangement. Hopefully not as hard to sit through for over 4 minutes . -Actual ending rather than a fadeout. I'm not a huge fan of the use of the source string part in the main body of the song. I just don't like the sound of them. Try replacing them with a different string patch or something different entirely and see how that sounds! -I replaced the strings I sampled from the source with a couple synths I made to sound similar. I initially wanted to replace them with something different altogether, but because of mixing, I had to keep them close to what I had before. Everything else I tried got buried significantly. (This is also the reason why it's been hard for me to get the snare to sound right.) I focussed entirely on arrangement for this edit, as Argle suggested, so any level issues overall can be changed 'n stuff. Edited January 1, 2015 by nOkbient mod review done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-wix Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Duude. This is nice. I was wondering what was up until 39 seconds in.. then Wow. What an awesome groove. Great concept and good execution. It sounds dreamy and epic at the same time. So great. Your mixing and production sound really solid too - nice touches all over the place. Is there a project for Yoshi's Island? There should be - the music is awesome and kinda forgotten in the community it feels like. I don't really have much to offer in the way of critique - your pacing is just spot on. Awesome job on this - I could just jam to this for hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 (edited) Hm... sounds like you sampled the original at the beginning, all the way until 0:39, except there's some slightly different stereo imaging. Either that or you just stuck to the original instrumentation for a while. Either way, it's really, really similar. I think the snare drum is still too inconspicuous. I can hear it above everything else, but it's too short-sounding; it's like there's some noise gating on it or something, or it's just a short sample. I'm thinking a sample with a longer sustain can sound more fitting. Ultimately it's fine as is, though. The only thing I'm kind of bothered by is the retriggered pad. It makes the pacing a little plodding because the phase continues to reset on each note. I guess I wasn't too amazed overall until 3:11, but probably just me. I liked all the other components between 0:39 and 3:11 regardless, and 3:11 and on sounded nice and full. Good atmospherics and pacing, despite the notes staying relatively static. Pacing is a hard thing to get ahold of, so that's a highlight that I think is subtle but a little underappreciated. Edited October 10, 2014 by timaeus222 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrypnyk Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Quick cons: - the beginning feels hugely unnecessary, at least the first 25 seconds, especially since you did zip with the original source. - I lost all interest in your beat at about 1:34~. At this point it starts sounding really dull, repetitive, too simple, too boring. - (because of your drums I lost interest in the song at 2:14) - The fadeout is suuuuuper weak I liked the sound, the production isn't bad, the writing could use more work. Most of the song sounds like it playing the same loopy pattern, same loopy idea. There's very little variation, little dynamic, little (if any) breaks or change ups in what's being played after 0:39 to keep hold my interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nOkbient Posted November 23, 2014 Author Share Posted November 23, 2014 (edited) Updated, and changed status to Mod Review! Details in original post. Edited November 25, 2014 by nOkbient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nOkbient Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 No new update, but I updated to Mod Review and had no response... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 You could just PM a mod. Topics get lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argle Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 That and the lead up to Thanksgiving week was prolly busy for some peeps... it was for me. Anyone reading this thread, feel free to PM a workshop mod to link them to your mod review thread if you think it's been lost in the shuffle. I don't mind at all, and in fact appreciate the heads up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argle Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 (edited) Did you just sample the source for the intro? Either that or you did an exceptional job recreating those lo-fi strings. I think it would be more fun to create your own version of it. Don't think it would result in an instant rejection cuz Yoshi's Island is not Square Enix. But still it feels superfluous. So let's start at 0:39. There is something overall about the arrangement that feels plodding. Partially the beat which feels a bit plain Jane. But also I would say the sustained bass part saps any potential energy from the arrangement. For a downtempo song that wants to groove the bassline needs to groovify more. The drums almost feel like they want to be dubstep but the pads and lack of an sharp aggressive bass don't follow through with that feeling. Source usage wise everything seems to be in order, even when you don't use the melody outright you seem to be following the chord progression. For a 4-minute song (let's discount the intro) the pacing and energy is pretty samey and it kinda had me looking at my metaphorical watch. There weren't any surprises for me, things that made me sit up and say "Oh!", and the groove wasn't so strong that I was dancing in my chair. I definitely love downtempo arrangements, too, this track just needs more melodic and rhythmic hooks to draw the listener in. I'm not a huge fan of the use of the source string part in the main body of the song. I just don't like the sound of them. Try replacing them with a different string patch or something different entirely and see how that sounds! Also, fadeout ending, you'll definitely get shit from the judges for