Rexy Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Ben mentioned "Bloody Tears" as a single source, but in reality, this track is a medley of multiple themes from Castlevania II. They're presented in this order - "Bloody Tears", "Message of Darkness", "The Silence of the Daylight", "Within These Castle Walls", "Dwelling of Doom", "Monster Dance", "Game Over", and "A Requiem". -Rexy Hello OCRemix Team, Here a submission of a symphonic version from a game that marked my childhood : Have a nice day. Best Regards, Benjamin Oziel. Contact Information ReMixer Name : Ben Oz Real Name : Benjamin Oziel Email Adress : website : https://soundcloud.com/benjaminoziel Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged : Castlevania 2 : Simon's Quest Name of arrangement : Simon's Epic Symphonic Quest Name of individual song(s) arranged : Bloody Tears Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 The instrumentation is firmly in the uncanny valley, so it's not gonna win any awards for realism and depth, but it's certainly serviceable and solid relative to our production standards. This is definitely a medley structure with brief hits of several themes, including some quick transitions, but the instrumentation and dynamics employed here do make the piece feel cohesively presented and it's obvious the transitions are thought through and purposeful. I'm willing to hear other judges opinions as well, including djp's, but I'd say this is a valid medley with care put into the transitions. The expansive part-writing and solid orchestration make it an easier sell on the arrangement side. Good stuff, Ben! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 (edited) This is quite an arrangement, spanning Simon's journey very nicely. It was a smart choice to keep the overall arrangement orchestral, as it sounds like one of those concerns that Square likes to put out of it's various franchises. The orchestration is varied and very well done, as well; I've no issue with the arrangement on that front. Agreed with Larry on the instrumentation and realism, though - it's not perfect, but it's certainly passable. This could've benefitted greatly from some reverb to help make the orchestra sound like it's in a hall of sorts, because as it is the instruments sound like they're not in any sort of space. I can see these samples and such working much better with some reverb to fill out the space better. Concerning the sources (thanks for that, Rexy) this definitely does include more than enough source reference to be recognizable, and there is plenty of reinterpreting of the source to consider this arrangement personalized. The sources sound pretty disjointed, though, specifically at 0:54, 1:31, and 2:10. 3:10 transitions to the material well enough (that hold gives the listener enough anticipation for the change to work, in my opinion), and 3:29 holds some textures over to help the transition work better. The transition at 4:08, relatively sudden as it is, does a really nice bookending the arrangement and uses a nice callback to prior material to tie the arrangement together, which allows the arrangement to just barely crosses my threshold of this not sounding like a bunch of disconnected arrangements of different sources mashed together. The sources in the beginning do sound like a mashing of sources together rather than a blend of the sources, but the track smooths out and ends on a strong note after the 3:10 mark. Certainly not without flaws, but I think I lean toward this being acceptable rather than not. I could see others arguing the opposite, though, so if this gets sent back give this some reverb to help give the arrangement a grander feel, and tie your transitions up better at 0:54, 1:31, and 2:10. Overall, though, it's a great arrangement, and I'm glad you sent it our way! YES Edited October 27, 2021 by Gario Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 Epic orchestral is perhaps my favorite genre, and this definitely delivers. I enjoyed every minute of this. The extra little twists and flourishes add a whole new element to these classic sources; it's an absolutely stellar orchestration and re-arrangement. The samples definitely aren't doing it justice, especially in the intro, but there are some poor samples used sporadically throughout. Balance is all over the place, too; notably, almost everywhere the strings are carrying the lead, they're too quiet, though they have louder spikes. Of greater concern is that this really is a medley. The transitions at 0:55, 3:29, and 4:08 are really abrupt, although the transitions at 1:19-1:30, 2:10-2:24, and 2:53-3:02 are smoother. The jump to piano solo at 4:37 also doesn't work that great; it's very pretty but doesn't go with the rest of the piece as well. The staccato notes at 5:00 really jump out, because they're clearly too dry for a concert hall. I don't think any one issue here is a dealbreaker. We've definitely rejected submissions on realism grounds that were better than the intro here, but it does pick up. And we've definitely rejected submissions for medley-itis that had better transitions than half of the ones here. Combined, the issues add up, making the gestalt borderline. Overall, I would love to see this revised, but I think it's passable--just--as-is. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 there's a lot of fun ideas in this one. starting with bloody tears is great since it's such a recognizable theme. i didn't mind the transition at 0:55 (not sure what would have made it better? it's a dramatic stylistic shift). same with 1:30's shift, i thought that was fine. i really liked the swell into 1:55. 2:39's grace notes is such a fun, eerie idea that flows well into the brass fanfares and subsequent faster section. the trumpets particularly in that section weren't great (great writing, poor execution by the computer unfortunately). 3:45 just had me bobbing my head, i love the realization there. 4:08 is just fantastic - great lead-in, epic scale (organ in right ear was a bit loud), and the big orchestral tutti with the melodic content. the piano following this section was a great contrast and again very well written albeit fairly straightforward. more verb in this section would have been really nice - it's just a touch too little. arrangement-wise this is superb. i didn't hear any transitions that were rough - to be honest they all sounded straight out of medleys i've played in concerts before - and overall the track feels cohesive and cogent. there's a few issues with samples but they're not gross, just a bit of uncanny valley. great work here. medleys are difficult because everyone has different ideas for what's good enough, but this is way past my bar. superb work. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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