Liontamer Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Remixers: Sixto, Geoffrey Taucer Game Remixed: Chrono Trigger I started this track with Tauce almost a year ago and now it's FINALLY finished. It's gone through a lot of changes over the months and I think it's for the best that it took so long. Tauce provided the acoustic guitar and most of the composition while I filled in the rest. It's been great collaborating with Taucer on this. He's a great guy and a very talented musician. From Geoffrey Taucer: I actually arranged this at least a year and a half ago, back before I even submitted "A Star Freezes Over." It sorta sat idle on my hard drive for awhile, and eventually I decided I wanted to get it off the ground, so I sent it to Sixto. I gotta say, when he isn't having his fingers crushed or getting run over by forklifts, sixto has an amazing talent for taking what's in my head and making it happen. And then making it 39487593847593457 times better. Also, Mitsuda pwns you. ----------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Robo's Theme" (ct-2-09.spc) Chrono Cross Original Soundtrack - 315 "Radical Dreamers -Without Taking the Jewel-" The drums are extremely placeholder-ish and bland, IMO. They do nothing interesting to help move the song along and merely drag it down. Do something more creative with the snare; F with the timing, the intensity, anything to lend to the energy apparent in the rest of the piece. The other instrumentation sounded pretty solid, except for those really fake-sounding string cameos. The guitar wank from Juan at 1:55 was excellently performed, but those lame, simplistic drums didn't integrate with the rest of the elements in play. Ending at 3:17 was, IMO, too sudden/I-give-up ish and offered no satisfying resolution. All in all, good straightforward but personalized arrangement ideas, but I know where I consider the weak link in the chain here. Spruce dem drums, create some synergy please. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jillian Aversa Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 Meh, you know what this reminds me of? Old people step dancing. Those drums are like a really boring karaoke track that plays in the background at a family vacation home. The only thing that could bring me out of that mindset was sixto's guitar soloing, which sounded great, but didn't quite fit with the rest of the style. You guys have incorporated a lot of themes here, and intelligently, I might add! It's mainly the percussion that drags you down. The woodwinds sound nice, strings ain't half bad, and the accoustic strumming is soothing... but it's all a little static. Even with a more laid-back piece, there still needs to be an underlying "energy." If you were actually going for the old people step dancing feel (which is totally legitimate and could be potentially very amusing), there need to be more obvious stylistic choices to get that point across. I somehow doubt that that's the vibe you were going for, though, because the electric guitar brings a more serious element to the mix. The transition at 1:26 was a little too abrupt for my taste, as well as the picardy third in the ending. I don't have much else to say, though. You're both very talented remixers, so perhaps this collab was a problem of communication. If you sit down and discuss your mutual goals with the piece, I think that could unify it. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 Pretty cool concept here, arrangement-wise; integrating the different CT/CC themes into the Radical Dreamers chord progression. I like that. Though, I do think you guys could have changed up the chords a little more over the course of the song, as they get a *bit* repetitive by the end despite the different melodies and harmonies. Not a huge deal, though. I don't really have any complaints about the ending either, but the transition at 1:25 could be better. Otherwise, thumbs up on arrangement (including the solo later on). My big problem here is with the production; Larry and pixietricks touched on several of the points I was going to bring up. One would be the drums, which are really unremarkable. The pattern is dull and the samples, while not "cheap", are not really interesting either. Surely between the two of you, you can think up a more interesting percussive part for this song. As is, it takes away from the mix. Another thing was the use of the orchestral instruments. I thought that they were generally on the mechanical and unrealistic side in terms of their sequencing, especially the woodwinds. The strings were OK, but the flute early on, for example, was rough. If changing velocities/timing is not enough, go for more improvisation on the melodies you have those instruments playing. Grace notes, trills, and other such ornaments are great for making a simple part more engaging. With regards to mixing, I thought the sound was unpolished. The low end was overbearing (very obvious on the acoustic guitar) and the e. guitar could have been brighter. Also, the e. guitar and FM7 synth were somewhat dry. Some reverb and/or delay would fix that no problem. All in all, I like the concept and I think the performances were great. I have no major qualms with the arrangement, choice of instruments, or recording. I just think the sampled parts fall short of the mark and that brings the ReMix down. Refine and resubmit, fellas. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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