that. So yeah: overall I would try for a more groovin' arrangement with more rhythmic elements and some ear candy, things that grab the listener's attention. The mixing could be a bit cleaner and sharper but I think the writing and arrangement is a better place to focus your energy first. And maybe do something about those strings. Hope this helps! /mod review Edited December 4, 2014 by Argle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solkrieg Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Cutting the obvious out of this: Yes, I agree with everyone else, try a different intro approach. The drums almost feel like they want to be dubstep but the pads and lack of an sharp aggressive bass don't follow through with that feeling. I agree here, instead of a short sharp snare, I think a more drawn out snare would fit this mix more. It feels to me you went for a more "dreamy" or "spacey" ReMix. Source usage wise everything seems to be in order, even when you don't use the melody outright you seem to be following the chord progression. Because of this I believe it really is lacking something great. I think the lead from 3:35 could be implemented into something with the chord progression, maybe some sort of angelic-like plucking. For a 4-minute song (let's discount the intro) the pacing and energy is pretty samey and it kinda had me looking at my metaphorical watch. There weren't any surprises for me, things that made me sit up and say "Oh!", and the groove wasn't so strong that I was dancing in my chair. I definitely love downtempo arrangements, too, this track just needs more melodic and rhythmic hooks to draw the listener in. I personally like chill tracks like this, but I do agree with you that something is missing. Also, fadeout ending, you'll definitely get shit from the judges for that. Agreed, I think that this would be a fantastic area to experiment with some arping and what not. Overall if the drums were EQ'd a little bit more, maybe EQ the kick a little more sub heavy, unsure though. (Sorry for riding your review to give mine, I've decided to become more active in the community and I want to get the general idea of what a "good review" is besides constructive criticism.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnWake Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Nice switch at 0:39! Intro is a bit long but this idea is wonderful! So, I'm not an expert in whatever style this is, but I have some comments. The synth pad that replaces the original strings has way too much of a hat-ish sound. It takes over a lot of the spectrum and, particularly, takes space away from the snare. Like Solkrieg above me suggests, the snare could use more reverb and stuff. Think 80s dreamy snare! Continuing with the sounds, I feel the bass isn't fitting at all. For such a down tempo song, I'd go with more of a pleasing tone. In the section beggining at 1:06, I notice some slight dissonances (not intentional ones) in the string pad. Nobody mentioned them earlier but they bother me a bit. The synth lead you use in that section could use more portamento. Lead at 2:19 is a nice idea, but it's a tad too low and the tone alterations are a bit risky! I'd probably add a bit more echo to it. Note played by the organ-ish at 2:47 has a high chance of being off-key. You should check it. In a similar note, the lullaby-ish melody from the intro doesn't really fit the chord progression. I'm sure you could make some alterations to make it sound more natural. I think it clashes a bit with the pads that play the staccato chords. I understand the above complaints about repetition in the song, but they don't bother me much. I do, however, think you could change it up a bit to make it more engaging. For example, in the breakdown with the intro melody you could try radically different sounds. You could also add more elements to the beat in each repetition. It's not necessary that you suddenly turn this into a high tempo song, but you could add more percussive elements (or experiment with more melodies). Overall, this is nice. Love the idea and I think that with some polishing it could be great! Style reminded me of the Leitbur remixes in the FFVI OCReMix album, maybe you could pick ideas from those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nOkbient Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 Edited once again! Ill post the edit here as well as my main post. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------EDIT #2: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edit #2: https://soundcloud.com/nokbient/yoshi-start-demo-remix-ver2-wip I accidently removed the first edited version I made. Woops. Made some pretty drastic changes this time. -New intro. No longer identical to source. -I tried to do some new things with percussion. I made the kick a little bit more sub-heavy, and made the side-chain more prominent again. Also layered another snare drum, and did some EQ on it. Overall, I think the drums are what I'm having the most issue with. It's a weakness of mine, I suppose. -More variation in with basslines. -Chord changes and moderate adjustments to the arrangement. Hopefully not as hard to sit through for over 4 minutes . -Actual ending rather than a fadeout. -I replaced the strings I sampled from the source with a couple synths I made to sound similar. I initially wanted to replace them with something different altogether, but because of mixing, I had to keep them close to what I had before. Everything else I tried got buried significantly. (This is also the reason why it's been hard for me to get the snare to sound right.) I focussed entirely on arrangement for this edit, as Argle suggested, so any level issues overall can be changed 'n stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Hey, I don't have a ton of time to critique this just now but I really thought this WIP was super promising so I'm bumping this in hopes that your new version gets some additional feedback. I'll try and chime in soon, myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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