Rexy Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 Hi, This is Drew Etterle (SuprMelO). My OCR user ID is 34268. I can be found at http://peribangrecords.com. I've got a couple submissions up with you guys from my band Moiré Effect. This track is a solo effort and I hope you like it. It's a synthwave/outrun style remix of "Black Waltz" from Final Fantasy IX. I've titled it "Neon Black Apocalypse". I composed this track to participate in the Pixel Mixers community album Beyond the Mist. The whole album is over 7 hours long and can be found here: https://pixel-mixers.com/2019/06/27/final-fantasy-ix-beyond-the-mist-tribute-album/ I don't have a lot to say about this track. I had two weeks scheduled in a Holiday Inn so I brought my laptop, keyboard, and audio interface. The project needed a remix of Black Waltz and I wanted to try my hand at this synthwave/outrun/retro stuff that's really fun now. As I was doing research on Spotify about this genre while driving through Tennessee, the track I kept coming back to was Dystopia Now by Mental Minority. I don't know much about this artist but when I heard this track I knew I wanted to make something like it. I thought a song about a subjugated race of powerful black mages crafted as weapons of war matched the genre pretty well. Thanks for checking it out, Drew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 surprise, i love this original track. right off the bat i love the synths you're using. the pad is great, the bass blurps are very evocative, and the electro pizz string is on point. it really got me into the mood. your choice of synths throughout is varied and enjoyable. the arrangement is solid and consistently transformational, so that's easy enough. from a technical perspective, this is overall really solid. my only complaint there is that the descending synth that's used heavily in the last minute or so gets pretty loud compared to the rest of the background (notably at around 3:28), and it takes over the soundscape to the detriment of the melodic content there. overall this is a great representation of letting the source influence the style and arrangement. the driving bassline and synth drums really clearly are derived from the militaristic vibe you get from the Black Waltz and also tie into the overarching theme of synthetic self-identity that vivi struggles with. it's an informed choice to tie these together - great work. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Lovely retro synth choices, especially the bass, and I love the harmonies in the middle section. It took me a couple of listens to notice the problematic descending quad that prophetik was talking about. It does drown out the other accompaniment a bit, but it's a very minor issue. If anything, I felt the exact opposite was more of an issue--that the bass is a bit loud everywhere else. But it's such a juicy bass that it's hard to complain about. It does pump a bit in 1:06-1:26, but that's minor as well. Very nice overall. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexy Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 I liked how you transformed the limited content behind the original track. Particularly throughout the first three minutes, I heard a lot of additional notation, harmonies, gated synth work, and sneaky references of that theme in more original writing passages. All this is while changing the time signature to 4/4 from the original's 3/4 - extremely impressive for its 5-minute running time. It took me a while to get used to any funky dissonance that popped up especially when going through the source's A-section, but I can argue here that this is the Black Waltz we're talking about - so it makes sense to add that sense of threat into the writing in the grand scheme of things. Yet, despite all this transformative work, the track bubbled under the 50% source mark by 7 seconds after I made my calculations. A lot of it can be due to considerably less content in the second half. Despite missing the target, the various transformations are significant enough to consider a strong representation of the source, so I feel the arrangement overall is barely over the bar. I agree with the synth palette as well - a captivating variety of textured sounds, all appropriate to the synthwave genre. The mixdown is also very clean, and the parts are well-balanced. Regarding the arpeggio at 3:28, I agree that it can get brought down just a *touch*, but the main melody didn't get drowned out and fought its corner, so it's not a dealbreaker in this case. Nevertheless, I approved of the manipulations and stylistic direction - and along with some polished writing and production work, I can see it on the front page. Fun stuff, Drew! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 Oh yes this is dope. Warm synths are the name of the game here and I love them. Strong synthwave vibes, clean and powerful mix. Arrangement wise this checks out, as the original is expanded on and most prominently, perfectly adapted to this style. Nothing here feels on autopilot, even the nuances on the filter changes for the synths, or the changes in pace accentuated by the drums changing to half time as necessary. Full of substance and flavor, a thoroughly enjoyable ride. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts