Chimpazilla Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 (edited) original decision (from 2009!) Dear OC ReMix Judges Panel, Below is a remix track and its corresponding information for your consideration. The track is titled "Adagio pour Mallow" and remixes "Sad Song" from the much-beloved SNES classic, Super Mairo RPG. This is actually a resubmission of a track from back in 2009, then titled "Mallow's Lament" (thread: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=32258). Remixer Name: Thomas B. Yee Real Name: Thomas Yee Website: www.thomasbyee.com Games Arranged: Super Mario RPG (Platform: Super Nintendo) Composers: Yoko Shimomura Name of Arrangement: "Adagio pour Mallow" Name of Individual Songs Arranged: "Sad Song" Link to original Soundtrack: (The track is also attached in case the share link does not work for some reason. I also have a higher-quality WAV version available upon request, if necessary.) Duration: 4:30 Composer Comments/Track Information: One of my earliest childhood memories is of playing Super Nintendo with my father and older brother. Though it consisted of little more than 16-bit beeps and boops, the music of those early adventures were the earliest spark that inspired me to become a composer. I have carried those soundtracks with me on my musical journey ever since, and one of the most vivid scores in my memory is that of Super Mario RPG, composed by Yoko Shimomura. Fast forward a decade or so. The next major step in influencing me to pursue the path of a music composer occurred when I was principal percussionist in the Youth Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth. I often had the opportunity to sit back and drink in the orchestral repertoire of all flavors being played, and I continued to soak in that music like a sponge. My absolute favorite composer was Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and it was his Symphony Pathetique (no. 6) that decisively sent me down the composer's path. Given the two above essential moments in my story, this piece it is a natural result of my unique musical personality and voice. I have taken the theme of one of the main characters of Super Mario RPG (Mallow), titled "Sad Song," and orchestrated it in an exhilarating and epic fashion. The style hearkens back to the glories of the Romantic Era—especially to Tchaikovsky. Above all, I hope to have brought this simple-but-powerful melody into dramatic realization with the dynamic power of the orchestra. I humbly submit "Adagio pour Mallow" for your consideration, and I sincerely hope that the arrangement will receive your favor and approval. Edited April 1, 2015 by Palpable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 I need to get this out of the way first before I say anything else. That grace-note in the oboe at :33 is awful. It really exposes the fake-ness of the sample and to be honest I don't think any oboe player would ever make that choice to add that kind of grace note. Oof. Alright then. The rest of the track isn't so bad. The arrangement is very dynamic, with a lot of push and pull. I really like the faster section. However, the execution leaves something to be desired. I feel like this whole piece sounds very mushy; the reverb seems to be making this track sound really hazy and unclear. I realize that you're going for that big orchestra sound, but you need to take a look at your mixing. Maybe some other Js can provide some more in-depth advice as to what's going on here. Needs work. NO, resub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexstyle Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Whew, this is a tough one. There are some spots where the samples and the articulation thereof stand out as being really artificial--there's some grace notes in the oboe that are pretty jarringly unrealistic, a lot of the samples just feel like they don't have *quite* enough attack going on, or at least that they should have been triggered a little sooner, rather then exactly on the grid. Some of the samples are mixed a little weirdly--some unrealistic panning that could stand to be given more of a "room sound" treatment, etc. That said, this is truly a fantastic arrangement that just keeps getting better as it goes on, and some of the issues disappear as the song builds as well. This is tough, and I'm gonna guess this'll be a split vote, but I'm going to give this one a YES based on the strength of the arrangement overpowering the other issues. YES (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Hah, reading over these votes before checking out the remix, I was wondering just how bad those oboe notes could be... yeah, there's two notes in here that sound pretty rough. If nothing else, I'd love to hear that fixed if this does end up becoming a pass because of how distracting it is. The arrangement here is quite nice, constantly evolving and adding in new elements to keep things fresh. There's a lot to appreciate on multiple listens. There are some notable production issues stemming from the level of reverb that's drenching the entire track, and some instances of slightly less-than-realistic sequencing going on, but as Mike notes, they're mitigated for the second half of the track when the instrumentation is more fleshed out. On the whole, I'd even go as far as saying that your sequencing is pretty great here for *most* of the track, aside from a few jarring exceptions. To me, the strength of your arrangement tips the scales in your favor... I'd have a much easier time rejecting this if the arrangement weren't so fantastic or if the sequencing hiccups were more consistent throughout the track, but I think even in its current form, this mix is successful in spite of its technical shortcomings. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clem Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 I like this one a lot. I like the production style here. It's a little muddy/muted, but there's this charming ethereal sense that serves the arrangement so well. Something like a hazy fantasy. I agree with everyone about the oboe articulation in the first minute, but it's a subtle thing to me. The sequencing was really well done overall. The arrangement is great. Loads of expansion & exploration YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I think I'm just on the YES side of this as well. There are definitely things that can be improved in regards to the mixing, the attacks of the instruments, and the reverb, but I don't see them being a dealbreaker. The arrangement is really dynamic, and I enjoyed hearing the lead motif played back in different ways to really catch your attention. I hope you continue to work on your mixing and send us some more fantastic arrangements! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 (edited) the execution leaves something to be desired. I feel like this whole piece sounds very mushy; the reverb seems to be making this track sound really hazy and unclear. I realize that you're going for that big orchestra sound, but you need to take a look at your mixing. Yeah, I can't see how this made it as is, not because the arrangement is problematic (it's strong, in fact), but the production isn't on point. I agreed with DarkeSword with the lack of clarity, but not enough to reject it just on those grounds. Also, the oboe at :33 was a minor flub as far as a lack of realism, but most people won't care. However, I definitely have to go NO on this based on the panning alone, and I'm really surprised Flexstyle was the only one to even notice something was off. Maybe the other YES's didn't listen on headphones, maybe they did -- but when I listened, there are just too many extended sections where entire parts are too widely panned to one ear, usually the right ear. The worst offenders IMO were :59-1:25 & 2:21-3:38. This needs to be tweaked to have more appropriate volume/balance in both channels, but otherwise is a very strong, creative arrangement. NO (refine/resubmit) EDIT (4/3): Having now heard the second revision addressing the extreme panning and the grace note at :33 (which was minor), I still felt the panning was too wide IMO (e.g. 2:47-3:20), so it's needlessly disorienting when listening on headphones. That said, it has been adjusted to a point where the arrangement now sounds strong enough in spite of the wide panning. Hopefully some reviewers can offer some advice on how Thomas could have better realized those kind of panning choices, but this is nonetheless now good-to-go for our bar. YES (borderline) Edited April 3, 2015 by Liontamer changed vote to YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djpretzel Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I wouldn't be upset posting this, but I think we should ask Thomas if he can specifically address the panning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Have asked him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Thomas sent us a new version with panning fixed, I have linked it in the first post. I also asked him if he wanted to fix the oboe, we'll see if he does. I've only listened to the new version, but I really like what I am hearing. It's a dramatic arrangement of a pretty basic song, with good (but not perfect) execution and great writing. This is really a bread-and-butter kind of remix - pretty much what I'd imagine an orchestral arrangement of the song to sound like - but sometimes bread-and-butter is exactly what you want. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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