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*NO* Kenshi "When the Phoenix Doesn't Revive"


Emunator
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  • Kenshi
  • When The Phoenix Doesn't Revive
  • Fertile
  • PC, Kole Hicks
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ZP8_aAdNI
  • Hey! I'm back. It's my first submission made in Renoise Tracker. Took me a while to figure out how to retain my style/sound, because it's been so closely tied to schism tracker's technological limitations. I think I've found a sweet spot this time. Love the game, love the soundtrack, love the song. What can I say, it's an underrated, (and somewhat buggy ?) masterpiece. cheers!

(Source starts at 12:27)

 

Edited by prophetik music
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  • Liontamer changed the title to 2022/02/03 - Kenshi "When the Phoenix Doesn't Revive"
  • 1 month later...

Hm... the first minute or so is really similar to the original, just with extra synth-bongos and a saw replacing the guitar.  Then another loop with some more layered drums and pads.  Then some subtractive breakdowns, and finally a climax with everything thrown together.  Considering the changes to genre, instrumentation, and energy, the whole package comes across as strangely conservative.  I think this is mostly because the melodic structure is essentially unchanged, even though the treatment of it is.

This is mastered far too quietly.  There's plenty of headroom and no compression.  The soundscape is also a little mushy, with lots of layers in the lows but a dropoff in frequencies above 400 Hz.  In the mids to highs there's just the lead and a bit of the bongos and cymbals.

The cut-off ending isn't doing this any favors.

Other than it being too quiet (a fairly simple fix), I don't think there's any single thing that sinks this, but as a package it's underwhelming.  A richer soundscape and a more transformative interpretation would do this a world of good.  It's a cool and obscure source, though, so I do hope to see this remix evolved a bit more.

NO (resubmit)

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  • MindWanderer changed the title to 2022/02/03 - (1N) Kenshi "When the Phoenix Doesn't Revive"
  • 2 months later...

the opening features a lot of subtle synths and a really great adaptation to the vibe from the original. the style adaptation is really great. the lead saw that's imitating the guitar, however, despite a bunch of detail put into the attach, glide, and release, just sounds 10x too loud and really doesn't fit what's going on behind it. all of the backgrounds are more interesting unfortunately.

it picks up a lot from a dynamics perspective at about 1:07, and this sounds great. the saw lead clearly was volumized for this section and left alone too much in the opening. there's a break for about 30s that is similar but not the same as the opening, and then we get a more intense section driven by bass and drums. the saw is back from a melodic standpoint, but the piece lacks some sense of verve through this section until maybe 2:50. there's enough ancillary countermelodic content there to finally really flesh it out enough to feel full. there's an outro that's essentially the beginning, and then it ends.

i agree with MW in that it feels less than the sum of its parts. there's some neat ideas in the opening that are rehashed twice more in similar fashions, the lead saw is just too aggressive and in the fore for the opening, and it doesn't feel like it progresses despite moving through some pretty different adaptations of the melody. i think more attention to the soundscape after the opening section and subsequent work on mastering would help a ton.

 

 

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  • prophetik music changed the title to 2022/02/03 - (2N) Kenshi "When the Phoenix Doesn't Revive"
  • 4 weeks later...

Hey, what a cool source tune. Love the direction you've chosen to go with this.

Some cool sound design and a nice vibe is laid out in the intro, and the lead synth sounds decent, albeit too high in the mix. It could do with fattening up a bit when it's standing on its own. Might just be a case of turning the volume down, though. Things get a little muddy at 1:09 with the half-tempo section. Funnily enough, the lead is fattened up at 1:22! I like that detail, it works in this chorus section. The percussion is difficult to pick out during these busy sections though, and could definitely be mixed a lot better. Choosing some less 'hissy' samples might be a better choice as well, particularly as the piece progresses.

There's a breakdown, a buildup and then a final chorus. There are lots of things fighting for space, particularly the arpeggios, and by 2:42 the character of a lot of the sounds (saws, white noise) blend together to give it a mushy texture, with only the lead really cutting through to carry it. The quiet mastering is also very noticeable during the build and final chorus, where if I turn my volume up to match my usual playing volume, the muddiness becomes obvious.

After the climax, we go back to the beginning, and then the track ends. Not a huge fan of that arrangement decision, but I could forgive it if the mixing were up to par. As it is, there's too much detail lost, and the muddiness is hurting your master by not allowing you to crank up the volume to the level it should be. Clean this mix up, and it'll be a pass from me.

NO (resubmit)

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  • DarkSim changed the title to 2022/02/03 - (3N) Kenshi "When the Phoenix Doesn't Revive"
  • prophetik music changed the title to *NO* Kenshi "When the Phoenix Doesn't Revive"
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