Liontamer Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Artist Info Remixer Name: Joker Real Name: David L. Puga Email: Davejkr@prodigy.net(poopies) User ID: 16059 Remix Info Game: Tales of Phantasia Song: Stream of Time Comments: Hi there. This is one of my songs for the Tales Project, Summoning of Spirits. I signed up for this song, well, really almost last minute. I had no idea what i was going to do with it, though I wanted to keep some sense of epicness to it. So, I decided to make a symphonica remix. Kind alike Hybrid, only in my own style. I wanted it to have the symphonic elements, as well as a funky tone, which hopefully I accomplished. Anyway, big thanks to kyle for letting me do this song, as well as hosting it! Yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcos Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Checked the spc archive at Zophar's but couldn't find a 'stream of time' within the archive. Perhaps a judge who knows the soundtrack can point me in the right direction? Assuming the level of re-arrangement is adequate: Not much to say about this really. Well mixed, good texture, all the instruments fit together (which is not always easy when doing this style). Interesting and engaging arrangement. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Pick up the RSN on SNESmusic.org rather than zophar. The original is track 2 (well, "102") on there. Ok, I had to listen to this one a bunch of times and compare it to the original to feel comfortable writing about it. The reason being, I wasn't hearing a really solid connection to the original in some parts of the mix. A lot of the chords in the remix don't seem to be related, and I couldn't easily hear the melody from the source being used. The arpeggios that are present in both serve as the best link between the mix and the original that I can find. From a production standpoint, some of the stuff here is 'bleh'. The percussion is pretty mundane for the most part, and the way the string parts are written makes them seem unnatural. When they are sustained, they sound OK, but the way the voicings change doesn't sound realistic to me, and it's a jarring effect. Also, you have the sustained strings going basically the ENTIRE time and that's really just not a good idea. They're not interesting enough timbre-wise to merit that much attention. In terms of things that were done well, the harmony instruments like the chime/bell-type sounds and the synth arps were effective. However, overall, I think the production could be better. Tweaking your existing sounds and adding some new, varied ones would be a good idea. Looking at the big picture, I don't think this has enough going for it to pass. The structure of the song is not great (overly sparse in some parts, not focusing enough on the main melody, 30 second fadeout as an ending) and the arrangement just doesn't click, in my opinion. There are some assorted production problems as well. While no one aspect of the mix is particularly problematic, it needs work across the board. Keep at it and resubmit. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJT Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Wow. I really like the source tune on this one. Much like zircon, I had to listen to the original and the remix next to each other a couple of times before i felt like i had a handle on the situation. Well, I don't think zircon is giving you enough credit re: chord progressions. the first minute covers the opening chord progression, though this isn't apparent until :38 when the bassline comes in. 1:01-1:31 is a clear reference to the next chord progression (:18-:36 in the source) Anyways. The original is full of so many rich, beautiful melodies, but anything in this remix that carries any melodic weight is shoved into the back. Why?? it's a nice groove (despite what is mostly lackluster percussion) but i keep waiting for some kind of melody to come in and actually take the mix somewhere....but nothing ever happens. it just fades out after awhile. so in essence, what you have here is a nice foundation for what could be an OC ReMix. i think i've made it pretty clear what's missing here. take at least a few of those fantastic melodies from the source, bring them out, and let them lead this mix somewhere. NO RESUBMIT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=top - "The Stream of Time" (top-102.spc) Opened up with a ticking clock; very relaxing and nice. Loved the bubbly synth covering the intro of the source coming in at :15 with that other chime-like percussion; nice texture. The bass kick was also nice and phat. The strings in the mix here are so similar to the ones in the SPC; similar tone and buried very deep in the back. zirc picked up on the strings having some very unrealistic voicing changes, though they honestly didn't bother me much, as I felt the sample wasn't exposed as bad as it could have been. Beats at :38 could have filled the soundscape more, but most of the patterns were excellent. Don't drag it down with a plodding pattern like you did at 1:17 though. Nothing melodic was really happening though, then the track went practically dead from 1:32-1:55. Too many elements dropped out basically leaving that boring beat pattern, the strings (now exposed) and the bubbly synth; at that point, the mix felt overly simplistic, empty, and devoid of substance and direction. Picked back up fairly well at 1:55, but, like Jon criticised, there's just no direction to the track at all. What would normally function as supporting elements were all upfront, what would normally function as melodic content were way in the back. I mean, if you want BGM with no hook at all, that's fine, but it's a bit backwards in terms of developing the source material with the site in mind. I know the tempo of the original is slow, but there's a fair amount of content here to work with, both with overt melodies as well as other material in the source that can be rearranged to work melodically. Sorry David, gotta roll with the other NOs. Decent foundation here, but that's only basically what's in place so far. Refine some of the production and also rework the arrangement to give it a melody and, subsequently, direction. You continue to improve, so don't be discouraged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 I really like how this one starts out. Usually I'm not one for clock noises (in general, that is) but that actually sounds pretty nice. I've listened to this with the source enough to turn my ears blue, and after reading my fellow J's votes I'll get right to the point. I personally don't have many reservations about the production, or sample quality, or execution in general, with the exception of the longer-than-necessary outro and the dryness of the drums from about 1:33 - 1:55. I would have liked a little more "wetness" added to the snare especially during that time. I know the strings werent the most realistic/natural sounding strings ever, but that didn't bother me at all. I really enjoyed the chord structures and progressions. My main hang-up on this one was the level of source arrangement. To sum things up, none of the melody has been blended into this piece, such as clarinet from :36 to 1:12, and the clarinet-horn duo from 1:12 to 1:39. And I listened to this back-to-back with the source for about 2 hours trying to find it, so I could justify thorough interpretation in your favor. This is a beautifully done piece, for the most part. I absolutely loved the chord progression in general, and in places such as 1:55. I really wanted to give this a YES, but unfortunately with only the apparant use of the underlying chord patterns and the seeming omission of the primary source melodies land this one an extremely reluctant NO RESUBMIT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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