OCR03656 - *YES* Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past "Through the Mirror and Back"

[Gario]

artist:  halfwalk 

real name: Chris Ramey

email: 

website: http://halfwalk.bandcamp.com

title: Through the Mirror and Back

game: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

songs used: "Dark Golden Land," "Hyrule Field Main Theme"
 

soundcloud link: 

Thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoy the remix!

 

[MindWanderer]

This is a fun little jazz mix, but is has some production issues that are holding it back.  That lead trumpet is very quiet, as is the celesta when it takes the lead, and really get buried by the accompaniment.  Also, most of the samples suffer from a lack of realism, although there's a pretty good effort made to humanize them.

Other than those things, I enjoyed this arrangement a lot, and I'd really like to see it fixed up.  If that lead cut through the mix better I think this would be all right, but as it is I have to give it a

NO (resubmit)

[Gario]

Huh, I actually found the humanization of this track to be pretty on point - articulations and dynamics are very close to how they would be performed in a studio jazz performance. The muted trumpet being mixed too far into the background (at 0:58) is a bit of an issue, but I wouldn't call it a deal-breaking one.

The other thing that could hold this up would be the levels on the track. A little compression on this could've gotten a decent amount of volume out of the master track with minimal loss of quality. It's not impossibly quiet to work with, so I won't hold it too much against this, but it's something to consider for your next track.

The walking bass works great with these themes, and the overall jazz style is on point. I don't see anything that really holds this one back, so I'm all for a front page posting.

YES

[DragonAvenger]

Definitely not what I was expecting; I was pleasantly surprised when I started listening here! Pretty solid transition for both of the themes into jazz, and while I'm not blown away by the samples, I do think they squeak by in the end. I'll agree that the trumpet definitely could stand to be louder, and the entire track does come across a little quiet, but again they don't end up being dealbreakers though it is a bit close for me. I could see this one being a back and forth for other judges, so good luck on the rest of the vote!

YES (borderline)

[Sir_NutS]

This works fairly well.  Some parts sound pretty cheesy, I think for this adaptation perhaps a different key would've benefited the tone of the arrangement, but in the end it might be subjective.  Regardless of tone, the changes made to the original score to make it fit a jazzy adaptation are on point.  The samples aren't extremely realistic but they get the job done and I can hear that a good amount of effort went into detailing the performances.  The production is ok, though I feel that it's a bit on the quiet side and sometimes, due to the dynamics of the instruments, some lead performances kind of mesh into the background too much, such as the trumpet in the first section.  The addition of the phased chords near the end was pretty sweet, loved it.

YES

[Liontamer]

Sounded pretty lovely and engaging to start. Once the arrangement started at :20, the brass had a decent tone but wasn't fooling anyone, and I felt the drums were static during the verses (though there were some good changes as you continued on). The bassline should have sounded clearer, but was OK and adequately did its job filling the back out.

Like I said, the instrumentation isn't realistic enough, so I'm with MindWanderer there, but this was otherwise produced solidly for a sequenced piece. Chris did a good job faithfully conveying the jazzy energy of the writing while not being held back by the samples. Would love to hear this one performed by a live band. Very fun and creative arrangement, Chris, welcome aboard!

YES