Liontamer Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 (edited) Artist Name: tibonev This arrangement was created for the Dwelling of Duels Jun 2024 contest, theme was franchises fusion, where you had to make a medley/mash-up of songs from two different franchises. Since i've been playing A LOT of MSFS2020 lately, i really wanted to cover it, and adding Pilotwings was a no-brainer, given the theme relation between the two franchises, i've also been meaning to do a track without drums or percussion for a long time, but i've always postponed, well, not this time. The arrangement is slow, chill and borderline ambient, using lots of moving synths pads for the foundation while the rythymic information comes from the muted guitars on the back, the melodies are present but not always the main focal point of the mix, i've been listening to a lot of Boards of Canada these days, specially during work hours, and i wanted to do a track with a similar approach, but not exactly in their style, which is why i named my track "above the borders", it alludes to their name, kinda of, and alludes to flight which is the theme of the remix. Source Breakdown: 00:00 - 00:35 - original part based on msfs2020 chords 00:35 - 00:52 - pilotwing chords and arp riff 00:52 - 01:01 - original transition 01:01 - 01:36 - msfs2020 melody part A 01:36 - 01:45 - original transition based on the part A chords. 01:45 - 02:11 - pilotwings melody 02:11 - 02:46 - msfs2020 melody part B 02:46 - 03:22 - msfs2020 chords / with original radar ping over it. 03:22 - 03:35 - original part based on msfs2020 chords 03:35 - 03:58 - long fade out of last ringing chord. Total time: 238 seconds Source time: aprox. 153 seconds (64% aprox). Games & Sources Game 1: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (PC / Xbox Series X/S) Source Track: Color 1 (Menu Music) Youtube Link: Game 2: Pilotwings (SNES) Source Track: Bad Results / Bad Points Youtube Link: Edited October 23 by Chimpazilla closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 opens with a really nice pad alongside some plucks and pops until the guitar comes in at 0:35. initial pilotwings source is just the arp, but there's not much else there anyways so that's fine. i can hear a little amp noise here - couldn't noise-gate that out? it's just a little though. when the msfs lead comes in at 1:01, though, i can definitely hear amp noise that's cutting in and out, and that's really distracting. it'd actually be better if it didn't drop out at all and was just consistent - i'd attribute it to the pad if that was the case. there's another transition at 1:36 and it moves back into pilotwings. the more active synth attacks here are more noticeable and not particularly pleasant like the rest of the background has been - taming those down would be a good idea. i don't mind the movement, but they're so staticky up front. there's a nice build into 2:11, and we finally get some of the bass elements that make the msfs track so fun. it's understated, though, and the higher guitar part is really loud so it's hard to hear the balance beyond that one instrument. coming out of this, the attack of the synth at 2:46 is slightly out of time. after that big section, the rest is outro and window dressing. there's a few more chords and it's done. i wouldn't have minded a slightly less long fade - like, i think 10s is fine, but 23s is excessive. i really love this concept. there's a clear connection to the style of the track and the original sources. i also really appreciate how much you shied away from percussive elements and relied exclusively on the guitar and the synths to provide rhythmic structure. i think there's some parts that have clear issues - the amp noise on the guitar lead at 1:01, the several synth attacks in a row that are so noisy at 1:36, the volume of the upper rhythm guitar at 2:11, and trimming down the last sustain a bit - but once those are addressed this one is ready to go. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted October 7 Share Posted October 7 (edited) This is another tough one for me. I do hear some guitar amp noise, but not enough to be dealbreaker for me. This is a lovely piece, it is definitely ambient, but I find it to be boring. I hate to say that, but nothing incredibly interesting or emotive is happening here for me. It's just the same pad chords repeated, with bits of guitar motif coming and going, and a buzzy synth that doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the soundscape. This plays more like a movie cue to me, for a very simple scene, and not a standalone arrangement. I guess I would like to hear more development than this as the piece moves along. It this arrangement sufficient for OCR, I am honestly not sure and I'd like to see another opinion. ? edit 10-23-24: Listening again now, and the amp noise is bothering me since it is so audible when the lead guitar plays. But my main issue remains the same, it's a nice piece but it just doesn't develop enough as it is currently. NO Edited October 23 by Chimpazilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemophiliac Posted October 18 Share Posted October 18 This is tough. It's gonna sound like I don't like this, which is not the case I do enjoy the concept a lot. I can really get behind the idea of an ambient/chill track, I love putting these on and just zoning out. This one just feels incomplete without more to it. It feels like a mostly polished sketch of something greater. Now, I'm not saying this needs percussion to be successful because that's the first thing that came to mind. Rather, this needs more to it. More ear candy, more subtle background parts, more dynamics, more modulation...anything. It could be this chill and ambient without percussion but you would need to find a way to add in subtle background substance to give this more forward momentum. As it is right now it's feeling more static. It does have some growth/modulation/dynamics to some parts, but I think it needs to be more exaggerated to make it work better. I am hearing the connection to the source in and I feel like that aspect is done fine. I also want to echo the sound design comments that Prophetik pointed out. Because things are more sparse the attacks will really stand out, as well as the amp noise on the guitar. So again, great concept, just needing some small clean up on sound design, and some more subtle background things. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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