Goodbye Fi - a Skyward Sword Remix

[NyxTheShield]

I have never played Skyward Sword in my life, but i think Fi's Theme is the most beautiful piece ever made for this saga. So i felt like making a remix of it:

 

Source: Fi's Farewell - 

Game: The Legend of Zelda - Skyward Sword

Link to Remix: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93823550/%5BFinished%5D%20Goodbye%20Fi.mp3

 

 

For the first time in my life i tried to be not conservative with a remix (Well, the first half is still conservative), but the the second half is basically my own take on the motif. I hope you enjoy it.

[YoshiBlade]

I know most criticisms leveled here are subtractive in nature, but the only thing I could say is please, whatever you may do, don't change that guitar in any way...I heard that and felt nothing but rich maple goodness pouring from my speakers. I. Love. It. As a side note, both tracks feel like they're something straight out of American Beauty...hmm...I like it even more

[NyxTheShield]

I know most criticisms leveled here are subtractive in nature, but the only thing I could say is please, whatever you may do, don't change that guitar in any way...I heard that and felt nothing but rich maple goodness pouring from my speakers. I. Love. It. As a side note, both tracks feel like they're something straight out of American Beauty...hmm...I like it even more

 

Thomas Newman is one of my favourite composers and certainly he has been an inspiration to me, thanks !!! )Also, American Beauty is one of my favourite movies ever hahaha)

[NyxTheShield]

Bump?

[Elder Kirby]

I loved this theme in the game

 

The section from 1:33 to 2:03 felt very unfocused; it felt like the two flutes and the guitar were fighting among each other for attention melody-wise, especially towards the end. The second flute already complicates things, but you used the same progression for the guitar as you did in the conservative section. What the flutes play end up being starkly different from what the guitar is supposed to be supplementing. You also took out the piano from the previous section, and without it the attention is shifted to the flutes and the guitar. The way you set it up, the guitar is supposed to be the main background element playing the ostinato and tying the piece together. In this section, you give it more of the spotlight with these accented twangs that go against what the flutes are playing. It almost sounds like the guitar is angry at the listener for listening to the flutes, like "Hey! -twang- listen to me!" The twangs work in the first section because it plays on the second downbeat, inbetween snippets of the main melody (in the original melody, the twangs are the high note played by the left hand of the piano). The result is a nice flow where both instruments alternate and have some breathing room. It's a classic example of call and response. In this second section, the flutes are doing whatever they want while the guitar is still following the same formula from the previous section. You even play the accent on the first downbeat a few times at seemingly random. The whole section just feels very messy.

 

But let's look at the whole piece.To start off, you introduce the guitar and quickly head into the source tune, first played by a piano and then by a flute. Next is a nice little residual section where you ease off of the source tune. After a bit of just the guitar playing, suddenly it's the aforementioned cluttered section. Then the coda. For an arrangement that's a little over 2 minutes, it doesn't go anywhere. The dynamics of the tune is the same throughout--the guitar is playing that same ostinato from start to finish, with no interruptions or significant changes. It ends up sounding boring. What's more is the whole arrangement can be boiled down to two main sections. While a slow piece isn't a bad thing, trying to fit it into a 2 minute time slot doesn't sound right. Something like this should have more sections where you explore the source tune and your original melodies some more, with appropriate breaks in the dynamics, over something like 3 or 4 minutes. By comparison, a faster piece would simply fit more content into those 2 minutes. You have your section with the source tune that's handled well and is eased off gently going into the next section. Your non-conservative section begins very suddenly with no indication that there will be a second flute and a new melody--with nothing to let the listener's ears prepare. The section also ends as abruptly as it started, with it going right into the outro. In the end, your arrangement doesn't say anything. There is no overarching statement that you're trying to make musically. The only semblance of a "glue" that ties the two sections together is the guitar, which doesn't even work for the second section. It's just sections A and B. They may as well have been two completely different arrangements if it weren't for the guitar.

