Emunator Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Contact Info: Remixer name - Outset Initiative Real name - Zeke F Email: Website: www.outsetinitiative.com Userid: 24461 Submission Info: Game arranged - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Arrangement name - Valoo's Honor Song(s) arranged - Dragon Roost Island Comments - Imagine a yearly nighttime festival in honor of the almighty dragon; dancing, bonfires, heroic stories, etc. Source: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted March 5, 2016 Author Share Posted March 5, 2016 Very evocative... the submission comments were quite brief, but your vision translated beautifully into the remix and the concept feels like a natural addition to the Zelda universe lore. Starting off with more traditional folk instrumentation and building up to a fuller orchestra gives your arrangement a nice dynamic curve and adds to the drama. The instrumentation is noticeably sampled, but a lot of care was put into utilizing your sample libraries in a believable way that still conveys an emotive, human performance. As much as I would love to hear a rendition of this with an actual live flute and guitar, the work you've done here is more than enough to fulfill your artistic vision. This kind of conceptual mix is something I'd really love to see more of around here, great stuff! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 I wasn't a fan of some of the articulations in the pan flute, felt quite stiff, specially at the start, though it gets a little better by 1:20. I thought the supporting instruments like the guitars and orchestral elements fared much better in the performance department. It is easy to notice however, how much care went into humanizing the performances, as it's not the case with some submissions we get where it feels the instruments were thrown in without much detailing going into them. The arrangement makes up for the shortcomings in sample quality however, showing us plenty of interpretation and expansion on the original's motifs. I liked how the orchestral elements were there just to support the arrangement and it was never a big focus, while the folk instrumentation took over for the most part. Very emotive and beautiful adaptation with a really nice vibe that can lift one's spirit. I'm very happy to pass this one. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 I like the idea of building up orchestra elements behind a more folksy arrangement. Definitely keeps a lot of the feel of the original, but the artist also takes some nice, creative liberties as well. Pan flute at the start sounds lofi and in a different sonic space than the rest of the elements. Listening a few times in I feel like the various instruments here aren't quite gelling together to form a cohesive ensemble. The elements are mixed relatively dry, but many sound washed out (flute, strings, piano to a certain extent). I believe I recognize some of these samples as ones I've used in the past and I can totally understand the challenge in squeezing realistic results from them, so no hate here at all. Orchestral elements felt pretty static in the background with repeating block chords used and reused throughout the song. Really would've like to hear some more variation and dynamic contrast on those. Speaking of dynamics, after about the :46 mark, the track energy sort of plateaus and doesn't really have much change until the small build up near the end. Part of this is due to repetitive part-writing for some of the backing percussion and strings. I'm not saying you need to go crazy bombastic or anything, but some swells, writing change-ups, different harmonizations, etc could really help keep the listener more engaged with the track. A bit nitpicky, but the transition at 1:16 felt a little abrupt and could be smoothed out. This is mastered pretty low overall. I think there's some room for some tasteful compression to bring out some of the quiet elements. You can see big volume spikes on the waveform whenever the timpani hits, so it tells me there's a lot of room to compress those and raise the overall track levels. Sorry if I'm Scrooge McDucking this one on the production side, but I don't feel like this one is quite up to the bar in that regard. NO resubmit, please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMonz Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 First of all, the arrangement is beautiful. There's a bit of repetition, and some re-using of blocks in the backing parts, but I don't feel like that's a big deal here. Overall, I think the progression is very interesting, and tells a beautiful story. There's a lot of creativity, and the source is still very easily recognizable throughout. As the others said, this is noticeably sampled, but the humanization is really great overall, in my opinion. I especially liked the appoggiaturas and vibratos in the flute, they helped a lot, were tasteful, and not overdone. The guitar sequencing is also excellent. The production could be improved, which is especially noticeable when the timpani hit, as they seem to take too much space and seem to break the balance. Overall, the nitpicks aren't enough to bring this below the bar, in my opinion. I think this is great work that can definitely be posted. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 My vote is pretty much in line with Nutri's. I liked the approach quite a bit, but the details just barely made this a NO for me. The pan flute was probably the biggest problem. It shouldn't sound lo-fi, especially as the lead, and sometimes it comes across quite blocky. Other times, like with the quick runs, it sounds fine. The blocky string chords also made this sound more boring than it needed to, and took away some from the dynamics. I will disagree with Nutritious that the track was lacking dynamics on the whole. I thought with the swells and instruments coming in and out, there was enough to provide the rise and fall a track like this needs. I particularly enjoyed the rubato at the end. This is one revision away from a pass in my opinion, and I strongly suggest giving it that extra push. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 There are aspects of the mixing that don't work well. The mix feels empty a good part of the time. Reverbs don't match so instruments don't sound cohesive. The soundscape fills out quite a bit when the big timpani comes in, but the lows and mid-lows of that timpani feel out of control and this gives a muddy wash over everything else. The timpani writing is quite repetitive. The writing of the lead gets noodley sometimes, and the backing chords are indeed static and repetitive. The drum groove plods along at the same pace throughout the track and the drums are mixed in a very distant way. The transition at 1:15 is abrupt and unsignaled; this is a lost opportunity to prepare the listener for the next section. Instrument balances are odd throughout the track. The guitar volume jumps up drastically at 1:50, although the section from 1:50-2:25 is the section that I feel is mixed/balanced the best in the entire track, except the drums could be louder. The backing chords are bothering me a lot since I don't feel like they fit the lead writing as well as they could, it almost feels like two different songs are playing instead of one cohesive arrangement (almost like a mashup). The drums sound so static and looplike. I love the concept, but I feel like these issues need to be addressed before this can be posted. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 I can mostly see the issues that the No's are bringing up but I don't think they bring the track below the bar for me. The arrangement is emotive and personalized and overall has a great concept that really brings it together. All that being said, if it comes down to another pass this track could definitely be that much better, so good luck either way and I hope to hear this on the front page! YES Sir_NutS 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 For nitpicks, at 2:26, I know the percussion was a slightly different texture than before, but boy did the presentation feel samey with the wind lead and overall energy. Then at 3:01, the string work felt like it was repeating again. The rise in the tempo for the close around 3:45 was odd, but not something I'd dock the piece for. I see what people criticizing the lack of dynamic contrast are saying on some level, even if I'm more with Palpable that the overall development was fine, and Nutritious had great points in his NO. That said, I had DragonAvenger's overall POV. I'm not impressed with the realism of the instrumentation, but the tone and quality's solid enough to get by, and the arrangement of Dragon Roost is certainly interpretive. I felt the issues that could be addressed would merely make a good thing better, but that the bar's just a bit too high if something like this doesn't pass; that's not an argument I'd die on a hill on with this specific example, but the issues here aren't dealbreakers for me at all. YES timaeus222 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 I enjoyed this mix overall. I feel the light orchestral elements in the background didn't overly strengthen or detract from the mix. Parts feel mostly cohesive in how they compliment each other, with the main focus always on the flute to keep direction. Mixing is at times a little rough, but nothing here is causing parts to be inaudible. You're a bit heavier than normal on the mid frequencies which could've been toned back to keep things sounding more natural. Timpani's play a similar pattern when they drop in during the orchestral accompaniment sections, but they're not through much of the mix and I didn't notice this too much with everything else going on. The second half of your arrangement felt like a bit of a repeat of the first half, but it wasn't a copy/paste or anything, so that's not a major concern. I'm actually ok with this one. Your mix quality is ok enough, and while you have made some odd instrument choices, I enjoyed the blend, with the mix ending around the time it needed to. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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