Duster's theme, Mind of a Thief from Mother 3 (Could use some feedback on sound quality and other things)

[Somewareman]

Right, so I've been working on this remix of Duster's theme, Mind of a Thief from Mother 3. Its still pretty early on in development, I guess, but I wanted to get some feedback on how the audio quality is. After listening to it so much myself, I need other people to let me know how it really sounds. I still need practice with adjusting EQ's appropriately and all that mastering stuff. And I wonder if some of the instruments (the bass and strings) sound too fake, since all of them are synthesized or sampled.

Aside from that, any other guidance would be very much appreciated, particularly in regard humanization; the drums especially. The're supposed to sound a little chippy, but I'd like to know if other people think it works. Obviously, without live instruments, its harder to get things to sound natural and energetic.

Anyway, the download link is here:

http://tindeck.com/listen/diuok

Thanks for your constructive criticism!

[Cody Wedel]

I don't have any critiques (I have very limited EQ/mastering experience myself), but I just wanted to say I love this!!! The arrangement is very nostalgic-sounding and instantly brings me back to the beginning of Chapter 2. There's something very magical about the Mother series in general, but Shogo Sakai's Mother 3 soundtrack is one of the crown gems in my eyes -- nice to see someone do this track justice.

I think it does work; sure, there is a lot you could in theory do with it, but I personally don't think it's necessary.

[timaeus222]

As a passing remark, to me this sounds like you've used some 80's synths on top of distant cinematically-produced electronic drums. The drums sound a little strange IMO, because they're very low-passed. One example I can think of with similar sounds is:

Hopefully that provides a basis of comparison for the kind of drums you may or may not want to go for. Also, in the reference, the starting background soundscape contains a DX7 electric piano and a sine wave with portamento (not to be confused with portmanteau :P).

[Somewareman]

10 hours ago, Cody Wedel said:

I don't have any critiques (I have very limited EQ/mastering experience myself), but I just wanted to say I love this!!! The arrangement is very nostalgic-sounding and instantly brings me back to the beginning of Chapter 2. There's something very magical about the Mother series in general, but Shogo Sakai's Mother 3 soundtrack is one of the crown gems in my eyes -- nice to see someone do this track justice.

I think it does work; sure, there is a lot you could in theory do with it, but I personally don't think it's necessary.

Glad you like it. I plan on incorporating Gentle Rain and And Then There Were None as part of this later on, since they're so similar. Hopefully I can polish it enough to submit to the judges. Duster's theme has always been one of my favorite songs in the entire series. Honestly, it was the music that got me so interested in trying out the Mother series, and Mother 3's soundtrack is so expansive and rich, especially for a gameboy advance game.

[Somewareman]

5 hours ago, timaeus222 said:

As a passing remark, to me this sounds like you've used some 80's synths on top of distant cinematically-produced electronic drums. The drums sound a little strange IMO, because they're very low-passed. One example I can think of with similar sounds is:

Hopefully that provides a basis of comparison for the kind of drums you may or may not want to go for. Also, in the reference, the starting background soundscape contains a DX7 electric piano and a sine wave with portamento (not to be confused with portmanteau :P).

Thanks a lot for your input. I was a little unsure about the drums, but now I think I'll replace them. If that's the biggest issue, then I'm feeling pretty confident in this remix. Thanks for sharing the song, too. It was one I'd overlooked, but I absolutely love WillRock's style and I try to download whatever of his I can find. BTW, I'm a big fan of yours too. 

[Cody Wedel]

17 hours ago, Somewareman said:

Glad you like it. I plan on incorporating Gentle Rain and And Then There Were None as part of this later on, since they're so similar. Hopefully I can polish it enough to submit to the judges. Duster's theme has always been one of my favorite songs in the entire series. Honestly, it was the music that got me so interested in trying out the Mother series, and Mother 3's soundtrack is so expansive and rich, especially for a gameboy advance game.

 

The music is what got me into the Mother series as well! In early 2008, around the time Brawl came out, I loved the Mother tracks present in that game so much that I hunted for music from the series online. I download the official Mother 1+2 arrangement album and Mother 3+/3i -- those quickly became my regular listening material for months and they helped me through a really dark time in my life. When I played EarthBound for the first time in October of the same year, it singlehandedly changed my life. It's been nearly 10 years since then and I can honestly say the game truly, significantly influenced myself to become a better person. Definitely my favorite game of all-time. Mother 3 is a magical experience, too, and I love it just as much in some ways.

You're absolutely right about the Mother 3 soundtrack on that note--it's incredibly emotional and very intricate, not to mention it's as eclectic as can be in every way possible. For being a midi soundtrack running off the GBA's speaker, that's quite a feat!