OCR04363 - *YES* Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword "Transformation"

[Rexy]

RebeccaETripp
Rebecca Tripp

http://www.crystalechosound.com/
ID: 48262
Game(s): Skyward Sword
Song Title: Transformation

Songs Remixed: Lanayru Sandsea, Skipper’s Retreat

 

Gamer of the Winds played the flute part.

 

[MindWanderer]

My goodness, this one is quiet.  I cut Rebecca some slack for this sometimes, but this is pushing it too far.  Over 2dB of headroom and no compression to speak of.  I can barely hear it at max volume.  This really can't be more than a Conditional as it stands.

It's also a fairly conservative arrangement.  The first half is almost a direct cover.  Most of it uses similar instrumentation, the same structure, the same pacing.  Starting at the halfway point it's mixed up a little bit with some padding and some riffing, but the instrumentation and pacing remain unchanged.

Overall I think this is too static.  It's very soothing but it's almost ambient noise.  It's missing something to engage the listener through the end of the piece.  There's creativity there but the progression is so mellow that I find myself snoozing through it and barely noticing.

NO

[prophetik music]

agree that this is far too quiet to really be considered as more than for a conditional.

some interesting instrumentation choices right off the bat. the talking drums are a fun idea for the style. the glock felt pretty odd since there was no verb on it compared to everything else, and it was used in a pretty non-idomatic way as well. overall it did still feel like something from the Narnia soundtrack, and had a nice feel of wonder. the arrangement however was nearly note-for-note with some flourishes.

at 2:18, the change to major was very surprising but unfortunately the plectral instrument (is that a harpsichord or cimbalom? can't really tell) was a poor choice since it puts that major third next to the fourth, and it sounds wrong as a result. still the change to major was refreshing since it shows where you started to be more experimental with your arrangement. it's still really, really conservative, but at least you're not just restating the melody on the same instrument ad nauseum. the upwelling of strings at 2:59 and again at 3:28 were both really subtle but pretty - it was a nice way to add support to the melodic line.

as a compositional technique, if you're not going to do much with the melody on an arrangement, at the least you can vary what's carrying the melody. timbral arrangement is very much a thing and can add a lot of color and unique texture to an otherwise stale arrangement. i would encourage you to explore that technique more. i don't feel it would have saved this one entirely, but it certainly would have been a significant help.

the technical missteps in the mastering combined with a too-conservative arrangement both mean this isn't close enough to count. I thought it was a pretty piece, but it just doesn't meet the guidelines.

 

 

NO

[Liontamer]

Not gonna go against the NOs point by point, but I think the substance of the arrangement in this genre adaptation was undersold and I also disagreed on the volume being too low to post this as is. It is conservative in terms of the structure and tempo, but enough was done with the instrumentation, subtle original writing additions/ornamentation, and performance differences to stand apart from the original. I don't mind anyone saying this is too conservative -- this could have been more interpretive and I get it -- but I also disagreed when factoring in other arrangement techniques. Count me in!

YES

[Rexy]

I'm with Larry - the arrangement for me has always been a non-issue.  The initial run-through has some minor melody notation shifts and altered textures from the original.  And then, there's this second half going knee-deep into development ideas that caught my attention.  I heard a brief major-key use at 2:15, changing notation and chords for the main melody at 2:40, and harmonies aplenty.  What I find interesting about this one is that Greg is a credited performer, but the violins are the main lead - a risky move for VST instruments.  They could've had more variation in the attacks (which are primarily slow) and the releases (which are mostly non-existent), but the timbre feels lush enough to get the job done.

What had me going back and forth on was some minor production irks, wondering whether they'd be enough to be considered dealbreakers.  Firstly, yes, it's a quiet mix with 2dB of headroom.  Secondly, it's a drier mix than I expected, and it feels like everything got recorded in the same tiny booth.  Thirdly, there was the issue with the violin's realism, as previously brought up and addressed.  Ultimately I felt there was enough headroom to carry the ideas forward, and the dry mix felt offset with a clean and steady mixdown.

