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*NO* Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword "Waters of Enlightenment"


Rexy
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  • 5 months later...

very quiet mastering again.

beginning is a variety of orchestral percussion with some very quiet pads and a really super fake shakuhachi-style flute. there's a lot of bells being used for the melodic content where it's appearing. there's some percussion and simple strings added in at 1:15, along with some more aggressively-panned plectral instruments. there's some weird notes in this section that aren't supported if they're intended to be NCTs - 1:29, 1:36-1:38, and a few other places. the drum in the background plays for roughly a minute and a quarter without changing the pattern, and then it's done. there's some more noodling with the ascending and descending pattern from the original, and some bird and wind sfx during an extended fadeout of the bells.

this is an interesting one simply because this original track has a pretty distinct melody, and it's only used in pieces in your arrangement. there's a lot of "this sounds a lot like the original" without it being necessarily the same thing, and so i'd consider the arrangement to be pretty solid even if we only get motivic representation instead of an instrument playing out a melody three times before an outro. the samples however really are not super great - there's a lot of obviously fake or synthesized sounds, especially in the pitched bowls, the string pad, and the flute that's used heavily in the opening. beyond that, there's very little reverb applied to everything, so the significant variation in fidelity of samples is more obvious than it should be. i find that even more distracting to be honest.

this needs a real effects pass on it, with some clean-up of messy notes and more attention paid to the synths that are more obviously fake. the arrangement is really interesting though and i'd love to hear it realized better.

 

 

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  • prophetik music changed the title to 2020/12/26 - (1N) Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword "Waters of Enlightenment"
  • 2 months later...

Another comically quiet submission here, with over 2dB clear headroom, and about 3dB with nothing more than a very generous limiter applied.

Playing the two versions sequentially really exposes the weaknesses in this remix.  The samples aren't any better than the Wii version, the soundscape is thinner on top of being quieter, the melody eschewed in favor of the more ambient stuff... it's almost like someone was trying to rip off the original but in a way that wouldn't get them in DMCA trouble.  And then there's a fade-out loop with bird songs that lasts nearly 20% of the length of the entire track.

So in addition to proph's concerns, I kind of feel like there just isn't much here.  It's technically a rearrangement, but only in a subtractive sort of way.  It's honestly hard for me to separate my subjective opinions from this one, because I feel like all the good stuff was taken out and the rest sort of patched together around it, without really adding anything.  Are the changes made to accommodate this evisceration enough to satisfy our standards?  I'm not sure, but it's definitely not enough to satisfy me.

I think the production issues are enough to merit sending this back, but I'd have to admit I wouldn't be excited to see it back on the panel without something more... well, exciting.

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  • MindWanderer changed the title to 2020/12/26 - (2N) Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword "Waters of Enlightenment"

I'm gonna pop the judging criteria in here to help me break this one down:

  1. Changing the structure of the source.
  2. Implementing multiple sources into the structure.
  3. Altering the overall atmosphere or "tone" of the track.
  4. Changing the genre of the source.
  5. Adapting the melodies and/or textures over different harmonies.
  6. Altering the themes, melodies, or textures of the source.
  7. Changing the rhythms.
  8. Altering the beat pattern.
  9. Changing the tempo(s).
  10. Utilize different meter(s).
  11. Adding new material.

I can't see much of an argument for any of these being significantly fulfilled for this one.

  1. Structure - both are quite ponderous, relying more on texture and atmosphere. If you're going to lean on this, though, sound design better be top notch, which it's not. There's a full minute of white noise at the end of the track that doesn't add to the 'nature' feel at all! I think it's supposed to be a waterfall, but quite what it's supposed to add here I'm not sure. It's got no high-end, so it sounds like a waterfall that's downstream, and out of sight.
  2. N/A
  3. Atmosphere and tone is the same
  4. Genre, same
  5. Like MW notes, the melody has been altered, albeit subtractively
  6. Some different textures in percussion and, but nothing significant
  7. Not significantly, and as proph notes, that drum sound goes 'bu-bum, bu-bum, bum' for ages without changing up
  8. N/A
  9. Same tempo
  10. Same meter
  11. Not a great deal of added material, and specifically the waterfall sound is a huge miss for me

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  • DarkSim changed the title to 2020/12/26 - (3N) Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword "Waters of Enlightenment"
  • Liontamer changed the title to *NO* Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword "Waters of Enlightenment"
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