Rexy Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Original Decision Contact Info: ReMixer name: about:blank Real name: Chris Bouchard Email address: ReMix info: Name of game ReMixed: Sword of Vermilion Name of individual song ReMixed: Stats ReMix title: Treacherous Road Here's a resub of my Sword of Vermillion remix. I fixed the limiter issue right away, which I really should've checked before sending the first mix through. I also tweaked the distorted synth arp and all of the bass synths, applied a gate to the snare at the end, and added some much needed sidechaining throughout. Let me know if it's worthy. Hope everyone's staying safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 originally i NO'd this due to bad mastering. let's see how it's doing on a second take. sounds like there's some more distortion applied to several of the synths, and everything's handled a little better from a mastering perspective. there's still not a ton of bass that i can hear outside of the kick (at least on these headphones), but i'm really digging the gritty, rough approach. the detuned synth used in the last section is a little offputting but that's more personal preference than anything i think. it is mastered really loudly, but i don't think that's a negative for a track focused on a dark electronica approach. i think this is pretty meaty and i like the changes. it might be too loudly mastered for some but i didn't think it's holding this one back too much. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexy Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 I dug the arrangement aspect a lot when I paneled the original submission, and I like it even more now with those bass writing tweaks. The source made its introduction at 0:49 and started straight-forward, then branched into some interesting parts at 2:21 and 3:17 where the backing remained in place, and new melodies appeared over the top. The structure is solid as well - an ominous opening with pads and pitched percussion, the meat of the groove at 1:42 and 3:18, plus the chance to squeeze in some involving bass LFO work in the breakdown at 2:21. It's a robust framework and a great example of how to handle something relatively brief. Letting go of the heavy limiter also helped a lot with the mastering, giving the calmer sections some room to breathe with the newly expanded amount of headroom. All parts sound clean, are well articulated in the bigger picture, and the amount of distortion and reverb throughout is considered more tasteful than the original submission. I'm not too sure where prophetik is coming from with the lack of bass, because the sub-bass here is intense and appropriate for a track of this type of EDM. If anything, I would've wanted a slight boost in the high-mids on a master compressor to get the arpeggios and melodies some more presence, but it's no dealbreaker at all in this case. Nevertheless, it's a vast improvement, and I'm so glad you decided to get it fixed. I'm all in favor of seeing more Vermilion rep on the front page after hearing this revision - great work! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 I never heard the original submission, so I'm hearing this fresh. Pretty sinister take. I loved the dynamics and constant instrumentation changes; they never felt like a gimmick or changing/evolving just for the sake of. Minor production crit: 3:18-3:49 was definitely cramped and I would have liked the line referencing the source to be more audible there. However, it was brief and at least contrasted with other parts of the track where it was more prominent. (Small thing, but props too for making a seemingly sudden ending also fade out properly.) Very creative take on the source tune, Chris! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 I did vote on the original sub. I had an issue with the mastering obviously but I also had some other issues with the production, mainly the lack of lows and power in the drums. How does this resub fare? Well, there are lows now, a ton I'd say, but it's mainly the sub bass doing the work there. I do think the track is now too sub-heavy, but it's not as bad as to be a reason for rejection. The track feels a lot more open now due to the proper compression levels. I still think the arrangement is solid, and outside of the uber-sub I don't think there are huge issues, there are still some things I don't like, like some of the distorted synths sounding a bit hollow still, but I can't deny that now this track is over the bar. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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