Gario Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Contact Information Keypat Reborn Keren Yire Pava Torres https://www.facebook.com/keypatrebornof 33976 Submission Information Castlevania II : Simon's Quest Name of arrangement : Mind Blown Name of individual song(s) arranged : Bloody tears https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKWJkiWGS8M&list=PL9F796EFB79C2BA4F&index=9 comments: I like to musical arrangements and my boyfriend showed me this song so I liked the song a lot and decided to make and arregement, my boyfriend told me about this site, so I read the subimision guidelines and decided to upload it. as for influences I wanted to express my dream theater side, I really love that band, I like their odd times and changes, and jordan rudess is one my biggest influences on my music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share Posted February 10, 2017 Ah, I remember catching this on the WIP boards after you submit it, so I think you'll know what I'm going to say. But I'll say it again, in official capacity: the arrangement is pretty clever, with some slick solo'ing and lead work later in the song (and how the texture is handled at 2:29 is pretty brilliant, to boot). The production isn't too shabby, either - no real cutting out or clipping that I can tell. There are a few things that hold this back, though. The sound design is quite vanilla for a good portions of it. It's as if the basic presets on a program were used carte blanche, chosen just to carry the notes rather than really being a part of the arrangement. As I said in the WIP boards (in more detail there), make your choices sound intentional rather than incidental. The moments in the beginning of the track that sound out of rhythm are also quite distracting (particularly from 0:25 - 0:40). I understand that this was likely intentional, but without the context of the rest of the track behind you the part sounds like a mistake, like you had the instruments come in at the wrong place. Later you've established that you have a solid grasp on the meter so it sounds more intentional, but it just sounds wrong in the beginning. Be careful on your mixing. While everything is pretty easy to hear, there are moments where the leads really shoot to the front of the mix, which limits your design space a bit (a REALLY loud/up front instrument makes it harder to raise any other instrument's levels without causing production issues). Moments like 2:20 accent this issue well; the loudness of that lead makes everything behind it sound quiet and insignificant in comparison. While it should pop to the front, balance it better against the other instruments and you'll be able to have a fuller sounding track by the end of it. I do hope you hear more from you, though - take heart that this is still a pretty enjoyable track. Sound design and more balanced mixing would bring this over the top, and taking another look at the tricky rhythms in the beginning would be great, as well. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 I've heard so... many... remixes of Bloody Tears, and yet people still manage to surprise me. I actually really liked the bass that came in at 0:23. The timing was strange and took me a little while to wrap my head around, but when I got it, it worked for me. I can see why it might not appeal to everyone, though. Otherwise, Gario's crits are well-placed. Those vanilla synths are a serious drawback, and the arrangement of the accompaniment is so good that the balance really does need to give it some more space to shine. I'd love to hear a version of this that better enabled the listener to appreciate the good stuff that's going on here. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Hmm very interesting usage of the time signature changes. I have to disagree with 0:25 sounding wrong, I caught on what you were doing inmediately, and I really liked it. Lead writing was pretty clever as well, I really have no issues with this on the arrangement side, most of the problems here lie in the production. Very vanilla sounding instruments, thin leads, basic drums. The mix balance seems to be off in some sections as well, with the leads being overly exposed over the mix, and the drums going to the background with the bass almost disappearing. I think your arrangement skills are up to par but you need to work on your production to get it over the bar. I must reiterate that I loved what you did with the time signatures and they don't sound wrong at all, it's pretty common in fact to hear things that may be dissorienting in odd time signatures, Dream Theater (which you mentioned as influence), Meshuggah, Gojira and Tool come to mind with that. I encourage you to use the workshop and seek for advice on getting your mix to the next level because the arrangement is already there.NO (Resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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