Emunator Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 (edited) Hello, OCR! It's been a while hasn't it? I really missed typing out these emails. They used to be a highlight after a long remixing process! Details: Your ReMixer name: Digital Element a.k.a. DigiE or Symphonic Storms. Your real names: Maurice Willems & Sanjay Sampatsing. Your email address: Your User ID: 2761 Additional details: Name of game(s) arranged: Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP) (Main remix) Final Fantasy VII (PS1) Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) Name of individual song(s) arranged Dissidia Final Fantasy: Preparation for Battle (Also: Heroes theme in 012: Duodecim, Massive Explosion in Dissidia Arcade/NT) -- (PSP Original) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeyGSGqowgs (Modern variant, from Opera Omnia, arrangement has elements of this version) Final Fantasy XIII: Fabula Nova Crystallis -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boKoz1Nm_RY Final Fantasy VII: Fighting -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY1Vetd7OCs Final Fantasy: Prelude -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX9AroX7x1o Final Fantasy VII: J-E-N-O-V-A -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6GrZYE2il0 Final Fantasy XIII: Blinded by Light -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfu0XBf8kmk (Note: melody used is from 0:58) Additional song timetable: 0:00 - Dissidia Heroes Theme 0:28 - FF13 Fabula Nova Crystallis 0:51 - Dissidia Heroes Theme 1:35 - FF7 Battle Theme 2:08 - Dissidia Heroes Theme 2:31 - FF7 Prelude 2:55 - FF7 JENOVA 3:56 - FF13 Blinded by Light / Prelude 4:18 - Dissidia Heroes Theme . Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc. We've missed making music together these past years. After we agreed to meet up and sit down what happened was roughly 18 hours of nonstop composing. There was laughter, there were cries, there wasn't a lot of sleep--- but now there's a lot of pride here. Our love for Final Fantasy made it easy to choose this source and better yet: Dissidia has always been a celebration of the franchise and it was a perfect excuse to add some flourishes, nods and fistbumps from other amazing tracks in the series. There was a lot to choose from but these few fit the most in the style(s) we were creating this track. Plus... we heard you were looking for more PSP remixes Enjoy the song, guys and girls! Remix Name: Reditus Solis. With kind regards, Symphonic Storms Edited June 23, 2022 by prophetik music Dead YT link to main source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 There's some really clever arrangement. Absolutely nails the '80's synth aesthetic. However, it nails that aesthetic maybe a bit too much. The sound is very reminiscent of what you'd get from audio cassettes: not a lot of presence in the highs and highly saturated throughout. It's very believable if you were selling this as a rip from an old tape deck, but the sound quality isn't where we expect it in this decade. Even beyond that issue, there's a general lack of clarity. It's muddy enough that it took me multiple listens to even notice all the parts. The growling bass that starts at 3:22, in particular, drowns out everything else except the kick. Leads in general are too quiet. Arrangement-wise, this is a lot of fun, but it's also really disjointed. The first minute and a half is really well done, interleaving the multiple sources into a cohesive whole. However, the transition to Those Who Fight is abrupt, and so are most of the transitions thereafter. There's the one callback to the first section, and 3:22-4:18 is a pretty good blend, but otherwise it's pretty much a straight medley. We frown on those; medleys have to have a cohesive structure to tie the whole thing together, and this sounds like at least 3 different arrangements stapled together. Also, personal note: if I ever hear another Final Fantasy remix that ends with "Fanfare," it will be too soon. Not a dealbreaker, but the days when that was a fun and original ending are long past. I don't mean to sound too harsh here, because I really did love the creative work that went into this. It just needs cleaner production and to be wrapped up into a more coherent overall package. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 Whoa, I love me some synthwave, although hang on, there's piano and acoustic guitar? And wubwubwub bass? Very interesting progression going on here that certainly doesn't dwell on anything for too long. You've clearly got some great sound design, but the glaring issue is the muddiness in the mastering, and the whole balance feels completely skewed towards the low-end. Fellas, what happened?! I chucked it into Live, and in 10 seconds the balance sounded way better with this kind of EQ on it. The bassier section from 3 minutes onward needed even more rebalancing (less low, more high), but it was a quick and dirty fix on the master channel. There's a little bump in the mids for clarity of the leads, but this mixing should be done at the channel level, not the master. There are a bunch of layers in the low-mids like the strings and the choir that are almost completely lost. The dubstep-style bass after 3 minutes sounds great, but don't sacrifice the rest of the instrumentation for it - or drop some out to let the bass shine. As for the arrangement, I wasn't too bothered about the "medleyitis" that was creeping in after the 2:31 mark (thanks for timestamping the sources as well, it's a huge help!), although I did feel that perhaps there were 1 too many sources in there. The main Dissidia Heroes theme works so well as a synthwave jam that some sections, particularly 2:31-2:52, felt a little shoe-horned in. I'd definitely have removed the descending arp at 3:22-3:33 as well. Let that bass have its moment! On the whole though, I really dig this track. It's a cool blend of electronic genres with a solid theme that just about anchors the arrangement. The main issue for me is the clarity of parts in the low-mid and mid frequency ranges, and the overall mastering balance that needs a boost to the highs and a cut to the lows. I'd love to hear this one back after another production pass. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted June 23, 2022 Share Posted June 23, 2022 yeah, the initial presentation doesn't sound good. it's a great idea and fun to listen to, but in terms of sound quality it's really blah with no highs and way too much low mids. this needs some mega mastering love, it's so dull. inspired choice to include fabula nova christallis - i didn't even catch the transition the first time, what a great choice there. and going right back to dissidia was great too. i thought the transition to the FF7 battle theme was pretty abrupt since the instrumentation changed so much, but using it to build back to dissidia again was again a great choice. the prelude admittedly made me laugh a bit since it's such an iconic theme to use as a transition, but using a very major-oriented theme to transition to JENOVA of all things was surprising. i love the nasty bass through here, and just really wish the mastering was better for this section specifically. and again, the transition to FF13 was perfectly dovetailed, almost didn't catch it at first. to be honest, the arrangement idea here is just great throughout. there's some rough spots, but you took a bucket of tunes and made them work seamlessly outside of a few spots which are more personal preference against it than anything. if you can get this mastering dressed up so it doesn't sound so blah, this will be a real highlight. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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