Gario Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Contact Information Your ReMixer name: Archangel Your real name: Jaka Čibej (That's a Slovenian male name, short for Jakob - just to avoid any sex-change stuff, that happens kind of often. XD ) Your email address: Your website: http://www.reverbnation.com/jakacibejarchangel Your userid: 23355 (http://ocremix.org/forums/member.php?u=23355) Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals Name of individual song(s) arranged: Blue Waters Additional information about game including composer, system, etc.: Yasunori Shiono; SNES; Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site): Blue Waters Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.: Greetings, almighty primarchs!Here we go, submission no. 12! I made this arrangement quite a while ago, in the summer of 2013. I have to be honest: summer is not my favorite season. I'm not that fond of the heat, but I do love the sea. So one day when I was bored and felt like making some music, I browsed some VGM to find a nice ocean-related source. Here's where I hear you saying: Aquatic Ambience, duh! Don't get me wrong: I do love Aquatic Ambience as much as the next guy, but I prefer making arrangements of under-represented sources. I finished the track in a couple of days, but didn't release it for some reason. Now it's 2016 and I finally took the time to submit it. I usually have an elaborate backstory for my mixes, but this one was much more spontaneous, so I've only got 'ocean mood meets sailing adventure'. Sorry. I guess you could define this as a spiritual successor to my Dragon Wings arrangement. I used ocean wave sounds instead of cymbals and gongs and included some whale song in the breakdown section in the middle. Enjoy! Here's the link to the mp3: Regards, J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Archangel and a Lufia remix? Talk about low hanging fruit, for me. Anyway, I will say, even for an older work, it's a pretty fantastic orchestration. Full of life, and it certainly does evoke the ocean (in more of a 'Time to go on an adventure' sort of way than the source did). The production is pretty great, though I'd argue there's a lack of higher EQ in the track in general, which makes it sounds a little bit dull. It's not a deal breaker, but it's something that I do notice. One other thing here is that some of the articulations for your strings and woodwinds are not quite up to your normal humanization standards. They all have the same articulation throughout, from what I can gather, which does make it sound a bit mechanical. It's not too disruptive to the track, though - it just sounds like everything is sort of "detache" with a lack of phrasing slurs, which isn't a deal breaker for me, either. Otherwise, one of my favorite soundtracks being tackled by a really great veteran arranger on here, how could I not love this? YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Yeah, I can't resist a Lufia II remix, either. I definitely concur with Gario's crits about the humanization, though. It stands out the most with the lead strings, but it affects the piano a lot, too. The piano is especially odd because it's supposed to be an acoustic piano, but you've applied ping-pong panning to it, which is usually reserved for electronic keyboards (and other electronic instruments). The EQ issue Gario describes is definitely there as well. It's most striking for me in the wave crash SFX, since the real thing has much more presence in the highs. The reduced spectrum also means that the sections with the wave crashes get a little muddy. There's also about 5 seconds of total silence at the end, a bit more that is really necessary. Still, I don't think any of these issues are enough to hold this back. It's a lovely arrangement overall. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Short and sweet, this was Jaka's usual excellence. He did a great job getting mileage out the source with constant variations of the theme via the different textures during each iteration. I thought the piano was too mechanical, but it was mixed and effected in a way where the realism issue was at least mitigated. Nice orchestration and subtle use of SFX here and there. Nice work!YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Nothing to add here, love the expansive (like the ocean!) arrangement here. Agreed that this is a little lower than you're usual quality, but it is an older mix and still lies well above the bar. Love it! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts