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The Legend of Zelda (NES) - Dungeon Theme - Metal Tendo


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  • 4 weeks later...

No responses in almost a month? Guess I'll take a stab...

This has got a really good drive to it, and I like the progression 'deeper and deeper into the rock' as the track goes on.

A couple of things:

  • Not sure the intro is needed. I get that you are building from 8-bit to heavy metal and the sample sets the mood of Link going into the dungeon from the world map, for sure, but I think it's distracting, if not misleading. IMO, the 'steps' should be all you need to start.
  • The beeping, oh god, the beeping between 0:20-0:38. Please ... let's not put Link low on life at the beginning of this track. Like what you did with the tone at 1:32 though - cool little solo.
  • There are some mixing issues; some instruments seem out of proportion with others. For example, I can't hear the intricacy of the guitar-work at 1:15 as well as I think I should.
  • The various sound effects are irritating to me. Once again, I get the sound design, but they are a distraction from the piece IMO.

These are all suggestions that are my opinion only. I really enjoyed this track, hope there is more to come.

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22 hours ago, The Nikanoru said:

 

  • Not sure the intro is needed. I get that you are building from 8-bit to heavy metal and the sample sets the mood of Link going into the dungeon from the world map, for sure, but I think it's distracting, if not misleading. IMO, the 'steps' should be all you need to start.

 

The intro could totally be removed but that would take away the context.
Also, the misleading is totally intended, it's meant to be like that so... if you felt it was misleading it means I've done my job right! :)

22 hours ago, The Nikanoru said:
  • The beeping, oh god, the beeping between 0:20-0:38. Please ... let's not put Link low on life at the beginning of this track. Like what you did with the tone at 1:32 though - cool little solo.

 

But why not ? Again, it sets the tone for something Epic... You're low on <3 and you're getting into the last dungeon of this forsaken game! Nothing more epic than to beat the heck out of a boss with a sliver of life left!
And thank you, the solo was a pain in the ass but it's entirely worth it! :D

22 hours ago, The Nikanoru said:
  • There are some mixing issues; some instruments seem out of proportion with others. For example, I can't hear the intricacy of the guitar-work at 1:15 as well as I think I should.

 

There are a lot of mixing issues, I've had mixing issues since 2006 lol.
I don't have access to quality speakers and I have no means to test it all... I'm stuck with an aging pair of G35s and so far, that's the best I managed to achieve.
About the guitar... it sounds "OK" on my end but I'll increase the levels to see if I couldn't make it slightly more present without breaking the whole mix.

22 hours ago, The Nikanoru said:
  • The various sound effects are irritating to me. Once again, I get the sound design, but they are a distraction from the piece IMO.

 

Well, that can't be helped, I actually like using samples to express different moods and emotions, it's also a really cheap way to fill some voids and bridge riffs together. It's like duct tape, without it... the universe would crumble out! (or something like that!)

22 hours ago, The Nikanoru said:

 

These are all suggestions that are my opinion only. I really enjoyed this track, hope there is more to come.

 

You can always check my soundcloud... I don't post a lot on forums.
Also... thank you for the feed-back, it's highly appreciated! :D
I'm glad you liked the track, I'll have more soon!

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On ‎8‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 2:14 PM, Electronic Chaos said:

But why not ? Again, it sets the tone for something Epic... You're low on <3 and you're getting into the last dungeon of this forsaken game! Nothing more epic than to beat the heck out of a boss with a sliver of life left!

Alright, but if you want to indulge in the sound design, some of us wouldn't go into a dungeon with low health - that would happen after taking a bunch of hits in the first room.

What I'm getting at here is a suggestion of adding a bunch of 'Link getting hit' sound effects to get to 'low health' (maybe 1:13ish?) then making that dreaded, awful beep lead into the solo. Just a thought.

On ‎8‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 2:14 PM, Electronic Chaos said:

About the guitar... it sounds "OK" on my end but I'll increase the levels to see if I couldn't make it slightly more present without breaking the whole mix.

Yeah, I see I wrote 1:15 when I meant 1:35. I think it's actually a bit of muddiness in the low tone of the distortion. Now that I hear it again, I'm not sure volume would really fix this.

I will say that the 8-bit stuff does seem louder than instrumentation, but this is likely design.

On ‎8‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 2:14 PM, Electronic Chaos said:

I actually like using samples to express different moods and emotions, it's also a really cheap way to fill some voids and bridge riffs together. It's like duct tape, without it... the universe would crumble out! (or something like that!)

Love this response. :)

 

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Interesting.  The intro seems unrelated to the rest of the track, as in, it doesn't really add anything to it.  I liked the evolution from the chip elements to the chip/metal mixture.  The mix seems unbalanced, the rhythm guitars sound a bit opaque and lack definition, they don't follow the groove of the drums well in the first section and sound very stale.  The original portions added to the final lead solo were neat, but I think the track could be expanded further.

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On 2016-08-29 at 4:15 PM, The Nikanoru said:

Alright, but if you want to indulge in the sound design, some of us wouldn't go into a dungeon with low health - that would happen after taking a bunch of hits in the first room.

What I'm getting at here is a suggestion of adding a bunch of 'Link getting hit' sound effects to get to 'low health' (maybe 1:13ish?) then making that dreaded, awful beep lead into the solo. Just a thought.

Yeah, I see I wrote 1:15 when I meant 1:35. I think it's actually a bit of muddiness in the low tone of the distortion. Now that I hear it again, I'm not sure volume would really fix this.

