Emunator Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 (edited) Kabukibear Justin Lincoln https://bit.ly/Kabukibear 32289 Final Fantasy XI: Rise of the Zilart While Kazham Sleeps Kazham Naoshi Mizuta https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgSmPSGQh88 Kind of a spiritual follow up to While San d'Oria sleeps, it's meant to have a dreamy hypnotic groove. Edited January 15, 2023 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted December 30, 2022 Share Posted December 30, 2022 Very cool approach here, stripping everything back and going for a solo acoustic guitar arrangement. The idea in principle is superb, and I think you can pull it off, but as it stands it's far too repetitive. By repetitive, I mean repetitive. There are nested repeats in here as well. The first 13 seconds are immediately repeated to 0:26, and then 0:13-0:43 is repeated from 0:52-1:22. On top of that, the whole section from 0:00-2:13 is repeated from 2:13-4:26. Less dreamy and hypnotic, more soporific. It gets worse as well, with the sample articulation and the percussive hit on the guitar not changing at all throughout the piece. If you can at all attempt to play this on a real guitar, I suggest you do so. Even if you have to record it piece by piece, it'll be worth it. At the very least, try tapping along a beat with your hand on a guitar and recording that, just so the hits aren't the same sound each time. The way it's mixed makes the guitar sound quite dull as well, lacking in higher frequencies and brightness. Maybe it's just the lack of considerable melodic content though - when the melodies are alluded to on the higher strings, it sounds very nice. Ignoring the repetition issue, the arrangement is fairly static as well, with just a few chord movements and a small amount of melody. Listening to the source, it sounds like there's a lot more to work with, so you should be able to work in some more points of interest to the arrangement. I'd very much like to hear this one again, as I think the idea is inspired, but there's still plenty to do before it gets to the front page. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Oh, my, yes. I'm afraid I lost interest in this after a minute, and by the 2-minute mark I was double-checking to see how much longer this was going to go on. There's a lot more material to work with here, so mix things up and branch out a little. Great fundamental idea, just needs to be fleshed out more, especially for something as long as 4:30. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Hmmm... 2 NOs on a Kabukibear piece has definitely got my curiosity piqued. It's an acoustic guitar-based source; could it play it too conservatively or not fully fleshed out??? Let's see! Opens up sounding like a laid-back Western vibe, complete with body hits for percussion; I'm liking the vibe, for sure. Rhythmically, I appreciated this different presentation of the source. By about 1:00, the looped beats were droning on and didn't sound varied at all, so consider recording other hits to not end up with a loop that undermines the realism of the quasi-live performance. Cut-and-paste going on around 2:10 when the opening repeated. Dynamically, it's flat; structurally, it's repetitive. Surprising as it is to say, once you've gotten to about :51, you've essentially heard the entire dynamic range of the piece. There's too much that's looped throughout; sequencing/recording additional takes would allow for chorusing or stereo tricks, or even just provide more intrisically different performance dynamics. Unfortunate as it is to say, as I'm a sincere fan of your work, the others are right that this coasts for too long and isn't fully developed. You're leaning on too much cut-and-paste in a way that takes the listener out of believing this could be an organic performance. As in-game music, this totally works; if I heard this on a PS2, I wouldn't bat an eye. Intended as a standalone arrangement, however, the length isn't justified without more compositional & performance dynamics. If you're willing to revisit this, Justin, you definitely are capable of creating a rendition with different articulations that doesn't play the exact same way each and every time, and -- even within a narrower dynamic range like this one -- present more varied writing and textures that still carry this same energy level. Could be a fun challenge! It's really nice to see your name in the inbox again; I look forward to your future submissions, as always, and remain a fan! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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