OCR04137 - *YES* Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword & Breath of the Wild "Treading the Maze of Trials"

[Rexy]

RebeccaETripp
Rebecca Tripp

http://www.crystalechosound.com/
ID: 48262
Game(s): Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild
Song Title: Treading the Maze of Trials

Songs Remixed: Sealed Grounds, Sheikah Tower

Gamer of the Winds helped with this one as well!
 

[MindWanderer]

I'm a bit torn on this one.  On one hand, it does a nice job of mimicking the minimalistic style of the source material and expanding upon it with some different instrumentation and substantial riffing.  On the other hand, it's five and a half minutes that don't have a whole lot of variation.  In particular there are a couple of simple motifs that are repeated over and over again, and they really start to grate by about the 3:35 mark.

I keep going back and forth on this one.  Sometimes I find myself paying close attention to some clever interplay, other times I'm tuning out or getting actively irritated by the repetitive elements.  I'll come back to it later.

[prophetik music]

nearly 5db headroom.

there's some fun instrumentation in this one. i found that most of the performances by instruments that weren't live were pretty robotic - the marimba was the main culprit here, there's just no variation on attacks, but the sustained cello (?) was also pretty bland. beyond that, i also thought it had some nice interplay in the parts until around 3:35, like MW thought. at that point the harpsichord was really starting to bother me as well, but the change in the context was welcome and really a great contrast to the first several minutes. as a whole, though, the arrangement was actually real solid i thought. it doesn't ever actually repeat the same thing from what i heard, and i'm comfortable saying that the variations are enough to get it over the bar.

from a mastering perspective, aside from the headroom, i thought it was fairly nuanced in the volumization across the board, and i liked the soundscape. the chuff pad could have easily blown everything away with all that white noise but it never was too much.

i think this one does enough. i'll agree that it's not perfect and it's probably too long for the amount of content it has, but overall i think it definitely clears the bar.

 

 

YES

[Rexy]

As is the norm with Rebecca's submissions, the modifications to the sources are simple but effective.  The structure is simply two run-throughs of Sealed Grounds, an original bridge and a singular push through Sheikah Tower, so no integration between either of them - but the number of additional background instruments more than make up for it.  I also like how Greg got free reign to add more to the flute's notation during that second loop - it felt like the melody walked between the lines of original content and source changeup, and that is a big plus in my book.  If I have to be honest, though, I felt the addition of Sheikah Tower at the end got slapped on for no reason - but the smooth transition between the two sources accommodated its presence anyway, so it's not too much of a big deal.

The production is also clean and well-balanced, so no problems with anything clashing.  I also feel the headroom works well for the sound palette - it's supposed to feel delicate, so I'm okay with a 5dB gap.  But just like with prophetik, my main concern is with the articulations behind a handful of synthetic instruments.  I concur with the critique on the cello and mallets, but I also feel the panpipes stick out too.  The held legato notes - with the biggest offender at 3:31 - felt stiff and sound like they used more air than a human can naturally breathe in, plus the attacks leave little transition room from pipe to pipe.

In this context, the articulations aren't what I consider dealbreakers, as the track did a lot more right in the arrangement, balance and performance values to bring it over the bar.  I wouldn't call it one of Rebecca's more elaborate works, but it is one of Greg's best contributions and is worth checking out on that merit alone.  Great job to both of you!

YES

Edited August 23, 2020 by Rexy

[Chimpazilla]

Yep, another mix with huge headroom.  Other than that, I really like the instrumentation used in this conservative mix.  I particularly like the low breathy instrument paired with the mallets, flute and harpsichord, the contrast is just lovely.  I find plenty of variation from the source including lots of Rebecca's signature flourishes.  I think the two themes transition well.  The track is simple yet effective, a relaxing and fun listen.  

YES

[Emunator]

For the most part, I felt like this arrangement played well to Rebecca's strengths as an arranger - as Kris mentioned, the interplay between the shorter staccato instruments like the marimba and harpsichord and the more expressive flute legatos, courtesy of Gamer of the Winds, sounds really fabulous. Overall, this is a really breathy, spacious arrangement that expands nicely on the sources.

I wish there was a bit more bite to the harpsichord on the production side, and the velocity work on the marimba is less than ideal. I also found the reverb levels to be lower than I would have liked on an arrangement with this much space between the instruments. However, this definitely gets the majority of things right and I'm happy to sign off on this. Nice work!

YES