*NO* TFX 'Into the Fold'

[Chimpazilla]

To Whom It May Concern:

My ReMixer name is atomicmilkshake. My real name is Owen McSpadden. My email address is omcspadden@chromatininc.com or owen.mcspadden@gmail.com. I prefer the latter. My userid on the forums is atomicmilkshake.

I have remixed “The Tactical Fighter Experiment” from the game TFX, whose soundtrack was composed by Barry Leitch, I believe. My arrangement is called “Into the Fold.” I have attached both my remix/arrangement, and an MP3 of the source song, which I think I remember recording from the original game (played back through a DOS emulator…the game was DOS based and I still have the original CD).

This was arranged by ear over the course of 2010, as best I recall. I still have the original project files and I used FL Studio to do the arranging.

Thank you for your consideration!

-- Owen

------------------------------------------------------------

I'm not sure about the source - I'm pretty sure it's this one:

Edited January 18, 2015 by Emunator

[Nutritious]

Some cool electro elements here I'm really digging. Liking that dark filtered bass synth stab that comes in every once in a while or the sequenced off beat synth stabs.

Sounds in general are a mixed bag, though. Keeping in mind that this is an old-school type electro track, I can understand the general simplistic synth choices and drum-machine type beat. However, some of these sound too basic or don't really support the track well. For example, the guitar lead synth (I think I recognize a Sytrus preset here) is doing a ton of work in this track - especially in the latter half, but I found buzzy tone to get grating after a while.

The drum kit also comes off as weak sounding, especially in the kick and to a lesser extent the snare. The kick has a lot of presence in the sub bass region and not a lot in eq regions above that. It's just causing a lot of mud in the low end instead of establishing the beat. I'd roll the <50HZ-ish region off and perhaps layer in another kick sample with better presence in the 200-500 range. As for the snare, it's a bit heavy in the mid-high frequencies, without much body in the mid/mid-low range, so it sounds a bit hollow. Also, the hats are a bit hot in the 2KHZ range, so later when things speed up and there are a lot of hat hits, they start to get a bit piercing.

Things get really crowded when the guitar synth comes in at :39. There's way too much going on the same mid/low-mid frequency ranges. I think this is one symptom of a general mixing & balance problem with the track. Some elements like the high pitched arpeggio synth (1:10) and the aforementioned guitar synth lead are pretty loud compared to other elements.

Speedup at 2:40 felt a bit awkward TBH. I get that the idea is taken from the original, but I'm not sure it really adds much to your mix as a whole. Once it speeds up, despite the increase in volume, things actually end up sounding empty without enough supporting instrumentation to keep the energy of the track. This basically applies to everything after the speedup and a some sections before like 1:01.

Arrangement breakdown:

:00 - :10 Computer beepy synth alludes to the intro on the OST, though pretty loosely

:11 - :18 Similar pattern on the bass staying on root note, and same chord progression in the pad as OST

:19 - :39 Melody from :47 of the OST

:40 - :59 Simplified/modified synth solo from 1:07 of OST

1:00 - 1:08 Backing follows bass synth at 1:29 of OST

1:09 - 1:18 Original

1:19 - 1:28 Backing follows bass synth at 1:29 of OST

1:29 - 1:38 Original

1:39 - 2:08 Melody from 1:38 in OST

2:09 - 2:35 Melody from 2:09 of the original

2:41 - 4:14 Sped up section from OST 2:41

Overall, there are plenty of clear source connections to link to the original track. However, in general the mix stays pretty close to the same progression and writing from the original. I'd recommend exploring more ways to personalize the flow of the track beyond changing a few melody notes and backing instruments/patterns because right now, some of these sections (2:09 for example) sound more like sound upgrades than actual rearrangements.

Minor note: I'm hearing some rendering artifacts in the mix. A few examples are :46, 1:02, 1:05, 1:31, & 2:01 (more later throughout) . You may want to try and identify if there's a specific plugin that's causing these and see if you can mitigate it.

Sorry for the lengthy vote here, but I feel like there is quite a bit of work to be done on this one before it'll reach the bar in both arrangement and production. That said, there's no reason to give up. The workshop forums would be a really good resource for getting feedback and improving your craft. Good luck to you.

NO

[Chimpazilla]

Justin covered the issues super well here, and thanks Justin for the source breakdown.

I'm going to agree that the drums are very weak and the sounds are generic. If the drums were huge (good layered samples, placed well in the soundscape), that would make a tremendous difference... but as they are, they are just limping along, quiet and center-panned. The lead at 0:20 is totally underwhelming. The synth guitar could work, I'd love to hear some more effects on it to add interest. The entire low end needs a rebalance, as Justin said, remove the frequencies below 50Hz and spend some time defining the fundamental of the bass and sorting out where the bass and kick will sit in comparison to each other.

I do think the drums are the biggest issue causing the track to lack excitement. Also, the speedup section at 2:40 is an opportunity to add even more surprises and excitement, instead of the same instruments doing double-time. I hope you'll consider doing some more work to this track!

NO (resubmit)

[Emunator]

I totally agree with the judges above - at first, I thought your drums were intentionally underwhelming so that once the beat did drop, it would carry even more impact. However, it became clear after some time with the song that the beat was never going to kick into gear, and I pretty much immediately lost interest.

I think the rest of your track is produced reasonably well, without retreading a lot of the same mixing feedback that Nutritious already did a great job of covering, but without a more compelling, dominant drum track, this track stumbles and doesn't really have much of a dominant structure. I also agree that things fell apart once it switched up into double-time; the fakeness of the guitar became a lot more noticeable and repetitive... overall, that last section just wasn't working for me.

I feel like I really can't add on much other than co-sign with Nutritious on his spot-on vote. The drums are a major dealbreaker here. I would take this one to the Workshop forums for even more detailed feedback on how to improve if you're interested in resubmitting.

NO