Deus Ex - DuClare Chateau Remix

[GXAPlayer]

I've made the track using Default VST's just tweaked enough to sorta emulate the vibe of the original instrumentation.

Hopefully you enjoy it. That's what I want to achieve.

Last Update: After some revisions and taking feedback into consideration, This track is being labeled W.I.P. until I get a new version done. (it's gonna take a while.) 

 

 

Original:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX0hU7jQ5O4

The NYC Streets Break or Tabla Break has a tempo change and some changes in the strings chords to complement the piece in general and I didn't want it to sound like a medley.

https://youtu.be/RgIE6Pb_MFE?t=51s

And finally I threw in UNATCO's main melody in the very end.

https://youtu.be/nBPK_oXeJgA?t=22s

 

[Dextastic]

I'm not a judge and have no idea how the judges think so take my comments with a grain of salt. 

First it would be helpful to have a link to the source material for comparison. I've played DX a few times but I'm not very familiar with the source track.

Overall I enjoyed the piece and only have a couple of criticisms. The piano at 0:30 and at the end sounds a little artificial and could use some velocity variations to make those parts sound more expressive. Also your hi hats and some synths (like 1:20-1:27) and the cymbals (from 3:46-4:00) are too harsh. This is a pretty consistent problem throughout the song. Please EQ them to fix this.

[GXAPlayer]

4 hours ago, Dextastic said:

The piano at 0:30 and at the end sounds a little artificial and could use some velocity variations to make those parts sound more expressive. Also your hi hats and some synths (like 1:20-1:27) and the cymbals (from 3:46-4:00) are too harsh. This is a pretty consistent problem throughout the song. Please EQ them to fix this.

I did try varying the velocity on the piano but sadly it's lost when exporting, but I'll try to export to a different extension then converting it back to MP3. As with hit-hats and cymbals, thanks! My earphones suck so I didn't hear this until I borrowed my friend's headset... I'll try EQ on em'.

Thank you very much for giving feedback.

[GXAPlayer]

The post has been updated with a tweaked version of the Remix, and added URL's to the source material.

[Rozovian]

Quick comment. Cool mood. Piano and strings are quite stiff. Humanize. This should probably be dealt with both in sound design (envelopes, velocity sensitivity) and in the actual writing (velocities, timings).

[GXAPlayer]

22 hours ago, Rozovian said:

Quick comment. Cool mood. Piano and strings are quite stiff. Humanize. This should probably be dealt with both in sound design (envelopes, velocity sensitivity) and in the actual writing (velocities, timings).

Thanks, I'm still not sure what kind of mood/genre I was going for while making it. Coming up with ideas for the track was entirely subconscious.

As a perfectionist, It's kinda hard for me to ignore the urge to make everything 'calculated'... That's a flaw I have as an artist. I'll try to make the velocity sensitivity less subtle (the piano has some variation) and timing less robotic

About the strings: the EQ I did on them may be why it doesn't sound as natural as it should (they used to sound less 'bassy' but with a realistic variation in volume).

Maybe this track isn't ready just yet... I'll update the post as soon as I fix these problems.

Thanks for your feedback, It's helping me a lot in shaping my amateur-ish approach to remixing.

[Rozovian]

Dex, you're on the money. Even with this revision, most of your feedback still applies.

eval:

The ebb and flow dynamics of the intro strings pad seem a bit erratic. You might want to even it out a bit. This issue is still there when the same pad is used with the piano. Fiddling with the envelope and note lengths should help here. Try to avoid whatever happened with the instrument at 1:00.

The main piano quite bright, dry, and hard. (It also sounds a bit like an sd3 track.) It doesn't quite feel like it's part of the same world as the other instruments. It's a bit too loud, and could use more reverb or delay to blend in more. It's still quite mechanical. I'm hearing more variation in velocity (eg around 3:15), but the timing still seems quite rigid.

Check your mix levels against well-mixed tracks (eg ocremixes by veteran remixers, from the past few years). That way you have an easier time spoting differences in frequency balance and dynamics, in mixing things between the two mixes. The hihats and your synth leads both seem quite loud to me (as did the piano). This is something you start to notice when you listen for it, and train your ears on well-mixed tracks.

The panning on the synth lead is annoying. Not something you'd get rejected for, but it bugs me, so I'm letting you know.

This is without a doubt a remix of Deus Ex. Both structure and instrumentation are quite close to source. There are some creative differences, like the uses of the secondary sources (well handled, too), but I think it's still too conservative to pass. That's one of the more difficult things to deal with; issues pertaining to sound design and mixing are easier to identify and to alter.

Currently, it'd probably be rejected on the basis of being too conservative, unrealistic sequencing (instrument parts aren't smooth enough), sound design (mostly that superbright piano), and mixing issues (track levels, making instruments fit together).

My recommendation is to take this as far as you currently can without bothering much with trying to change the arrangement (unless you get a good idea for how to do that), use another eval if you feel you need one later, sub it, and see what happens. It's a good arrangement to practice the technical aspects of remixing on. Pass or no pass, you take what you've learned (including judges' feedback from having subbed it) to your future works.

Have fun.

[GXAPlayer]

Roz, that evaluation was a nice read. Thanks, I've learned a lot.

I'll be working on this track for quite some time.  

Polishing all that's good, improving what's not good (mixing, sequencing, sound design) and taking some liberties on the main arrangement... (That lead synth panning is gonna get axed.)

 

It's gonna be fun ride.