Chimpazilla Posted May 22, 2022 Share Posted May 22, 2022 (edited) Hello OCR! It's been a few months ,and so it is time for another submission! ReMix: Source tune: Golden Sun - "Desert Heat" Your ReMixer name: TSori Your real name: Logan Thomas Your email address: Your website: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=trumpetsori Your userid: 2960 Credits: Arrangement, Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Mixing: TSori Synthesizers and electronic percussion: Psycosulu Bongos, Djembe, Rainstick: Sean R. Hanson Violin, Double Bass: Rodok Cello: Chromatic Apparatus Oud: Giorgos Panagiotou Chromatic Apparatus, Sean Hanson, Psycosulu, and I have artist profiles. Here is everyone else's info. ReMixer name: Rodok Your real name: . William Email: Website: https://soundcloud.com/user-900311767 userid: https://ocremix.org/community/profile/32400-rodok/ ReMixer name: Giorgos Panagiotou Your real name: Giorgos Panagiotou. Email: giorgospan87@hotmail.com Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/attackofchrist userid: N/A Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged : Golden Sun/ Golden Sun: The Lost Age Name of arrangement: "Circles in the Sand" Name of individual song(s) arranged : "Desert Heat" Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site): see above Source Breakdown: Remix (Source) 0:00-0:15 (original) 0:15-0:25(0:00-0:04) - just the last bar or so 0:25-0:38 (original) 0:38-1:24(0:00-0:25) 1:24-1:41(original) 1:41-2:20 (0.22-0:38) - much slower than source 2:20-2:28(0:39-0:45) - very simplified from source 2:28-2:44(0:59-1:12) 2:44-3:05 (0:46-0:58) - simplified from source 3:05 -3:26(original) 3:26-End (0:0-0:25) Source: 195s : 75% Original : 66s - 25% Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.: One might expect me to be sick of Golden Sun by now......but no. Coaltergeist reached out to me and asked if I wouldn't mind joining a small Golden Sun 20th Anniversary project. What better opportunity to revisit the OST and ReMix one of the tracks we never got around to for A World Reignited? "Desert Heat" was at the top of my wish list during that album, but it never got claimed, and I didn't end up having enough time to take a shot at it myself. After a friend showed me Parov Stellar's "Lonely Trumpet". I decided I could try to take a similar approach with this track, but really play up the middle eastern elements of the source (do you have any idea how hard it is to find an oudist?). I envisioned the track as a trek through a landscape that was beautiful, mysterious, and threatening all at the same time. I spent a lot of time playing with the balance between the acoustic and electronic elements of the arrangement, and I tried to work in some ideas that would evoke images of wind, thunder, hot days, cold nights, etc. Oh, and because Chromatic Apparatus told me trills are criminally underused in VGM, I made sure to throw in a few. of those too This turned out to be a pretty labor intensive ReMix for me in terms of scale, production, and recruiting (Seriously, do you know how hard it is to find an oudist?) . Speaking of recruiting, let's take some time to talk about the real stars of the ReMix, the performers! I've lost track of how many collabs Chromatic Apparatus and I have done together now. Even if it's neither of our arrangements we seem to find ourselves on the same tracks frequently..Mostly because he is everywhere. Seriously though, he consistently delivers superb recordings in times that would make anyone's head spin. Rodok was a surprise discovery of this project. I found him on the OCR forums as I was searching for violinists and he turned out to be a great musician to work with! Not only did he do a really nice job performing violin but he jumped in on double bass and nailed that too. Hopefully we will be seeing a lot more of him on future projects! Sean R. Hanson has done a lot of music over in the PIxel Mixers community that I really enjoyed.. Also,....he had the ability to record rainstick. He's a fantastic musician and when it comes to aux percussion what more could you want? Psycosulu and I had been talking about doing a collab for months...but as he's an electronic music kind of guy and I play trumpet, we weren't really sure how that was going to work. I don't have the first clue how to do electronic music, so his participation was truly invaluable. He did a great job helping me figure out what kind of sound I was after and then took it to its full potential. Last, but certainly not least, Girogos Panagiotou. Have I mentioned how hard it is to find an oudist yet? The instrument was always going to be the linchpin of this ReMix. It's the quintessential middle eastern sound, and I desperately wanted a live performance that would feel more organic than a VST. After prowling the VGM community for quite some time, I stumbled across Giorgos' youtube channel and his cover of Gerudo Valley (which is fantastic despite the tragedy of not being titled GerOUDo valley). It took a while to get in touch with him, but once I did, he was really interested in helping out. The end result was exactly what I hoped for, and I think it really makes the ReMix. A huge thank you to all of the collaborators above! Without them, this would just be amediocre midi with some trumpet sprinkled on top. The title "Circles in the Sand" refers to the circles of stones that mark oases in the Llamakan desert, the whirlwinds of the Sulhulla Desert, and the general idea of wandering lost. Enjoy! -TSori Edited June 23, 2022 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 And here I was expecting Belinda Carlisle. Very nice, atmospheric intro. Love the natural