Gario Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Contact Information Your ReMixer name: Archangel, HoboKa Your real name: Jaka Čibej, Alex Shtokalko Your email address: jaka (dot) cibej (at) gmail (dot) com Your website: http://www.reverbnation.com/jakacibejarchangel, https://soundcloud.com/hoboka Your userid: 23355 (http://ocremix.org/forums/member.php?u=23355), 16088 (http://ocremix.org/community/profile/16088) Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 3) Name of individual song(s) arranged: Where Angels Fear to Tread Additional information about game including composer, system, etc.: HirokiKikuta; SNES; Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site): Where Angels Fear to Tread Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.: Greetings, almighty primarchs! Submission no. 15. Another one (and my last unsubmitted one) from Songs of Light and Darkness, the upcoming Secret of Mana 2 album. This is actually an unexpected collaboration between me and Alex (HoboKa). Alex made a MIDI arrangement of Where Angels Fear to Tread for the project, but didn't have any decent sample libraries at the time. Ad (Rozovian), the project director, asked me to render the MIDI with my samples, but I decided to improve Alex's arrangement with a little more humanization, additional instrumentation, and better dynamics. This is the end result. Alex says: "I really like the source tune and struggled to do it justice solo, hence why I needed to collaborate with Archangel. And I'm ecstatic that he came around to sound-upgrade and add in some much needed articulation, humanization and Stormdrum stuff." People seem to enjoy visualizing stories while listening to my submissions, so here you go: I imagined this as the soundtrack to a movie opening sequence akin to the one at the beginning of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Between 0:00 and 2:55, we see a montage of key scenes during which a narrator tells the backstoryas told at the beginning of the game (I took the liberty of improving and expanding the text): Once, when reality was still trapped in impenetrable darkness, the Goddess of Mana felled eight Eidolons, terrible incarnations of disaster that led all existence down a path of utter destruction, with the legendary Sword of Mana, and sealed each one in a monolith prison. The darkness was lifted to make way for the dawn, and the world as we know it was created. The Goddess turned herself into a mighty tree and sank into a deep slumber that would last for an age. And so the years passed, with both the jailor and her captives sleeping, ignorant of time, space, and life. But now, due to the actions of some who plot to free the Eidolons from their stone imprisonment, obtain power surpassing even that of the gods, and make the world their own, conflict breaks out, heralding the end of peace. Mana, the mysterious force of balance and harmony, a gift from the Goddess herself, is rapidly disappearing from the world. Winds are dying, singing their final laments. War bares its fangs, threatening to consume what little innocence yet remains. Malevolent forces stir in the night, and it seems that nothing will be spared from spiraling into inevitable chaos. Even the Tree of Mana has begun to wither... At 2:55, the shot moves closer to the Tree of Mana and shows four faeries, worried and weakened, but determined. The gradual disappearance of mana has already taken its toll on the surrounding life. Knowing they must act before it is too late, the faeries hold hands for one last time before taking a deep breath and flying off into the night (3:22). They soar across the lands of the Mana Sanctuary, but one by one, they're forced to abandon their quest as fatigue overtakes them. As the last of them lands in the forest (3:43), she collapses on the ground, exhausted and sobbing. She looks around in despair and sees a beautiful blossom wither into nothing right before her eyes (4:00). Reminded that everything will die if she doesn't go on, she musters all her remaining strength and takes off again (4:08). The sequence follows her shining silhouette above the clouds until she leaves the Mana Sanctuary through a blinding curtain of light, entering the mortal world (4:48). The screen then fades to black and the movie title appears. So there you go, a soundtrackish take on an already soundtrackish track. Enjoy! Here's the link to the mp3: Take care, J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 This is a really pretty arrangement, with some great instrumentation choices here. I really like the approach, and Jaka did a great job with the humanization and dynamics as promised. However, it's all very crowded in the mid-lows, such that the woodwind leads are conflicting with the piano and the strings and getting smothered. In 2:10-2:54, there's been some EQ work so that the flute lead soars somewhat above the accompaniment (though could still be improved), but the strings, piano, choir, and reed all in the same range and are turning to mush. In the other busy flute-led sections (0:36-1:20 and 3:22-3:46), many of the flute notes are lost almost entirely, and the same in 1:21-2:07 with the reed-led section. In 4:08-4:48, the flute and the brass are at outright war with each other, where minor humanization fluctuations are causing them to drown each other out alternately, and it's actually quite distracting. There's an odd little hiccup in the flute at 3:50 that jumps out at me every time I hear it, too. You could make that sound with an actual instrument, but it sounds a little like an audio glitch. I think this needs another EQ/volume pass to help those instruments pop out from each other a little more. Some stereo separation may help a little, too. Be especially careful with the piano, as it's such a greedy instrument frequency-wise; I generally notice that piano and busy instrumentation don't mix well together at all. Other than that, I really do like this arrangement, so please send it back to us! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted April 21, 2017 Author Share Posted April 21, 2017 I personally loved this when I did an eval for it roughly a year ago, and to be honest my opinion on this hasn't changed: it's a great arrangement, and it's well produced. I think MindWanderer brings up a valid point on the flute sharing a similar range as the other mid-ranged instruments, though - you are NEVER going to be able to get a flute to come through at that range, so you need to orchestrate around it carefully if you want it to lead. It gets drown by the backing instruments, and there's no amount of EQ'ing that you'll be able to do to help the instrument come through at that range without the backing instruments sounding strange. That issue is inherent with the instrument you chose, so if you want to address it you'll need to make some different orchestration choices. That being said, the flute's not impossible to hear, either; it's just a poor orchestration choice for moments like 0:36 and 3:22. You could have handled it better (or let the flute run in it's natural higher range at the cost of losing that 'pan flute' effect it has in the middle range, or doubled it with another flute or piccolo), but there is so much to love about this arrangement I can easily let it slide. From the Hollywood style percussion to the overwhelmingly tribal atmosphere, this arrangement wins on so many levels I couldn't imagine giving this less than a resounding positive vote. Great work from the both of you! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 Very nice arrangement here, and the narration makes for a fun read of the 'scene'. The structure is definitely close to the original, but there's been a ton changed in terms of instrumentation and the additions to the arrangement are very nice. Really enjoyed the orchestration, which is on par for Jaka's style. I will agree about the mid range issues, but I didn't really see it as a huge deal in the long run; the part is still discernable and wasn't so mixed up that you really had to fight to hear it. Something to consider for the future! Nice work to both of you! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Wow, I really liked this. Really sweet arrangement, tons of detail, and boy those huge dissonant glissandos are the bomb. This song isn't without issues, as I felt the overal eq'ing wasn't ideal, the percussion sounded a bit muffled and not as crisp as it should, and there was a subdued tone to the whole mix, perhaps a lack of highs and a bit too much of a mid-range bias. But this arrangement is fantastic.YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 The overall levels felt quiet, but no big deal. The mixing wasn't ideal, with the supporting piano playing the core melody sounding very quiet, and the supporting string work from :04-2:07 registering some but otherwise sounding mostly inaudible and not meaningfully contributing to the texture. It wasn't anything dealbreaking, just something that deserves an adjustment. Otherwise, this was an excellent, expansive approach to the arrangement. Wouldn't mind a mising revisit and/or volume bump, but no reason to hold it back. Let's go! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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