Emunator Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 ReMixer name: Neon X EMail: Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV8NwzoUa9I9HD1YXRIXp3g UserID: 37046 Name of game: Castlevania Name of arrangement: Dracula's Tears Name of song: Bloody Tears Original composer: Kenichi Matsubara Link to original song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjazC45Qkww For clarification: Name of remix: Dracula's Tears Name of original song: Bloody Tears Background story: Before I started producing this I read about Dracula and wanted to base the atmosphere and content of this song on that. I know Bloody Tears often refers to totally different scenarios in the games but... Well, this is my way right now. I pictured his castle, intimidating and terrifying, I can't imagine the feeling if I should stand outside its gates. I also pictured how lonely Dracula must be, and that he for almost an eternity has been a resident of that vast castle. Dracula himself says a lot about love and life of men in books and movies, how he envies the simple life of mankind and the short lifespan (Dracula has kind of eternal life) while he struggles against time and, most of all, against his own sanity. I sampled a sound (at 2:01) of night crickets, humming monks and finally a church bell sequentially to create a feeling of nightly calm, spirituality and Dracula's nocturnal life which I think plays a part in his nature connected to his sanity. The arrangement of this song has ups and downs, just like the sanity I picture within Dracula. It has hope and despair - what if Dracula just tries to live among us, with us and create a "normal" life, seek love and dedicate himself to whomever he loves. Oh, but he can't, the eternal life that he has been given just doesn't fit among us. And his knowledge of the past comes with deep prejudices and certain ways of how one should treat and behave. Can he adapt to the present? It has anxiety and harmony - who can he love? Will he be forced to curse his loved ones with eternal life to commit to love and dedication? What if his life is a gift just as it is? The extraordinary abilities, eternal life and knowledge absorbed from ages ago until today. They are with no doubt useful. Can he make himself available to mankind without consequences or misuse? It has denial and acceptance - Dracula always had two choices, he could shield himself off from the rest of the world, or he could accept who he is, and fight for himself to be a part of the world of mankind. But will mankind ever accept such a terrifying creature, so dangerous, but yet so polite and mature. His purpose and actions must be very clarified and transparent, but can he be trusted despite that? To get more serious on top of that: Dracula wants a Halloween party - every year, which my straight 4/4 beats in this song represents. The end of the song which is in half tempo represents how Dracula, despite all invitations sent, ends up dancing by himself in laser beams, smoke and lit up candelabras, high on drugs and wine, just floating through time within the walls of his castle in large halls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 I'm not sure if any of that narrative was communicated by this retro, almost synthwave remix, but it stands alone just fine, for the most part. There's some solid sound design, even though the leads are fairly vanilla. There are decent amounts of creativity thrown in despite being driven mostly by the source material. I'm not sold on the glitching that starts at 1:33; there's so little of it that it comes across as an artifact and not intentional. And boo fadeout endings. There's also a synth that starts at 1:03 with a very long tail. At first I thought it was conflicting with itself, but then I noticed that there was a quiet pad that had been playing almost the whole time, which I didn't notice, but has a very simlar timbre, and that's what's causing the conflict. It's more prominent when it returns at 2:35, because the pad is louder. None of that is deal-breaking, though. Overall this is a perfectly serviceable arrangement; nothing revolutionary but a fun listen. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted June 12, 2022 Share Posted June 12, 2022 My still-very-relevant workshop feedback: Quote I love it how you've also got this idea in your head for how the emotion of the song should feel when writing it - I think it's important to bear in mind such things when composing, as it can subconsciously translate into the music and make an impact on the listener. Onto the specifics: Once again I love the lead choice here - which synth are you using? It sounds great, and the harmonies work beautifully in the chorus sections. The source works really well in a synthwave style, and although you say you've chosen a straight 4/4 beat, you've kept it interesting for the whole chorus section from 0:48-1:02. The offbeat snares add urgency to the chorus, and that makes the smooth transition to the 4/4 beat in the verse all the sweeter. You've mixed up the choruses too, adding the lead harmony line for the second one to keep it fresh, and added some stronger glitch effects. I gotta admit the glitching did seem a little harsh in that second chorus - Around 1:34-1:35 it sounds a little too choppy for my personal taste. If I was being extra critical here I'd say you could clean that part up a bit by adding some smoothing to the stutter, or bouncing the audio off to a track and playing with the volume manually. Moving on, the half-tempo part is super chill, and you're doing all the right things with the glitter and effects (love that synth at 2:22!). Then the solo kicks in and just caps off the track beautifully. I like how you decide to keep the mellow half-time beat for the rest of the song, too - a stylistic choice fitting the vision in your writeup. Overall, I think this track is fantastic. It's got everything I would hope for from a video game remix. It pays homage to the source, yet has enough of your own style in it to give it a fresh new quality. I don't know how long it took you to produce (you do seem to be cranking out the releases quite quickly!), but I think there is room to improve the production if you were willing to dive back into this project. As it is, you'd probably have a good chance at getting it posted on OCReMix, however as it takes a long time for the judging process, I'd say it would be well worth putting a bit more polish on it before submitting. Looking forward to hearing more from you, and if you want any more specific feedback on this track, gimme a shout! No shout was given, so my criticism still stands. That glitching is pretty nasty, and a bump in an otherwise smooth ride. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 15, 2022 Share Posted July 15, 2022 big synthy intro, and the first presentation of the drums and melodic content has a great vibe. the leads are a bit boring tone-wise, but are effectively used. the bass here is great, driving it forward, and the snare helps with that too. if anything this feels pretty frenetic for the way it sounds immediately after 1:03. i'd like the glitching better if it was specifically applied to instruments instead of the main. i agree it's a speed bump. the half-time section at 2:05 is fun. i like the envelope play that's going on in that synth right after, and there's a bunch of on-point long-attack synths that add the glam to the sound that's just perfect. fadeout is kinda blah and probably should be cut after about 3:16. this is definitely above the bar, nitpicks aside. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Cool, groovy synthwave track here, that's got me tapping my feet and chair dancing. The glitching is in fact a speed bump instead of a driving factor, it comes off as sounding like a rendering error rather than a cool effect, but luckily the glitches are brief. Fadeout ending, I agree "boo to fadeouts" and in this case it seems that at 2:35 the ideas ran dry and you just let the backing track roll until the fadeout. Another complaint is that I wish the lead timbre would change to something more unique for a section or two; the leads used here are rather vanilla and sound basically the same throughout the mix. Otherwise, track is groovus maximus. I love the speed changeups, good sidechaining, serviceable mixing (I'd prefer just a touch more lows but what's here works). I love the Dracula laughing sfx. Overall, I'm a little more borderline than the other Js, but to quote Liontamer, "on the seesaw of what works vs. what doesn't, more of it works than doesn't." (Ok so that was more of a paraphrase than direct quote!) It's an enjoyable listen. YES (semi-borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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