*NO* Child of Light 'The Moon, the Stars, the Sun'

[Emunator]

Hi there,

Orchestration and arrangement of music from Child of Light. The track in focus is "Aurora's Theme", although there are elements of other tracks as well.

OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93h-8MKG48s
Composer: Coeur de Pirate
System: PS3, PS4, XBOX 360, XBOX One, PS Vita, Winsows, Wii U
Publisher: Ubisoft

Contact information
ReMixer name: Fredrik Jonasson Music
Name: Fredrik Jonasson
http://fredrikjonasson.net
User ID: None. I didn't receive my confirmation mail when signing up for the forum earlier today. My user name is Fredrik Jonasson Music and my mail is . You are probably not the right person to deal with this, but I didn't find information regarding this on the site, 

ReMix name: The Moon, the Stars, the Sun
Comment: This is an arrangement and orchestration of music from Child of Light with Aurora's Theme in focus. In my opinion, a simple soundtrack like the OST suits the game with it's artistic style and story. But I believe a more broad, orchestral and grandiose one would fit perhaps equally well. I hope you like it!

Best regards!

 

[DragonAvenger]

Goodness this is gorgeous! Really love the orchestration here, and I can tell there was a lot of care put into the arrangement. I do feel like 2:05 - 2:30 sounds a bit awkward. The lack of a lead focus might be the issue there, but it gets back on track after that.

Quite enjoyable, especially for someone who is a sucker for orchestral arrangements.

YES *changed below

[Chimpazilla]

I agree with Deia that the middle section feels awkward, the writing there is rambling and aimless, and it makes an odd transition.  I also agree with her that the orchestration is gorgeous.  The sounds are perfect together and things are well balanced.   You set up a lovely soundscape right away. 

The humanization of the strings is not great, though. The string attacks are all the same. I would prefer a bit better humanization on the strings than this, since this is a 100% orchestral track.  It sticks out on the cello lead and on every string part that follows, and is particularly noticeable during faster passages when each short note has the same too-long attack.  My other issue is that the instrumentation is so similar to the original, other than the piano and guitar in the original, the vibe with the strings is basically the same.  The opening cello is the same.  The writing is also quite conservative, with the exception of that unique original middle section.  The jury is out for me.  Whichever way I vote is going to be borderline, due to humanization issues primarily, but also due to that middle section's odd writing.

edit:  Thanks Mike for helping me clarify what was in my mind.  I have to vote NO, but I really hope the artist will revisit the issues and resubmit this because it is gorgeous.

NO (resubmit please, borderline)

[Sir_NutS]

I can tell that the artist has a very firm grasp on structure and arrangement, it it indeed a beautiful arrangement, with cohesive dynamics between the different elements and a structure that flows flawlessly.  

The reason I didn't straight-up approve this days ago is the production.  As Kris mentioned, the humanization of the strings is seriously lacking, the envelopes are pretty much the same for all notes (per instrument), and while this is very well masked in the busy sections, which are a highlight of the mix for me and beautifully constructed, it's exposed quite obviously on the solo instruments and on sparser sections where the legato strings are more upfront.  Also, I did not like the mastering on this one, the volume is quite low, which isn't a deal-breaker for me at all, and specially on an orchestral track, but the frequency levels are not good at all, and running the mix through an analizer just confirmed what my ears were catching, a big clump of sound around the mids (1k-3k) and almost no brightness or air around the highs.  I did some hacked-up eq on top of the mix and it improved it a lot, so I think the artist may be able to do much more with the original project file at hand.

Really beautiful piece but I'm gonna ask for more work on the production side of things, humanization and eq'ing specifically.  Right now these aspects distract me enough from an otherwise well crafted offering.

NO (Borderline, Resubmit)

[Palpable]

I have to side with the NO votes here; the production problems with this sub only get more noticeable as the piece goes on. With better humanization (different instrument envelopes based on the situation) and better frequency balance (more highs), I think this would pass. Sir_NutS gave some detailed advice that I agree with. It's a beautiful arrangement with a lot of intricate partwriting, and it deserves a production as good.

NO (resubmit)

[DragonAvenger]

No reason for me to hold this up. Listened again, and I'm hearing more of what you guys are saying. I'd love to hear another pass as well to get things really matching how great the arrangement is!

NO (resubmit, please)