Chimpazilla Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 Your ReMixer name: Pixel Pirates Your real name: Tobaunta Torkelsson & Fredrik Vinterstjärna Your email address: Your website: pixelpirates.nu Your userid: 37469 Name of game(s) arranged: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Name of arrangement: Pixels Pirate Valley Name of individual song(s) arranged: Gerudo Valley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted December 29, 2022 Share Posted December 29, 2022 Gerudo Valley. A classic. Sounds like you've gone for a breakbeat-ish twist on your Eurodance style. We start out with a couple of runs through of the chord progression with some plucked synths and sub-bass, with a synth flute starting the melody off, before the signature supersaw comes in with the beat. The same supersaw runs through almost the whole melody, before the flute takes over, then hands it back for the final few bars. So far, not a lot of arrangement. The drum pattern also hasn't changed since it was introduced. Second time round, there's some subtractive arrangement in the melody, again with the supersaw as lead, before we get some proper original stuff at 2:15-2:30. After that, there's a new flute sound that has slightly longer attack so it sounds behind the beat, before a really lazy fadeout. Aside from some riffing on the main melody, there wasn't much original material in the 3 minutes' running time. The drum pattern didn't change from the moment it was introduced, and although it's punchy and a nice change of pace from 4-on-the-floor, it needs more variation to keep it interesting. There's also not enough lead variation, with just the saw and flutes. No exploration of different chord sequences, or a break section. Finally, the ending just sounds like you got bored of this one, as the instruments just sort of stop before they even fade out. I guess the positives are that it's a punchy beat, a great source tune, and what little original material there was, I did enjoy. If you revisit this one, try and get to the original stuff earlier and keep switching things up to maintain the listener's interest. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 I have almost the opposite reaction. I love the little riffs that subvert the source material, and really enjoyed the arrangement, for the most part. It is out of ideas at 2:29, for sure — back to the unmodified source material and then the lazy fade out. Changes in lead would be welcome, but there was generally enough to hold my interest. The big exception is the percussion, which runs out of ideas about two seconds in. Virtually no changes except for about 15 seconds that drop the hat (and are otherwise unchanged). Of greater importance is the production. This has the same issue as the last several Pixel Pirates tracks I've evaluated. It has the same mushy, narrow soundscape, with overlapping frequencies and a lot of white noise, especially a pad with way too much reverb. There's a lot of work to be done here to make each instrument crisp and audible, and the soundscape full. Also, the beginning of the track pops in mid-note for me. Rendering error maybe? But it needs a bit more breathing room to avoid that glitchy sound. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 Hmm, the instrumentation definitely sounds lower quality to start for this intro, I think because of the faux electric guitar synth coupled with the keyboard-esque (?) countermelody sounding rigid, but we'll see where it goes. Mixing seems too cluttered once the track kicks in at :15; there's not a TON going on texturally, yet it felt like there was a lot of muddiness. Cleared WAY up at 1:03... OK. By about 1:10, the beat pattern was already dragging on. It's a solid tone, but the pattern's not interesting enough; occasional variations there could spice things up. Some of that is caused by the other instrumentation crowding the soundscape and obscuring the off-beat bass writing, so you just hear the main thumps at 2 & 4. Cluttered again with the lead at 1:20; there may be some effects on it that's creating this muddiness problem. I'll also note that the bass writing is being steamrolled; I notice it if I'm actively listening for it, but it's almost a non-entity, it's so buried. When the soundscape clears up again at 2:29, you can hear it better again; it still doesn't cut through enough, IMO, but at least it's audible then. There are probably EQing issues that are allowing different parts to occupy the same frequency range. I did like how the writing changed from 1:59-2:28, as I was also getting lead fatigue at 1:59. You could vary up the lead instrument for the verses, or accent it with something other than the saw-like sound. The flute-style stuff at 1:03 & 2:29 were welcome changes. Gotta work on those endings; what you have now is too abrupt; you could let that least note trail off longer and feel like an actual resolution Yeah, a lot of this feels more like a work-in-progress without some impending writing and production refinements, and the other Js all heard the same issues I heard. Solid concept, but needs that attention to detail to carry it over the finish line. Would love to hear a further developed version! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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