OCR03988 - *YES* Star Control 2 "The Path of Now and Never"

[Gario]

Submission information:

 

Game arranged: Star Control II

Name of arrangement: The Path of Now and Never

Name of individual songs arranged: Ur-Quan Kzer-Za theme

 

Original track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VNul2QETPE

 

Link to submission: 

Updated for volume as of 8/24: 

 

Comments:

This track still gives me the creeps after almost three decades. Even though guitar heavy arrangements are not my usual thing, I thought this track would not deserve anything else. I layed out the base for the track and gave my old guitar proficient elementary school buddy the liberty to play the Real (TM) instruments as he saw fit - this is the outcome.

 

Contact information:

 

Remixer names: salle & Goathead

Real names: Kalle Hölsömäki & Juha Pakalén

e-mails:  & 

user ids: 35456 & n/a

 

BR,

Kalle Hölsömäki & Juha Pakalén

 

[Sir_NutS]

I am always looking forward to check remixes from SC2, as it's one of my favorite games of all time.  This is a short source, but I like your adaptation and it fits the aliens it represents pretty well, sounding pretty evil and dark overall.  The mix of synths, heavy guitars and the deep vocals compliment each other very well and contributes to the dark atmosphere.   The arrangement goes with the additive approach, not changing the melodies that much but adding many layers and building a structure around it that keeps evolving from beginning to end.  Things start slowly but when we reach the climax near the end, it's an anthem of EVIL.

I do spot some issues with the production.  First, the song is very quiet:

There's a ton of headroom that goes unused there and I had to up the volume quite a bit in order to take it to a level where I could hear everything in the arrangement.  This is a very easy fix, but needs pointing out anyways.  Second, the song can get a bit muddy and chaotic.  Near the end in the big finale (4:42), you can hear how the kick and snare basically disappear behind everything else.  This section doesn't last that long though but still, that could be cleaned up.

Lack of clarity aside I think this is solid and I can forgive the production missteps in favor of a solid adaptation and arrangement.  But the levels need to be brought up and that's something that shouldn't take more than a few minutes, so I'll be asking for that to be revised, then we'll be good to go.

EDIT 10/09/19: Volume levels are all good now.

YES 
 

Edited October 9, 2019 by Sir_NutS

[MindWanderer]

Ditto on the levels, I had to more than double my volume compared to the last thing I listened to, almost as high as my computer could go.  However, that isn't the only production issue.  NutS is also absolutely right about how muddy the climax gets; 4:36-5:11 has far too much going on with nowhere near enough EQ; it's a wall of sound and white noise.  2:12-2:32, with the wind sweep effect, and the mini-climax at 3:36-3:48, are also both problematic.  The rhythm guitar in general has persistent problems with getting drowned out and turning to mud.

The arrangement is pretty good for such a short, simple source.  You add a lot of variation to it that keeps the listener engaged despite retreading the same motif over and over again.  It reminds me strongly of some of the Silent Hill soundtracks.

The first half seemed source-light, but it's constant from 2:36 on, so it's clear on that front.

I like the general approach and the arrangement quite a bit, but IMO the production issues are more than a Conditional fix.

NO (resubmit)

[Rexy]

Source-wise, it does take a while to get going - but when it does at 0:36, the arrangement takes on a whole other character in comparison to the source material.  I can sense it through the use of half-time writing and the change to a more ominous set of chords.  It makes me feel less like I'm in a battle against an alien race and more of a losing fight.  The track mostly uses the first half of the source, with the second half detected at 3:24 via the brisker rhythm guitar work.