 

A solution? I would rework the second section to sound more similar to the first in regards to the instruments used. Maybe bring back the piano, it sounded nice. The double flutes thing definitely doesn't work with the same guitar pattern from section one--either change the flutes or the guitar. Definitely write some more, this is pretty short and without a point. You could make the second section more synergistic with the first, expand on it and maybe even bring a little bit of the source tune back for a reprise or even something different.

 

I can't really comment on the mixing, but the guitar sounds nice. What's your recording setup?

 

Sorry for being harsh and critical, I just hope it was specific enough to where you can understand what went wrong. In the end this is just my opinion and it is your arrangement so do whatever you want. Please work on this some more, I'll be happy to hear more of this!

[NyxTheShield]

Sorry for being harsh and critical, I just hope it was specific enough to where you can understand what went wrong. In the end this is just my opinion and it is your arrangement so do whatever you want. Please work on this some more, I'll be happy to hear more of this!

 

O no don't worry!!! Any feedback is good feedback, and i can totally see what are you trying to point at. The second section feels messy because, deep down i wanted it to be mesier and less mechanical and strict than the original. As you said, the song is a typical Call/Response example, but in the i just wanted to evoke a "Call" only, not a dialogue because in the end, it's a goodbye. The flutes are basically an improvisation of the D-E-G-F# motif that the piano was doing in the prev section, but in the new scale of  the guitar (In the first section, the guitar was doing a Dsus2 -Asus2 - CMaj7, and in the chorus, F - CMaj7 - D5 progresion. Section 2 is a an improvistaion of open C chords combined with weird  variations lol), so basically flutes are doing something between the lines of, D-E-A-G (A reharmonization of the original motif, going from D major to a a C scale that i am still not able to determine LOL).

 

In the end, i think i will keep this "messy" part because for me it feels correct, in the end is a Farewell, and Call/Response doesn't represent well a goodbye after it happened, only when is happening.

 

I can definitely see what are you pointing at glueing everything together, and i will try to fix this because you are right about that. I was thinking about bringing the piano in section b but i didn't want to clutter it even more. I will think of something though

 

And i use a Samson C01u mic, nothing fancy, i denoise the sample, double track it, compress it a bit (a +2db gain, nothing noticeable) and mess with reeverb.

[NyxTheShield]

Bump?

[nOkbient]

I think the only think I have critical to say is that some parts sound a little muddy. This is great though! I really like it!

[XPRTNovice]

[MODREVIEW]

 

- Love the first section.  Mixing is tight, the reverb is tasteful, and the parts flow very nicely. 

 

- At 1:33, things start to get a little confusing sonically because I feel like these players aren't playing with each other, if that makes any sense. It's too freeform for my tastes, but it snaps back in at about 2:03.  Like there's this very calm feeling that gets a little unbalanced there and starts to sound chaotic.  This MAY be due to the fact that you are multi-tracking the same instrument in the same range, and you have some mordents and runs that run over the other parts at the same time.  Since an instrument cannot physically do that, it sounds a little off in my ear.  

 

- The piece is just barely ahead of the 2min OCR requirement.  I think you had lots of room to play with this piece and since it was so pleasing to  listen to I would have liked something longer and more developed. 

 

There are huge amounts of potential in here.  Great job!

 

[/MODREVIEW]

[NyxTheShield]

[MODREVIEW]

 

- Love the first section.  Mixing is tight, the reverb is tasteful, and the parts flow very nicely. 

 

- At 1:33, things start to get a little confusing sonically because I feel like these players aren't playing with each other, if that makes any sense. It's too freeform for my tastes, but it snaps back in at about 2:03.  Like there's this very calm feeling that gets a little unbalanced there and starts to sound chaotic.  This MAY be due to the fact that you are multi-tracking the same instrument in the same range, and you have some mordents and runs that run over the other parts at the same time.  Since an instrument cannot physically do that, it sounds a little off in my ear.  

 

- The piece is just barely ahead of the 2min OCR requirement.  I think you had lots of room to play with this piece and since it was so pleasing to  listen to I would have liked something longer and more developed. 

 

There are huge amounts of potential in here.  Great job!

 

[/MODREVIEW]

 

Thanks!!! I will upload a new version this weekend