OCR04086 - *YES* Chrono Cross "Guldove Shaman"

[Liontamer]

RebeccaETripp
Rebecca Tripp

http://www.crystalechosound.com/
ID: 48262
Game(s): Chrono Cross
Song Title: Guldove Shaman

Songs Remixed: Earth Dragon Isle

 

Here’s a link: 

 

[Liontamer]

Love this source tune and looped it incessantly 15 years ago.  Rebecca did a nice job applying her new age, organic-minded instrumentation approach to the source material. There were times the familiar belltones of the source were very deemphasized, so I could see some listeners wishing that weren't the case, but that was purely a subjective thing, and I can appreciate the change in textures and energy here. The track can seem directionless because the source melody is downplayed, so I wouldn't be surprised by criticisms like that either, but I wasn't bothered by that approach. Nice tempo change around the 4:20 mark towards the finish, BTW. There are things that make the presentation different, and I'm cool with that. Overall, a solid, albeit subdued, arrangement approach.

YES

[prophetik music]

same, larry, i love the original. such an evocative track, like so much of the soundtrack.

track is extremely quiet, i'd estimate at least -6db outside of a few spikes and one 5-second section with a lot of bass. intro is pretty nice with the tempo change. there's some fun echoing of the bell parts in the bass pizz. there were some machine-gun effects in the bodhran (?) which were pretty obvious up front but weren't as obvious later. i wasn't a fan of the synth voice never taking a breath, which really hurts immersion, but i liked pairing it with the glock. there were a few nice flourishes underneath too which were nice - like at 1:34 and 1:42. the subsequent melodic handoffs were well-done and well-voiced as well.

the bass at 2:45 was nice but very loud compared to everything else. around this point i noticed that the underlying string pads had been essentially the same for a while, but they changed soon after so it wasn't bothersome. the handoff in the melody to the voice at 3:44 was noticeable because that's a real chest-voice sound and the transition from head to chest there and about ten seconds later really stuck out. i also really liked the tempo shift near the end to help it move towards a more lush, passive ending.

this does a lot of things pretty well and a few things not as well. i think it's over the bar by a bit. there's great balance throughout, the parts are interesting and new, and there's some fun orchestration ideas. i don't like synth voice most of the time so that's a turn-off for me but i can see most people thinking it was fine. overall, nice work, rebecca!

 

 

YES

[Rexy]

I have no problems with the headroom, first and foremost.  Yes, there are many spikes, and the average headroom would've been -6dB otherwise, but there's enough space for the pizzicato cello and hand drums to resonate in the mixdown.

I found the mastering to be serviceable, too - aside from the chimes, the main melody instruments have got their presence in the mix, and each part has its place in the spectrum, which is intriguing to witness.  I would've wanted the pizzicato cello's volume level lower down in the mix, but it established its purpose here otherwise.  The articulations aren't the best in the world, with some more constant velocities across the board, and the woodwinds and synth voice not taking a break for air.  But the vocal itself makes up for it with careful use of attack, release and vibrato, and the dynamic shaping takes advantage of the soundscape to accommodate multiple layers that drop in and out whenever they choose.

The arrangement boils down to two loops with some gentle bookends using the A section.  I appreciate how at the beginning, you decide to bring in just a few notes of the bell chimes in the A section to open, then have the full sequence ready at 0:16.  Some subtle details went beyond simply re-orchestrating, too - the single bar of 4/4 at 0:35, the doubling of textures at 1:02 to add more emphasis to the chimes, and the alteration of the B melody at 1:38 as it set itself up to harmonize with the arriving C section with its false start at 1:41 and official use at 1:57.  The tempo drop at the end almost left me paralyzed with how well you pulled it off - the feeling was like a cloud slowly evaporating into the sky, if you want a poetic nature metaphor.   It's calming, it did its purpose, and there's enough substance to carry it through.

Once again, I see the arrangement to be spot on with only a few small flaws in the production sticking out.  In this form, the positives outweigh the negatives, so I feel it's done enough to make it over the bar and onto the front page, preferably with a chillout genre tag.  Sweet stuff, Rebecca - you've probably cured someone's insomnia with this one.

YES

Edited June 8, 2020 by Rexy

[Sir_NutS]

I'm not super familiar with the CC soundtrack, so this is mostly new for me.  I don't think I can add much to this since the others have explained very well the strengths of this remix and I mostly concur with the other Js, I'll just mention that this could've used a bump in volume as usual.  It's a well-organized track, with each part having its time in the spotlight, with some performance issues with the voice library used, I felt the sequencing there was a bit too stiff.  The arrangement was solid but it really didn't blow me away, however there's enough arrangement here to make it.  The production is clean. 

As a whole this is just a solid track that should be in OCR's library.

EDIT: Is it possible that we can reach Rebbeca for a bump in volume? the more I listen to this, the more I'm feeling this should be a Conditional instead.

YES

Edited June 10, 2020 by Sir_NutS