Emunator Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 (edited) Hello, I'd like to submit my remix to you! Here's the info required from the form. Thank you for considering it! Contact Information Xandomize Alexander Evans No website, just a soundcloud - www.soundcloud.com/xandomize 38065 Submission Information Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium The End of the Chillennium The End of the Millennium PSIV is already on the site! OST is on the site as well. I knew I wanted to make a drastic change to this song, as it's a fast-paced, super in-your-face rock song on the OST. I began working towards a synthwave feel but ended up at a slow-tempo industrial-ish electronica as I honed in on final instruments and atmospheric feel. The OST has a simple A and B part, so I added a bluesy synth solo over the last A part, and worked in some chord changes that gives it a little depth before it explodes into the last chorus, followed by a quick key change before ending on a hard, 4 on the floor beat. Edited July 25, 2022 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 Intro fade-in was interesting. Opening synths are generic, and the beat added in at :34 lacked power, but we'll see where this goes. By 1:00, the intro dragged, so I'm glad it went to the melody at 1:07. Super flat synth for the lead, with sustains that lacked punch. I liked the doubling of the chorus with the chip sound. Nice little Mega Man X blast SFX at 2:15 going into the next iteration of the melody, but when that sound effect dissipated, the soundscape sounded so barren, with almost 0 contrast from the first version; same thing happens again at 3:23. Where's the meat? The arrangement concept is solid, but more needs to be done to develop and vary the instrumentation; right now it's very repetitive and lacking in dynamics from section to section. If you can make your leads not sound so stilted and vary up the instrumentation/textures from verse to verse and chorus to chorus, this would be in great shape. Good foundation here, Alexander, but it's - whether unintentional or not - skimping on the detail work needed to make a fully realized concept. You definitely have the potential to get something approved here, so I hope you're willing to revisit this one and/or submit more material in the future. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 You're doing a lot of things right with this remix. Opening pluck arp and bass arp work well together to grab the listener's attention, and the crackly effects are ok for a bit of atmosphere. Opening the filter up on the bass arp is also a nice touch to vary the sound. I also really enjoyed the solo at 3:23. Some nice detail in the pitchbends and 2-note chords that worked well with the bass at 3:46. 2 major areas you could improve are the lead synths and the percussion. The lead synth sounds so thin that it gets buried behind that bass for the most part. It's only when they get doubled up in the B section and parts of the solo that the leads start to have the body and presence needed. I mean, they're called leads for a reason - make them stand out! There's a decent attempt at making the lead sound more interesting by varying the panning, however when you move the lead around the stereo space so much, it can be distracting to the listener. I think if you make the leads bolder, you can back off the panning changes and instead use tools like ping-pong delay to fill out the stereo space whilst keeping the listener focused on the melody, not where it's coming from. Percussion-wise, the main offender here is the snare. Similar to the lead, it's far too thin and doesn't pack anywhere near enough punch in the mids to drive the beat. I can hear you're using 2 separate samples at different points, alternating between them for a spell in the first verse, so you already have that good habit, which is great! Did you try layering different samples on top of each other already? If your snare is missing some punch in the mids, just find a sample with some weight to it and layer it up with your existing one. See how they sound together. Don't forget you can tune the samples as well, which is always worth experimenting with whether you're layering them or not. The hi-hat patterns are good, and I like the effort you've made with the fills and fast repetition that almost sounds like a glitch effect. Again the samples are pretty weak, and I'm sure you could find something with a little more presence and clarity in the highs. It could just be a mixing issue though, as they're pretty quiet as a whole. The arrangement is straightforward, which is fine, although due to the fairly vanilla sound design, it did start feeling repetitive by the end. I'd definitely love to hear this one come back again with a revamped and upgraded sound design. Slightly louder mastering overall would be appreciated as well - it's a bit on the quiet side as-is. That said, it's a very cool interpretation of the source that deserves a little more time to do itself justice. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 I'm not going to come down quite as hard on this as my colleagues. I love the sound design. I didn't have any trouble picking out the lead, though I agree it could be a bit punchier. Percussion wasn't great, but I felt like it was servicable for the genre (though barely). But I do feel like this is not enough ideas spread over too much time. The 1:07 intro more than wears out its welcome. Then 1:07-2:15 is nearly duplicated by 2:15-3:23. There's a solo after that, but it uses the same tones as the main verse from before and nearly identical percussion. It's also far, far too quiet. I had to jack up my volume to about 95% to hear it clearly. You have over 7dB of headroom on this, and there's just no excuse for that. I'd love to hear an improved version of this, as I did really like the sound of it, for the most part. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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