Emunator Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 (edited) Your ReMixer name: Lucas Guimaraes Your real name: Lucas Guimaraes Your email address: Your website: https://twitter.com/Thirdkoopa - knew nothing better to link for this Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: http://ocremix.org/community/profile/33965-thirdkoopa/ Name of game(s) arranged: Chrono Cross Name of arrangement: The Garden of the Gods Name of individual song(s) arranged: The Sea of Eden Original album this was on: https://gamegrooves.bandcamp.com/album/divergent-waves-a-tribute-to-chrono-cross Attached the .wav below. Please let me know if you also need the .MP3 Description for the site: I covered this song on a last minute whim for the Chrono Cross GameGrooves album. Chrono Cross is one of my favorite games of all time, easy (along with Chrono Trigger, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and Pyre), so I had missed out on the initial sign-ups of the album thanks to some life changes. I sent in this synthwave arrangement on a last minute whim and it ended up being super useful. Why? This was the song where I learned that I could just track hardware synths into my DAW. Incredible knowledge. I now actually track hardware synthesizers now! Plus I got to solo produce it and actually use my EWI. So a bit more about the song: My vision here was a synthwave song that introduced how eerie Chrono Cross is. In the original game, it's the main menu theme, so I wanted to really make things unsettling. I think I managed that with this arrangement. Especially at the end during the fade out and all of the various parts that all the instruments play during. This ended up being a pretty simple straight-forward arrangement too. Different than my usual jam. I hope you all enjoy! Edited March 30, 2023 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Ha, this feels kind of like going for a Super Metroid-type of approach, which I dig. The mixing's not great: from :36-:52 for example, it feels like the background parts (not the lead) are competing to be heard amongst themselves. Man, :52-1:24 just feels empty, then to be followed up by an even more barren section from 1:24-1:40 is a bad contrast. Then from 1:40-2:12, the backing synths sound like they're massively off-key. 2:17's section also seems interesting, but the sound of the lead is stilted and anemic. Ending was needlessly messed up; if you're going to do an ongoing playback-type of fadeout, don't stop the instrumentation flat like you did at 2:58, let it continue. This is an interesting arrangement concept, Lucas, but I'm hearing all potential and no polish. The musician judges will be able to better articulate why this isn't clicking yet; for me, the beats don't have enough oomph to fill up the soundscape, and all of the timing feels too rigid without the body/depth to the sounds to give it personality. No cohesion achieved here yet. Limited time spent creating something isn't an inherent knock on a product -- DDRKirby(ISQ)'s spent a career disproving that due to One Hour Compo. That said, I think you could pull this up into something passable, but I'm also not hearing enough time invested in this -- or sensing enough comfort with these tools -- to feel like it would be a bankable outcome. Whether you can get this there depends on your level of interest and further experimentation. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted March 15, 2023 Share Posted March 15, 2023 interesting concept. intro is weird. i don't get the gap in timing at all, and the significant spacing in the melodic instrument comes across as stilted due to skill vs. being an intentional choice. the main melodic content comes in at 0:20, and it doesn't sound good at all. the bass is very messy and dull-sounding, the kit doesn't seem to be in the same room as everything else, and the intentionally stilted lead just sounds so bad. it isn't enjoyable to listen to at all. the wide-swelling pads don't compliment the dull bass either. even looking at this from a vaporwave/VHS pop perspective, this doesn't sound great. larry hit on some of the really empty sections and i agree they're just kinda existing and navigating the melodic material on autopilot. there's a countermelody in the background at 1:40 that's both low and playing conflicting notes, which is a sure way to make something sound wrong without actually sounding intentional or purposefully weird. i am going to be very honest - i don't like any synth choice in this entire track, even if it's mastered correctly and doing something more unique and Lucasy than just blowing through the melodic material in order. the lead's wide attack and subsequent sustain tones are not particularly enjoyable to listen to, and combined with the super-wide buzzy pad and the dull bass just sound strange. i can dig that you found a new way to get things going, and that you're working with new tools to get interesting results. my suggestion is to take this back to the drawing board and be more intentional about every element. the arrangement is pretty straightforward - find some ways to make it yours. the synths are hard to listen to - find ways to make them interesting without being grating. the mastering is low-heavy, muddy, and does not enhance the sounds of your synths - add some sidechaining and EQ to reduce the mud in the bass, and notch down some of the wide, freq-rich synths via filtering and EQ to remove the noise that's getting in the way. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 That intro synth is really bright. And yeah, it's odd synth choices throughout, including some that are unpleasantly detuned. They don't go together, either. 0:52-1:08 is a particularly weird example: there are only 3 parts, and they're not coordinated at all. The synth at 1:24 is a bold choice that doesn't pay off; when you have literally only one instrument playing, that instrument had better knock your socks off in terms of sounding interesting and having a rich timbre, and this one does the exact opposite. I hate to come down hard on this, but it's really not nice to listen to. Please consider sending your arrangements through the workshop forums when you're trying something new. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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