2. ready for review Zelda BotW - Hyrule Castle (Folk Remix)

[Garanas]

Hi OCRemix!

Here's a remix of Hyrule Castle theme with a happy tone.

I don't have any clue of the genre. If anyone knows, please tell. I was going for kind of traditional dance music vibe with this.

Hope you enjoy!

LATEST: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5saeqm2tvdhs3oh/Hyrule Castle 5_6_18.wav?dl=0

THIRD: https://www.dropbox.com/s/axydksycf7l49g0/Hyrule Castle 3.mp3?dl=0

SECOND: https://www.dropbox.com/s/baos7bfbr5fqmn3/Hyrule Castle 2.mp3?dl=0

FIRST: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7xagxlkvu22xjfu/Hyrule Castle.mp3?dl=0

Source: 

 

[axlanian]

I LOVE this. 

This is a fantastically fresh take on the original track. It's like Kass got together with some traveling musicians to tell the story of Link defeating Calamity Ganon. Obviously, like your tag says, it's a work in progress, so I'm not going to critique the mix, but the arrangement and concept are 10/10 as far as I'm concerned.

Well done!

[Garanas]

19 hours ago, axlanian said:

It's like Kass got together with some traveling musicians to tell the story of Link defeating Calamity Ganon.

I kind of can imagine that in my head .

Yeah, the mix was just couple of EQs and a convolution reverb. Nothing too special. Now I've made some mixing and cleaning. I think this song will be just 2 minutes long but I'll keep it under "WIP" tag for couple of days in case if I get an idea how to extend it a little bit.

I've updated the song. If there's something to improve on the mix please let me know!

Cheers!

[axlanian]

With your current mix, just two things:

The accordion should be a bit quieter throughout the whole track. It's definitely the focal point, so it should be prominent, but it'll sit more nicely in the track with the other instruments if it's 2 to 4 db quieter, I'd think. Also, is that plucked instrument (mandolin? guitar?) at the beginning MIDI? It could really benefit from being replace with a live track, it feels more glaringly digital than the other instruments. If you need, I could record a track for you

[Muuurgh]

Digging this! Really creative idea that has a fun contrast to the source track. It leads me to imagine some ogres romping around the halls of the castle sloshing some steins around. 

I would recommend amping up the lead-in stuff. Playing the rest of the track at what I'd consider a reasonable volume, it takes about 8 seconds for me to grasp a real hold of anything, which is a bit too long for me. Also, I don't anticipate that you'd lose anything if the guitar is at the volume (or maybe even slightly louder) than the accordion when it comes in at 0:12 due to the stark contrast in timbre. A more prominent intro will make a stronger first impression ^ _^b

[Light_of_Aether]

This is awesome! Definitely fresh, as already mentioned. I second Muuurgh's thoughts on the intro. 

[Gario]

Oh, I just listened to this source a few days ago and thought it was a pretty cool homage to prior games. Almost an unrelated aside, but it's pretty fresh in my head at least. By the way, the genre is... Polka, I believe? It's very folksy, for sure - definitely not what I imagined when you called it "dance", lol.

EVAL

The idea is hilariously fun, and the execution is quite good. The overall textures are great, but the arrangement stands on that texture for long stretches of time. You likely be able to get away with something like that on the panel nonetheless due to the brevity of it all, but the relatively unchanging nature of the texture will likely impact the vote.

The lead violin/viola part sounds strange in how it handles the vibrato. I hear some great humanization in the attack and levels, but it sounds like it wobbles the whole time. Vibrato is generally used at the tail end of long notes, not for the entire performance, so loosen up on that a bit. Speaking of humanization, the accordion is very well done. The swells at 0:59 - 1:19 in the accordion, however, sound unnatural to me. Perhaps I'm at fault, though - anyone have an example of an accordion making sudden swells like that? It sounds unidiomatic, which might affect the judgment on the panel.

Overall it's a really solid idea, but it IS pretty short. I'm not going to lie, while it's not a hard limitation there is a suggestion to write tracks that are at least two minutes for the sake of submission, just to give the music some time to develop the ideas fully. While I won't reject it in the inbox for that reason, the length alone might affect it's chances. It's up to you whether to develop it any further, but I've got to keep it real on that front.

There's about ten or so seconds of silence in the beginning of the track. Prior to submission I suggest cleaning that up, since you'll probably be asked to clean that up no matter how the track fares on the panel otherwise.  

All of that being said, it's a pretty cool idea with a decent execution. The humanization issues on the violin would land it a rejection as it stands, but if that's fixed it would have a shot on the panel. It's a tough call, though, considering the brevity of the track and somewhat static nature of the arrangement; this is likely one of those borderline cases even in the best conditions.

If you send it off, though, good luck - with the violin fixed and the accordion swells toned down in intensity I'd give it my YES, at least.

[Uffe von Lauterbach]

I don't think I'll ever see Calamity Ganon the same way anymore after listening to this. It's almost like he's welcoming guests after 100 years. xD

[axlanian]

Hey @Garanas, did you ever finalize this song and put it on YouTube or SoundCloud or something? Cuz it's great and I need it in my life

[Garanas]

Sorry for being idle. I've been doing other projects and haven't been thinking about this song.

Don't worry @axlanian, I'll finish it in this summer. Hopefully.

Post has been updated with newest version and I've tried to get more texture to it (if I understand correctly what the texture is supposed to mean. Not a native English speaker).

[SonicThHedgog]

This is soo good! I've been playing breath of the wild for the past week, and was looking for a good remix to listen too. 

Not exactly the style I was looking for, but this is pretty sweet. A bit short (even tho I'm notorious for making short music haha).
The lead string instrument sounds like an im gonna get assaulted by an alien invasion, just kidding. The vibrato is a bit interesting tho. Could be the sound you are using. 

 I like the theme that comes in at 1:02

Anyways I dig this alot