*NO* Valkyrie "Queen of Ice"

[Emunator]

Contact Info

by Docjekyll

real name: 

email: 

forum: Docjekyll (#31804)

 

Remix

"Queen of Ice" (also via SoundCloud)

a remix of "Frozen Moonlight" from Valkyrie (PC-98 game)

 

I'm a sucker for many PC-98 soundtracks with their octave-jumping FM basslines and warbling lead synths. This track has all of that, plus plenty of energy.

 

With this remix, I didn't want to significantly change the feel from the original track but instead expand on it with new variations on the melody and phrasing (and of course moving beyond the capabilities of the YM2608 sound chip).

 

instrumentation:

The overall sound is typical rock (drum, bass, lead and rhythm guitars), plus some organ and keys. But I also didn't hold back on some very "synthy" sounds for the keys, as is immediately clear with the arpeggio pattern in the intro.

 

structure:

• (in the source: there is a brief intro followed by a repeating loop, with the first loop at 1:09)
• I expanded the intro so that the instruments and overall intensity can build up incrementally
• at first I stick fairly close to the original
• at 1:45, I drop the lead guitar and go for an organ solo
• then at 2:52, I play around with the melody a bit more on lead guitar

Additional Source Info

Warning! Like many PC-98 games, "Valkyrie" has NSFW/adult content, so be warned before you go Googling this one on the family computer. I'll also include a lot more background info than I normally would so that you don't have to look through R-18 content if you don't want to.

 

title: "Valkyrie: The Power Beauties" (ヴァルキリー)

developer: ディスカバリー (Discovery)

published by: ディスカバリー (Discovery)

released: Feb 1995

composer: Hiroaki Sano (佐野 広明) (list of game credits on his personal site)

 

Valkyrie is a tournament fighting game for the PC-98 that would feel very familiar to anyone who has played Street Fighter 2. The gameplay is very similar, with a roster of 6 characters who duke it out 1-on-1 in best-of-3 matches, complete with special moves and all.

 

Compared to Street Fighter 2, the controls may feel somewhat clunky, but Valkyrie is still a quite competent fighting game for the home PC market at the time. What is a bit different here is that there are longer story sequences, which also include the playable characters in sexual situations (this is very much an adult game).

 

The game's story is about a tournament to determine who gets to be the queen of the magical world. The source track I remixed is the stage theme for 乃霧 (Nomu). As far as I can tell, she seems to be a hidden 7th playable character, and she is supposed to be the current reigning 'queen' in the game's story (hence the remix title).

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by prophetik music

[Liontamer]

Source tune is fuckin' sick, I love this kind of stuff; great tone, nice oomph to the percussive and bass elements.

With this arrangement, there's a softness to the instrumentation that's majorly holding this back. Texturally, this is much emptier than it should be once things kick in at :27; I'm sure the musician Js can better elaborate on it. The drums just have no oomph at all, the padding-style background flourishes first used around :45 are too quiet, and while there's several parts active, the track still sounds hollow throughout. The sequenced guitar is serviceable though exposed, but it had a strong tone and was an overall solid sound to it; ensuring the instrumentation around it adequately fills up the soundscape would help the sampled guitar not be as exposed.

When the organ takes over at 1:53, it almost sounds like the other instrumentation was globally reduced in volume. Maybe it's actually the guitar levels dropping after the change from the chorus back to the verse at 1:35; maybe my ears are playing tricks on me and it's just the bassline levels sounding more subdued, but something's going on there and the organ sounds way too loud and stapled on top of the other, much quieter instrumentation. It's less of an issue when the organ first appears at :45 though, but the organ does occupy a lot of the space at the expense of other instrumentation having the full impact.

It may seem like I'm shortchanging the substance of the arrangement itself; it's a strong concept that carries over the energy of the original while also comfortably integrating some original writing ideas and vamping to personalize the approach. My sole issue is a pretty significant one though, i.e. properly fleshing out the soundscape, which may also involve changing how various parts are mixed relative to one another. Happy to have another more knowledgeable (read: actually knowledgeable) judge expand upon that POV.

Keep at it, Chris; lots of promise here. Even if this isn't the track that would get you posted, you're well on your way with output like this.

NO (resubmit)

[MindWanderer]

"Soft" is the right word for how the drums feel, for sure.  They're quite quiet and it sounds like they're aggressively filtered in both directions.  The other instruments sound filtered as well, especially the rhythm guitar.  The organ is much louder than everything else, and it's an odd choice to accompany the rest of these instruments.

The arrangement is excellent, and the guitar sequencing is more than adequate; it's great.  But the soundscape needs to be a lot more robust.

I'll be adding my NO vote to Larry's, but I'll agree that more detailed feedback on how to make these instruments pop and not sound so muffled would be helpful to have before moving this into the Decisions queue.

NO (resubmit)

[prophetik music]

larry is right, that source is awesome. the fm bass is great. super punchy.

yeah, there's a lot of issues with mastering here - namely, it doesn't sound like anything's actually been individually EQ'd, and there's no unified room verb / verb send so everything sounds like it's in different soundscapes. since it's being asked for, i'll go through part by part with suggestions about how to flesh it out.

for the drums, there's a few things that are concerning. the snare has a lot of head attack and body in the sub-1k range. note that it sounds pitched unlike other similar styles where most of the snare sound is static higher in the freq range. scoop most of that head hit out and get a snappier, crisper sound. that'll take up less of the spectrum and require less overall volume to be heard. the kick is pretty much just sub frequencies and no beater, which is fine since it's still quite clear and the bass isn't sitting down there to interfere with it. the hats are pretty loud compared to everything else in the kit and have a lot of initial impact and not much sizzle - boosting their highs a bit and trimming back the initial strike will make them feel louder even if they're not since they'll be in an unused band. i like overall what the drums are playing, too - most of the volume issues are other instruments.

the bass has essentially no low end and little attack tone. adding some notched treble to it will help with the finger attack it's got, and not scooping out the sub frequencies entirely will help give it more presence. the writing is great and it just needs a boost.

for the rhythm guitar, it needs to be doubled and panned to expand it. this also sounds like it's been mid-boosted. this song sounds ripe for an 80s-style mid scoop job on the rhythm guitar - try putting a smile on the EQ and seeing if that gives some more body to the sound.

there's a lot of synths and organ going on in different places, and overall i like the additions. you do use some pads in areas to help fill it in, but the leads are so loud over everything else (1:48ish is just egregiously loud) that all you can hear is the lead instrument and the hats. bringing everything down a bit and then using proper multiband compression will help a lot with balancing the tone out. that will also help it feel louder.

the arrangement is great. i like the solos, i like the active bass, i like the drum work. it just sounds quiet and small right now. some mastering love (admittedly this is the hard part!) will help out a ton.

 

 

NO