DragonAvenger Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Previous decision Hello again, OCRemix! This is a resubmission of Moonlight Dance, a trance/house styled remix of the song "Powell" from the game Seiken Densetsu 3. I've updated the track, following your feedback after it was initially rejected by the judges panel. Now, the problematic parts should be gone. As you suggested, I've cleaned up the mix so instruments at 2:00 don't fight for your attention and gave more presence to the lead at 4:00. Hopefully it's all good now! The 192kbps .mp3 is also attached to this e-mail. ------------------------------ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted July 24, 2017 Author Share Posted July 24, 2017 This is definitely sounding quick clean and the parts are all coming through nice and clear. Nice work on cleaning that up. While I do think the intro of the track takes a bit long to get into the source material, I wasn't finding issue in regards to the source usage otherwise. Glad you sent this back in! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Oh, hell to the yes; I'm damn glad we sent this back to you the first time - the improvement to it is substantial. The sound is so much cleaner, which makes the meaty drums sound that much more distinct, and the minor issue I had toward the end actually became a highlight of the track when you put the lead up front and center. You absolutely nailed it on this one, which makes me pleased as punch considering it's from one of my favorite soundtracks from that generation. I have zero issue with source usage on this one, even in the beginning; the chords are definitely from the source, and there are themes that are added in a heavily subtracted state to keep it loosely connected to the source. It's a great way to keep it connected without beating it over your head in the beginning, and it's very clearly based on the source throughout the rest of the track. Nothin' but praise from me, here. Let's get everyone else on OCR hooked to this phat beat; I'll likely be listening to it for a while, at least! YES EDIT (08/11): Okay, there IS one thing that bothers me about the track that I've got to mention, after listening to it for a while (and it relates to Jivemaster's concern): the ending comes far too soon. The build to the meat does take some time (1:00 - 3:00 of building and developing, discounting the introductory material), and while the payoff is great, it's not quite proportional to that sort of lead time. It hits me particularly hard at 4:24, due to how this iteration of the arrangement lends itself to being expanded upon even more, but then slows it's roll at 4:39. It's teasing us with something even greater, but then decides to cut us off. How rude. It doesn't change my vote, as this issue essentially boils down to "This is a great track, but it felt like there should've been more of it", but it's something to be aware of. Proportion is important in music, so giving people miles of lead time into the heart of a track should follow with something even more substantial. Just wanted to share my thoughts on it a bit more, is all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I was borderline on this remix before, and you've given it a big fat kick in the pants here. The flute synth at 4:02 could stand to pop out just a hair more, IMO, but I still got the goosebumps that come when the B part of a source finally kicks into place. And I still think 0:00-0:17 is too quiet compared to the rest of the mix. Those are nitpicks, though, nowhere near enough to justify keeping this off the front page, so let's put it there. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 Great minimal opening, and solid build-up over the first minute. Synths are well panned and the drums have a good pump to them. The arrangement initially is quite simple, relying mostly on drum layers, a short bass line and trance synth to keep things moving along. We have to wait until 1:32 to hear some verbatim source - this section shows promise, however as time goes on nothing really changes which I found disappointing. We have to wait until 2:17 for the next change, which was welcome if overdue, even if it was just more layers continuing the same short melody. The new lead added a great amount of width to the mix, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. This section should've arguably come up a lot sooner, as the listener is left waiting for 50 seconds with no significant changes to the mix, which is a substantial amount of time. This would be ok if there was something happening with the instruments that were playing, like the leads' parameters being tweaked, but things were largely static. Once this section finally builds it disperses a short time afterwards, where we are returned to a subset of the previous parts for yet another build-up (two actually) until we're presented with the drop we've been waiting to hear - and it's great. Nothing too complex going on here, but the beat is tight and the parts, while simple, play well off each other, with the main melody dropping in to mix things up several bars later to fill out the arrangement. The rest of the track plays out well with some nice variations to the main melody and combination of layers playing. This is a tough mix for me, with 3 YES's in the pipe already. I feel this is a good mix - mixing and production are solid, but I also feel like it takes far to long to get to the meat. To put things into perspective, we essentially go through an almost 3 minute intro build-up before we get to the good bit. For a track that is 5 minutes long, this is certainly stretching things. Ultimately, I feel this needs another pass, with a focus on the initial half of the arrangement to cut to the chase in a more reasonable timeframe. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 Just noting that I never heard the original version of this one, so I'm coming in fresh. I'm OK with a lopsided structure as long as it makes sense, so while I see what Jive's saying, the track felt fine to me, and there's nothing wrong with the build being extended as long as the writing remains creative. I thought this was mixed too loudly, but nothing was distorting, so I'll live with it. The beat-writing also should have been more sophisticated and varied, but the track was produced reasonably well overall, so I can live with that too. My socks aren't knocked off, but this was still solid work adapting this to EDM. Welcome aboard! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts