*NO* Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 'Song of Storms (Den Solo Mix)'

[Chimpazilla]

Dear team at OC ReMix,

I found you by searching for "video game remix youtube" and instantly liked your channel. I am mailing you because of a piece of music that I believe would fit your channel perfectly.

It is a remix of 'Song of Storms' from the Zelda Series that I made for a German video games show (Rocket Beans TV) which put out a remix competition which I won.

Would love it if you would be willing to support and post it.

Public download links attached.

Original Game: The Legend of Zelda Series
Track: Song of Storms (Den Solo Remix)
Free Download: Yes

Stream:

Private Download (320  MP3):

Find me at:
https://soundcloud.com/densolo
https://www.facebook.com/DrDenSolo
https://twitter.com/DrDenSolo

Thanks a bunch and all the best from Cologne, Germany

Edited June 16, 2016 by Liontamer
closed decision

[Liontamer]

Opened up pretty creatively, taking the theme into a more militaristic orchestral approach. We'll see where it goes.

Interesting drop-off at :56 shifting to the harp, then a clap groove starting up at 1:15; didn't expect that. The phasing effect from 1:34-1:39's not executed well -- it sounds more like unintentional ducking -- but that luckily didn't last long. Actually, no, the ducking continues all throughout the new set of beats up until 2:15, jeez then again after the brief beatdrop until 2:35. The way the lead synth ducks from 2:17-2:32 sounds brutal; if this was intentional, it's not working the way you want it to. That definitely needs to be fixed.

Jeez, then AGAIN with the lead ducking at 2:53 because of those kicks. The harps and strings are just being pushed back every kick. Well, the ducking was already a dealbreaker, but you need to find out what's going on with that, because it's pretty persistant throughout the track.

Arrangement-wise, this also ended up disappointing. It started off promising in the sense that a lot of creative ideas and pivots occurred with the writing, and things are definitely interpretive and creative with the handling of the source tune. But then after the groove built up at 1:41, we basically heard that same core groove and pattern at the same relative energy level for the rest of the 3+ minutes, and the ideas became very static and repetitive. You are varying up the leads and textures some during that period, so I'm not trying to undersell what's there, but the overall dynamics of the piece flattened out pretty much after that.

A decent & promising base, but you'll need to eliminate the constant ducking, and also introduce more dynamics and/or instrumental variation of the groove in whatever ways you can after the dance groove starts.

NO

[Sir_NutS]

This song opens really strong, I was surprised the epic approach fits this song so well.  The high strings after 0:30 were a bit static though.  The transition into the edm section felt very off to me, it wasn't set up properly IMO.  I wasn't feeling the sidechaining at 01:15 but its not that off-putting to me at this point (but it is later).  The variation on the main hook is very groovy.  The synth at 02:17 is very exposed and doesn't really fit the mix much, felt a bit cheesy for me.  02:53 is where the sidechaining gets out of hand and really doesn't make much sense dynamically.  The full stop at 03:43 didn't make much sense to me.  After this the sidechaining comes back with a vengeance, but as with the first section it's not that off-putting to me.  04:22 was another full stop that didn't do much for the structure of the song at felt cheesy with the re-introduction of the synth from 02:17.  The ending was very uneventful.

Overall I wasn't as bothered as Larry with the heavy sidechaining because honestly I've heard worse in actual commercial tracks but it is indeed a problem in a lot of places and even in the sections I don't find it that off-putting I would definitely prefer if it wasn't ducking everything so hard.  Sidechaining is not just a tool to clear up space for your drums, vocals or other instruments that you want cutting through the mix, but it is also a dynamic shaping tool.  When its not used well your dynamics get wacky and your song loses groove.  Most of the melodies here don't follow the dynamic of the sidechaining you've got going so when it's this noticeable, the instruments being ducked (in this case, all of them) start feeling like they aren't following the rhythm of the song.

NO 

[Gario]

The beginning is pretty big-sounding, and it really sounds like it's leading up to something. I like this approach - the variation on the rhythm works well, and the drums sound appropriate. It continues to build with that harp portion, and again the variations on the rhythm are quite interesting. The big drums that this track eventually leads into are satisfying, though considering the build-up it's not quite as explosive as I was expecting. The payoff was alright, but the extra long intro wasn't quite justified.

After such a large build-up, it'd be nice to see the structure accomidating more chords, more harmonic density (e.g. something more than the bass playing the root note and whatever notes the theme provides), but the song remains harmonically static for five minutes. This gets very boring very quickly. Ironically, while the harmony stays static, past the intro the track also seems to interrupt the flow of music quite often (that is, there's too much change in pacing). It stops, then is going again, then slows down, then goes again, etc. This makes the arrangement feel jerky. When transitioning into each part, don't be afraid to let it simply transition without any silence or instrument dropping out, from time to time - this'll give you the option of smoother transitions, so you won't over-rely on the instrument-dropping transition.

The production in this is okay. Personally, I think the sidechain'd lead sounds alright, in the context of this style. A lot of pop influence, which utilizes the chained lead enough for me to recognize that this is a stylistic choice, rather than a mistake. I thought it added an interesting layered rhythm to the lead - personally, I liked it. That being said, there are moments where it works better than others; at 2:53, for example, it lasts for so short a time it doesn't seem  to make sense, while at moments like 3:07 it lasts long enough to make an impact. If you utilize it, make intentional use of it, don't just use it throughout the song on a whim.

Those drums are pretty tasty. It's relatively simple, but it really leaves a mark on the arrangement. You vary it up with hats and such enough for it to remain interesting, though personally I feel with the chaining effect you could've taken advantage of it better by including a small variety of beats (as opposed to sticking strictly with four to the floor the whole way through). That's up to you, though.

The strings used in the beginning don't sound very humanized. No vibrato for long notes, each attack has a swell that's unnecessary and there's no dynamic variation. When creating a sample of something 'real', always consider whether or not that's how someone would perform it in real life - if you're not convinced, the listeners won't be, either.

The primary reason I can't pass this is the arrangement, in being too harmonically static, not expanding past the repeated use of the theme and the constant start-stop method of transition you utilize. The strings should also be humanized better, and you should consider re-evaluating the sidechained leads a little - if you're going to go for them, make them sound intentional rather than simply using them everywhere for space for the drums.

NO