In this state, I feel it's postable.  I wouldn't call it one of the better collaborations between Rebecca and Greg - but the arrangement techniques on display and satisfactory production values are enough to see it get onto the front page.  Here's to the rest of the vote!

YES (borderline)

[Chimpazilla]

I'm afraid I have to agree with the NO votes for the most part.  Prophetik likes the change to major at 2:18, but I feel like it messes up the flow, and that first note right at 2:18 just sounds like an error to me.  I like the later shifts to major, those seem to work better. Other than that, this is a lovely romp through the source tune.  I have no problem with the volume level on this one.  But I feel like it is just too conservative and droning.

NO (borderline)

[Jivemaster]

Arrangement seems ok. It would’ve been nice to hear this go somewhere different to the original though, instead of relying predominantly on newer layers for the originality quota. The instrument choice is a good blend, with each taking on complementary roles. Things do move along and unpack quite slowly, but I think just enough changes happen to keep it moving. I didn’t feel much of an issue with notes, but I’m not a detailed theory guy. The production side is ok enough, no concerns from me there. Overall I think this is ok, definitely on the conservative side, but just enough to get by.

YES

[Emunator]

I liked this! There's not a dramatic level of expansion going on, but the heavier focus on wind and string instruments gives it a unique character compared to the original. All of the instrument articulations are solid, and the live wind performance from Greg is compelling as always! 

I don't have much to say here, but it's just over my bar. Good luck!
 

YES (borderline)

[DragonAvenger]

This track has similar issues to the one I just judged (I believe this one came first, so I guess it would be the other way around?). The arrangement overall works for me, though I would have liked to have some more done to the first half to vary things up. Lots of good suggestions already like changing the lead instrument, but I'd also maybe suggest altering the harmonies or chords lightly to keep things fresh as you go through before you expand more as well.

The others brought up the production, and I agree that the track is overall quiet, but I think it still gets through overall. 

YES (borderline)

[jordi]

Hey there Rebecca! Thank you very much for another submission to OCR. The source material is a great tune, so I was excited to hear the arrangement you’ve made of this.

This arrangement is immediately reminiscent of the source material in terms of how you’ve chosen to approach this arrangement, but the ambience and atmosphere stand on their own. I enjoy the complexity of the arrangement and a lot of the sound design, for example the wind chimes throughout. The woodwind was masterfully played, so great job on that Gamer of the Winds!

I love the major switch at around 2:20. I enjoyed the progression of the swelling strings around 2:50 and onwards. As a listener, I didn’t fully understand the slight sharpening of the strings at around the 3:50 minute mark, and why the strings remained for so long at a similar level of dynamics. It sounded a bit unnatural and an awkward way to end the arrangement. There are so many intricacies in the sound design of this, with harp plucks, triangles, glockenspiels, windchimes and other light percussion, that perhaps a trailing off of ambient sounds would have better suited the arrangement, as an example. On the contrary, I very much felt as though I was listening to something rich with musical character, so good job on successfully achieving that for me.

In terms of the production, a few things stood out to me. I noticed that there is a lot of empty space left before the audio wave hits the ceiling, so there is room for the volume to be brought up or the track mastered. One thing you did very well production-wise was make a wide use of the stereo field, allowing the instruments to stand out.

The way that the double bass is mixed means that at times (for example at 1:32) it sounds too loud and boomy in my ears. I would have liked to hear it a few decibels quieter in the mix at those parts, and I feel that it would still have been able to stand out as you don’t have much else going on at the frequency in the mix. I would also suggest a bit more care taken with little details, for example that little click at 0:09 that I assume probably was in the flute recording as it was recorded live. It’s something that can be fixed in the production stage.

There are a few issues with the production of this piece, but ultimately nothing that serves as a dealbreaker for me and those are mostly points for a better attention to detail. I enjoyed the beauty and the heart put into this arrangement, and there is enough here for me to say that I would like to see it reach the ears of more people who would also be able to enjoy this.

 

YES (Borderline)

[XPRTNovice]

Hi Rebecca! Thanks for submitting.

