Chimpazilla Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 (edited) Contact Information Remixer Name: Chequer Chequer Name: Chequer Hanna Dazzi Chequer Email: Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLBnGpPzwuVWIpRZSsHD7_w User ID: 54058 Submission Information Name of Game: Megaman Zero 2 Name of Arrangement: Desert Wanderer Name of individual songs arranged: For Endless Fight II, Departure Comments: I made this arrangement for my VGM Covers Youtube Channel, and these songs and game played an important role in my personal life. I put my heart into this. -------------------- Edited July 29, 2015 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 I'm not sure how well these two themes go together... the transition after the intro (at 0:55) is.... awkward, despite being accomplished about as well as possible. I have no suggestions on how to make it flow better, simply because of the disparity of the two themes. Once the Departure theme begins, the guitar work sounds quite good and the backing arp is nice and wide although it tends to get repetitive. I'm finding the drums to be weak in the mix. I like the soft breakdown at 2:50. Good transition at 3:16 back into the heavy guitars. There is similarity in the main verse of the song (1:35-2:00) and the second iteration of that verse (3:17-4:08), but it's certainly not copy pasta. At 4:24, there is a transition back into the first source song, For Endless Fight. Again, the transition is achieved about as seamlessly as I could ask for, but I really don't like these two sources together, and I'm not sure how well the bookending effect of having this source be the intro and outro is working. Other Js? I find this track generally well produced and enjoyable, other than the drums being on the weak side, source use is fine, but I'm not sure about this structure. 7/29/15: I'm revisiting this. Listening again, my crits stand in full. I think I'm going to have to go NO on this one, the intro and outro just don't fit with the rest of the track and feel stuck on. I hope you can find a way to make it flow somehow, if not then I'd recommend making a new intro and outro, either something original-ish or using more of the Departure source. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Funny to read Chimpa saying "I'm not sure how well these two themes go together" and "I have no suggestions on how to make it flow better, simply because of the disparity of the two themes" because Shariq has already shown those themes can be combined pretty well. Yeah, the transition at :55 isn't smooth or connected at all thanks to the abrupt key change. It just sounds like one song ended, then a clip of another unrelated song started. All that would have been needed was an added chord at :53 as a final note to truly transition it from one song to the other, instead of such a clunky shift. Just noting I heard some quick distortion or pops at 1:22, 1:26, 2:40 & 2:43. The soundscape was arguably too compressed, but I could make out the various parts well enough. The machine gun drums from 3:42-4:08 didn't add much IMO, since they weren't very audible, but I'm glad they weren't too loud and obscuring other parts, so I guess I'll take too quiet over too loud. 4:24's transition from "Departure" back to "For Endless Fight II" was a lot smoother compared to :55's transition the other way around. I'm a little let down that it just sounds like a cut-and-paste of the intro, but that was minor in the big picture when the rest of the arrangement was solid. The decay of the final string note ended too quickly at 4:58; watch those details. It's not perfect, and the lack of an effective transition at :55 was needless, but otherwise this was a solid rock adaptation of "Departure" with great energy and reasonable mixing. I'm cool with it. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 I don't like how you used For Endless Fight here; you've got it book-ending the piece but it's in a different key as Departure, which makes it feel out of place. There's no integration at all between the two themes and the transitions are jarring. There's also some bad note choices in your flute part around :37 and :40. I feel like this piece has a real balance issue. The lead guitar seems to be getting lost in the mix during the heavy rock sections, and the drums and bass seem to be fighting everything else for attention. You've also got the ascending arpeggio doubled in the guitar while the guitar is playing the lead, which just mushes everything together. I like the acoustic section in the middle. I love the sources you picked and there are some nice ideas here, but overall I think there are production issues and the arrangement isn't doing it for me either. It's a bit repetitive at points. NO, resub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djpretzel Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 It's not perfect, and the lack of an effective transition at :55 was needless, but otherwise this was a solid rock adaptation of "Departure" with great energy and reasonable mixing. I'm cool with it. YES I disagree with Larry in that I actually find the later transition @ ~4'26" just as troubling as the 0'55" transition, if not moreso. Neither of these are good transitions. Put simply, this isn't how you move from one source/structure to the next while maintaining musicality & flow, and it hurts the mix. The question is, how MUCH does it hurt the mix? Because everything else is solid... great energy, good development, solid production (a little muddy at times but not a deal-breaker), and overall a mix that I WANT to listen to... except for those two transitions. They're brief - in terms of sheer duration, they're a drop in the bucket compared to the total run-time of the track. Nevertheless, while brief, they are pivotal, as they serve as both the transition from the intro into the meat of the arrangement and also a late-breaking segue/reprise, and neither of them work. I definitely think this mix belongs on OCR, but not until the artist has taken a stab at trying to fix these two transitions... I truly hope that happens, as right now they are the ONLY thing holding it back, but I do think they're a big enough deal to do so. I'm interested in what other judges think - are two bad & brief-but-important transitions enough to hold a mix back? For me, the answer is yes, thus my vote is... NO, resub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I think I'm harsher on this than the other votes so far. I think the arrangement got a bit repetitive, especially the intro and the rock sections where the lead wasn't in play. The same patterns were used too many times (dat arp!) and it didn't feel there was enough attention to detail in those sections. The flute/recorder and string sounds in the beginning and end were on the weak side. The acoustic section in the middle was a lot better and was the only section I felt really happy with. And that's in addition to the transitions, which are pretty big deals. Sorry, not really feeling this one. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts