Phantasy Star 4 - Truth Be Told

[SegaMon]

Hello OC Remix Community! I have visited and enjoyed OCRemix.org since the year that it opened. I tinker with writing music and making remixes from time to time. I want to get feedback on my most recent remix. I also want to know if it would be a good idea to submit this piece for review.

My piece is titled "Truth Be Told." The themes that I used were from two songs from Phantasy Star 4 called "The Age of Fables" and "Requiem for Lutz." These songs can be found in the Phantasy Star 4 soundtrack as recorded and uploaded by Dustin Odell on YouTube with timestamps 1:24:09 and 1:10:52 respectively: 

EDIT: I was going to wait for feedback before publish this on my YouTube but I havn't yet received any. Therefore, I published it on YouTube. You can listen to it here:

The only live recordings in the song are of me playing clarinet. Please do let me know what you think!

Edited December 25, 2020 by SegaMon
Provided YouTube video of remix

[SegaMon]

I still would like to have feedback please. This the only time I will bump this thread.

[H36T]

I'm not really familiar with the source material and my headphones I use for mixing need a new cable so I'll have to stay light on those comments while I await it's delivery haha. Anywho, let's see here!

Love that opening little run with the piano and it's cool that it comes back later. The strings sound a little lifeless here. I think they could use some editing to give them a bit more flow and energy. For now they just sound kinda static. The instrumentation coming in around 1:11 sounds kinda harsh to me. As if whatever sample is being used wasn't playing nice when you tried to get it to do a schwartzando type effect. I hate when that happens to me and maybe that is what happened here?

What an odd little synth! I like it. Really weird and almost goofy but comes across as kinda sinister! Super cool in the beginning. I think some of the tempo changes come across as a bit harsh here and there. I really suck at that stuff so idk how to help. Maybe fiddle with the algorithm you use to get it to slow down?

Also something is telling me with the cool little synth, it would be nice to have some other more modern, gritty or even kinda ghasyly synthy sounds toward the end when that motif comes back. Just to give it some more grit or something. Could even use some double reed instruments playing in their lower register possibly? For some reason Symphony of Psalms comes to mind hmm...

Anyway, this was very neat. I liked the track composition wise but I think from a production standpoint it could use some more tender loving. Like I'm not even sure vst quality is a problem here? I think you can hide that behind that piano and some of the interesting motifs. I just think sometimes the sequencing doesn't do them any favors. But, that is okay in my book and doesn't detract from the amount of work you put it. Thanks for the listen~

[SegaMon]

On 12/29/2020 at 1:03 AM, HarlemHeat360 said:

I'm not really familiar with the source material and my headphones I use for mixing need a new cable so I'll have to stay light on those comments while I await it's delivery haha. Anywho, let's see here!

Love that opening little run with the piano and it's cool that it comes back later. The strings sound a little lifeless here. I think they could use some editing to give them a bit more flow and energy. For now they just sound kinda static. The instrumentation coming in around 1:11 sounds kinda harsh to me. As if whatever sample is being used wasn't playing nice when you tried to get it to do a schwartzando type effect. I hate when that happens to me and maybe that is what happened here?

What an odd little synth! I like it. Really weird and almost goofy but comes across as kinda sinister! Super cool in the beginning. I think some of the tempo changes come across as a bit harsh here and there. I really suck at that stuff so idk how to help. Maybe fiddle with the algorithm you use to get it to slow down?

Also something is telling me with the cool little synth, it would be nice to have some other more modern, gritty or even kinda ghasyly synthy sounds toward the end when that motif comes back. Just to give it some more grit or something. Could even use some double reed instruments playing in their lower register possibly? For some reason Symphony of Psalms comes to mind hmm...

Anyway, this was very neat. I liked the track composition wise but I think from a production standpoint it could use some more tender loving. Like I'm not even sure vst quality is a problem here? I think you can hide that behind that piano and some of the interesting motifs. I just think sometimes the sequencing doesn't do them any favors. But, that is okay in my book and doesn't detract from the amount of work you put it. Thanks for the listen~

Thanks so much for the feedback! I find that I have much room for growth in terms of production.

Regarding the strings being too static, I agree. I was thinking of that being a problem with the instrument itself. However, what is a good way to mix this section better?

Around 1:11 being too harsh? I am not sure I hear it the same that you do. I really wanted a wide dynamic range in this piece and that may be why you feel that way?

