Emunator Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 Hi there! It's been a minute since I submitted anything or in fact gotten anything finished when it comes to music. In the corner of my mind has always been some sadness because I've truly enjoyed making game remixes over the years, but life and changing hobby priorities have gotten in the way. I've had this specific idea -- do Terra's theme as a Christmas song -- for literal years, and every year I fail to get it done for the Overclocked Christmas album. But I actually got the damn thing done for last year's album! And really, it's about time for a little-known song like Terra's theme to get a bit of recognition. Your Remixer name: Argle Your real name: Adam Kirby Name of game arranged: Final Fantasy 6 Name of arrangement: Terra of the Bells Name of songs arranged: Terra's theme Also here's my current Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBbp2n93YSbvmp7HGwg9PPA All the other external links you have for me on my artist page are either dead or incredibly out of date, can you please remove them? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 By pure coincidence, I just evaluated a Terra's Theme remix that was much too conservative, and this is nicely liberal, just barely identifiable but definitely so. I love the creativity. 0:15 introduces a pad that's pure white noise, and it's there for almost the entire piece. I'm not sure what purpose it's supposed to serve. It just sounds like tuned static to me. And it's sufficiently loud that it does make some of the mids a smidgen muddy. It also does get a little repetitive. It's mostly loops of your version of the main hook. The groove is constant for long stretches. On the other hand, the whole thing is only 2:47 long, so it doesn't wear out its welcome too badly. I don't know how Christmas-y it is—it does use jingle bells in place of hats, but only one section has a bell (or glockenspiel?) as the lead—but I don't think there are any dealbreaking issues here. If this does get sent back, my #1 request would be to look at that white noise pad again, but even with it, I can give this a YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 While there's nothing groundbreaking about the instrumentation or the production, the samples are sequenced with plenty of care and are well-mixed across the board. MindWanderer called out repetitiveness as a weak point here, which I would agree with regarding the backing instrumentation, but there's a deceptive amount of variation that presents itself over the course of 2 and a half minutes in the form of new instrumentation and original modifications to the Terra melody. I feel like I could scan to nearly any point in the song and hear something new going on, despite the foundational groove remaining more or less intact. This arrangement straddles the line between minimalist and overly-simplistic, but ultimately falls on the right side of the coin for me. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 The title of this mix suggested to me it was going to be a ‘Carol of the Bells’ style take on the well-known Terra’s theme. I was surprised to find that the bells were only in the background for the majority of this track, so perhaps it’s a misnomer. Title aside, it’s a very accomplished ReMix. There’s great richness and sense of space in those plucked strings to open, before a saw pad swells up and the titular bells are introduced. We’re then treated to a variation of the melody on oboe, which is incredibly sombre and unusual for a “Christmas” song, but perhaps that’s a reflection of world events the past couple of years - everything’s not been quite as it was. The next run-through of the melody is on piano, which leads into a build, filtering in a beat. It’s a pretty standard breakbeat, although when the filter is removed at 1:36, it is satisfying to hear the components come together in the mix. The violin sounds lovely here, and is that the faintest hint of a banjo in there too?! Absolute madlad. I’m a big fan of the saw synth from 1:59, with the subtle pitchbending and phasing applied during the sustained notes. It’s dripping in reverb too so it doesn’t dominate the mix, and layering it with a bell gives the sound a more detailed quality and interesting attack. Good attention to sound design there. The final 4 bars are probably the most “Christmassy” sounding of the lot, finishing it out with the pluck from the intro and some bells. The track as a whole isn’t overtly Christmassy - more like the first snow of the season than mince pies and mulled wine, but overall it’s a solid take on the theme. Nothing groundbreaking here, but everything is very solid, and a nice start to the holiday! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Nice work, Adam! The mixing was too cluttered, IMO, but it wasn't anything meaningfully dinging the track, just my observation. It's a distinctly different take on Terra's theme, IMO, since the theme isn't arranged in a melodically straightforward way, so you did a nice job simplifying it and working with the backing parts and chord progressions to retain the direction and feel of the source. Unlike Emu, I didn't feel it this was potentially too minimalist or overly simplistic, but I agreed with him that the variations employed meant you could scan around to any part of the track and feel like it was in a different place. It's got the Christmas/winter vibe and influence for sure, but this can be enjoyed anytime without feeling like you've dove into tropey Christmas music. Nice job for the holidays, and it's always great hearing the community put together great tributes for An OverClocked Christmas year after year, still running hot! Or cold, as it were... ? YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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