Liontamer Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Started this originally as a challenge to try and make a remix / arrangement in 2 hours again but was met with failure as I had only reached about 2 minutes into the piece before reaching the end of that sprint. Shared what I had with Emunator who teleported to my house somehow and threatened me if I didn't finish it. Fearing for my life I obliged and spent several more weeks working on it off and on in bits and pieces... sometimes sharing it in the workshop and getting feedback from Hemophiliac and some others in private. Eventually I tapped on the shoulder of Jesus once again for some Irish whistle treatment and he delivered as always. I've always loved this particular theme ever since playing the game originally back in 1999, because of the tragedy of Rena's background story. No spoilers. I have played around with different ideas for it before but apparently it took a spontaneous sprint to really get anything solid down and then a threat from a kind lunatic to buckle down and finish it. Irish whistle, performed & record: https://ocremix.org/artist/14128/e-jesus-chic-acevedo Games & Sources Star Ocean: The Second Story, Theme of Rena Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 starts out with some omnisphere patches and some truly stunning flute. the string parts right after that are equally lush and beautifully done - the gong is a great touch. piano carries the melodic material when it first shows up - this is a touch dry, i'd have expected it to be wetter based on everything else that's going on. there's a great crescendo to 1:16 where the strings show back up (i'm a sucker for low strings, i love the bass and celli focus here). this has a bit of a Pearl Harbor vibe to it. piano comes back at 1:39 and carries the melodic content through a nice orchestral swell before handing it off to the vins. there's some additive harmonic material here in the 2:15 area that's really nice. the B theme at 2:31 is carried also by the vins. there's a bit of sustain-itis through here where the backing instruments are mostly playing pad chords rather than moving lines, but there's a great payoff at 2:54. the flute here is absolutely the perfect thing to add, takes it to the next level. at 3:18 we get a significant decrease in energy and some new harmonic content. celli get a bit exposed here with their moving line and a late attack. there's some piano (again still feels a touch dry) to play through the last bits and finish the track off. this is excellent as expected. lush orchestration and some really incredible peaks. fantastic job. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 I'm not sure who Jesus Chic Acevedo is but every time he shows up on one of your songs, it instantly becomes a favorite. The initial string swells hit like a ton of emotional bricks before going back into a more delicate waltz. Ahhh, the dynamics on this track are superb. Incredible use of atmospheric elements combined with a more traditional orchestra setpiece. I was listening through this track and thought I was coming up near the end, only to find that I was barely halfway through, and I mean this as a compliment! It speaks to a very economical use of your arrangement, making sure that there is never any wasted time or dull moments - every movement feels like a whole world unto itself. Yeah, this is really good. Some of your best work to date. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 Nice belltones to open this up. Definitely didn't like that exposed piano sample at :47; wish that had a richer sound and better humanization. It at least fit better at 1:38 when you had the soundscape padded and filled out with other instrumentation. The ending section at 3:53 had that same blocky piano sound (booooo). Same issue with the bowed string articulations at 2:02; they're OK, certainly meet the bar, but the fakeness of the note changes are too exposed and would drag things down further if it was this apparent the whole way through. Jesús's performance was on point as always. Loved the writing when things downshifted at 3:18; the string writing together with the Irish whistle were gorgeous. Sample crits aside, a good cinematic expansion of the Rena theme! Feels like Zack's got another movie cue ready for whenever an OVA or film comes out. :-) YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Opening is really great. The tubular bells and Irish whistle create a great atmosphere with minimal layers. Some mechanical violins at 1:17, but their appearance is brief. Piano joins in to carry the melody; it's a little mechanical but not that noticeable. But then the strings come in full-force: The violins have a length section starting at 1:01, and bass at 1:13, and my immersion is cracked like an egg. By 1:39 the strings are so prevalent and so mechanical that I'm really struggling with it. Then the violins take the lead at 2:02, and man, it's just not working for me. Identical swells every time, no changes in attack or velocity at all. Everything else here sounds so good that it's a real shame, and I'm really surprised that only one vote above even mentions it, and that one brushes it off. There were several moments with notes that sounded clashing, like 2:23, but they don't leap out at me most of the time, I'm honestly pretty close to the fence on this one just because of how egregious that lead violin is. We've rejected remixes in the past for realism that was better than this. I'm voting in favor, because the strengths of literally every other part of this are so strong, but I'm honestly shocked at how many remixers and judges signed off on those strings. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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