OCR04759 - *YES* Flashback "Flashback from the Future"

[Liontamer]

Artist Name: 7DD9

First of all thank you for the previous feature on your channel.

"Flashback from the Future" was re written and remixed with synthesizers.

I approached the game soundtrack gently and with the respect it deserves on today's standards, as this game was (is) one of the best Cyberpunk / Sci-Fi / Dystopian games that i ever played.

---

Games & Sources

Game : Flashback - The Quest for Identity (1992)

Music Soundtrack : Main Theme

Flashback released in 1992 and the soundtrack was written by Jean Baudlot and Fabrice Visserot.

Original Soundtrack : 

[prophetik music]

neat original, never heard of this game.

opens with a distant beat and some delayed arps. there's some static on here that comes in and out a bit which was confusing for a second. the beat hits at 0:24 and is very synthwavey, with sidechained bass and some detuned leads. the initial presentation of the melodic elements are pretty straightforward. the fm lead that comes in around 1:10 is stylistically right in the pocket so that was neat. there's some nice glassy arps that come in later as well that i thought fit well.

there's a bit of a drop at 1:58 that brings in some nice wide pads as a contrasting element, and that functions well as a break. 2:21 brings back the kick and bass riff, and it starts to build back up again. when it comes back in at 2:44, this is to my ears the same as 0:24 exactly, and the subsequent section with the melodic lead is the same also until 3:27. there's a bit of a shift here to bring back the fm lead with some modulation on it, and that functions as an outro.

this is overall a pretty straightforward representation of the middle. i think there's a heavy reliance on the melody line (as opposed to countermelodic elements or harmonic elements) to drive the track, and i called out the ~40s section that was straight copy. but overall i think this turned out pretty good aside from those issues. i like the slightly slower beat as the track settles into a groove right away and stays in it, and i think the variety of synths used was a positive. i would have definitely liked to see more personalization of the melodic line, or addition of other harmonic or countermelodic elements, to make this more your track. as a whole though i think this is over the bar.

 

 

YES

[Liontamer]

Always been a fan of this theme. The sound design and writing of the beats at :23 felt somewhat vanilla, but there's solid enough heft to the beats. The sound design for the lead's also pretty vanilla & straightforward; again, it gets by, but could be more sophisticated. I liked the addition of the belltones at 1:10 to vary up the feel, followed by some subtle countermelodic writing added at 1:33, another strong and creative touch to offer some dynamic contrast.

Good dropoff of the beats at 1:57, though this section sounded murkier/lossier than any other area of the track; that only lasted until 2:21 though, so that wasn't a huge deal in the big picture. The repetitiveness of the 2:44 was admittedly a little disappointing, but the lead had a slightly different tone, and then changed at 3:09 to a highr pitch, so that was enough to at least not be in cut-and-paste territory. Another subtle change in the tone and textures at 3:31 for the final section, all good stuff!

There's room for more production sophistication, sure, yet that obviously doesn't discount the quality already here. Nothing wrong with working within a narrower dynamic curve as long as the arrangement is interpretive and substantive, so nice work to 7DD9 on the subtle, expansive development of this one. :-)

YES

[Hemophiliac]

I'm the type who likes vanilla ice cream, and this is about as vanilla as synthwave you can get. Enjoyable and you know what to expect.

It ticks all the boxes for it, side-chained bass, playing a fairly static-straightforward rhythm.  Simple beat accenting 2 and 4 with the snares.  Swirling, slightly detuned pads (thankfully not nearly as much as the Diablo track).  Even though those things are typical, they work well together.  The source melody is represented faithfully with a conservative approach.

I like the sound design on the pads because while they are similar in timbre to the original, they are fuller, have more modulation + expression on them, and are more featured in the arrangement.

My gripe here would be to reduce the side-chaining to allow it to be more transparent in it's effect. This doesn't go too far in it's usage as it doesn't become pumping or in-you-face with how heavily it attenuates the bass on each kick.

YES

Edited July 2 by Hemophiliac