Golden Sun - Desert Theme // "Heatstroke and Whirlwinds"

[2r1t]

Hello everyone, and nice to meet you all!
This is my first real post on here after countless years listening to accepted submission on OCR.

I've been obsessed with the Golden Sun soundtrack since I was a child. I find the whole thing full of wonder, magic, skillful world-building, and tremendous energy.
In an ideal world, I would remix or orchestrate the entire soundtrack. But you know, bills to pay and whatnot.

Anyway, here is my first true remix for Golden Sun's "Desert Heat" track.
As I was working through it, I realized how difficult of a piece it is to change. The whole thing just keeps going on and on with few elements that are easy to repeat or separate. Loads of fun making it nonetheless. I consider this "acceptably completed" for now – it's not perfect, but I consider it more or less finished.

Let me know what you think! I'm totally open to feedback/criticism.

remix: Heatstroke and Whirlwinds

source track: Desert Heat

[Chickenwarlord]

The super pulled back high-pads feel like they're a bit behind the rest of the song. Don't know if it's too much echo or reverb, but it's really distracting. I would probably tone down the volume on the wind SFX when it overlaps with music halfway. 

There's some good interplay between lead and response, but whenever things get desynched slightly it's hard to settle into the groove. Definitely check the attack timing on some of those backing instruments or let them fade into the back more.

Keep up the good work reppin' Golden Sun tracks not named Venus Lighthouse.

[2r1t]

19 hours ago, Chickenwarlord said:

The super pulled back high-pads feel like they're a bit behind the rest of the song. Don't know if it's too much echo or reverb, but it's really distracting. I would probably tone down the volume on the wind SFX when it overlaps with music halfway. 

There's some good interplay between lead and response, but whenever things get desynched slightly it's hard to settle into the groove. Definitely check the attack timing on some of those backing instruments or let them fade into the back more.

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback.
I always struggle to let instruments be quiet and unimposing. I get caught up thinking they're too quiet or boring, but really you're right. Gotta tone some things down!

19 hours ago, Chickenwarlord said:

Keep up the good work reppin' Golden Sun tracks not named Venus Lighthouse.

I love Venus Lighthouse...but there's so much more.

[Noyemi K]

I like the crunchiness of the lead synth sound—makes me think of an arabic rebab on acid. It'd be a stronger mix if the drums ducked some of the other elements when hit; right now they feel pretty weak but you can certainly correct that with a little tweaking and layering.

[2r1t]

I (finally...) made a new mix based on the feedback you both gave me. I synced the instruments better and changed up the EQ on the drums to give them more punch.
How does it sound now? I'd love to hear more opinions and advice!

Heatstroke and Whirlwinds mix 2

 

[Sir_NutS]

The subs in your kick are interfering with the bass, your snare is a bit too splashy and thin.  The calm sections in this mix work better than the electronica-infused ones.  I wasn't a big fan of the lead as it felt a bit too exposed.  I hear a lot of sub content in this mix that could be balanced out better, try to highpass instruments that don't need sub frequency content, and try and sidechain your kick and your bass.  

This needs to find a much better balance before a pass IMO, but keep refining your ears.  I think you should explore the calmer sections of your track, those were going in the right direction for me.

[2r1t]

5 hours ago, Sir_NutS said:

The subs in your kick are interfering with the bass, your snare is a bit too splashy and thin.  The calm sections in this mix work better than the electronica-infused ones.  I wasn't a big fan of the lead as it felt a bit too exposed.  I hear a lot of sub content in this mix that could be balanced out better, try to highpass instruments that don't need sub frequency content, and try and sidechain your kick and your bass.  

Thank you so much for your input! This is actually my first time trying electronic music. I'm much more comfortable with orchestral work...
That said, if you're willing could you explain what you mean by the subs and sub content? I think I understand highpassing and sidechaining haha.

Thanks again! I really want to up my production skills, and this really helps!

[timaeus222]

"Sub" and "sub content" just mean sub bass. Somewhere around 20~60 Hz is generally what most people define as sub bass.

Right now, your kick has more sub bass than a hardcore hip hop kick [inside joke]! I agree that the snare is too treble-focused, without much low-midrange body (~200 Hz), making it sound "splashy and thin".

The lead at 0:30 is OK, but a little grating. I'm honestly not sure what this genre is supposed to be, as your instrument palette is confusing to me. Something middle-eastern I guess, but that's a bit vague of a descriptor because I could say that simply by listening to the melody. The drumwriting is kind of all over the place, as if it was written just to have energy; it doesn't seem to complement the non-drums.

The calmer sections with the harp and strings do work better, but the notes are very rigid/stuck to the grid (EX: 1:21 - 1:24, etc), and so they sound robotic. All human beings play instruments with a little bit of "mistakes" in their timing; even a few milliseconds' worth late/early is reasonable.

At 1:56, and elsewhere, there is some clipping/crackling; the instruments are pushing above 0 dB (decibels)---meaning that they're collectively becoming too loud. So, you should be using a limiter, or turning down your bass frequencies on whatever's playing bass there (and elsewhere), since it's the bass that's mostly doing it in this case.