Emunator Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 (edited) ReMixer name: Treyt Name: Trevor Tuls Email: Websites: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6e8Tgh_0AZ9ixt7BPTWkA SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/traycermusic Userid: 38283 Game: Arrangement Name: Valorous Heart, Onward! Songs Arranged: Heroic - Micro Mages OST Composer: Julius Riecke Original Soundtrack: Version 1 youtu.be/2WSw1MX7G9s Version 2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssPwDUTZlEI Comments about the mix: I've never played the game or heard the track(s?) in context with their levels/ingame scenarios, but the original sources are absolute bangers of chiptune composition, and when someone posted them in the OCRemix discord the tracks literally begged me on bended knees to be remixed. I've never seen something without legs (or physical form for that matter) kneel, but it was something to behold. Anyway, it's miles beyond the first remix I sent you guys. Lemme know whatcha think eventually (judging panel woo) and I hope you like a motherflipping jam of a remix. Cheers Edited July 2, 2023 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted February 3, 2023 Author Share Posted February 3, 2023 This OST is great! There's a lot of interpretation and energy in this adaptation, so from an arrangement standpoint, I really like what I'm hearing. The mix feels sort of hot and maybe unintentionally distorted at times. Haven't done a full source breakdown yet but overall sounds like good stuff to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 Metal goodness from obscure but great chiptunes! The energy and arrangement are great. Excellent job taking such a short refrain and making a full-fat, entertaining song out of it. Tons of variation on that simple theme. This is an example we could point to when remix submissions are too repetitive or conservative. Production isn't quite as praiseworthy, though. The percussion, especially the kicks and snares, and the rhythm guitar are really loud. While you can hear the lead through it, there's a mixing challenge when combining chiptunes or other simple waveforms with complex ones, like electric guitars: an instrument with a complex waveform/timbre hits a lot of secondary frequencies, and therefore sounds a lot louder, than one with a simple waveform, when played with equal absolute amplitude. So the lead is clearly audible, but doesn't sit forward in the mix like a lead should. And after listening to it several times, I realized there are accompanying synths that are almost completely drowned out, like an arp at 1:36-1:57. As much as I like what's going on here in general, I have to ask for another balancing pass. Partly this is because the lead really is too quiet, but a bigger part is because there's what sounds like some really excellent composition going on in the background that I just can't hear well enough to appreciate. I want to hear it, so please let me. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 great original! love the vibe. intro is fun, and the initial hit is a big band sound that's great. the leads feel integrated and i had no issue hearing what was background vs. lead. i especially liked the little bit of glide on the lead, a little nuance that felt great. the break at 1:13 is welcome and well-handled. i liked the verb of the main band sound tailing into a wind sfx, that's a nice touch. half-time at 1:36 was a nice variance. i heard the arp that MW was talking about, but i'd argue that those levels were intentional - it's not supposed to be a big thing, just a filling synth. i actually liked the volumization of that ultimately. there's a build into one last blow at 2:20, and an extended outro with some string machines and pads. production-wise, yeah, it's loud! but i really appreciated how big and aggressive the mastering was. i love the verve this gives the track. unlike MW, i never lost track of the melodic line or felt it was in the wrong place in the mix. kudos to the arranger as well to not put in three or four instances of the (awesome) full band playing the melody at the end - never quite giving us enough of the payoff is a great way to keep listeners coming back. this is great. excellent work. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 14, 2023 Share Posted March 14, 2023 Great energy at :33 with the melody prominently arriving after the more subtle build. The mixing's very lossy-sounding, and I'm not sure why, though 1:14 seemed to allow some more high-end frequencies through. Back to thick beats at 1:35, and this is mixed in a very muddy way. Yeah, it's just staying like this the whole way through. This soundset is beefy, but the mixing is very muddy. I'll need some time to wrap my head around the source tune usage in the arrangement with the rhythmic changes; at the very least, I'd love a source usage breakdown from Trevor explaining what's referenced where. For now, a timestamping is kind of moot point, because the mixing kills this regardless of the arrangement and musicianship. MindWanderer said "after listening to it several times, I realized there are accompanying synths that are almost completely drowned out, like an arp at 1:36-1:57", and that's definitely right. Nearly every section sounds muffled, like a fan recorded this on a bootleg tape. If you can fix the mixing, and the source tune usage is confirmed solid in terms of dominating the arrangement, then I'd love this posted in some form. Amazing energy here, Trevor; definitely don't drop it if it doesn't make it as is. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 Yeah this is great from an arrangement perspective, just needs some touching up in the mixing. Rhythm guitars sound buzzy and overly distorted. I don't think it's clipping, but the distortion on them is too much for me at that volume. I like the chunkiness though, so hopefully it's just a case of toning down the distortion knob. Snare has some good body to it, but the 1/16ths at 2:19 sound too mechanical. Try turning off the sample cutoff when the sound is retriggered, so it sounds a bit smoother. Or, preferably, choose a snare sound for the fill that sounds a bit more natural when doing a drumroll in this way. Also, rather than ramping up the velocity in a steady way, try simulating a dominant hand and varying the velocity in that way instead. Love the instrumentation, melodies and harmonies at play here, all coming together with a huge energy and vigour. It's almost there, just needs tidying up so everything is clear in the mix. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted July 1, 2023 Share Posted July 1, 2023 This arrangement is great! The instrumentation works well, writing is fresh and exciting, drums are thick and luscious. I agree with Larry that a source breakdown would be helpful for us to approve it, so I hope one can be included with the resub. Dang, this arrangement is great, but as the other Js said, the production is too far on the rough side to be passed comfortably. The master is overall too loud and overcompressed; the whole thing is painfully hot and sizzly. During the heavy sections, too many elements have crispy mid-highs, and the hard mastering makes it compound into a wall of sizzle. Larry hears this as lossy because the range from 3KHz-10KHz is screaming so loud. I suggest using EQ to make sure only kick and bass are playing in the lowest of lows (that will help your low end come through better than it does now), and then make sure that only one or maximum two things at a time are playing in the mid-highs and/or highest ranges. There is no reason for this master to be this loud. -7.8db RMS is crazy loud and smashes the track's dynamics, and the ceiling of 0db allows for clipping, and more artifacts will be heard when the track is uploaded to YouTube as they compress the file further. I recommend a ceiling of -0.5db, and recently I have switched to -1.0db on my own tracks to be even safer. TL;DR, this arrangement is all kinds of awesome. A source breakdown would be super helpful to our voting process, and the mixing and mastering need another pass for us to approve and post this. NO (please fix mixing/mastering and resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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