*NO* Dragon Warrior 2 'Epic FootSteps'

[Gario]

Hello, and thanks for your time and consideration!

ReMixer name-Audiomancer
Real name-Eric Fogel
Email Address-
Website-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_RHIfWmQzTo1nTufIpisiA?
User ID-29237

This is a ReMix of the first walkabout theme in Dragon Warrior 2

The name of this ReMix/arrangement is Epic FootSteps

I was unable to find an official name for the track that is the inspiration to this ReMix, I just call it the first walkabout/over world theme.

The music for this NES game was composed by Koichi Sugiyama, and was released in 1990. I have many fond memories of playing this game, as well as watching my father slog through it as well.

The theme I chose to arrange has always been a haunting melody to me, so I thought I would put my own spin on it. It’s a straightforward techno track, with an organ intro. I used LMMS for production, and I still consider myself a novice at using this sort of software, but I have learned some, and have had fun doing so.

This ReMix has gone through quite a few permutations, and I have enjoyed the feedback that I have gotten through this process. That feedback has been constructive and greatly appreciated!

 

Edited July 8, 2019 by Liontamer
closed decision

[MindWanderer]

I always get excited when I see a remix made with LMMS, it has such potential!  But sadly, this one has some issues.

I would normally be OK with a fake-sounding gothic intro to a techno remix, but it goes on for a while and starts to get grating.  Then in the main part of the arrangement, the sounds remain pretty low-quality--they sound very MIDI-ish, especially the lead saw that starts at 1:00.  The percussion is also very thin and vanilla, and the bass that sounds like a quacking duck goes on for a long time.

2:05-end is better; the lead is much better (still on the vanilla side but the LFO helps), but the bass is really quiet.  The arrangement here is really cool, though.

I like the arrangement a lot overall, but the quality of the sounds is well short of what we usually look for.  I don't know what OS you're using, but LMMS supports soundfonts, and most Windows VST's work with it in Windows or under Wine.  The soundscape is also fairly thin throughout, with both the bass and high end being fairly quiet.  I'd like to hear another stab at this, but this version I have to give a

NO

[prophetik music]

hey, there's some really fun elements to this that were really outside the box. i liked the opening organ and choir sound (reminded me of hellfire off of the soul calibur 2 soundtrack), but agree with MW that it goes for at least twice as long as it probably should. the percussion maintained that lo-fi vibe initially and was fun, but i kept expecting 'the real song' to hit and remove that lo-fi feel, and it never did. none of the synths or percussive elements felt like were full enough or real enough. beyond that, from a technical perspective, the mix on the left was consistently about 4.5db quieter than the right, which is pretty egregious, and there's some pumping going on around 1:45. lastly, there's essentially nothing on the high end, and the bass is inconsistent in terms of presence in the mix.

i thought the arrangement was pretty solid outside of the intro. i really appreciated the use of chromatic passing tones in the second half - that's absolutely not something that is very common at all, and it was really fun to hear. the ending was very sudden and not set up very cleanly, which is unfortunate because the last third of the song is definitely the most interesting part.

as a whole, the arrangement was fine outside of the beginning and very end, but i felt that the sound quality really hurt the package overall. having some better lead and pad synths will really fill out the mix quite a bit and allow the fun arrangement underneath to speak through much clearer.

 

NO

[Sir_NutS]

First let's go over the arrangement.  It sufficiently expanded over the original while keeping it recognizable, so no qualms there.  I'm not sure about the interpretative bits though, they sound kinda noodly and a bit random, I'm not feeling anything from those parts.  The contrast between the Gothic intro and the dance-y body of the song is not as jarring as one would think, but I still think a smoother transition probably would've worked better.  I think the section where these two aspects merge (1:44) sounds cool though.  The ending is very abrupt and didn't make sense to me, it sounds incomplete, with no lead up to it and a sudden stop.

Production-wise things don't look as solid.  The intro instruments for the Gothic section have sufficient quality for what is a hybrid genre track, but still there's room for improvement in the articulations and performances.  Not a deal-breaker there, but something to keep in mind.  I think your mix is clean and crisp, with all the parts easily identifiable, however the soundscape sounds very thin at the same time, and I'm hearing a panning imbalance in the fuller sections, specially towards the end.  The first bass synth has a very nasal tone that sticks out like a sore thumb in some places such as 1:42.  Honestly, it sounds pretty awful in that section.

The second bass (around 1:54) is definitely more pleasant than the first, but I feel it's getting lost in the mix in the fuller sections.  Your drums feel a bit thin and the sequencing feels repetitive.  I felt the last lead sound was ok, with some interesting modulation but it was also pretty loud and could be toned down slightly.  It's not meshing well with the soundscape either, sounding very separate from the mix.  I feel like this needed some work in the mastering overall, tying all the elements together in a single soundspace.  Maybe some mix-wide subtle compression or reverb, emphasis on subtle, can help the mix get that feeling of everything being together in the same place and space.

Your supersaw sample is fine, but also sounds thin (a theme with most of the instruments here), and feels exposed against an empty soundscape, it just doesn't feel as full as it should.  Adding a harmony layer behind it, or two, could help, although it's a balancing act if you want to keep your mix as clean as it sounds now.  I also don't feel the supersaw sample is well suited for a soloing part such as around 2:44, but that might be personal preference.

Overall this has a lot of issues that might be small but start adding up.  Big sticking points for me are the thin soundscape and production, and vanilla (and sometimes annoying-sounding) instruments.  Some changes could be done on the arrangement side to make the soloing more emotive and less random, but we can't really guide anyone's hand on that.  This wasn't bad by any means, just not there yet for our bar, and I feel like I think this is actually closer to making it than the other Js.  Keep learning, and show us what you got next.

NO

Edited July 4, 2019 by Sir_NutS