OCR03887 - *YES* Chrono Cross, Star Control 2 & Wonder Boy in Monster Land "Liskojytä" *RESUB* *PROJECT*

[Gario]

Previous Decision

ReMixer & real name: Eino Keskitalo

e-mail: 

 

Names of games arranged: Chrono Cross, Star Control 2, Wonder Boy in Monster Land

Name of Arrangement: Liskojytä

Names of individual songs arranged: Lizard Dance, Syreen Theme, final dungeon music

 

Sources: Lizard Dance (main source): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elZubKOdV3c

Syreen Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXF4sHVMGwY

Monster Land final dungeon: https://youtu.be/MGeBKcyic5M?t=697

 

MP3 link: 

FLAC link: 

 

Here's a resub based on the excellent judges' feedback from last round (http://ocremix.org/community/topic/46030-no-chrono-cross-star-control-2-wonder-boy-in-monster-land-liskojyt%C3%A4-project/). Also got some valuable additional feedback from Jorito. I pruned some stuff from the mix (why do I have everything going on at all times anyway?), tuned the EQ, percussion bitcrush and reverb for additional clarity, and added some variation to the final 'verse' section. I certainly feel the end result is much better now. Cheers!

 

Original notes below:

I've had a couple of Chrono Cross arrangements from People's Remixing Competition lying around since 2013 that I've been wanting to finish, so I (once again) took the opportunity of an appropriate album project to finish up this one. I had been working on it since then at some point, there was basically only polishing to be done. I had lots of it in mind, but thankfully Brad's enthusiastic response to the track made me realize it was already close to good enough. That final stretch to good enough did take plenty of effort though!

The Lizard Dance is a pretty cool one-chord jam.. I added a little bit more bass movement in this arrangement. There's also the bit where I've taken two lines and separated their tempo, cutting the other in half and other in 1/4, and bringing it up in steps.. the harmony ended up not matching so well anymore, so there was some tweaking there. Overall I remember wanting to experiment with chip sounds over rock drums back then, and that's what all the sounds are here, simple wave forms apart from the drums.

There are a couple of cameos from other games, one from Wonder Boy in Monster Land - the final dungeon music, and one from the Syreen theme in Star Control 2. The background instruments (left and right panned) play them during verses, especially prominent during the second one.

A huge thanks to Brad for directing the project and cheering this one to the finish line!

 

[MindWanderer]

While I didn't go back and listen to the original submission, I do remember it, and I don't feel like this resubmission is significantly different.  Between the compounded grittiness of the synths, the constrained frequency space, and the overall repetitiveness of sound and texture, I have to come down the same way as before.  I think any one of those would be tolerable, but probably not two and certainly not all three.

Edit: To clarify why I think the bitcrushed instruments are a problem: This technique effectively adds a small amount of white noise to every channel it's applied to.  On one instrument, it's fine, stylistic choice, whatever.  But on several instruments, all that white noise adds up and becomes an ever-present buzz, which I find distracting and which I think reduces clarity.  The soundscape is such that every instrument can still be heard, but it's all through this veneer of mud that adds nothing and makes it all much less enjoyable.

NO

[Gario]

Comparing the two, there does seem to hold more variety in the lead portion, with some more animated lead work to help alleviate some of the static elements that were present in the previous version, along with a greatly improved drum part (with all of them fills to keep things interesting). I still think the EQ range is constricted, but there was a clear effort to improve the mixing to make it easier to hear the important elements, at least, and the lead bitcrushed square has had it's upper EQ ceiling lifted notably. I was pretty borderline in my vote before, so I think I'm okay swinging this in the track's favor this time around considering the improvements made. It's a unique track I think OCR would be better off with rather than without.

As far as the overly bitcrushed style goes (as it was a complaint that arose in the prior decision) I stated my piece before and I'll reiterate: it's a stylistic choice from the artist that we shouldn't fault him for. The mix is certainly easy to hear everything even with the dirty instruments, so it shouldn't be seen as an objectively bad element in the track, even if it's not for everyone.

Just sayin'.

YES

[DragonAvenger]

Looks like all the original judges get to get their second opinion. I remember parts of the original, and listening to the new version I can definitely tell there was a good amount of work put in to add more variation. I do think that some sections still feel a touch samey, but it is a huge improvement and I wouldn't call it an issue any more. I'm going to agree with Gario this time on the grittiness being more of a stylistic choice here, through I suspect you ruined it down from the last version.

Thanks for the second pass!

YES

[Jivemaster]

The source tunes fit surprisingly well together. Initially I thought the bit crushed instruments may become tiresome as they continue through the track, but their gritty nature really adds an atmospheric element to the production which I highly enjoy, almost like a secondary reverb source. There are a couple of departures from the main pacing in the arrangement across the different sections, but the momentum of the track is mostly the same throughout. Overall track length is about right here, as I feel any longer and things would risk becoming repetitive. That said, the general riffing and articulations in the mix do help in keeping things fresh, as do the tweaking of the effects, which act as a fill in their own right in some cases. Mixing is also handled relatively well, considering the amount of crushed parts playing, things didn't feel squashed or bunched together. Overall this is another interesting one from Eino, continuing in a style that he's certainly enjoying himself in.

YES

[DarkeSword]

Groovy, nice syncopation. Bit-crushing doesn't bother me. Great meld of the sources. YES