Emunator Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 Remixer(s): Emunator feat. Pixels & Paradiddles, Hemophiliac Name: The Parallax Effect Game: Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy 9 [I think FF6 should probably be the primary source here] Sources: Edgar and Sabin's Theme (FF6), Palace of Memories (FF9) Credits: Emunator: arrangement, synths, piano (from :12-:30), sequenced drums, mixing, mastering Pixels & Paradiddles: lead guitar & rhythm guitar (Seph), live kit drums (Josh) Hemophiliac: Piano (from 0:00-0:11 and 3:18-3:26) Chimpazilla: final mixing and mastering Comments: This track is my submission for the first round of Darkesword's Game Set Mash!! remix competition. I've never participated in an OCR competition before, but since three of my creative goals in 2023 are embracing collaboration, trying new styles, and actually finishing things... this felt like an ideal way to help me achieve those goals. And boy, did it help me check all three boxes in record time. I've never produced synthwave style before, and I've also never mixed with live electric guitar either (I have infinitely more respect for anyone who mixes distorted guitars with any other instrumentation, it is NOT easy!) My vision for this track can be summed up as "a 150mph police chase at night in the year 2070," inspired by artists like The Midnight and Carpenter Brut and their mix of rock and metal elements with retro synths and neon-tinged atmospherics. The triumphantly bold melodies from Edgar & Sabin's theme fused so naturally with the crystalline beauty and sparse riffs from Palace of Memories. Josh and Seph laid down some absolutely incredible rhythm and lead guitars that really glued the track together and amped up the drama tenfold. Hemophiliac's piano contributions to the intro and outro set the mood perfectly and fit like a glove with the vision I had. Massive shoutouts to my whole team - Pixels & Paradiddles, Hemophiliac, and H36T, who wasn't featured on this mix but still contributed advice and support along the way - there was no chance of this coming together without y'all. The spirit of collaboration is alive and well! Also, Chimpazilla was absolutely instrumental in helping me polish up the mixing post-competition and getting this to really shine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted August 23, 2023 Share Posted August 23, 2023 (edited) Ramped up at :45 and the soundscape felt kind of distant, lacking some highs; nothing holding this back, as it's going for a darker, synthwave-inspired style, even if I do like my sharpness. Very cool fusion of the themes; if you weren't familiar with these themes, you'd assume there was only one source tune with the way everything connected so seamlessly together. I particularly enjoyed the guitar work throughout, which added loads of herbs and spices here. Nice job, team! I love team! EDIT (10/23): Had no problems with the previous version, and this one sounds good too. YES Edited October 23, 2023 by Liontamer added updated comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 (edited) intro faux strings into synths was a really nice feel. the track builds in a very exciting way through the piano, synths, guitar, then drums up until 0:45 when the beat really kicks in. the melodic content entering at 0:57 is excellent. the lead gets buried once or twice when it's doing lower stuff, but overall it soars over really excellent backgrounds, be them synth-heavy or guitar-heavy. short break at 1:43, and then we get the guitar entering with edgar's theme again. i like the articulations used here, the space added really compliments the background's staccato synths. the hit at 3:13 that brings the track to the beginning of the end was *chef's kiss*, and the overtone-heavy synths leading us out were interesting. arrangement is great - i honestly had to go back and figure out where Place of Memory was because it fit so well into the FF6 track. and from a mastering perspective, the driving, heavy, darker atmosphere of this one really works well with the more martial tone of edgar's theme. really excellent work. YES edit 10/23: i have no concerns about updated mix. still a positive vote from me. Edited October 23, 2023 by prophetik music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted September 29, 2023 Share Posted September 29, 2023 (edited) Yep. Great take on these sources, and seamless integration. For a first time mixing electric guitar into a more complex soundscape, you did a great job; many veterans and even professionals don't do as well. There's some complex layered part-writing that was a ton of fun to listen to. Fantastic job all around. YES Update 10/23: The kicks are pumping a little, but they were nearly inaudible before, and overall things are cleaner. Still a YES from me. Edited October 23, 2023 by MindWanderer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted September 30, 2023 Author Share Posted September 30, 2023 I want to put this briefly on hold before it goes any further, I think the drum mixing needs some love. I've been listening on different setups and the drums are barely audible to me! Glad y'all are digging the rest of this, hopefully I can make it even stronger with a bit of TLC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted October 21, 2023 Author Share Posted October 21, 2023 @MindWanderer @prophetik music @Liontamer New version of this mix is up, with massive shoutouts to @Chimpazilla for working with me to clean up the mix and master and really get this to shine! Please check out the latest version and let me know if you hear anything weird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexstyle Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 My only comment is that I wish there were a cool 16th-note synth arp skittering around behind the rest of the instrumentation in the "chorus" sections at 1:20-ish and at 2:50-ish for that True Synthwave Sound (tm). Other than that, I dig the arrangement, the instrumentation is sweet, the drums are punchy, the mix is pretty clean, and this is gonna look great on the front page! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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