Liontamer Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 (edited) Original Decision Credits Mel Decision: arrangement, production, mixing Zack Parrish: alto saxophone, guitar, bass GameroftheWinds: bass clarinet Emunator: percussion Lucas Guimaraes: effects, foley This track was a labor of love! What started out as a last-minute bonus track for Final Fantasy VIII: SeeDs of Pandora has evolved quite a bit with the addition of live guitar and bass, rerecorded saxophone, an entirely rewritten percussion section, and brand new effects to bolster the lo-fi vibe. I love writing lo-fi music, and when I was exploring songs from the FFVIII OST to rearrange, Fisherman's Horizon immediately stood out to me as a track that would fit the genre with it's softer, comforting feel. I felt like I could make it work in the short amount of time I had to create a track for the bonus disc on the album. With the help of Lucas Guimaraes and GameroftheWinds, I was able to include some live winds on the track. Since the release of the album, this rearrangement has gone through several iterations. Most recently, I've had the pleasure of collaborating with Zack Parrish and Emunator, who hopped in to expand on the existing parts. Zack especially jumped in head-first: he re-recorded the saxophone section, and played live guitar and bass for the track, replacing my previous virtual instruments. Emunator rethought the entire percussion section, bringing in a more dynamic beat to help move the song along while still keeping you in the groove. Finally, Lucas topped it off with some additional sound effects that brought in the right amount of ear candy. I can't thank these guys enough for all the work they put into the track, along with multiple rounds of feedback to get the mix balanced just right. Their expertise and advice really helped me hear where this track needed to go in order to succeed. Games & Sources: Name of game(s) arranged: Final Fantasy FVIII Name of individual song(s) arranged: Fisherman's Horizon Edited January 5 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 my original vote primarily criticized the live performances, the overly simplistic intro/outro, and commented on the backing part being just a little too simple. sax does sound marginally better with zach playing - better tone and intonation, but zach sounds like he's eating the mouthpiece and it's still really overblown especially on the low notes - although the recording quality is not great. GotW's part is pretty quiet - in fact, both zach and the clarinet are quiet - and there's still a gross unison at 0:55. gotw's bass clarinet still occasionally sounds off pitch-wise to my ears. 1:16 honestly sounds like there's distortion or something on the sax's tone. sax solo at 1:46 says some fun stuff. there's another not-great unison and some harmony playing, and a much more intentional outro on the track. i think the opening and outro are a lot better than they were before. i think the drums sound a lot better too. i just still am not comfortable passing the track with the state of the lead parts. if this goes back again, hit me up and i'll pitch-fix the clarinet and record the sax parts for you. this is a fun track and i want it to succeed, and i just don't feel it's there yet. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 The new percussion (beats and kicks) sounds muddier than they should, IMO; if there's a way to sharpen that up some, it would be an improvement; it's not a huge drawback, but was worth noting. Zack's sax at 1:15-1:42 wasn't much stronger than Lucas's before it, and the warbling and lack of control were both hurting this still. I feel like you need a sax assassin to jump in here, because the sax remains a surprising weak link; doesn't have to be proph, but if he's willing to give it a go, he'll probably throw some spit polish on it. Still enjoy the arrangement and ALSO want it to pass, so keep on keeping on, Mel, don't stop now, chief! :-) NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Co-signing on the above. The drums are better but still mushy, and the performances are not where they need to be (0:59 is a notable flub that wasn't mentioned above). The arrangement is still on the plodding and conservative side, but I did enjoy the bridge in 1:46-2:09. I'd probably vote in favor, though with hesitation, if we got this arrangement but the production and performances were perfect. But they're not. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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