It's a cool, wandering melody that you translated into something that nicely envelopes the atmosphere/ambient nature of it while keeping it interesting to listen to. In fact, my only real critique with the arrangement is that it might be a little *too* interesting; there's too much going on that doesn't seem to jive with itself. There were many times where I felt I couldn't find the center because there were so many different things going on in different instruments...which is sort of like the source, but it was hard for me to feel like the arrangement was a cohesive story/piece. It all starts to feel a little bit like a bridge, or an intro, instead of a piece that has a beginning middle and end. The source, despite being ambient, has a strong melody and direction, but this arrangement is too far on the ambient side for me to feel like a complete piece. 

The violin used in the melody at :48 ish is pulling my ear, I think, because it keeps swelling in exactly the same way with every note of the melody. I would replace it with a steady legato, otherwise it almost feels like its pumping/breathing and it was distracting. 

When the bass comes in  at 1:40 ish, it booms to me and is too loud. Adjusting this may give you more headroom to raise the overall volume. I might even suggest a frequency cut if you want to keep the presence, but I actually just think the bass doesn't fit in the mix due to the volume. 

The volume is the biggest production issue for me. I had to crank my speakers to listen to this; it needs a good compression and mastering pass, which I know you know how to do. The whole track is just way too quiet. 

NO

[DarkSim]

The ever-prolific RebeccaETripp strikes again!

I was listening to this with a Pokemon Arceus stream on mute in the background, and it seemed to fit perfectly! It’s from a Zelda game so the atmosphere is very much one of discovery met with trepidation. The arrangement supports this, as XPRTNovice notes in his previous review, by not being too bold in its direction, preferring instead to stick close to the original source. I actually liked this choice, as there is some movement to the piece, albeit subtle, reflecting perhaps a cautious nature of our adventurer. Forgetting the main melodic instrumentation for a moment, I was pleased with the supporting instrument choices as well. The bells, chimes, and ethnic sounds scattered around serve to add an element of mystery and exoticness that adds to the theme of adventure.

The less well-executed parts are in the details. Other judges have noted similar qualms with the strings, and I did pick up on the boominess of those low string plucks. It sounds to me like you have too much reverb on them which is what’s making them sound like they’re ‘booming’. They are alone in the bottom register, however, so you can get away with it, but in future I would advice extra caution when choosing a similar level of reverb on low-end instruments. If there’s anything else in the mix around those frequencies, it’ll sound muddy. Another thing you could do to mitigate this is a low-cut filter on your reverb, to ensure only the initial pluck and its release contain the low-frequency content.

The sustained violin notes sound lovely with the hint of vibrato, however as the piece goes on, it becomes apparent there’s little to no variation in the sample articulation. Attack, decay, sustain, release, vibrato, legato, velocity - all can be automated and these details take time to program, but can elevate your music to the next level. It will not go unnoticed! Another example is the trill at 0:42 - it’s barely audible! A little more attention here would have been appreciated, and since the trill was in the source - why not throw in one somewhere else to spice up the strings a little? Sources can inspire us in many ways, and this is a prime example of a missed opportunity.

There’s an almost comically-long sustained note at the end which lasts for a full 30 seconds(!) from 3:42-4:12, and after a really chill piece of music, it brought me out of my peaceful state wondering “has my media player malfunctioned here?”

It’s details like these that reoccur in many of your submissions, and I’ll reiterate that in order to grow as an artist, new methods must be incorporated into the production workflow. One can still be prolific whilst maintaining very high standards, especially with such vast amounts of specific feedback. It’s always a pleasure listening to your submissions, however there are a lot of relatively easy improvements that could be made to elevate your work far beyond where it is now. I’d love to hear how far you can go once this feedback starts to sink in!

Ultimately, this one is carried over the bar by the outstanding performance from Gamer of the Winds. The natural flow of the flute serves as enough of a counterpoint to the violin, with enough variation and character for both instruments.
It’s clearly a close call with the judges, but it doesn’t have to be!

YES