Liontamer Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Back in the summer, I made this remix of Magus's Battle from Chrono Trigger. It was meant to be a guitar focused piece which delved into a few styles of guitar music, like you'll probably hear some punk, british rock or metal styles. Also there are the choral effects, I just think that's Magus's kinda sound. I wanted to just get stuck in with some fun arrangement, and whack some of my own ideas into the fray. When I finished the piece, the production took probably as long as it took to arrange the piece. Numerous attempts to get the sound I wanted just fell apart, perhaps trying too hard was giving too much. My last attempt at the production was to bring it all back and think of the sound that would compliment the arrangement the most. Sort of like my metal slug mix, where the guitars were sorta cheesy, with the cabinet and distortion effects. In this, they're much more poppy and I find this is how I would certainly enjoy it the most. Judge how you will, it is of course just an opinion. My only real incentive for submitting this mix is because my brother just won't shut up about it, and I'll get some peace . My initial response on this version was that you'd NO it, but I'm trying to keep an open mind now . Oh, thanks for passing my Chaos Legion mix! No ones covered it, so I feel I've done some justice now . Keep it realllzzezdsd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Orichalcon Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 Yeah, you're kidding yourself if you think this is going to pass with the way it sounds. Interesting arrangement ideas, but this is going back to your super-distortion days of suck. It is possible to have a heavy mix without dousing it in distortion and lighting a match. Without the distortion, it'd be borderline rejection from me anyway though. The arrangement and overall sound is good, but it's a bit too generic to me. Keeps the same basic soundlevel right the way through, try the whole dynamics thing. Also, Larry was bitching about the drums, I agree with whatever he says about them. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted December 10, 2006 Author Share Posted December 10, 2006 http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Battle with Magus" (ct-2-24.spc) I was indeed bitching about the drums. No matter what song it is, you're basically using the same punchy drums. For some genres they click (better Metal Slug 2/Chaos Legion mixes), but most others they just don't work. At all. Could be a harp solo where you go "I need percussion too!", and you'll throw these drums in there. It didn't work for Chrono Cross "Dreaming By Your Side", and it's not working here. I wish I could suggest sounds that would work better for a mix like this, but try to solicit the opinions of some other top community members. The sequencing seemed rigid and flat with the melody at :23. The lead didn't sound very melodious or expressive at all, so right there the track's already in critical condition. As mentioned, the percussion didn't create a good texture with the other sounds, so you need to find something more complementary and get out of your comfort zone. The drums were definitely too loud, then at :47, you amped them up even more. The cymbals sound too sizzly and the various parts aren't distinguishable enough from one another within the soundfield, likely a result of the compression. The arrangement itself had potential, but ultimately felt repetitive. Key change at 1:29 was a letdown; aside from a few more embellishements and the key change, the writing basically repeated over and over again. Dynamically, you're twiddling your thumbs. You had a more effective dynamic contrast by changing up some of the instrumentation at 2:29, but even then most of the sounds from before stuck around so the feel wasn't changed enough. Changed up with some vox at 2:53 but the compression was over the top, leading to a very cluttered mess until 3:16, then back into the same-old, same-old arrangement ideas we heard for 3 other iterations once again at 3:16. As mentioned before, the variations from verse to verse here aren't strong; they sounded too similar to one another. 3:51 closed it out by going full circle with the instrumentation ideas of the intro, which was aight. I actually would have preferred a fadeout ending. I don't wanna discourage you from trying arrangements other than straight-up synth rock, Alex. But when you go outside that box, you need to changeup the instrumentation appropriately and create more cohesive textures. On the arrangement side, you need to develop and vary the Magus theme arrangement more so that it feels like it's going somewhere. For nearly the first 3 minutes you're essentially repeating yourself and it drags terribly. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 not your best work, although I appreciate the new ideas. I'd say my main problem is not the drums, but there's a bit too much fuzz all around. The distortion gets crowded. I would definitely vary the instrumentation more from section to section. also, the sequencing and composition is often rather choppy and akward. this is particularly true during the bridge sections where you not only change key, but also change the chord progression, but only for a few bars and then abandon the direction. In these sections, the new progression really only is indicated by the bassline. It might sound less akward if you had higher polyphony. maybe introduce a harmony instrument before the changeup so you have a link between the two sections. NO compositional ideas like at 1:25 are good ideas. Do more to express these ideas to their potential, and dont let them hang like they had no purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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