OCR03674 - *YES* Mirror's Edge "Far Away"

[Gario]

Your ReMixer name                      Mellow Sonic

Your email address                                

Submission Information

Name of game(s) arranged                   Mirror's Edge

Name of arrangement                           Menu Theme / Title Theme

Name of individual song(s) arranged    Still Alive

Composer(s):                                        Solar Fields

[MindWanderer]

"Mellow Sonic" certainly lives up to their name here.  The source was already pretty chill, but this remix turns that up a notch.  Very pretty soundscape, and the production is dead on for the genre.

It does get pretty repetitive, though.  2:33-2:52 is a rehash of 0:38-0:57, just with a different, bassier pad.  2:53-4:39 is largely static, consisting of very small variations (mostly of the pad) of a simple loop, which itself was first in 1:36-2:14, with the lead from 2:14-2:23 added.  That said, nothing is ever exactly repeated, and the soundscape does have an evolution to it, subtle as it may be.

I would have preferred some more dramatic transformations in the second half, but for what this seems to be trying to achieve, I think it's adequate as it stands.

YES

[DragonAvenger]

The track is definitely pretty chill. Nice soundscape throughout, and the atmosphere flows very well into the parts. I agree that the track overall feels pretty repetitive, mainly because the same backing chords are being played throughout without much melody to draw your attention away from it. That being said, I think the track achieves what it is trying to do without overstaying its welcome. I'd have liked a little more melody, but I am not a super ambient listener, so I'll chalk that to personal preference.

Curious what the other judges think here.

YES

[Sir_NutS]

This song lends itself easily to mellow stuff, and the artist takes advantage of the fact with this remix.  Lush pads are the order of the day, with the constant arpeggio to keep the energy going.  Even though there are many static elements here, the subtle changes in pads and usage of filtered synths that are just noticeable enough, and that fade in and out of the spotlight, do keep the energy from getting too constant.  Even though Still Alive is mentioned in the songs arranged, I didn't hear much of it, even though I know the song very well since I've remixed it before.

The ending was a bit of a letdown, and personally I would've liked some more emphasis on lead melodies and instruments.  The closest thing to a lead we get is the synth that plays the melody at 2:15 (and then again later towards the end of the track), which is a very similar, if not the same synth used for the arpeggio.  I think the track works fairly well without more explicit leads,  but I think it would've been a boon to have them.  Even though I think this would've made the track truly great, what we have here is nevertheless pretty good.

YES

[Gario]

Mirroring (HA) what my collegues have said, the arrangement gets pretty repetitive, especially toward the second half of the arrangement. That arpeggio is a bit too pervasive throughout the arrangement, and the lack of real change in chord direction contributes to this repetitive feeling. It's almost enough for me to throw this back for one more pass, but I will mention that the textures change through most iterations, and the overall sense of space does change from iteration to iteration, so I think I'll still let it squeak by on arrangement grounds.

As far as the production goes, though, this is pretty damn crisp. The instruments all sit in just the right place in the mix, and apart from what sounds like bitcrushing on the panned percussion in the beginning (it sounds purposeful, so I won't fault you on it) I can't hear any production artifacts that detract from this song.

The last two minutes could've either been cut down to one minute or improved upon to give more distinction, but otherwise I'm liking this. Let's do it.

YES

[Sir_NutS]

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