Rexy Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 Contact Information Your ReMixer name: Ian Martyn Your real name: Ian Martyn Your email address: Your website: https://www.ianmartyn.com/ Your userid: 35158 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Final Fantasy III Name of arrangement: It's On My Mind Name of individual song(s) arranged: Below the Deep Blue Sea Additional information about game including composer, system: Nobuo Uematsu, Famicom Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.: I decided to see what this piece would sound like in 4 rather than 3, and found that it worked well as a chill track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Fresh. Vocals have an off-tune quality at times which adds a certain charm, and the chorused harmonies work well. The underlying musical parts here are quite basic, consisting of a few notes and a backing chord, but work well as a base for letting the vocals do their thing. The musical soundscape after the first vocal section between 1:16-1:58 doesn't really change however, except for the addition of an electric piano lead, which does sound great and genre connected, but plays a consistent melody line each time it's featured (apart from the occasional fill). This happens again at 2:42 until around 3:23 where things are changed up a little until the conclusion of the mix. Production wise, the drums have a lo-fi feel to them, which I think works well in this context, although they are incredibly basic and remain the same across the mix. Mixing is ok which I would expect for a minimal track such as this. I think this track has potential — it's a creative take and the vibe is there, but arrangement wise, the content contained is not really able to sustain a duration of almost 5 mins. The slower tempo and minimal soundscape exacerbates what little changes are present, making things largely feel static for extended periods. This certainly doesn't have far to go, but I recommend a revisit to strengthen the arrangement in some way, either through shortening the mix and/or implementing some creative note changes/random backing parts. Perhaps the other judges will feel differently. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexy Posted October 6, 2020 Author Share Posted October 6, 2020 I appreciate how you turned this 6/8 source into 4/4 and let the new time signature dictate the genre direction - a very charming idea with an alt-pop vibe. The mixdown has an intriguing emphasis on warmth - felt more in the snare and the timbre behind your pads. If you want my thoughts on the balance, I believe the vocals should be louder in the mix as they're doing half of the melody work here. Some further EQ separation between said vocals and pads won't go amiss either, but see what happens with the vocal volume boost first and then decide. But Joel has nailed the pacing spot on. Every backing instrument makes the same 2-measure pattern throughout the entire track, and over 5 minutes, it does get stale very quickly. Even the uses of the source's A section differ little from each other, give or take the intro where you only used any notation present every two beats. See if you can find a way to make the second verse-source section (1:57-3:22) more texturally unique from the first. As for the auto-pilot drums, I'd suggest finding some subtle ways to embellish your percussion - whether it be changing up the kick-snare pattern on occasion, adding cymbals/hand percussion, or anything else that comes to mind. This track could be a more quirky entry to OCR's front page, but it needs more TLC in the background writing first. A volume boost to the vocals would be nice to have as well. It's a good start, Ian - so I hope you get to keep at it. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 I must agree with my fellow Js entirely. What you've got here sounds great! But it's too sparse and slow/dreamy with not enough interest or development to support a five minute arrangement. The drum groove never changes, neither do the background chords, and the bell motif is super simple. I'd love to hear this again with the drums having some variance and maybe some fills, and some countermelodic elements or arps or other elements of interest added as the arrangement moves along. This is a great start but not enough substance to stand as an OCR remix. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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