Despite the source being a 30-second loop, there's also enough work with the textures throughout to keep the listener engaged.  I should describe how the progression goes from what I felt:

• The ominous spoken-word intro along with the introduction of the groove at 1:00
• Further shaping up with a synth lead (and later guitar lead) at 1:24
• A brief reprive at 2:12 with the wind sweep and a more engaging set of textures in the following theme variation
• The aforementioned full pelt of the B section at 3:24, followed by a repeat of the previous melody A variation at 3:48 with distorted pads into faster rhythm guitars
• The climax at 4:36 with that down-tuned bass working with the more aggressive drums to reach a dynamic high
• And it all eases into that subtle cinematic synth bass and plucked synth, calming down for a satisfying conclusion.

I wasn't too sure if I wanted to hear a battle theme made half as slow and shaped like a descent into certain doom.  But the result is haunting, the performances are tight, and it respects the source material as it goes along - impressive stuff.

Alas, I'm with Sir Nuts regarding the track's volume.  While the mix does peak at -1dB, there is a lot of headroom here, and the volume rarely goes above -6dB otherwise.  Unlike Nuts, I can't see normalization as a quick way to fix it as tracks of this genre are usually much louder.  If you can't master the current render without sacrificing sound quality, that means going back into the project file and finding a way to bring the sound up to speed.  That means looking at the instruments individually and/or seeing if you can set up a sturdy master chain to make this possible.

Talking of individual instruments, EQ as a whole can also do with a cleanup.  Nuts and MW both brought up the 4:36 section sounding chaotic - and I do agree with the kick getting swallowed up.  At the same time, I also see it as a knock-on effect of applying a down-tuned bass.  This issue is something that either an EQ cut on the bass or a pitch alteration on the kick can potentially fix.  The rhythm guitar that MW brought up also wasn't problematic at first, but does start getting drowned out from the 3-minute mark - but I felt it's just quiet in the mix and not tonally clashing with anything.

I really, and I mean more than really, want to pass this on the strength of the arrangement alone.  But the quiet levels and the few tall peaks means it needs more than just a 2-minute job to bring the volume up to scratch.  It'll also be lovely if that ending section can also get cleaned up as well. I feel solemn with rejecting this - and that only means I'd love for you guys to revisit the presentation and send it back.  Please do just that!

EDIT: 8/19 - I gave this track a fresh listen-back today and saw a lot of the spikes in the waveform are there due to parts of the drum kit - especially the snare and cymbals.  Based on this analysis, it is possible to run a limiter on the master render without compensating the quality.  I can let the funky EQ at the end slide providing the volume does get fixed.

EDIT 2: 10/08 - A few weeks ago, salle sent over an updated render.  This one fixed the volume concerns and the more I listened back, the more confident I felt with the end result.  This'll easily be an enjoyable track on the front page, as well as a fantastic example of how to work with a short source.

YES

Edited October 8, 2019 by Rexy

[Liontamer]

The arrangement was melodically straightforward, there was just some extended time without usage of the source, but the latter half of the piece was nearly 3 minutes straight of source usage, so there was no issue there. Good rock expansion of the source, with solid dynamic contrast to keep the piece interesting throughout!

The mixing got particularly cluttered in the latter half, especially in the build-up to the music's climax at 4:36 and dropoff at 5:11 due to the backing guitars, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't a huge deal. The overall levels were low, but when I turned up the volume to what would be a normal listening level, the overall mixing was clean enough to get by, so this would just need a volume bump. Nice job, Kalle and Juha!

YES (conditional on volume raise)

EDIT (10/9): Nice job on the volume raise; now we're cooking!

YES

Edited October 9, 2019 by Liontamer
updated vote from YES (conditional) to YES

[prophetik music]

this arrangement and realization does a great job of capturing the impending dread from the original game. i liked your choice of instrumentation, and thought the pitch-shifted vocals were great for helping set the mood. it's a longer track as well, but i thought the pacing was great and it didn't feel too long. i will say however that i agree though that it's got a lot of headroom in the upper frequency range throughout, and that makes the kit sound a bit weird. 4:36 onward also got really clouded, as a few other judges noted.

all that said, this is a solid arrangement that is good enough on the production side. this is a great track a lot of people will enjoy.

 

 

YES