djpretzel Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Contact Info: Remixer name: Vaylos Real name: James W. Pennington e-mail addy: james.musicman@gmail.com Forum ID# : 21956 link to remix: Remix Info: Remix Title: Ascending Through Storm and Shadow Game: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Source Track: Requiem for the Gods Location of source track: http://www.bluelaguna.net/music/csotnost/mp3s.php (Zophar's only has that mini-psf with 2 tracks in it, so I had to hunt around. found an mp3 version on this site. Just scroll down til you see the Requiem) comments: Well, after a lot of work, and fine tuning, I guess it's finally sink or swim time for this remix. I always wondered why there weren't a lot of remixes for CV: SotN, I mean, I always thought the music from the game was really well done. So I set about remixing one of my favorite tracks. I kinda wish I had gotten more feedback from the WIP forums, but anyhoo, I think my recently acquired audio monitors helped me clean things up quite a bit. I wanted to try to convey a ghostly or spectral quality with this remix. I tried depicting a slower more deliberate climb through the chapel, shadows playing tricks while a storm rages outside. At least that's the atmosphere I was aiming for heh. The original track felt more like a peaceful haunting to me. So I went the other direction. Anyways, as I said, sink or swim time. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 Hmm.. intro kind of threw me off a little bit, it's not necessarily bad in concept, but the bell sound is kinda low quality and the end of the sound effects is a bit abrupt. What's up with that drum beat? It's so ridiculously plain and basic that it adds pretty much nothing. The variations on the basic groove pattern don't add a whole lot either, they just sound kind of goofy. I would either leave that out or completely rework it. Don't feel the need to just stick in a basic drum pattern just to have one. Production seemed to be a consistent problem.. the organ and choir were pretty good, but most of the other instruments were not too hot. The organ tended to be overbearing, though. The arrangement here isn't coverish, but it IS rather simplistic. It doesn't go anywhere. It doesn't do anything terribly interesting with the source tune. The dynamics and even the instrumentation are pretty similar to the original. We're really looking for interpretations of vgm here, not necessarily different versions or only slight alterations. There are points in the mix like around 3:34 that are needlessly sparse, empty, and pointless. The second drum pattern (with the deeper drum- a taiko?) is even more plodding and pointless than the first. Please work on that. I think most of my complaints stem from an inconsistency in the concept of the mix. Why is it at times arranged in a more dense, baroque style, but at other times incredibly sparse? What is the point of the drum loops? Where is the piece supposed to go? These are questions you need to think about and go back to rework things. It's not a bad start, but it's just not up to our standards yet. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Hmm.. intro kind of threw me off a little bit, it's not necessarily bad in concept, but the bell sound is kinda low quality and the end of the sound effects is a bit abrupt. What's up with that drum beat? It's so ridiculously plain and basic that it adds pretty much nothing. The variations on the basic groove pattern don't add a whole lot either, they just sound kind of goofy. I would either leave that out or completely rework it. Don't feel the need to just stick in a basic drum pattern just to have one. Production seemed to be a consistent problem.. the organ and choir were pretty good, but most of the other instruments were not too hot. The organ tended to be overbearing, though.The arrangement here isn't coverish, but it IS rather simplistic. It doesn't go anywhere. It doesn't do anything terribly interesting with the source tune. The dynamics and even the instrumentation are pretty similar to the original. We're really looking for interpretations of vgm here, not necessarily different versions or only slight alterations. There are points in the mix like around 3:34 that are needlessly sparse, empty, and pointless. The second drum pattern (with the deeper drum- a taiko?) is even more plodding and pointless than the first. Please work on that. I think most of my complaints stem from an inconsistency in the concept of the mix. Why is it at times arranged in a more dense, baroque style, but at other times incredibly sparse? What is the point of the drum loops? Where is the piece supposed to go? These are questions you need to think about and go back to rework things. It's not a bad start, but it's just not up to our standards yet. I don't crib much from other judges, but I couldn't have said it better myself. And yes, just to say it again, the drumbeats are completely pointless. If you scrapped them, and simply tried to flesh out this piece without beatkeeping percussion, this could be more interesting. The interpretation factor isn't into rip territory, but still too cover-ish. Strip out the beats, and it's easier to tell how conservative things are. Work more original ideas into the picture beyond merely changing up the instrumentation; you did that a little bit, but need to do more to personalize the arrangement approach. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 yeah those drum loops dont make any sense. The violin solo is very bare and sounds very shrill and tacky. The dynamic flow of this track seems somewhat random. often bare, drumloops seem to be glued on to fill space. same concerns as everyone else. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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