Emunator Posted November 7, 2023 Share Posted November 7, 2023 Previous Decision Contact Information Gario Gregory Nourse Your userid: 18482 Submission Information Final Fantasy 8 "Witch Hunter" Source(s): Man with the Machine Gun, Succession of Witches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHl0ofVs2-0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BQw3qZ9H8A Comments: I bet you didn't expect a resubmission to come in thirteen years later! Always enjoyed this source, so when the opportunity came up to arrange this one for the FF8 album years back (before even the excellent DarkFlameWolf took control of the project) I jumped at the chance to give this another shot. While it's remade from the ground up, there is a lot of material from that old arrangement that I used to pull the track together (which folk can still listen to here, if they're curious: https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/355474 ). I had the idea to blend the Succession of Witches themes and vocals to this source because the thought of Laguna huntin' witches is obviously cool (with vocals done with the program Alter/Ego), and got something pretty dang cool finished for the FF8 album. Hope folk enjoy it! Sources: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 track starts with some vocaloid elements over an orchestral backing part. i should admit i really didn't like this combo and it was an immediate turn-off for me. there's some kick and synths that come in soon after this and the track drives forward with a much more energetic edm feel. the melodic line comes in at 0:46 and it's quite loud compared to what's going on behind it, but overall has a Final Countdown kind of feel through here. the strings that get layered in eventually are really nice too. there's a break at 1:24 for a bit, and then the vocaloid parts come back in at 1:30. they sound much less out of place among the synthy elements of this section vs. the first part. there's a shift in the beat pattern at 1:57, which is a nice change, and the lead here is doing some fun stuff and has some nice vibrato on it. it's a touch shrill but i like how it cuts through. 2:28 brings back the first lead for some call and response work, and does some noodling around the melodic content. the glide on that first lead is nice and it shows here well. there's a significant climax at 3:48 and it drops off for a final (extended) build. the additional use of strings through this last section was nice and left me wishing there were more orchestral elements earlier in the work. 4:52 is the last big gasp (i wish this hit was a touch longer!), and then we just get a short fadeout of one of the backing synths. my personal feelings about the use of the synth voice aside, this is a fun track with a lot of energy. there's a great natural shape to the work, and a preponderance of source so no concerns there. part of me wished for a punchier mastering on the overall track to really get into the kick groove, but the way it is now really works nicely to keep it moving. nice work. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 A Gario resub? Was not expecting to see that. I'd have remembered a Gario NO if it had happened any time in the last few years. Of course, I recognize it from the project. I never realized it wasn't actually published already. There's lots of complexity, and even though the synths are narrow-spectrum, they do still get cluttered in the mid-highs when everything is firing at once. The pads in particular eat up a lot of bandwidth: 2:49-3:47 is all busy enough that I'm losing stuff. That's my only complaint, though. Happy to help this get up on the front page. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted November 11, 2023 Share Posted November 11, 2023 Nice energy throughout! I also enjoyed the more “inspired by” aspects of the piece during 2:22-3:47. I’m in strong contrast to prophetik about the opening; works well for me and there’s a good reason José referenced it as the opening of the album trailer. I never heard the first sub, even though I was on the panel back then, so while I didn’t contribute to Greg’s heartburn back then, I’m happy to pat him on the back for this strong stuff for the album! Hard to go wrong with “The Man with the Machine Gun” (and the “Succession of Witches” inclusion was subtle yet seamless)! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted November 18, 2023 Share Posted November 18, 2023 Interesting vocal treatment for the intro - the high vocoder and autotune sound quite sinister with the string drone behind them, then the flute lifts us out of that uneasiness, and leads into the pumping bass with accompanying sine arp. When the melody first comes in around 0:48, the whole soundscape sounds really thin, and the reverb is so noticeable that it's crying out for something to fill that low-mid space. The pad from 1:06 serves to fill out the sound though, and the mix benefits a lot from it. Some nice synths are presented throughout. I like the gated saws at 2:23, and the filtered, modulated pulse waves layering in the background. Not a huge fan of the first melody lead, mainly due to the reverb - it sounds much better later on when there's more going on in the mix. As a whole, the master is quite light on the low-end, which is a bit of a shame as that bass arp is doing some work, and the kick is punchy but could stand to be a little louder in the mix. It's got kind of an old-school production feeling to it, which I can understand as it was first submitted in 2010! Definitely good enough for 2023 though. Nice one Greg! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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