Liontamer Posted September 6, 2023 Share Posted September 6, 2023 Goedenavond, Submission information: Name of Game(s) Remixed: Final Fantasy 8 Name of Arrangement: Moments [Synthwave remix] Names of songs arranged: Fragments of Memories (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrPQnadegBs) Link to the remix: Remixer name: Jorito Real name: Jorrith Schaap Email: Performers: Sirenstar: https://ocremix.org/artist/17241/sirenstar Lucas Guimaraes: https://ocremix.org/artist/16119/lucas-guimaraes Credits: Jorito: arrangement, lyrics, guitar, mixing, production Sirenstar: vocals Lucas Guimaraes: alto saxophone JoyDreamer: lyrics Comments about the mix: Jorito: This is an updated version of the album version, with a new saxophone recording, some mixing tweaks and a different mastering chain. Rest of the notes are from the album liner notes. We were a few weeks before release of the SeeDs of Pandora album when a few of the remixers were like "Hey, why is this not the biggest OCR album? Let's give it a final push and create some more music!". That idea sounded intriguing to me, and a good excuse to make some more music. Since all the tracks that were not part of the first four discs were already taken, the only option was to remix a track that already was done before for the album. And what better thing to do than to (again) remix one of your own remixes? For this track I decided to lean into my arrangement of "Fragments of Memories", and specifically the minor key I used in the first half of "Moments". Also, given the short amount of time and my fondness for the genre, I couldn't resist turning it into synthwave once again. Since there were already lyrics for "Moments", it made a lot of sense to make it a vocal remix too. Fortunately Natalie (Sirenstar) was once again on board to provide some kickass vocals for it, as well as some voice acting with lines gracefully borrowed from Ellone's in-game script. Structure-wise it's a bit different from "Moments" though; while I was able to use the verses as-is, I felt that what was a bridge in my original remix would serve better as the chorus for some more oomph, and I had to repurpose the original chorus as the sax solo (courtesy of Lucas Guimaraes). An interesting arrangement puzzle, for sure, but I think it worked out well in the end. This also happens to be the first track I actually played the lead guitar myself on. Needed too many takes and editing help, but it's progress! So there you have it, an unexpected remix of a remix that I hope you'll enjoy and makes you go "Hey, did I hear this before?" in a good way. Many thanks to my collaborators Natalie and Lucas for joining me on this one! Sirenstar: If you can take a track like "Fragments of Memories" and make it a e s t h e t i c, I think it's simply proof of the solidity of the source material. However it's also very much Jorito's skill as a producer, which should not come as any shock and or surprise to anyone at this time. (See: rest of album) He isn't gonna say it but he said I could write whatever I wanted. CATS. Synthwave is one of my favorite genres, both as a listener and a performer. The voice acting was pretty fun too. Hope this album helps you re-live the story of FF8 Lucas Guimaraes: Jorito was going for a similar vibe as The Midnight. As soon as he mentioned that, I offered him my Saxophone skills. I've known Jorito for a long time, so getting to perform with him was rad. Grtz, Jorrith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted September 13, 2023 Share Posted September 13, 2023 initial vibe of the track is just perfect. jorito's very good at this style i wouldn't have minded the snare being a bit snappier personally. sirenstar's lower voice really fits this style well. 0:54's hit sounds great - assuming that's jorito's guitar playing, and it sounds great. there's some points where sirenstar's voice sounds overly pitch-adjusted - 1:08 and the line at 1:40 stick out. some formant modification can help with that a lot, but sometimes you just need to take another pass. there's a break at 2:01 that is well timed, and subsequently we get the sax solo. i think the sax needed more reverb here - it's a little too forward in the mix compared to, say, The Midnight which was mentioned as an inspiration. that'd help with some of the rough edges in the tone too. 3:45's payoff chorus is great. the higher notes added in this time around are a great payoff after a longer track. would have loved to hear that chorus twice in a row there instead of just once. after this is a fadeout ending. overall this is really fun! it's not quite as polished as some of jor's other submissions, but overall it's a fun take on the style and the concept. nice work. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted October 6, 2023 Share Posted October 6, 2023 I had to listen to this a few times to hear the source connections. Probably the result of it being a remix of a remix. I wouldn't have noticed the lack of sax reverb on my own, but Brad's right, more would have been more correct for the genre. I lost a lot of the lyrics, but that's not a big deal. There's a smidgen of pumping, e.g. 3:58-4:01. Otherwise this is an easy vote. Great tone, tons of fun, really creative. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted October 6, 2023 Author Share Posted October 6, 2023 Arrangement's handled in a clever and cerebral way, so I timed it out to make sure I wasn't just in love with the musicianship, since it's nailing the synthwave aesthetic. The track was 4:35-long, so I needed to identify the source tune in play for at least 137.5 seconds for the source tune to be considered dominant in the arrangement. :28.5-:37.5, :40.75-:51.25, :52.75-1:03, 1:05.5-1:08.5, 1:13-1:19, 1:21.5-1:25, 1:35.5-1:44.25, 1:47.75-1:58.75, 1:59.75-2:09.75, 2:12.25-2:14.75, 2:21.5-2:36, 2:38.5-2:52.75, 2:57-3:03, 3:05.75-3:09.5, 3:19.5-3:27.75, 3:32-3:42, 3:44-3:54.75, 3:56.75-3:59.75, 4:03.75-4:10.25, 4:12.5-4:15.75 = 154.25 seconds or 56.09% overt source usage Could be other connections I'm overlooking, but I just needed to satisfy finding more than 50%. Absolutely love Natalie's vocal performance, and Jorrith's instrumentation is just awesome. It's missing high-end sharpness, but it also sounds like it's off an 80s cassette on my old Walkman, so I can't find any fault with that. Nitpick Lucas's sax all y'all want, it sounds awesome; definitely channels the Midnight vibe very, very well. Truly inspired and tremendous! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted November 27, 2023 Share Posted November 27, 2023 Ooooooo I love this soundscape right away, nice and beefy! It is a little low-mid heavy though, could use more highs and presence. I appreciate Larry's timestamp so I can just comment on the mix itself. The vocal is great, and mixed nicely up front, I feel like it could have some lows EQ'd out however. Her vocal has just a bit of mid-low boxy-ness. Sax sounds great. Awesome 80s-ish synthwave interpretation of this source. I'm not a fan of fadeouts but this one is handled well enough. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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