OCR03391 - *YES* Secret of Mana 'Psalm of the Summer Sky' *PROJECT*

[Chimpazilla]

Contact Information
Meteo Xavier. The rest should be on file.

Submission Information
Name of game(s) arranged - Secret of Mana
Name of arrangement - "Psalm Of The Summer Sky"
Name of individual song(s) arranged - "Color of The Summer Sky"

Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.

"Good afternoon - it's been a while since I submitted anything to OCR and this one I am very proud to submit. This track is my contribution to a project that was themed to celebrate DJP's baby's birth and I jumped at the chance to do it as it had been a while since I was invited to a project and one of my all-time favorite compositions ever was fully open to remix.

I was... 8? when I first heard "Color Of The Summer Sky" and it was a religious moment of itself. Although I like to play Secret of Mana during the Autumn season, the song itself really does sound like Summer during childhood. When I hear it, it makes me think of Vacation Bible School and other good church-related Summer memories, and that's where "Psalm Of The Summer Sky" comes from.

I really didn't have a plan for how I was going to do this. I'd been working on trying to get a more aggressive, EDM style going, and I wanted to do a track that Daddy and Daughter could both enjoy on its own merits. I specifically chose a lead triangle because something in its tonal quality had an emotional and innocent feel perfect for what I was going for, lots of upbeat EDM sfx, bells, hard hitting beats, a smoky electric piano that also really hit home some feels without getting too emotional or melodramatic, and then later some aggressive leads to please the adults in the room . This is my first track where I used a lot of glitching too, and ultimately I was trying to go for a significant, upbeat dance track that was sort of a mix between Halc/Ben Briggs and bLiNd.

I did try to rectify some of my previous issues with repetitiveness with this track, but I admit I couldn't do it as well as I'd hoped. Because the beats were all pre-made sliced up stuff (much of it from other beats I'd made for failed songs), I had trouble trying to variate them and make fills, so I tried to ease up on the repetition by adding more percussion in at places and using Gross Beat to change up the beats at necessary points. The electric piano IS humanized in terms of velocity, but it still might sound mechanical. My only other grievance was I made the supersaw section too loud and big, but I couldn't find a way to reduce it and keep that section sounding full and right at the same time.

Still, without trying to toot my own horn too loudly, I think this is a major upgrade to my previous remix attempts and electronica production skills and very definitely the best remix I've done yet. I hope you enjoy.

This track was mastered by bLiNd. It also got Hiroki Kikuta's personal thumbs up for it.

Track breakdown is this:

0:00 - 0:28 - Color of the Summer Sky arpeggio over new intro-arrangement.
0:29 - 0:57 - COTSS Section A over re-arrangement.
0:58 - 1:11 - COTSS Section B, little more straight forward.
1:11 - 1:18 - New arrangement.
1:19 - 1:45 - Highly re-arranged version of Section A melody plays over completely re-arranged section.
1:46 - 2:30 - I think the only part of the original COTSS composition is played by the xylophone on the left, and even that is re-arranged slightly.
2:31 - 2:43 - COTSS Section C re-arranged as a riser.
2:44 - 3:11 - Pretty straight forward COTSS Section A with some re-arranged chords and an additional melody.
3:12 - 3:40 - Again, very noticeable Section A melody with lots of new interpretation and new chord progression.
3:41 - End - Section B arranged as an ending."

 

Source: 

[DragonAvenger]

I do like the chord changes you put into the track a few times. They do a good job of changing the feel of the track which has been mixed a lot. It's obvious you spent a lot of time trying to keep the track varied throughout, and it definitely pays off here. I found the sections to all to fit the style you were going for, but be unique in their approach. I will have to say that I wasn't feeling the opening section as much, as the note shifts on the bells from the source make the track sound almost out of tune at times.

 

I have a couple of production issues I'd like to bring up. I think the bass overall feels like it's a bit thin and doesn't push as much as they could. Similarly, the piano at 1:52 could come in a little stronger, as the stop and quieter section is a bit lost. Also sometimes the balance feels a bit strange at times, like 1:20 the bells are competing against the background synths to be heard clearly. 

 

I'm curious what the others think on this one, as I'm a bit on the fence. I am leaning towards a yes, and that most of the issues are not big enough to bear revising, but I certainly wouldn't mind another pass at it.

 

YES

[Chimpazilla]

I have heard this track develop from a very early wip and it's great to hear it in it's final version.  I initially had issues with some of the lead timbres, and I still don't find the main lead to be super strong, it is very thin and it is competing with a beefy background, but the writing and glitching really give it personality.  The timbres (leads and mallets) are clearly baby-friendly but the processing is badass.  

 

The transition at 1:46 isn't the strongest, the track fades to pure silence before the soft breakdown, some kind of transition or downsweep would have helped.  The breakdown builds back up very nicely to the final epic section.  The wide saw lead is not my favorite sound, honestly I dislike wide saw leads generally.  The idea works, but in my experience wide saw leads have to be processed so carefully so as not to sound cheesy.  Luckily this section is brief.

 

The glitching in the final passage borders on being too much... but it works.  Overall, I still really enjoy this track and I think others will as well.

 

YES

[Emunator]

This is pure saccharine - I'm actually quite fond of the arrangement and it's great to hear simple synth leads do their thing without too many frills... it really hearkens back to the days of old OC ReMix, but with nicer sounding production & mastering. In fact, this works great as a sister piece to 'Skyline' by Ziwtra. The whole arrangement is lovely, but the e-piano breakdown with the xylophone harmonies really warmed my heart.

 

There's a couple of details in this mix that aren't jiving. To be blunt, some of the glitching just seems amateurish, particularly from 3:15 - 3:27... the skipping at the end of that part just takes me out of the vibe entirely. I'm of the mindset that glitching and stutter effects need to be used a bit more deliberately, and at some points the glitches seem randomly applied just to add variation for the sake of it, and unfortunately there are some parts of this track that fall into that boat. Not quite a dealbreaker but it was distracting because of how much it cut through the rest of the track.

 

Kristina also picked up on the weak transition into the e-piano section and I have to reiterate that that portion could have been handled with a bit more finesse.

 

Other than that, the balance isn't perfect and some of the lead synths tend to sound very in-your-face and dry. That's probably a stylistic choice on some level but it's not a showstopper, either.

 

Overall, I'm on board with this. I think this could be better with some additional work but what you've got here is heartfelt and sweet, and relatively well-put-together.

 

YES

[Palpable]

Really cool arrangement! It's a great balance between keeping the original and giving us something new, and has a very classic OCR feel to it. I agree with pretty much everything that's been said by the other judges. Glitching towards the end was too heavy-handed (sounded like random dblue settings rather than something purposeful) and the leads were a bit basic. The drums get a little tiresome but there's a lot of other stuff going to draw your attention elsewhere. I also agree that in spite of issues, this is definitely a pass. I especially loved the chord changes and middle section, where I really started to feel your interpretation of the source.

YES