sounds of the cello, trumpet and especially that oud! The synth bass was a surprise addition, and the synth percussion certainly raised my eyebrows. There's some lovely interplay between the trumpet and oud round the 1:00-1:20 mark, and then the violin is introduced as well - another fine piece to the ensemble. By this point the percussion is beginning to feel too static, and thankfully there's a break at 2:01. During the break, the cello and violin do a great job of 'bookending' the frequency spectrum for the trumpet to sit in the middle, doing some great soloing. Moving back to the simplified source melody (thanks for the source breakdown!) at 2:46, the synth percussion comes back in, and I'm sorry to say, really kills the mood. I find myself asking why you'd need the synth elements at all - you've got such a cool sound that's established in the intro, and all the natural parts can fill out the soundscape. Not only that, but there is absolutely no variation in that kick-kick-kick-snare pattern for 3 minutes of the entire 4:21 track length. The only variation is the occasional appearance of a very-much-lost-in-the-desert 808 clap! Worst of all, the groove is so straight and metronomic that it kills all the natural flair of the live performances. The droning sidechained synth pad in the background just adds to the soporific effect of the backing. I will say that I do like the synth bass - it's a cool sound that doesn't feel out of place with the other instruments. That said, there's a definite dodgy note at 1:38, which sounds worst on the bass because it's meant to be anchoring the track. You can get away with some funky scales, especially in this style of music, when playing the melody. Not on the bassline though - you want that to be solid. As the track comes to a close, I find myself being slowly anaesthetised by that backing, and there doesn't seem to be a clue that the track is ending. No intensity increase, or decrease - it just stops. Some more focus on arrangement would be worth implementing to the track as a whole, though I appreciate that would be difficult with so many collaborators. Overall it's a difficult one to call because I think there are some amazing performances, and a lot of creativity and effort has clearly gone into this to bring it all together. Unfortunately, it may be a case of 'too many cooks spoil the broth', and the percussion in particular needs a complete overhaul to do justice to the other performances. If you're dead set on having synth percussion and other elements, then take a leaf out of zircon's book and check out The Koto Chill from The World Circuit album, or one of my favourite ethnic-plus-beats bands the Afro-Celt Sound System. Vary the percussion so that it enhances the other elements, not puts them to sleep. I hope you can rework this one and give it some more direction, in addition to the improvements needed to the backing. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 I'd like to take a step back and look at what the artist is trying to accomplish here. He mentioned being inspired by The Lonely Trumpet by Parov Stelar, which was certainly not a connection I would have made even if I'd been familiar with it! But listening to that, I can hear the connections: it's held together by a very simple repetitive synth beat which differs only by being present or not present. It does play with energy levels despite that, and the arrangement itself is quite different, but I recognize the intent. I do think that Trumpet works better than this because its boomy kick and sharp clap fill out the space better; in particular, this remix has nothing in the highs except the violin, with not even the hats having that necessary sizzle to fill out the soundscape. The good news is that the performances are top-notch, and I think the arrangement as a whole works. I think this can be improved without changing either of those things. Go back to Trumpet and listen to what Stelar does to keep things interesting and fill up the space. Play around with the percussion and make sure you're letting some highs get through. You can also use arps, swells, sweeps, and drops to add depth and texture and retain engagement. I definitely want to see this back again, so please do your artists' work justice! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted June 23, 2022 Share Posted June 23, 2022 what an interesting concept. this kind of low-electronica vibe, centered around some fun live performances, is not at all what i'd have expected. first up, the good: the live stuff is all really neat. i especially liked the ancillary percussion when it was present, and hearing a live oud for this was such a fun and different thing. there's some real variety in what's being played, and some cool concepts from an arrangement perspective being delivered. the bad? i'm guessing the drum machine and pad are intended to drive a low-key intense heat under the live noodling, and instead it just sounds like you accidentally left the click track in. i don't get any verve from those parts at all. the overall lack of dynamic contrast or drive or resolution really kills this about halfway through. also, honestly, i don't understand having these creative different live performances and then layering a simplistic drum pattern under it - make that creative and different too! give it some life. right now it sounds super blah as a result. i love the ideas here, but it really doesn't feel like it goes anywhere for four minutes. some more intentionality especially on the backing parts will make a huge difference. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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