DragonAvenger Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Contact Information Remixer Name: Albert Fernandez Real Name: Albert Fernández Ventura Email Adress: Website: afventura.com Userid: 34.600 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Secret Of Mana Name of arrangement: Into The Calm Of It Name of individual song(s) arranged: Into The Thick Of It Link to the original soundtrack: Comments: My idea with this rearrangament was to rearrange the song into something more calmer, more contemplative, but mantaining at some points the adventure that made characteristic the original song. Also, I wanted to make a face-wash in terms of reality of samples from the original song, since it's made with samples from the 90s. ------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted July 28, 2017 Author Share Posted July 28, 2017 I do like the mood change here, as well as the change-ups between the instruments. Arrangement overall is fairly close to the original, but the orchestration adds personalization, and there are some nice countermelodies sprinkled here and there. I do feel like it sticks too close overall, and that the arrangement gets repetitive because it continues to follow the original structure. I think that some sort of divergence either from the original melody or structure is needed here to vary things up. The ending is also pretty abrupt and feels lazy. My issue with the track comes down to some of the samples. The men's choir especially has a slow attack that muddles up a lot of what's going on. The strings are also pretty thin overall. The piano, flute, and bassoon (?) do sound pretty good though, and there's definitely a lot of care put into humanizing parts. I think the arrangement is the dealbreaker here for me, but I would like both arrangement and samples to get some fixes here. Good luck! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Nice sound to the opening piano. The woodwind stuff next had a beautiful tone to it, but was very muddy. Then the soundscape became a little clearer for the orchestration from :22-:36. Overall, the soundscape wasn't too muddy as to obscure the part-writing, but it was pushing up against it during some denser sections. Still good enough, IMO. From :44-:59, 1:28-1:42 & 2:26-2:41, the way the vox triggered made it sound way too stiff and robotic; having the delay in there did help mitigate the issue some, but not enough where it wasn't still a significant drawback. Also, the string articulations were OK, but the attacks from :34-:36 were awkward and exposed the sample. Arrangement-wise, the structure and tempo were the same as the source, but this was expanded beautifully via the new instrumentation. Props on making sure to vary the instrumentation & textures from verse to verse, creating some subtle dynamic contrast and making sure that the track didn't sound cut-and-paste repetitive despite going back to the same melodies and verses. That said, the vox line WAS cut-and-paste territory coupled with the sequencing/timing sounding so robotic, so that's something you'll need to fix as well as vary up. DA's not wrong in feeling the arrangement was nonetheless repetitive; she heard and acknowledged the same techniques I did, so consider adding further personalization to your arrangement via other original part-writing or variations of the theme. DragonAvenger's also dead on that this track also had no real ending. It was a very "OK, I give up" kind of vibe after hitting a known loop point, so write a real ending with an actual resolution to it. Good start for now, Albert, but it does still play it pretty close to the vest and could use even more personalization, though you went in the right direction. Expand/vary the writing further, and also fix up the timing/realism issues with the vox (necessary) & strings (nice-to-have). NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Can't argue much with any of the above. I do think the degree of orchestration makes this sufficiently interpretive for our standards, but it is a little repetitive, the ending is lackluster, and that chorus is really problematic, with the slow attack making it sound like it's off key (since the notes don't line up). The strings aren't as big of an issue, IMO, but they do sound like they came from a Playstation game. There is a lot to love here, though. I was really into it up until 0:44, and the woodwind sections were fantastic. I'd really like to see this back with a more expansive arrangement and with the choir samples fixed up or replaced. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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