Liontamer Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 (edited) Since this is an arrangement of an arrangement, I'm including both the source and the official arranged version for ref -LT Remix: Source(s): LAST WAVE - OUTRUN Original Instrumental: N/A - SONG IS ALSO ATTACHED Remixer Name(s):Rukunetsu Email Addy: Website: http://youtube.com/Rukunetsu User ID: 24403 (R) Game: OUTRUN - SEGA Name of Arrangement: Last Wave - Takayuki '87 Name of Original Song: Last Wave 1993 Original Composer(s): Takayuki Nakamura (1993 arrangement) Been a while eh? Last Wave is one helluva timeless track, but I went for an 80's esque spin on one the many arrangements of it. Edited July 11, 2023 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Nice, chill take. Good full soundscape. The biggest issue I have is the repetitive structure. There are some changes across the three loops, but they're not very substantial. I don't find myself sufficiently engaged for three passes through the same structure, melody, and instrumentation. The production could be cleaner. The lead tends to sink behind the pads, bass, and even drums. It has a very narrow-spectrum timbre, so it needs more presence to stand apart from the more greedy accompanying synths. I'm also not the biggest fan of the drops that cut out completely. They make me think my headphones have failed. It's a great start tonally, I just think the arrangement needs to be further developed to justify its length, and the balance could also use a small tweak. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 9, 2023 Author Share Posted July 9, 2023 Opened up with the soundscape sounding needlessly flooded/muddy. The lead at :43 was IMO too quiet, with the supporting warbles and beats being louder than the lead, which wasn't making sense to me, but I've heard it done before in this genre, so I'll get over it. The beat-writing plodded; it has a thick sound that fills out the texture, though by 3:46 I was definitely tired of it, because it felt like the track wasn't evolving and didn't have enough dynamic contrast. The gradual additions and subtractions are OK, but not enough to retain interest for 5 minutes. I didn't mind any of the times the parts dropped out; I'm judging on headphones as well; the track never went to 0, and it didn't feel like anything was fritzing. Key changes at 2:02 & 4:04 took place, but it's essentially the same writing and groove aside from the key changes, so I was left wondering when something else would happen on some subtle levels to change the overall sound. Even just changing some of the instrumentation or effects could be a subtle but distinct enough difference to feel more substantive and not overstay the length. Source usage-wise, this is of course fine, and although I'm taking issue with the groove plodding, there's some grace from me on this, as the treatment of the "Last Wave" theme was expansive with this new part-writing. That said, the mixing should be adjusted to sharpen this up some. I know it's going for a synthwave/'80s aesthetic, and I've heard plenty of modern synthwave from The Midnight and FM-84 achieve a wash to their music that doesn't sound like all the highs got cut. It'll sound like I'm saying our bar is where those acts are; I'd say check out FM-84's "Everything" for an example of the leads competing/washing together with the supporting writing, and coasting on a beat pattern, yet how it's produced with a sharper sound. I'd say this is 80-85% of the way there and just needs some additional variation and/or sharper mixing (not super sharp, just more highs) to move over the bar. It's a strong base, Ruku! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 intro foreshadows some EQing issues, as the two synths chosen overlap heavily. the full band sound comes in at 0:44, and it's muddy to the extreme. the pad synths have a lot of bass content that needs to be cut to allow the bass synth to not layer on top of them. the heavy pressure from the bass being cranked to be audible does cover up the leads often as MW mentions. i didn't find the hard cuts for transitions to be compelling. it honestly seemed kind of lazy to just use the same hard cut several times around the 2:00 mark. after a key change, we have a new section at 2:29 that again is bass-heavy and again has the leads getting washed into the backing synths occasionally. there's another drum cut at 3:38 for a bit, and the track meanders for a while through yet another key change for about a half-minute before being done abruptly with tempo-synced synths just kind of fading off. i don't think this arrangement is particularly compelling. there's no real dynamic shape to the track - it's loud throughout and doesn't ever really relax from that, even with the drum breaks - and while it doesn't plod, it doesn't feel like it goes anywhere. the oppressively loud bass synth and overlap with the backing parts doesn't help, and there's some light clipping audible around the 1:30-1:45 among other spots. lastly, the leads are very set-and-forget - there's no shape or interest to the sounds hardly at all. this needs a significant amount of EQ work (or backing synth reimagining) to trim out the bottom of those tempo-synced pads. that'll allow the bass to be turned down. that in turn will allow you to shape your leads with much more care and attention. separately, the arrangement needs room to breathe as well - there's essentially no contrast in this arrangement at all. i'd encourage you to experiment with more variety in your backing synths and song structure to allow the remix to have a shape and direction. right now it sounds like you're driving to nowhere. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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