*NO* Chrono Trigger 'Emotions of Time'

[Liontamer]

Hello OC Remix! I've been a fan for years, and I would like to submit this remix of the Chrono Trigger theme for you all!

Your ReMixer name: [Theølogy]
Your real name: Matthew J. Bentley
Your email address: 
Your website: facebook.com/theologyofficial
Your userid: 33154

Name of game(s) arranged: Chrono Trigger
Name of arrangement: Emotions of Time
Name of individual song(s) arranged: Chrono Trigger Main Theme
Additional information about game including composer, system, etc: SNES, Yasunori Mitsuda
Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc: I was gonna start playing Chrono Trigger one day after years of not playing it, and the main theme played and hit me in a way I've never been hit before. I then decided to not play the game, and instead to remix the theme. I have been in cahoots with some artists from Anjunabeats lately and my sound has evolved more than ever, and this this is my first VG remix with that new and improved sound. I am very excited to be submitting it to OC because I have been a fan of OC for years. This is also one of the first tracks under my new artist name, [Theølogy]. Enjoy!

 

 

Edited June 8, 2016 by Liontamer
closed decision

[Sir_NutS]

There are some production issues here, mostly regarding frequency balance in the mix.  The highs are too prominent which makes the hats really sizzly and noise effects (and some synths such as the lead chords at 2:29) get very piercing.  The ride cymbals at 3:19 are a good example of this, just too much high content, but also, not enough mids, which makes the other melodies seem drowned.  Speaking of melodies, the references to the original theme are far in between, and mostly roaming the background, with the exception of the main section at 3:19 which is a variation of the main motif.

The arrangement as mentioned previously is kinda sparse on source content.  The structure of the mix is ok, with defined sections and good buildups, the main section felt powerful, and I didn't feel the song entered autopilot mode long enough to be noticeable.  On arrangement grounds, this is fine, but the references to the source could be more prominent throughout.  I think other judges may take an issue with this.

Overall I think this is in the right direction but the production flaws are too prominent.  I would like to hear an improved version if possible.

NO (resubmit)

[Gario]

This is a solid arrangement of the source, and I really like the overall combination of voice clips, the drums and the synths utilized. It's just a really tasty combination, and it plays around the harmonies of the source to make something pretty unique. I like what you did in the 2:30 - 4:26 section, too... but it gets more difficult to connect it to the source the longer you linger on it. You took the chord progression prior and varied it, which was a great idea, but you'll need to make at least a passing reference to the portion that you're varying periodically in that section for the listener to connect it to the source properly. If you make it a little more clear what portion of the source you're arranging in that part you'll have more than enough source to consider the arrangement a pass, I think.

Wow, that's a hot instrument, right in the beginning. Alone, that SFX that you use (first heard at 0:01) just takes up the entire mid-upper range of your spectrum. It's also extremely wet, too (heavy on the reverb!), so it lingers and overlaps itself, as well. That definitely needs to be toned down, along with making the reverb less wet on it, as it's intruding on your production significantly. Overall, there's a considerable amount of overcompression, due to a large bass presence and a hot upper-EQ portion throughout. Side chaining the bass and the bass drum will help the lower end, and a low pass on some of the hats and cymbals will help clean up the upper end, as well - I'd suggest giving that a shot. Otherwise, the crowded highs and lows make it hard to hear everything that's going on clearly.

I like a lot of what's going on in this, but I don't think it's quite there yet. The middle section can't reasonably be considered a reference to the source without some tweeking, so the arrangement is a little too liberal, and the overcompression overall really drag the piece down. Toning down the particular synth I mentioned will help a good deal, though, so it's a good place to start. Be sure to balance your lowest and highest EQ better before you compress it, and give that middle section some more apparent links to the source and I think this'll be in much better shape. I hope to hear it again on here.

NO

[Chimpazilla]

Nice beefy beat.  I love the vocal clips!  I like this arrangement, although I'll agree it's light on source, and it gets a bit repetitive after awhile.

My biggest issue with this track though is the mixing.  I'm hearing that you've got most of the percussion elements and that one stab instrument clean and crispy, and by contrast, everything else sounds too filtered.  The filtering is cool as an intro effect, but as the track gets going, the filtering on all the elements except percussion just makes me wonder if I have water in my ears, and makes the percussion sound too hot and sizzly at the same time.  The bass is a bit boomy and inconsistent (the worst I hear is starting at 2:00), it could be tamed with some eq and compression and probably some stronger sidechaining too.  The track is really heavy on reverb.  If you have any reverb on the bass, remove it.  For the rest of the instruments, lower the reverb amounts but more importantly make sure all reverbs and delays are high passed to a minimum of 100Hz if not higher.  Make sure the tails aren't going on so long and overlapping each other.  I'd like to hear the instrument playing the source melody MUCH more clear and up-front than this, the main melody shouldn't be taking such a backseat.  If you could add more bits of source that would be great.  When these issues are addressed I think this will be seriously kickass.

NO (resubmit)

[Liontamer]

Opened up with an original electronic groove that doesn't connect to the theme, so we'll see where it comes in. The swell at :29 seemed to reveal that the soundscape lacked clarity, since everything had a muddy, lo-fi feel and not just a purposeful wet soundscape.

The lead at :37 was too quiet, so we'll see what happens as things continue to build. Yeah... as I suspected from listening, the parts aren't balanced, so you have a lot of supporting elements sounding louder than the Chrono Trigger theme. Whatever sweeping sound was first used at 1:29 was abrasive and just sounded like some sort of persistent rendering error; why did that keep going all the way until 1:56.

That electrosynth fading in around 2:18 was pretty generic, which was more obvious when it took over as lead at 2:30.

Nothing but mud at 3:19's section, with the splashy cymbals in particular sounding extra sizzly; wow, you've gotta tone this stuff down so everything's not so sizzling and abrasive all the way until 4:18.

By 4:18, I felt the piece had overstayed its welcome; there were some new ideas briefly explored with some of the vocal sampling, but then it just went back to the CT main theme and that weird sweeping sound for the final section.

I sound very critical, but this was a good start so far, Matthew. I'm not a musician, so I can't drill down on suggested production improvements like the others thankfully have, but definitely take their advice to help add clarity and restraint to your sounds. The arrangement's not bad, but once you hit that initial buildup and go to the theme, the dynamic contrast and evolution of ideas throughout the rest of the track was limited; you can afford to get more interpretive and varied with the adaptation of this theme to a club-style arrangement, especially if you're going 6 minutes.

NO