OCR04584 - *YES* Final Fantasy 7 "A Secret, Submerged"

[Liontamer]

Link:

 

Contact Information

• Your ReMixer name: Hy Bound
• Your real name: Tyler Carson
• Your email address: 
• Your website(s): https://soundcloud.com/hybound
• Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: 8646

Submission Information

• Name of game(s) arranged: Final Fantasy 7
• Name of arrangement: A Secret, Submerged
• Name of individual song(s) arranged: A Secret Under the Sea
• Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site): This game is a lovely game and is on the PS1. Nobuo Uematsu is a master.
• Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site): 'Tis
• Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.
  • Long time no see! Excited to finally get a chance to send in a song again. This is a love letter to Vangelis and (ironically) my OB-6 which makes up about 80% of the synth sounds. While I haven't released much lately, I'm hoping to change that; starting with this chill, evolving take on A Secret Under the Sea. Hope y'all enjoy it!

[MindWanderer]

Opens with a very loud pad; I had to turn my volume down. It doesn't muddy the other instruments, though, since it doesn't share space with anything, until 3:28.  The lead there is pretty smushed.

3:53 is even louder, and shrill. It hurts my ears. I was waffling on the production until this point, but this part I'm immediately not okay with.  The lead at 2:08 was louder and shriller than I'd like, as well.

Overall the arrangement is fine. For a chill, conservative mix, it's dynamic and engaging. My issues are with production. The pads are far too loud and dominant, especially given their low-fi, gritty quality.  There are also those piercing leads that are just uncomfortable to listen to.

Good foundation here, just needs tweaks to balance and the tones of those few synths.

NO

[Liontamer]

The source usage is basically the whole track, referencing some sustained lines from the original until :53 and going on from there with the actual melody afterward. The source tune itself has some unpleasant dissonance/clashing that's carried over here, so I guess I can't ding it that bad, but I'll have to live with it.

This sounded flooded in the zone, so to speak, where the soundscape was getting muddy until 1:42, but it wasn't anything dealbreaking. Around 1:55, the lack of percussion or something driving this forward made the piece feel like it was dragging, and the rigid timing on everything didn't help things not feel plodding. The driving beat finally was brought in at 2:36. Weird effects on the lead at 3:02 that were messing with my ears in a very unpleasant way; the relative volume of the leads didn't make sense and seemed to be pushed way under the underwater-sounding countermelody. More piercing sounds at 3:52.

Arrangement-wise, this does get it done in terms of transforming the theme. Even if the mixing isn't ideal as is, I'd rather post this than not, and would be glad to see if Tyler could give this another mixing pass.

YES

[prophetik music]

i always loved this original. even the various translations of the track's name are evocative.

big washes of sound to start out. i like seeing the game's context inform the remix. the pad washes have some dissonance in them too (sound like maj7 chords?) so that's a fun concept. the melodic content comes in at 0:52 alongside some bass and some more brass in the pads. the eventual string plucks and FM e-piano also are reminiscent of FF7's OST, so again a great pick.

there's a shift in the lead instrument at 1:43, and some particularly odd-sounding bass stuff happens right after. i think it's a result of using detuning throughout the soundscape alongside some creatively interpreted chord structures. 2:28 through 2:31 is particularly bad - you can't put the bass on the maj7 if it's that low, which is what it sounds like is happening. i don't think it's a positive, but the rest of the soundscape is really neat.

there's a shift at 2:36 to a string-heavy concept, and then subsequently at 3:01 the bass sustains bring in a more aqua-inspired backing, especially with the liquidy arps. the bass here is very strong, almost too much, certainly right on the edge. at 3:52, we finally get some percussion (mostly snaps and a ride cymbal), along side some more intentional bass rhythmic work. the arps continue to be so interesting behind the melodic content, and i still haven't ever really lost the melody this entire time despite all the changing backing parts.

there's an extended outro for like 30 seconds and then it's fading into the distance on the descending chord from J-E-N-O-V-A. clever call-out.

i really don't like whatever the bass is playing from 2:28 through 2:31. i think it's wrong notes, and that needs to be fixed. but i think that's conditional-worthy as the rest of the track is IMO excellent. the mixing is super bass-heavy and pretty brash considering what it's playing, but i really like the liquidy, burbly synths used throughout, and i think the countermelodic elements really elevate the track.

 

 

CONDITIONAL (on fixing whatever the heck the bass is playing at 2:28, or at least un-detuning it so it doesn't sound so messy)

[DarkSim]

Perfect choice of instrumentation here - I love how everything feels like it's underwater, dripping in reverb and resonance. Perhaps the only exception is the string plucks that come in at 1:25 - they sound a bit too clean for me, and could probably have done with some more effects on them to make them more droplet-like.

The track's mixing is quite interesting. On the one hand, it definitely sounds like things are underwater. On the other, the section from 3:02 has some very wide-panned bubbly synth arps that seem a little too loud and present in the mix, and are detracting from the main synths that are panned centrally, and sound very distant. When the arpeggiated bass and tambourine is introduced at 3:53, that's also very up-front in the mix, and dominates quite significantly in a way I felt was distracting. The rhythm took me by surprise too, feeling like it could use some more aggressive sidechain to help ease it into the mix. It's a shame the mixing balance is off, as you could really get lost in this one and float away if it was cleaner.

All that aside though, it's a compelling take on a fairly difficult source tune. At first, I thought your remix was a little ponderous, however having listened to the source afterwards, I can see how you've stayed true to the original, whilst also adding a ton of extra material and great sound design.

YES

[Emunator]

This certainly nails that classic analog warmth from a sound design perspective, so your foundation is really strong! The arrangement is very dynamic despite a source that doesn't have much in the way of a dynamic curve at all.

There are some minor technical miscues on the mixing and production that are less than ideal. For me, the extremely rigid timing on the piano actually feels like the aspect that takes me out of this the most. I'm not sure if the stilted performance was an intentional nod to the early days of sequencing, but especially with the shorter note runs like the ones at 2:13 and 2:26, it feels immersion breaking.

There are other elements that stand out in the mix as too forward or dry, which Jack did a good job identifying and elaborating on. Also cosigning his suggestion that stronger sidechaining or rhythmic gating on your pad elements during the section with drums would give this some much needed verve.

All that said, I think what you got right is enough to push this over the bar. It's a great arrangement bolstered by some memorable sound design, and in my opinion, whatever rust is present on the technical side is not enough to sink this. Would love to hear some improvements on the mixing to get the instruments to gel more, and humanize the performance on the piano leads, but I have no hard reservations in its current form.

YES (borderline)

[DarkeSword]

Some interesting harmonic choices. but overall it works. I like the synthy vibe though I hear what other Js are saying when they mention the shrillness. A lot of these sounds are piercing. I could see some improvements but also nothing is dealbreaking for me.

I like it. YES