djpretzel Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 Remixer name: Cogglefirth Real name: Josh Hendricks Email address: UserID: 32947 Arrangement Name: Aqueous Realms Games Arranged: Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, Metroid Fusion Songs Arranged: 'Brinstar - Red Soil Wetland Area' (Super Metroid), 'Maridia - Rocky Underground Water Area' (Super Metroid), 'Crashed Ship Frigate Orpheon' (Metroid Prime), 'Underwater Depths' (Metroid Fusion) Metroid Fusion information: Action-adventure, Developed by Nintendo R&D1 Published 2002 by Nintendo for Game Boy Advance Soundtrack composed by Minako Hamano and Akira Fujiwara Link to full Metroid Fusion soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-TE2h_XB4w&list=PL71442F24C8795CD7 The first video game systems I owned were a GameCube and a Game Boy Advance, so Metroid Prime and Fusion were the first games in the series that I played. I was immediately hooked, thanks in no small part to the series' mind-blowing music. In fact, I latched onto the Super Metroid soundtrack before I ever actually got around to playing the game itself. As seems to be the case with many video game soundtracks, some of the most hauntingly beautiful music came from water-based areas. This soggy remix is my love letter to the composers of the Metroid music that has been so dear to my heart since I was a wee lad. I started fiddling with this remix about 2 years ago, before I had any appreciable music production skills. It wasn't until a few months ago that I really dedicated myself to self-educating on music production and (hopefully) graduated from fiddling around to decent proficiency at producing music in FL Studio. Any comments and constructive criticism are sincerely welcomed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 Nice soundscape, but the performances here are lacking. The piano lacks humanization and emotion, the performance doesn't feel very natural or fitting for the somber and emotional ambience. Some of the drums feel very drowned and lacking presence, that may be intentional but it wasn't fitting. The overall mix feels slightly unbalanced in favor of low-mids and lows, lacking clarity and air in general. The drum sequencing was odd at some places (4:10 had a 4 on the floor kick... maybe it was a buildup, but didn't feel like it as it needed much more energy than that, or fitting). The arrangement overall is quite nice and I enjoyed the small details and flairs scattered through the mix. It is a bit medley-ish but it's not too exposed. Interpretation is ok, some of it felt stilted but ok for the most part. I liked the evolution of the structure and the tempo changes which brought some dissonance for extra flavor. The full stop at 4:24 was unexpected and as mentioned before will benefit from a much bigger energy buildup. I felt the last section after this meandered about for longer than it should and could probably be shortened, but it's not a big gripe for me. Overall this is very close and if the performances are brought up to par and the mix is cleaned up a bit more I'll be happy to approve it. For now, NO (please resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 I'm agreeing with most of what Mike has to say here. The piano sound overall is a bit fakey, and I wish there was a better sample given that it is the lead for pretty much the entire song. Along with that if could be a bit more up front in the mix overall. The arrangement has done pretty great details thrown in that I was really enjoying. I think the personalization is well taken care of. I wasnt feeling the tempo change into the Prime source as much, but that might be a matter of opinion. I do agree also that the full stop isn't really working for a transition as is. The first transition from the two Super Metroid sources was pretty solid though, nice work there. I think this is pretty close. Some massaging of the production and work on the transitions in general would put this on track in my book. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMonz Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 First of all, I think this is very nice. The synth design on the backing detail work, the pads, the flourishes and such is very cohesive and shows great potential. Although, the lack of humanization on the piano/poor piano sample and the unbalanced mix (notably the excessive lows/low-mids) are breaking the deal for me. The first suggestion I have for you is to bring up the piano in the mix to give you more room to play with the velocities. I can hear you put some work in the velocities already, but it's not convincing enough as it is, in my opinion. Work on identifying what should flow and what should be accentuated in the piano melodies, to get a better idea of what to do with those velocities. I also suggest unsnapping some notes from the MIDI grid to add more emotion to the performance. The sample is not very good, and if you can manage to find a better one that would be great, but I can understand how that may not be an option for you. The next suggestion I have is to review the EQ'ing on the low-heavy and mid-heavy elements to try and clarify the mix. The wobbly bass-pad sort of thing that's present for most of the track is the first instrument I'd pass through this treatment. I also think the full stop isn't working currently. I think it could be a nice surprise if it was followed up more closely, because with such a huge gap I think it just breaks the flow and feels awkward. Keep at it, this shows a lot of promise. Best of luck! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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