Chimpazilla Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) ReMixer name: ∑ Name: Matt Gallagher Website: http://soundcloud.com/jam-toast-studios or http://soundcloud.com/studio-dantalionor https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPo-GF08JfA9RcVYdJEHNRA User ID: 33357 Game arranged: Undertale Name of arrangement (with link): ✶ It Seems that There’s Still One Last Person that Needs to Be Saved Songs arranged: Hopes and Dreams, SAVE the World, His Theme OST link: here Comments: Instead of the original (in particular, Hopes and Dreams), which possessed a grand sense of an epic, climactic final battle and saving the day, I decided to go for a more subtle approach, an emotional sense of wanting to reach out and save the one in front of you right now. Asriel wanted nothing more than to stay with the First Human forever, and I wanted to capture the sense of needing to reach out and not only save Asriel's soul but also tell him that he's not alone and that everything's going to be okay. Edited June 23, 2016 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 This track is mastered way too quietly. I had to crank the track by 10db just to hear parts of it. The hard panning of the pianos bothers me, and one of the piano samples has a distracting sound when it plays each note, it sounds almost like percussion but I think it's just a flaw in the sample. The playing is pretty stiff, if this was played live then the sample is making the playing sound sequenced. Still I think this is a moody and somber take on these three themes. The transitions are somewhat awkward though, giving the track more of a medley feel than it needs. I think this might work much better if the production and mastering were improved, and if the transitions flowed more smoothly. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Quite a beautiful approach to this track - you treat the sources with a certain tenderness that I can appreciate. Kristina is correct, though, on both the panning and ultimate volume issues. Hard panning the piano is distracting, and the mix is much too quiet in comparison to the rest of the music on site. Understandably, when Audacity (or whatever mastering program you're using) maxes the volume out it'll signal that any more volume will cause clipping, because at 5:05 the music maxes the volume out for a split second in the left speaker. If you don't hard pan and let some of that sound spread to both speakers you'll find you can get at least a little more volume out of the track without even using compression or limiting. That aside, the recording itself has some artifacts, due to where you places your microphones during setup. If the volumes are raised to the appropriate levels, the hammers in the piano that strike the strings become incredibly distracting. It's a soft 'thud' that occurs when every note is struck, and when the volumes are raised significantly they become overpowering. I'm afraid there isn't an easy or quick fix to that problem, either, since it's entirely a recording issue. If you're up to playing it again there are a few good ways to get a good sound, and one option is you can set the microphone(s) so that they're more set in the middle of the resonating portion of the piano rather than the hammers (if it's a Grand or Baby Grand). If it's an upright you might instead opt to set the microphones behind the piano - that's where the strings are. I hear you can even remove the back panel for a more solid sound with an upright, if you want a clear sound with it. I like the arrangement, but the recording is too quiet, and raising the volume artificially introduces artifacts (the hammers striking) that cannot be ignored. I'm afraid if you want this to pass the panel you'll likely need to re-record it, but if you're up to doing that hopefully my suggestions above are helpful. The panning is a moot point due to the need to re-record, but if you do so don't hard pan your parts as much, as that's distracting. The arrangement was pretty solid, though, and I did enjoy the piece, so great job on the performance and arrangement. SUPER LATE JULY-ALMOST-AUGUST EDIT: Having played through Undertale now, this is a very appropriate arrangement to the source. While I'd still vote NO due to the issues above, I thought I'd share that this arrangement does a great job touching the heart and soul of the source nearly perfectly. I would love to hear a cleaner performance of this. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 On 6/16/2016 at 10:46 PM, Chimpazilla said: This track is mastered way too quietly. I had to crank the track by 10db just to hear parts of it. The hard panning of the pianos bothers me, and one of the piano samples has a distracting sound when it plays each note, it sounds almost like percussion but I think it's just a flaw in the sample. The playing is pretty stiff, if this was played live then the sample is making the playing sound sequenced. Still I think this is a moody and somber take on these three themes. The transitions are somewhat awkward though, giving the track more of a medley feel than it needs. I think this might work much better if the production and mastering were improved, and if the transitions flowed more smoothly. NO (resubmit) #quotevote Not much else to add to what Kris said, who summarized the issues very succinctly. I just have to disagree on the overall volume which was fine for me, but I agree on everything else on her vote. Biggest issue for me were the actual sounds used, very mechanical and accompanied with a very odd percussive sound that was incredibly distracting, and secondary to that, the transitions which were all medley-like.NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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