OCR04197 - *YES* Digimon World "FAT32 at Night"

[Rexy]

Contact Information
ReMixer name: Reuben Spiers

Real Name: Reuben Spiers

E-Mail: 

 

Submission Information
Game: Digimon World
Name of Arrangement: FAT32 At Night

Name of Original Song: File City (Night)

 

Ft. Kain White on kalimba, shakers, and most importantly, triangle.
 

 

[Jivemaster]

Percussion and guitar start things off, with bass and accordion coming in at 0:40. An accompanying piano line enters at 1:12. These play off each other for the next section, building up into the guitar’s return at 1:52, and altogether at 2:08. Arrangement is fairly basic, but does introduce a number of added elements to the original. Production wise things are ok, given the track is quite minimal — less issues are expected. I will say things do sound a bit stiff/to the grid, and could do with some humanisation, although I don’t think it’s a dealbreaker. There’s not a lot to it, but I think what here works well enough. A tidy little track with a different slant on the original.

YES

[Rexy]

This source feels simplistic, even for PS1 standards.  All you have to work with here is an evident melody, a slow-plodding bass, and a pad.  The composition alone gave you plenty of room to expand upon it, and you managed to do so in very subtle ways.  You used just the A section as your source provider and letting other layers ride underneath your melody line, brought the key down to C from the original's F, plus having the first half of your melody transposed back to the source's original scale for a unique voicing choice.  I approve of these twists a lot - great call.

Kain's kalimba running an alberti bass accompaniment is appropriately delicate for the laid back mood you established - though I do feel the constant use of the pattern is on the repetitive side.  I would've preferred that to have a changed up accompaniment pattern for the piano solo at 1:16 instead of your accordion, something that still feels on the stiff side when it's doing something other than sustained chords.  Nevertheless, the instruments all do their assigned roles, and that's something I can't counter.

Naturally, with the minimalist instrumentation, the mixdown also feels pleasantly gentle.  For the most parts, the instrumentation has their distinct spots across the EQ spectrum - though the accordion and piano ran the risk of bleeding into each other, and some EQ tweaking on either part - preferably the accordion - could've helped their spaces get more defined.  The instruments' recording quality is pristine as I usually expect, and Kain's assortment of percussion certainly got used well.  However, I did feel concerned for the volume as it hardly ever went above -5dB with one spike to the right barely going above -2dB, but the style and ambient space needed gave me second thoughts.

Even with its minor presentation flaws, the track itself feels like a complete package to me.  You nailed the interpretation, had fun with live instruments as always, and you've gotten used to knowing your collab partners' strengths.  Lovely work there, Reuben!

YES

Edited November 13, 2020 by Rexy

[prophetik music]

this is very quiet outside of a single spike - at least room for 4db increase, if not more.

the kalimba's got a nice sound. once the rest of the band comes in, this has a very Stardew Valley sound to it - very organic, very present. i agree that the kalimba's pretty repetitive but it's placed in the soundscape well so it's not obnoxious. the arrangement does a nice job expanding on the melody throughout. the ending's pretty lackluster, which is unfortunate when the main body of the piece is actually pretty clever in its simplicity. my only other complaint would be that some of the guitar performance is stiff, but as a whole it's well-played and feels nice.

this is certainly not perfect, as rexy said, but you nailed the vibe and made a short and sweet track that is fun to listen to. i think this is over the bar.

 

 

YES

[Emunator]

While I wasn't sold on this concept from the intro, the simple kalimba arpeggio laid the groundwork for a much more developed arrangement to come. The accordion and acoustic guitar combo is one I'm quite fond of myself, and it's well used here. I strongly support the Stardew Valley comparison. The bass and light percussion give the track some movement and breaks up the repetitive arpeggio rhythm. 

Not a ton to say here - it's certainly not the most fleshed out or complex track, but it's a pleasant, well-produced jam that you can sit back and relax to. I'd say this accomplishes its purpose nicely!

YES