OCR04593 - *YES* Chrono Trigger "Strain On You Insane Diamond"

[Liontamer]

ReMixer name: Zach Action
Real name: Zach Herrmann
Email: 
UserID: 30456

Game: Chrono Trigger
Name: "Strain On You Insane Diamond"
Source: Strains of Insanity / Confusing Melody

I know everything there is to know about FFVI (within reason) and was always hesitant to even start Chrono Trigger out of fear and anxiety of knowing NOTHING about it. In the last couple of years, I did indeed pick it up (only to never finish it) and I remember being immediately struck by this odd song in Magus' castle. I attempted a Nine Inch Nails-ish remix of it, in the style of Reznor's more ambient instrumentals, but it was incredibly boring. After all, the source music is about as short and vanilla as you can get: a constant Bb bass drone (duplicated in a high register as well), alternating diads of C#/Ab and Eb/Bb, and the occasional "laugh."

I don't really remember what took this remix in the Pink Floyd "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" direction, but, if nothing else, what perfect titles to blend together! This remix is basically blending the constraints and basics of "Strains of Insanity" with a condensed reinterpretation of Parts I-III of the Pink Floyd song. There are just a couple of times in the middle section where the chord changes to Eb for change and effect. Otherwise, the song lives on the Bb root note and the alternating diads, with the occasional guitar "laugh" (I'm really pleased with how the laugh sounds in the third section). There are no real melody or theory connections to the Pink Floyd song; only the instrumentation and the overall SOUND.

I suppose this submission may lead to some interesting discussions on source usage due to its addition of different melodies, but the source material has NO melody to speak of, and this remix retains all of the structure, chords, and mood of the original.

I look forward to the judges' responses! (and to the eventual posting of my approved FFVI track!)

[prophetik music]

scintillating original.

track opens with a ton of pad noise and distortion, sounding hypercompressed intentionally. the guitar laugh is a really clever way to approach that. there's some noodling around the two chord patterns that initially reminded me a lot of something from Blue Man Group's first album, and eventually it settles down into what i associate with 70s psychedelica around 1:08. this is a great adaptation of the extremely minimal original here - turning the alternating chords into a riff and then soloing around them.

there's no concern with source usage in instances like this. it's clearly based around the same chordal elements, and even incorporates (adapted) versions of the sfx used in the track.

from a mastering perspective, the pad elements overwhelm everything else most of the track, and i really didn't care for that. the track feels overly blown out, just too loud for it's own good, and it's not a pleasant listening experience. i can see the intro being a huge turnoff, and i would prefer it wasn't so noisy after the 1:00 mark.

all that said, this is a clever and fun adaptation of a really weird original that doesn't overstay its welcome. neat idea.

 

 

YES

edit: still a yes from me. track has definitely been improved.

Edited November 20, 2023 by prophetik music

[Liontamer]

Flooded to start, which I wasn't a fan of, even if it's all about tension. To me, the intro just sounds like a lot of distortion.

Anyway, things kick in at 1:05 and I'm impressed yet again with how you aped Pink Floyd's style while maintaing the needed connections to such a minimal Chrono Trigger theme. The guitar work and production sounded clean while having an authentic Floyd-like feel. Love that the sustained chords found in the source are ever-present here while also serving as a stylistic connection to "Shine On...". The way you fashioned a melody derived from pair of notes at :15 and :26 of the original was smart stuff as well, and the synth's sound was pure. Shit, even the source's voice SFX was referenced with the guitar at :07.

Major props to Zach, both a crazy and insane diamond in this community.

EDIT (11/19): I was fine with the original version and didn't think the droning negatively affected the listen (those drones reinforced the source's structure), but, since the source usage didn't hinge on the droning, I'm fine with this revised version that dialed it way back.

YES

[MindWanderer]

Opens with a very loud, rumbling, distorted bass pad. I have to turn down my volume by 25%, and it still sounds really unpleasant to me.

Of more concern to me is source usage. The source is a drone in two pitches and two notes. Literally the entire thing consists of a two note "melody," a one-note/two-tone pad, and a "laugh" effect. This remix uses a similar pad (same pitch, different timbre). The original writing here uses the same chord progression as the source, but we have a long-established tradition that chord progression in and of itself does not constitute source usage. And finally, the "laugh" has been broken down into its component parts and remixed into a melody: directly once or twice, then riffed on extensively. It's clever, but it took me literally a half-dozen listens before it dawned on me what was going on here, even with Zach's explanation.

I'm extremely borderline on the question of source usage here. The connections exist, but they're in no small part academic, and I think few people will put them together without having it spelled out for them. Most of the melodic writing departs significantly from the inspiration. Fortunately I'm not in a position to have to decide one way or another, because that pad is way too loud and blown-out for me to get my vote. I'm very curious to see how the rest of these votes go.

This is extremely clever, well-performed, and demonstrates a lot of proficiency and intuition about music theory. I'm really not sure whether it's too loose and esoteric for the majority of our listeners, but I need that pad adjusted anyway.

NO

[Gario]

Oh man, this is a really cool arrangement - much agreed with my colleagues above that the use of the sparse source throughout is great, and the nod to Pink Floyd is top notch (from my favorite album of their, no less!). The synths used are thick and rich, and just ooze with 70's distortion and flare.

