OCR04289 - *YES* Zelda 2 & Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild "Secret Labyrinths"

[Rexy]

Hi.

 

Here’s my latest submission. Hope you like it.

It’s a remix of the two temple themes from »The Legend of Zelda – The Adventure of Link«

enclosed by the »Lost Woods«-theme from »The Legend of Zelda – Breath of the Wild«

 

Contact Information

Your ReMixer name: Gaspode

Your real name: Peter Köller

Your email address: 

Your website: –

Your userid: 26608

 

Submission Information

Name of game(s) arranged:

»The Legend of Zelda – The Adventure of Link«

»The Legend of Zelda – Breath of the Wild«

 

Name of arrangement:

Secret Labyrinths

 

Name of individual song(s) arranged:

»Temple« and »Great Temple« from »The Adventure of Link«

»Lost Woods« from »Breath of the Wild«

 

Additional information:

Zelda, NES, Music by Akito Nakatsuka

Zelda, Switch, Music by Yasuaki Iwata & Manaka Kataoka

 

Link to the original soundtrack:

 

 

 

 

Bye, Peter (Gaspode)

[Gario]

Mmm, this is a very warm track; it definitely is something that I can just sit down and relax to. The soundscape is very well done, keeping things fresh throughout with a variety of leads over the rich pads and thumpin' bass synth & drums. Overall, while the themes are fairly conservative in their use the blending of them into the Breath of the Wild textures was quite interesting to listen to.

The production in this is good, but not great, mostly due to the over use of limiting to get more volume out of this. That kick in particular has all sorts of limiting/clipping artifacts on it, which while it doesn't sound terrible in this low-fi environment doesn't really sound great, either. Could've used less volume pushing limiting on this, or an EQ tweak on the kick or other instruments in the track so that we're not swimming in that bass whenever the kick hits. Heck, even using some more sidechaining to give the kick some space would do this some good.

Production criticism aside, I think this has a lot of strengths that both make up for and accommodate that issue, so despite that I think it could still use a spot on the front page.

YES

[prophetik music]

this really is heavily limited. it's notable right off the bat and makes my ears tired very quickly.

the intro is interesting, and i like the groove. the melody intro is also interesting, and it's clear what track this is from right away. i liked the use of stereo in this section especially. there was little personalization but playing with the stereo effects were neat.

the break at 1:36 was needed and well-timed. the second melody coming in at 1:45 was a lot more rigid and i felt this wasn't as well handled. there's not as much creativity in the background here and the melody is just kinda played through. 

2:36 brought in some stuttered kicks to fit into the melody, and i didn't like this either. for a track that was very predicated on groove, it felt very offputting.

there's a recap of the first melody and then an outro.

the mastering here really was difficult. it's extremely bass-heavy and the mastering feels like it was just a matter of applying a limiter and leaving it at that. the melody is easily audible throughout, so it's volumized at least passably well, but i felt like the bass was straight-up oppressive. on a bass-heavy system like a car this will sound like mud for nearly the entire track. i like the feel a lot, but given how conservative the arrangement was (the melody lines could have been dropped into the sequencer from a midi and i wouldn't know the difference) and how messy the lower EQ is, i think this needs another pass.

 

 

NO

[Emunator]

Hah! That Lost Woods BOTW theme really goes with everything, doesn't it?

Right off the bat, I'm digging the adaptation of these themes into a darker electronic rhythm. You take your time building up to full steam but I appreciated the slow burn. The sound design throughout the first few minutes was perhaps smoother around the edges than I would have liked, but the gritty lead that enters at 2:37 gives this the necessary bite to carry the arrangement home.

I want to echo Brad's critique of the kickdrums that enter at 2:36, which lacked nuance and didn't sound great to my ears. The other judges have correctly identified that this is a very bass-heavy mixdown and the master limiter gets pushed pretty hard during the choruses. It's less than ideal, and unfortunately features some of the same issues I had with your first submission, but like that one, I found that this was carried on the merits of the creative arrangement and sound design. I do hope you can take some of these critiques to heart for future submissions and use that to improve your mixing game even further!

YES

[MindWanderer]

I love tracks that interweave two or three sources together to make a cohesive whole.  However, the structure is basically A-A-B-A, and each loop of the "A" part (Thunderbird Palace) is basically the same.  Even the transitions are the same.

I also feel like it's missing a lot of substance.  The frequency distribution is all bass and treble, with basically no mids to speak of.  While not technically "thin," because it does have a lot in the highs and lows, the soundscape does sound hollow.  And since the whole thing is either bass or bass+trebel, it gets pretty fatiguing.

I can't say I'm a fan of the percussion, either.  It's all kicks and snaps, with one very faint, sporadic snare, and it doesn't really change except for the stutter section, which others have mentioned.

There are good ideas, and I do like the core concept here.  But I think both the overall structure and the instrumentation need some additional consideration.

NO

[djpretzel]

On 7/18/2021 at 12:20 PM, Emunator said:

but the gritty lead that enters at 2:37 gives this the necessary bite to carry the arrangement home

This right here. Bam. SUPERB example of a single decision that was make-it-or-break-it, for me. I was about to reject this for lead fatigue - the issue to me is not so much one of EQ and no mids (imo the mids are in the main lead, and there's good separation & clarity throughout), but one of a static, overused lead sound. Sure, it's cross-panned (or on every note?) initially and then sits still, but it's the same sound, and had it remained all alone for the whole mix, I would not be passing this. But, as @Emunator points out (I read his decision AFTER listening & coming to the above conclusion, and it made me happy to see it echoed) at 2'37" we get the additional lead.... which is rather interesting/unorthodox, a slightly nasal, distorted, buzzing affair... but it works, and more importantly it adds absolutely-critical timbral variety to the main melody. Without this **one** element, no way. With this **one** element, yes way. Sometimes that's how it is.

YES

[DragonAvenger]

I will say that the lead bouncing as it is is a little jarring on headphones. I thing centering it just a little more might have made it less of an issue, but it's a fun concept overall. 

Really not much to hit on that the others haven't mentioned. I think the style adaption really makes up for the straight forward take on the melodies overall, and the track has a good groove. 

I'm down for this.

YES

[Liontamer]

I enjoyed the BotW base for this piece. The melodic line at :48 can sound basic, but the production gives it a nice resonant sound.

Less so for the "Great Temple" theme at 1:47. I would have increased the volume of the doubling there to give it more depth, because right now it sounds thin, lonely, and bland (made even more apparent when shifting back to "Temple" at 3:12, hearing the contrast with how that's produced). 2:16 added a countermelody, but this needed more ear candy around it. Good doubling of the chorus at 2:35 though, including some lil' fills and stutters to put a little spice on it; OK, that's more in the right direction.

When the "Temple" theme returned at 3:12, that would have been a great place to add some new ideas into the picture to be less of a retread, especially because it was only 20 seconds.

I was markedly underwhelmed by the "Great Temple" section, but this overall package is well in the right direction. The nice integration of BotW's "Lost Woods" with the Zelda II material, along with a significant change in the energy and style of the Zelda themes added up to a very fresh approach. Good stuff, Peter!

YES