Tempo changes in FL Studio has been one of the many challenges I have. I am a classically minded musician so I love to have lots of tempo changes. Maybe I over did it a bit much because of how much I like it. I tend to think of my style to be a bit erratic so it is hard to tone down some of the overbearing aspects such as this. I will keep this is mind.

The sound does have bassoon but I dont like how the VSTs I have for bassoon sounds so that is likely why I didn't feature it too prominently. Regarding a more gritty synth near the end, I like that idea! I am not so great at finding great synths to use to I often fiddle with the instruments for a long time before finding an appropriate one. Also, there is a lot going on in this song so I wanted to maintain some more familiarity with the melody and changing the synth would go against that. Very good idea.

What do you mean by "the sequencing doesnt do them any favors"? I tried humanizing the patterns quite a bit. However, I am a bit weak at creating melodies and countermelodies. I wonder how I could improve?

Thanks so much for the constructive input. I am looking forward to improving with every song that I create. Happy New Year!

[H36T]

5 hours ago, SegaMon said:

Thanks so much for the feedback! I find that I have much room for growth in terms of production.

Regarding the strings being too static, I agree. I was thinking of that being a problem with the instrument itself. However, what is a good way to mix this section better?

Around 1:11 being too harsh? I am not sure I hear it the same that you do. I really wanted a wide dynamic range in this piece and that may be why you feel that way?

Tempo changes in FL Studio has been one of the many challenges I have. I am a classically minded musician so I love to have lots of tempo changes. Maybe I over did it a bit much because of how much I like it. I tend to think of my style to be a bit erratic so it is hard to tone down some of the overbearing aspects such as this. I will keep this is mind.

The sound does have bassoon but I dont like how the VSTs I have for bassoon sounds so that is likely why I didn't feature it too prominently. Regarding a more gritty synth near the end, I like that idea! I am not so great at finding great synths to use to I often fiddle with the instruments for a long time before finding an appropriate one. Also, there is a lot going on in this song so I wanted to maintain some more familiarity with the melody and changing the synth would go against that. Very good idea.

What do you mean by "the sequencing doesnt do them any favors"? I tried humanizing the patterns quite a bit. However, I am a bit weak at creating melodies and countermelodies. I wonder how I could improve?

Thanks so much for the constructive input. I am looking forward to improving with every song that I create. Happy New Year!

Finally got my headphones back so I can more accurately hear what I thought I was hearing. The 1:11 isn't harsh actually. Its just a bit choppy/inconsistent in the velocities. It causes it to sound a jumpy in the dynamics. Just something where you would need to take some time to make it more natural sounding. As far as the static strings, I would need to know what VST you are using. Probably just some time getting more familiar with the mod wheel might do it. 

For the tempos and stuff, I use pro tools so I cant help with FL studio. However, one thing I've learned is something you alluded to, which is that sometimes just to make it sound good, you need to play to your instruments strengths and less to your composition desires. Now, the better you get at using your program and knowing how to push your VSTs to their limit, the more you can do. But sometimes I've learned that at my current progress, I need to make sacrifices to my artistry in the name of fidelity. However, that doesn't mean you shouldnt keep trying to make it do what you want! Sometimes you can try, mess it up, let someone else listen to it, and they can tell you how to make it do what you want.

Regarding the last statement, I think sometimes with VSTs, as I mentioned earlier, if we dont make them do what we want them to do properly, it can make them sound insufficient? Like maybe we need a better quality one. But here, I'm not sure that is the problem. I think the sound here is really interesting and fine for the most part.. maybe some verb here and there to make it sound less dry, but I think mostly they sound a bit stiff and lacking just because they need some more tender loving in FL studio. That being said, I know you put a lot of work into this and it is probably a lot off work to go back in and try and tidy things up more.

Regardless, I'm no expert. I have my struggles as well! I hope though maybe I provided some perspective. Would love to know the vsts you use tho

[Nivan Sharma]

This sounds so cool! 

 

I really love that piano run in the intro. I keep replaying that over and over again. For some reason I feel that the song gives me a bit of Xenoblade Chronicles vibes.

 

Anyways keep it up! this sounds so cool

[H36T]

1 hour ago, Nivan Sharma said:

This sounds so cool! 

 

I really love that piano run in the intro. I keep replaying that over and over again. For some reason I feel that the song gives me a bit of Xenoblade Chronicles vibes.

 

Anyways keep it up! this sounds so cool

Right?! That piano is so awesome!