I will say that the 8-bit stuff does seem louder than instrumentation, but this is likely design.

Love this response. :)

 

Well, going in a dungeon... sometimes you just don't have a choice.
Tho in LoZ, you can totally decide to fill up your hearts and go fully rested...
But I again, I wanted to drive the impression that you're on that last sliver of heart and that any hits could be your last!
(I think your suggestion is pretty neat, I'll have to work on something and see if it's got that bite I'm looking for.)
---
The guitar is the one variant that doesn't change in the whole track but I tend to agree with you, it just doesn't feel optimal.
@ 1:35 The guitar does need some love... but again, the may all be due to the Triangle not being EQ'd at all (it's raw and it could have a huge impact on the guitar's range... I'll have to work on that. Thx for the heads up.)

The 8bit stuff is louder indeed... but there's not supposed to be a huge disparity between the two.
I'll work on that, thanks!
 

4 hours ago, Sir_NutS said:

Interesting.  The intro seems unrelated to the rest of the track, as in, it doesn't really add anything to it.  I liked the evolution from the chip elements to the chip/metal mixture.  The mix seems unbalanced, the rhythm guitars sound a bit opaque and lack definition, they don't follow the groove of the drums well in the first section and sound very stale.  The original portions added to the final lead solo were neat, but I think the track could be expanded further.

The intro is actually related to what's next.
Overworld, the sense of... we're actually playing this game, the steps going down the stairs and the Dungeon theme as in... stuff happens here.

Thanks! I'm glad you like my homebrew! Metal Tendo, soon you can buy it at the corner store! :P
The mix is one of the issues I must fix but like I said up above, it's hard to mix stuff with a pair of G35s alone. But I'll keep on trying until I actually have the perfect recipe!
The guitar EQ sounds good on my end but I'll try to patch this up.
I don't see anything wrong with the drums on the first part... but it might be because I have huge bias (I wrote the drums from scratch so... yeah, I'm biased.)

Can you explain "Very stale" please ?
Thank you, took me a while to write that solo, as simple as it may sound... it was a tough job!
About expanding the track, it used to be longer but I decided to make cuts over the years... the extended version also had the GameOver theme at the end which I'm tempted to bring back but  the first attempt just didn't sound so good... hence why I decided to cut it.
 

Anyway, thanks for your output and suggestions!
It's all highly appreciated! :)

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Hmm... Needs more cowbell.

But, seriously, I might be listening to an updated version of this track, because my experience was totally different from other reviewers. Granted, those two are probably (Sir_NutS certainly) much more musically proficient than I am...

Beeping did not bother me a bit. I suggest that it could be improved by fading from left to right and becoming more distant within each measure (BEEP BEEP, BeeP BeeP, Beep Beep, beep beep). After that, it bleeds nicely into the drums of the dungeon track.

Transition at 0:55 is great. Judicious use of sword beam noise afterward is good. Could be used a bit more sparingly.

I love what sound like choir voices at 1:30 backing up the death throes of Gleeok or another of his buddies. Please make them more prominent here!

Now, what can you do to expand this track? If I recall correctly, there is a minimum duration for ReMixes.

Great stuff using a tune I've known for over two decades. Looking forward to seeing how this evolves.

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35 minutes ago, glasfen said:

Hmm... Needs more cowbell.

But, seriously, I might be listening to an updated version of this track, because my experience was totally different from other reviewers. Granted, those two are probably (Sir_NutS certainly) much more musically proficient than I am...

Beeping did not bother me a bit. I suggest that it could be improved by fading from left to right and becoming more distant within each measure (BEEP BEEP, BeeP BeeP, Beep Beep, beep beep). After that, it bleeds nicely into the drums of the dungeon track.

Transition at 0:55 is great. Judicious use of sword beam noise afterward is good. Could be used a bit more sparingly.

I love what sound like choir voices at 1:30 backing up the death throes of Gleeok or another of his buddies. Please make them more prominent here!

Now, what can you do to expand this track? If I recall correctly, there is a minimum duration for ReMixes.

Great stuff using a tune I've known for over two decades. Looking forward to seeing how this evolves.

Thanks for the feedback!
This song hasn't been updated since it was released on Soundcloud.
As far as the "low health" sample goes, I've worked it out a little last week... that's still a WIP tho.
I'm glad you enjoyed the transitions and the choice of samples!
@ 1:30 there's aLttP sword spin & LoZ Boss scream on a very low pitch/stretch... not sure there's any choir there.
(I think the layers are GB Triangle 2 & NES Pulse 50% for that specific part along with the two samples... I'd have to check my file to be sure.)

Expanding the tracks comes to a cost.
I could totally re-add the Game Over theme at the end... but I'm not quite there yet.
And as far as duration goes... I don't really decide how long my tracks/remixes are, I just go with the flow.
I'm sorry if it's too short... I can't really help it.

Again, thank you for your precious feed back!
It's highly appreciated!

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  • 2 weeks later...

The only thing I'd really add to V5 is a sort of guitar buildup in the intro. I totally get what you are trying to do with the beginning, but with how it's almost an exact rip of the game it might turn some people away because it's so misleading that people don't know what the song actually is. Maybe a slow buildup of the distorted guitar in the background would help break up that feeling of it being too samey and hook people in at the start. Other than that this mix is gold, after the next few versions I'd say to give it an eval, because this track is really close to being a great song on OCRemix that fits the standard.

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