Chimpazilla Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Contact Information:ReMixer name: ladyWildfirereal name: Elizabeth Carteremail address:website: https://soundcloud.com/ladywildfire, https://www.facebook.com/ladyWildfire/, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9uzIBogkhkGxjFBzMMNfwg userid: 11659Submission Information:Name of games arranged: Mega Man X3, Mega Man X7Name of arrangement: Splash SupaflyName of individual songs arranged: Sigma Stage 2 (X3), Splash Warfly (X7) Source usage: "verse" sections - Sigma Stage 2 "chorus", "bridge", "outro" sections - Splash Supafly The song is written in a typical pop-song structure: (intro/verse1/chorus1/verse2/chorus2/bridge/chorus3/outro) Notes: This remix was written for round 9 of the Sigma Fortress Remix Gauntlet 2015. I was feeling pretty burned out around the time I started this song, dealing with the compo and work stress. However, I think the 3 remixes I wrote for the compo turned out to be some of my best, and proves to me that my skills as a remixer are improving. I decided to go with a 12/8 time signature because I was having trouble getting the two sources to mix well together, and I figured the act of converting the 4/4 songs into 12/8 would spark the interpretive juices. 12/8 is such an underutlized time signature, IMO; it makes the tunes sound so fun and bouncy. I used 12/8 on Smooth Dream, and I have another remix I'm working on in that time signature. They're all partially inspired by Kubbi's Gravity. Sorry to ramble! Hope you like the remix! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Right off the bat the mix here isn't very good. Drums seem very thin and the bass feels a bit dull. The leads are too upfront and dry, though I liked the one used at 1:15 a lot, fits the song more than the vowel-filtered one. The call and response around the middle of the song doesn't sound very natural to me, partly because of the dryness of the mix which makes the lead feel too separated, like they don't belong together. The drums lack punch and they feel on autopilot. The arrangement was nice and I think both sources were included well. The lead writing was good too, I only wish the production was up to par to support them. I think this needs a bump production-wise to get a pass. I would like to hear some expression applied to the leads though that's not a deal-breaker for me, but the unbalanced mix and dull drums and bass are.NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 1 hour ago, Sir_NutS said: Right off the bat the mix here isn't very good. Drums seem very thin and the bass feels a bit dull. The leads are too upfront and dry, though I liked the one used at 1:15 a lot, fits the song more than the vowel-filtered one. The call and response around the middle of the song doesn't sound very natural to me, partly because of the dryness of the mix which makes the lead feel too separated, like they don't belong together. The drums lack punch and they feel on autopilot. The arrangement was nice and I think both sources were included well. The lead writing was good too, I only wish the production was up to par to support them. I think this needs a bump production-wise to get a pass. I would like to hear some expression applied to the leads though that's not a deal-breaker for me, but the unbalanced mix and dull drums and bass are.NO (resubmit) ^Quote Vote^ Nuts nailed this vote. The leads imo really are the biggest issue. When the first sync lead enters at 0:44, it is PAINFULLY dry and so loud. The lead at 1:15 feels better because the contrast with the backing isn't so stark, mixing-wise... that second lead may have a touch of reverb on it, glueing it better with the track. There are several things you can do to make your lead sit better in the mix, but still shine. First, lower the volume so it's not so up-front. Give it just a touch of reverb with a long-ish predelay (90ms is a good target). Give it some very subtle delay. (Make sure you high pass reverbs and delays though, so that nothing below at least 200Hz is getting reverb or delay, as those will only provide mud.) Another thing you can do is to give your leads some filter movement. There are many ways to accomplish that, I suggest you look into it. I usually just slap on an instance of Etch because it has presets for filter movement, but you could also automate this with another plugin. I also want to add that I hear no sidechaining in the mix. If it's there, it's too subtle. You should experiment with sidechaining the kick to your bass and pads pretty heavily, and you can sidechain leads much more lightly (so it's not so obvious, but just provides some groove). In my own mixes I sidechain my kick to just about everything (even atmo and white noise sweeps!), in varying degrees. In your mix your kick isn't the greatest kick sound, but it's also buried due to lack of sidechaining. I suggest finding a better kick, and snare too. I have one more thing to add, listening again, I hear quite a few sour notes in the lead writing, and places where the melody contour gets messed up. Examples are: 1:19-1:23, 1:33-1:37 (contour messed up there), 1:53, 2:08,2:33 (sour notes), 2:45-3:00 (melody is awkward). None of this is dealbreaker, just something I noticed. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted June 8, 2016 Author Share Posted June 8, 2016 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMonz Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Mike and Kris pretty much covered everything, so I'll be brief. First, I think this is a fun arrangement that definitely deserves better production, and I'm sure you're able to bring it over the bar. I agree that the lead at 1:15 blends much better with the track than the other leads, and I think reworking those would help your track a great deal. Kris's comments about volume and reverb are accurate, and I think you should try to apply them. I also suggest to review their sound design. Kick and snare with more impact should then be the next priority, in my opinion, to provide a stronger drive for the track. I hear there already seems to be sidechaining on the pads, and applying sidechain on the bass might help, but I think adding too much of it might end up changing your vision of the track, so I'd advise caution with that. I hope you'll address these issues and send in a revised version! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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