Chimpazilla Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Hey guys!First time submitting so I hope I get all the info right!Contact Info:Little VJames Mills53576Submission InfoFTL: Faster Than Light (Game)Faster Than Rock (My Remix)Space Cruise (Original song)Ben Prunty (Original artist)Let me know if I missed anything! I'd rather not mess up my first submission to the site! James "Little V" Mills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 This is a good sounding mix! It seems to follow the source pretty faithfully. Drums are tight and punchy. I feel like the rhythm guitars are too loud at 0:57, they drown out the lead there, all the way to 1:37 at which point the guitar lead is audible over the rhythm guitars. Still, I'd probably prefer the rhythm guitars come down just a drop, but not a big deal. The mix feels slightly awash in mid-lows, a little low end cleanup would help (and most probably low-cutting reverbs and delays), but also not a big deal. The section from 2:31-3:08 feels very slow and sparse, bringing the energy of the arrangement way down which is a shame. This is my biggest gripe. It's too long a stretch to go that sparse. When the instrumentation comes back in at 3:08 it sounds really nice, but the writing from 3:08-3:44 is repetitive. 3:44-4:24 is also repetitive. Overall though, other than 2:31-3:08, I feel that the arrangement is working. Regardless of the issues I've mentioned, I like the track enough to yes it. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexstyle Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Oh man, the ambiance paired with the heavy guitars...this is one of my very favorite combinations of sounds. Definitely agree with Kris that the sparse bit drags on for too long--I want my energy back, dagnabbit! That's not enough to kill this submission, though. I like the production, the instruments are played really well (as I'd expect--been following the YouTube channel for a while now), and the arrangement--while not taking any giant risks--is fantastic. Let's get this sucker posted! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Very inspired take on the FTL track (which was cool, I wasn't familiar with it before). James took a warm, sparse, synthy track and made it funky and heavy, while keeping a lot of that same sparseness and warmness. The shift works great, and though there was a little bit of reliance on a few source patterns (Chimpa mentioned this repetitiveness), the concept and live playing added a lot of listenability. I didn't have a problem with the rhythm guitars except during the 0:57-1:16 section, and that's mostly because the instrument(s) carrying the backing pattern aren't very present against the rhythm guitars' higher range. Contrast with 1:34 when the guitar lead enters - it's very easy to hear and the guitar balance is perfect. Even the 1:16-1:34 section sounds pretty good, because the rhythm guitars drop down a bit, carving some space for the lead instrument. I won't say this is perfect, but it's an ambitious arrangement that mostly gets there and I think it's a pass! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Nice sound to start; good guitar tone, and good pads. Kick drums at :19 certainly have a lot of punch; maybe too much. Really loving the relaxed feel of this genre adaptation already. Texture got cluttered at :57 with the electric guitar coming in. IMO, the guitar from :57-1:34 (while it's performed excellently) was mixed too loudly when it was clearly a supporting item that was adding body and should have played second fiddle to the melody. The mixing made more sense when the lead guitar actually took over as lead at 1:34 for the wholly original section. I wrote these criticisms before reading Chimpa's comments, so I'm glad we're on the same page. It's nothing that put the piece in any danger of not passing, so it's just an observation. The energy and soloing from 1:33-2:18 was beast, and it could be a lot of folks favorite part within an abundance of great sections. Nice dropoff at 2:12 back to the more ethereal soundscape; the transitions flow so smoothly and click so well here. I thought around 2:40 things should have started picking up a little quicker, but it's certainly no big deal; I see exactly how James is working this, giving the sparse section room to breathe and enough time to create dynamic contrast with the rebuild after it. Same mixing issue as :57-1:34 from 3:46-4:24 where the backing guitar is too upfront and creates mud/clutter; everything would have been clicking on all cylinders if that aspect was tweaked. Also, some more high-end clarity across the piece would have let this shine more, so that's unfortunate. Otherwise, good intensity, dynamic contrast, and performances! Like Chimpa, I would have like some mixing adjustments to this, but it's solid nonetheless; just an excellent, personalized rock cover.I know that Ben Prunty's wanted someone to get FTL represented here for a while, so after all of the awesome things Ben said about OCR with his Metroid Prime submission, I'm glad we could finally have his original work represented on the site. I'm sure he's heard & enjoyed this great piece from the great music video, so it's fitting to have him represented as a composer with an excellent interpretation like Little V's. Welcome aboard, James! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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