I do, however, have to mirror MW's comment about that pad & organ that holds that droning note throughout the entire arrangement - it's just too loud when everything else comes in and takes all the space those instruments need to stand out. I don't mind it when it's pretty much the only instrument there, but from 1:09 onward that drone needs to be mixed down a bit to give some space to the other instruments. If you want to maintain that distortion that it gets through limiting a loud signal you can achieve that effect prior to the master bus and then mix down the master.

I really do like this, I just don't think I can justify it quite like this. I hope to hear a revision with this corrected soon!

NO

Edited November 6, 2023 by Gario

[DarkSim]

This is a brilliantly creative way to reimagine the source. Being so familiar with Shine On You Crazy Diamond, the minute-long intro actually feels a little rushed to me! It is very noisy from the outset, and I'd prefer more of a ramping up of the noise before the break, when the guitar comes in.

Once the guitar starts playing the solo, the droning is way too loud and distracting for it to be as pleasant a listen as it should be. That needs turning down significantly for me to sign off on this one. Yes it's pretty much the only identifiable connection to the source material, but with such a long intro, and using those chords in the background almost throughout, that's enough source usage for it to take more of a back seat in the mix.

Fix that droning and I'd love to hear this one back. Should hopefully be a quick fix, but if you wanted to revisit the intro as well that would be appreciated!

NO (resubmit)

Edit 25/11/23:

If you're going to name your track after one of the most popular tracks from a band as uniquely identifiable as Pink Floyd, you'd better do it justice, and oh my word have you accomplished that! Such a massive improvement over the original version, so big thanks for taking the feedback on board and turning out a new version so quickly.

YES

Edited November 25, 2023 by DarkSim
New version

[Emunator]

Emailed Zach about this track to see if he's up to make some changes. For the record, I agree that the drone pad is probably a dealbreaker in terms of how much it muddies the soundscape, so hopefully he can adjust that!

 

[Emunator]

New version up! @DarkSim @Gario @MindWanderer @prophetik music @Liontamer Let's see if this new one is enough to flip any votes and close this out.

Quote

 

Okay, I made some changes based on the judges' feedback that I do think make the track stronger:

Notes:

 

1. The beginning low rumbling pad was a patch from Newfangled Generate, and while it wasn't actually distorted/clipping as the judges thought, there was a subtle pulsing synth lead buried in the patch that was coming across as clipping. I had chosen it for the movement the patch generated, but I agree that it was muddying and unnecessary. I replaced the entire pad with a Solina-style pad that is much more pure and subtle to let the intro breathe.

2. The middle section is more scaled back to address the "droning" criticized by the judges. I was initially concerned of source percentage and thought that the constant notes were needed to stay truer to the source. With the judges' assurance that source isn't really at issue here, I did a few things:

   a. Replaced the organ with a reeds electric piano, which gives chord structure without a "droning" sound.

   b. Removed a few of the other pad-like drone sounds.

   c. Took out some low-end of the bass guitar.

   d. After scaling back the droning synths, added in a subtle Solina part under the guitar solo to replicate the OST dyads, both to fill in some empty space and to tie the track to the original. I think it works really well without being grating.

 

I appreciate the feedback and am pleased with these revisions. Happy to revise more if needed.

 

Zach

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by Emunator

[Emunator]

Scintillating intro, the mood created is similar to Ruined World meets Vangelis before finally breaking out into melodic guitar riffs supported by all of the different instrumental and synth flavors that you could hope for as a listener. The mud present in the original version has been cleaned up now and this track is far stronger for it. On the arrangement side, I actually listened to the remix first, and then found myself surprised at how little there was to go off of in the original, and simultaneously how quickly it connected. I actually picked up on the laughing sfx-to-detuned guitar plucks connection immediately and found that to be a super clever way to maintain source usage outside of just the droning chord progression.

This is an immaculately produced homage to Pink Floyd that, thanks to Zach's willingness to revise, is now sitting pretty in my book!

YES

[Gario]

Holy Moley, did this revision help the track out! There's actually a lot I was missing in the original due to that drone, such as that bass guitar that holds the droning bassline (plenty to link it to the source IMO). The section from 1:09 sounds buttery smooth now, and it offers a lot of great contrast to the opening drone. It also sounds even more like the iconic track that it's paying homage to. Needless to say, the 70's flair that I loved so much before is still here in full glory, with none of the unintentional mud in the production, and the synths & instruments are still top notch.

Thanks for the fix - I'm actually surprised just how much this improved the track. This went from a close NO to a "Holy crap why isn't this on the front page yet" YES - fantastic work!

YES

Edited November 19, 2023 by Gario

[MindWanderer]

Yep, that pad was the major barrier to this getting passed, so swapping it out clears the way.

Oddly, I'm still in disagreement with my fellow judges about one point: Since the source consists of a pad, two notes, and a laugh effect, I don't think there's any amount of arrangement that could be considered a remix just using the pad and the two notes. The votes above at most mention the adaptation of the laugh in passing, but it's used as a recurring motif that repeats many times throughout, sometimes worked into the melody, sometimes in the backing, and I think it's a critical part that really helps tie it in. If I hadn't picked up on it, I would have voted NO on this. With it, this is an easy

YES