OCR04072 - *YES* Final Fantasy 11 Online: Rise of the Zilart "Grav'iton's Dream"

[Rexy]

This is my submission for a remix I did from Final Fantasy XI : Rise of Zilart.

ReMixer name: brink-of-time
Forum userid: 3661
Name of game: Final Fantasy XI (more specifically, the Rise of Zilart Expansion)
Name of arrangement: Grav'iton's Dream
Name of song arranged: Grav'iton

It's been a long time since I have submitted anything to OC Remix (over 10 years!). I don't dabble in music as much as I used to. But I still try to write or remix on occasion. This is a remix that I have been working on and off for about 6 or 7 years. I personally have never played FFXI, but I really like the soundtrack. This track in particular is very good. I had alot of fun remixing it in a more of synthwave sorta feel. I like it. I hope you all do too.

-brink
 

 

[prophetik music]

this track feels like something out of stellaris to me. the wide pads and light arpeggiated synths are so endemic to that soundtrack.

arrangement-wise, i liked how you expanded the initial guitar arpeggiated chord and explored that some more. switching the time signature gave you a lot more room to explore some of those sustained tones and i like that you did. i was surprised though that at 2:24 that you chose to keep the instrumentation the same going into the double-time section, as that was a perfect opportunity to mix it up a bit. i thought the same drums/arp/bass sounds there started to get stale (drums most of all). i also wasn't a fan of the end of the track, since it just sort of ended without any real process there.

from a mastering perspective, i thought that the drums overall were pretty loud - the snare snap was just really bright the whole way through in a fairly dull soundscape - and the bass was overly muddled. that made it hard to hear what was going on at 3:13. beyond that, the entire track was quiet - i show nearly 2db of headroom throughout.

as a whole, i might sound like i disliked the track a lot, but that's not the case. i actually really liked the vibe of it, which was very spacey and featured those fun wide pads i mentioned earlier. i think there's some simple fixes that'd really improve the overall product here - a better ending, some cleaner and louder mastering, and maybe adjusting some of the instrumentation in the double-time section would all really help the overall feel of the track.

 

 

NO

[Sir_NutS]

Love the warm synths here, they're silky smooth and just lovely.  The drums are minimal but well sequenced and fit the rest of the textures very well.  Heavy use of filters everywhere, and some effects like the initial bitcrunch on the drums. The mix is clean and I don't hear any issues that would drag the overall song down.  The adaptation is great, fits the new genre and tone like a glove.  The arrangement is ok but nothing super deep or complex.  The ending was the biggest letdown here, very sudden and unfulfilling.

So the only major issue I have with this one is the ending, and it's almost making me send this back but after a few listens, I think the rest of the track makes up for it and overall is a very well developed track that doesn't want to assault your senses but rather bring you into a pleasant experience.  I need to repeat that I love the overall warm/analog feeling of everything, it's just so nice.  So I think this will look pretty good in our frontpage and it will please a lot of FFXI fans as well.

YES

[MindWanderer]

I actually think the pad is a bit overkill here--it's so rich and omnipresent that it's conflicting with some of the other synths, most notably at 1:46-2:34 and 3:13-3:32.  That's my biggest concern.

Otherwise, mastering seems OK to me; the drums are loud but there's not a lot of them, and even with 1.9dB of headroom it doesn't sound quiet.  Even though the textures don't change, the pacing does, and I think that's enough to maintain interest.

The ending is indeed a letdown but that's not unusual for the genre.

If this were to get sent back I'd prefer to get the conflicts between the droning pad and the other synths cleaned up, but to me that's the only thing close to a dealbreaker and it isn't quite.  It's a clever interpretation of the original, with a rich soundscape and a consistent vision.

YES

[Rexy]

Now, this is a great adaptation!  You took a 6/8 acoustic BGM and transformed it into a synth-driven 4/4 arrangement.  Aside from the minute-long intro, the source material is readily identifiable - either with the melody proper or with the transformation of the original's acoustic guitar loop.  It's a solid structure too - intro aside, it's ABA with no drums in the second A variant and some careful extra segueing between them.  I also feel like I'm the only one who can appreciate the ending as well - ending on a chord that isn't the root is always going to feel unconventional, but that's what makes the explorative nature of electronic chillout what it is.

I can also live with the "premature" fully established instrumentation at 1:46 - it aimed for a chill vibe with both the sound palette and the initial groove, and any jarring jumps in the momentum would break that immersion.  All that is despite the double-time section at 2:24 - it refreshed the drum writing, while at the same time, the sound palette remained focused on keeping that momentum stable.

And then, there's the production.  The synths indeed feel very rich, with great attention to filters and layers - and I also can't ignore that initial drum bit crunch either.  Yes, there is 2dB of headroom, but you mixed your instruments tightly, ensuring the track doesn't feel on the quiet side.  Synth layers also meant there's no real overlap, and you can feel what each one is doing.

The only exception I noticed was when the source arpeggio got introduced at 1:02.  You started with a low-mid range of pitches that hid too far into the droning pad that it was difficult to make out.  But four bars in, you overlaid it with a higher-pitched echoed arpeggio, doing the same thing but two octaves higher, and that added layer gave it some much-needed presence.

Weighing up everything, I sensed a sweet arrangement direction and some solid production work, yet I developed conflicting thoughts regarding critique already mentioned so far.  To me, this track feels like a complete package, and I'm more than happy to see it get posted.  Waiting 17 years between first submission and first mixpost sounds daunting, but I'll be pleased to see this as the track that made it.

YES

[Chimpazilla]

This track feels great, so relaxing and upbeat at the same time, with good pacing changes.  The master is indeed on the quiet side.  I agree that the snare is a bit snappy which puts it outside of the soundscape.  I do love how the track evolves and yet keeps the same feel.  The production is done well enough.  Very enjoyable and immersive track.  The ending could have used one resolving chord, but this works well enough

YES