OCR04287 - *YES* Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time "It's Dangerous to Go Alone"

[Rexy]

ReMixer name: dPoten

Name of game(s) arranged: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Name of arrangement: "It's Dangerous To Go Alone"

Name of individual song arranged: "Zelda's Lullaby"

userid: 36989

 

Damian Potenzoni

| Composer | soundcloud.com/damianpotenzonimusic

| email:

| site: dpotenmusic.com

 

 

[Emunator]

Oh, this is pretty slick! I'm picking up all sorts of retro R&B and adult contemporary vibes, especially with the DX7 electric piano, but with a hint of jazz in the solos as well. This is evoking a similar mood to some of David Benoit's multi-instrumental work. This is not a genre we really see a lot of on OCR, so you're already getting points for breaking the mold and serving up something fresh. 

I was initially afraid that there wasn't going to be enough to sustain this concept for nearly 5 minutes with such a short source, but you really went the extra mile to continually adapt the phrasing of Zelda's Lullaby so that it never feels like you're treading water. The final chorus key change, in retrospect, was practically an obligatory decision given the genre, but the way you executed the chord change at 2:16 caught me totally off guard in the best way. From that point on, you keep building up layers and riffing further off of Zelda's Lullaby until we finally reach the (also obligatory) guitar solo, which ties everything together in perfect form.

The only complaint I can really find is that the fadeout actually seems too abrupt, I wish the end of this track had a bit longer to simmer and wind down more gradually. But that's just nitpicking. This is an exceptionally-written, intelligent, and wholly-unexpected arrangement that filled me with endless joy to hear 

YES

[prophetik music]

oh, what a great intro. the scoop on the lead is delicious.

this is a really fun vibe right away. i agree with emu that there's some r'n'b here. it's irritating to me that the dx7 and the piano is ahead of the beat almost the entire time, but that's a nitpick. feels like it got stamped in a touch earlier than it should have been. the variety of backgrounds by the two minute mark help keep it interesting. the pads at 2:15 is a nice transition too.

the guitar is fun when it comes in, albeit pretty out of tune. solo was nice and does a nice job mirroring some of the melody's shape while making its own way through it. the chiptune-esque synth at 4:11 is a really fun idea, and then the exploration it does is neat. it's a little loud though. the fadeout is fine, i didn't think it was too abrupt or too early.

my complaints on this track are primary in the details - the keys being ahead, the guitar being out of tune, some balance. overall though it's over the bar. nice work on a fun style.

 

 

YES

[MindWanderer]

Definitely a fun take and a creative arrangement.  Definitely does plenty of interesting things with a short source.

I'm not the biggest fan of the vanilla square wave used as a lead.  It doesn't really jive with the rest of the instrumentation, which is either sampled instruments or common e-piano synths.  Unfortunately, it's used in both the intro and the climax, so both the beginning and the end are what I feel like are the weakest sections.  The synths at the end are also too dry for the rest of the soundscape.

There's some distinct overcompression in the busier sections, most notably when the electric guitar is playing.  You can hear some strong all-band ducking when the kicks hit.  Those are some meaty kicks for how otherwise unobtrusive they are.

I'm a little on the fence about this one.  The pumping bothers me more the more I listen to this.  It's the only real issue, but it bugs me a lot and I'm not sure if it's a dealbreaker.  Unfortunately, I don't think it's quite a 5-minute fix, either.

I'll come back to this one after I see another vote or two.

Edit: After an ear break, the pumping doesn't bother me as much.  I still really dislike the leads in the intro and conclusion, but that's more a matter of taste than an objective criticism.

YES

Edited October 29, 2021 by MindWanderer

[Liontamer]

The little percussion SFX from :16-:47 & 1:03- is actually piercing when listening on headphones (especially the glassy synth line :42-:47 and 1:27-1:34). Would be great to get that tweaked to nerf the shriller frequencies. Seemed like it was less of an issue later on in the track though.

Not sure why the panning's so wide in places, but it's OK. Piano comping from 1:02-1:34 exposes the sample pretty badly; the piano sound needs more depth and realism to it. Good idea for the dropoff at 2:05 for some dynamic contrast. The track picked back up at 2:24, but I'd argue the lead sounded super dry; there's trailing noise on the drums, but focusing on it actually exposes how thin the overall soundscape truly is. Fills out better from 2:56-onward at least, but it really feels like it needs a wetter sound to fill this out.

Good guitar wank starting at 3:27 (though it sounds like there's some blip/hiccup noise on the guitar line right before it starts). Another good twist in the arrangement at 4:00 with the additional instrumentation coming in to add some new lines.

The 8-bit main theme variation from 4:10-4:50 didn't integrate well with the rest of the instruments and came off needless gimmicky instead of providing synergy; maybe just dropping the levels on it to serve as a subtler accent in the background would have clicked more instead of overpowering the other sounds; agreed with prophetik that it was way too loud. Good idea in principle, just an odd finish that seemed out of left field given that everything was smoove up until the conclusion. There was a cameo of chiptune in the very beginning, but you don't really notice it there, so the chiptune part at the end didn't come off like a bookend idea (nor do I think it would work in either spot).

It may seem like I'm just nitpicking things, but I'm focusing on the areas for improvement. Unlike MindWanderer, I didn't have any issue with pumping. That said, the arrangement's certainly creative and the production is serviceable, just not ideal, and that's OK. Wouldn't mind some production tweaks to this, but it can run as is. What's here works fairly well, and the on the execution seesaw, it's tilting much more heavily to YES. Nice concept, Damian!