*NO* Breath of Fire 4 'Reality and Fiction'

[Gario]

RebeccaETripp
Rebecca Tripp
http://www.crystalechosound.com/
ID: 48262
Game(s): Breath of Fire 4
Song Title: Reality and Fiction

Songs Remixed: Endings and Beginnings (with some nods to Truth and Dreams)

 

 

 

 

Edited September 2, 2019 by Rexy

[Liontamer]

Great source tune choice; even though BoF5 is my favorite soundtrack in the series by a mile, I've been a fan of this source tune ever since Mattias first arranged it for OCR. The arrangement was conservative but personalized per Rebecca's usual skills, and was a relaxing listen.

I did however have an issue with the production quality. There was a noticeable lack of humanization in the note-to-note movements and decays of the male choir vox first used quietly at 1:23, then louder at 1:57. The bowed string articulations also stuck out to a lesser degree, e.g. 2:28-2:51.

The production's well in the right direction, so I wouldn't fault others for being more permissive and going YES, but IMO, these are such central elements to the track and so integral to the textures, because there's not too much else going on, so this needs another bit of polish and realism before I can get behind it. Good base here though; the arrangement doesn't need to be changed, just some improvements with the sequencing/humanization.

NO (resubmit)

[Rexy]

It's mostly a conservative arrangement, but the first minute has a subtle use of pedal with a simple run-through of the core motif and some playing around via the harp.  Getting into the theme proper, I appreciate you doubling the pan flute with the harpsichord from 1:01-1:19 - a smart way to cut back on the former's exposure.  Changing to different leads throughout and adding different padded layers also helped give it a lift, as well as the occasional countermelody, the call-and-response at 2:09 and some subtle flourishes on your woodwinds.  These are small things that all add up to a welcoming and subtractive arrangement.

However, it's also one of those tracks where the issue of humanization and lack thereof stands out.  Larry rightfully pointed out the problem with the male choir, but I honestly think the string articulations (1:22-1:44, 2:29-2:51) feel stiff as well.  All notes are playing with the same slow attack, with hardly any decay in preparation for the next one.

In fact, decay seems to be a running issue.  Whenever the woodwinds are left alone (panpipes at 0:28 and oboe at 3:17 to give some examples), the attacks and flourishes sound great, but some of the trail-offs leading into following notes are non-existant.  With so many instruments all sharing that same robotic flaw, it all adds up to one big dealbreaker I'm afraid.

For what it's worth though, the instruments are coherently balanced, and when combined with the arrangement it adds up to a sweet-sounding base.  But Rebecca, for this track to pass, I'd like you to go over the more problematic instruments and see if you can work on their articulation.  Keyswitches and envelopes immediately come to mind, though it all comes down to what you feel is more effective for your workflow.  I do hope you revisit this sometime.

NO (resubmit)

[MindWanderer]

I personally think LT and Rexy are being too critical here.  Sure, the choir and the strings won't be fooling anybody; both attack and decay are notably mechanical, and that's sure some robots singing at 3:10-3:13.  But for the most part they aren't too jarring; there's some attempt at humanization and we've heard much worse.  The arrangement and balance are great.

Like Larry, I can see this going either way, but I'm erring on the other side.  I think it's passable.

YES

[prophetik music]

another tripp track that's at more than -2db for a max, and has a long tail. need to stop seeing this.

i went into this preparing to fight on rebecca's side about the articulations and humanization mentioned by rexy and LT, but the more i listened to this track, the more i realized that i agree with them. there's such nuance in the opening section - i loved the initial attack, and the spacing provided by the various percussion and specifically the malleted vibes at :20 was beautiful. i thought the flute was well-articulated as well, albeit a lot louder than the rest of the background, but it's an attractive and entrancing soundscape through 1:20 or so. while the strings and choir were in the background, they were great, but as soon as they came to the forefront their low-quality attacks (for the strings, notably 1:29's lack of release/attack coming out of the first phrase) and releases (for the choir, the blurbs at 1:57 are...really poorly handled, honestly) became obvious and really pulled me out of where i'd been earlier.

from a mastering perspective, the track could use a volumization pass to tone down the upper men's choir and the string leads, but that's a minor issue compared to how poorly they're being used in the track.

there's some real beautiful music here, but the wheels fall off the farther into the track you get. a better ensemble string sample and more attention to the men's choir when it's in the forefront will do a lot of good towards making this a passable track.

 

 

NO

[Sir_NutS]

On 8/25/2019 at 9:59 PM, prophetik music said:

i went into this preparing to fight on rebecca's side about the articulations and humanization mentioned by rexy and LT, but the more i listened to this track, the more i realized that i agree with them.

Pretty much my thoughts here.  The strings were a sticking point for me here, the attack and decay curves didn't sound too natural, very obvious.  I think both the strings and choir can work if used with less presence but they come to the forefront a lot in this piece and makes the humanization issues too obvious.  I don't have a gripe with the rest of the arrangement, it's pretty sweet and to the point.  

Also I won't go onto another rant about how this track is mastered too low and there's a lot of wasted headroom and how this is a recurring issue... oh wait I just started again.  Yeah, we don't want it to be limited to the max EDM banger style but, a little bump is all we ask so there's not a huge difference between Rebecca's tracks and the rest of the mixes on the site.

NO