Chimpazilla Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) Hello, I would like to submit my arrangement of the music from the original NES game, Kid Icarus. The title of this work is "Kid Icarus Orchestrated Suite." As the title suggests, this is a fully orchestrated version of the music found in Kid Icarus. I wanted to give each level and theme a chance to be heard as it could be if played by a live orchestra. I know the time is a bit longer than your typical submissions, but I think you will find it well worth the time given the attention to each melody. Here is the breakdown of the piece: 0:00-0:57 : Opening 0:57-2:22 : Level 1 2:22-4:48 : Level 2 4:48-6:10 : Dungeon 6:10-7:45 : Level 3 7:45-8:45 : Level 1 Reprise 10:48-end : Finale I have also attached the mp3 as well. I hope you and your listeners will enjoy listening to this classic NES game Edited March 10, 2015 by Palpable closed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Twelve minutes, hoo boy. I haven't actually listened to the entire soundtrack as would be required to check the source use. This mix doesn't work for me regardless, for two primary reasons. One, the instrumentation is all way too dry. The sequencing isn't too bad, but the dryness is really distracting. The other issue I have is the dynamics of the track, there are loud sections but the majority of the track is playing at -18 to -12 db which is super quiet. There would need to be some better attention given to the mixing and mastering of this track to get it to be listenable, dynamics-wise. I feel like twelve minutes is quite a bit too long for what is offered here. I realize you are giving us a tour through a good portion of the OST here, but I'd venture that few people have the attention span to give twelve minutes to a piece like this. Shorter submissions are greatly appreciated. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Yikes... this is a really long, daunting track to judge, but even from the first few minutes of listening I'm noticing some huge dealbreaker issues that would prevent this from passing. The overall mastering is one of the quietest I've ever heard, so that's something that definitely needs to be addressed. In general, the instrumentation is very sparse, and there's never too many ideas going on at once. I can appreciate the more minimalist approach to orchestration, but in this case I don't feel like you have enough ideas present to justify a 12 minute arrangement. A lot of this arrangement is just one or two instruments covering the melodies of the source tune without a ton of interpretation or flow. The section from 8:00 - 8:40 was one of the most interesting parts of the mix - I think if you could trim down your arrangement significantly and focus in on moments like that where you build up your orchestration more fully and take a more interpretive stance on the source material, and I think you might be onto something. As it stands though, most of this just feels too sparse and quiet to hold a listener's attention. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Good stuff here, LindsayAnne. I think you've got some good ideas for orchestral arranging, and I liked how engaging it was while being so restrained. But your production is not nearly on the same level as the arrangement. String articulations sounds good sometimes, not so good other times. Certain instruments are too quiet in the mix, and others get drowned out because they clash with what is there. Sometimes the lack of reverb just takes away all realism you have built up to that point. It's a big problem, and I think you could use some help with it. Please take advantage of our Workshop forums, where you can get more detailed criticism. The other problem with this particular song is that it is more of a medley than a cohesive piece. The transitions aren't bad, but it's still very clear when one song starts and where the next begins. I liked most of the individual segments though, especially the more dynamic ones. I know you had a song posted on OC ReMix a while back, and I think this sub is about the same level of quality. But our bar for what we accept has gone up over time. Hope you are able to spend some time so that your production skills are in line with your arrangement skills. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts