Liontamer Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Contact info : - ReMixer Name : SideCut - Email Adress : voltz@bluemail.ch Remix Info : - Final Fantasy - Prelude theme - So here we go with the second one, also made in 2001. It's a remix of the prelude theme present in many FF episodes in a trance version. Maybe more known than the Star Wars theme, so I dont' have much to comment. Just that of the more than hundred songs I composed, it is one of my five favourite ; the only thing I have to say is : 3: 18 "and now, a very important moment Boris, the break Boris, the break !" If I can make a polite specific request, I'd wish it to be judged by persons who like trance style, so they can understand the language. I personnaly appreciate a few different styles, but for exemple, I don't think I'd be up to the job to judge a death metal song, as it doesn't evocate anything inside me, therefore, I couldn't say if the arrangement for that kind of style is good or not... Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 [14:07] <Liontamer> "If I can make a polite specific request, I'd wish it to be judged by persons who like trance style, so they can understand the language."[14:08] <Liontamer> that's you right there! [14:08] <Vig> um this thing has fucking ill beetz and shitz. It totally makes me feel like im in some kind of trance, like i ate a bunch of mushrooms and i'm playing some cvideogame or something [14:08] <Vig> there are lieek...synths and crud in this song [14:08] <Liontamer> HAHHAHA [14:08] <Liontamer> cvideogame [14:09] <Vig> i'm inclined to say 4 on teh floor [14:09] <Liontamer> HAHAHAHAHAHA [14:09] <Vig> there's some liek...automation and EQ definitely! [14:11] <Liontamer> I'd pay attention to what you're saying, but I'm in a trance of some sort and cannot be instructed to listen to you [14:11] <Liontamer> UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ [14:11] <Vig> I'm definitely feeling the fact that you used some kind of sequencer to make this track. [14:12] <Vig> and i also noticed you "mixed down" the audio as it were, to make an "encoding" Apart from that, i suppose I'm out of my element here. It's too bad you didn't submit this when you made it 6 years ago, cause it would be an OCReMix right now. Unfortunately it now sounds quite dated both on the production and arrangement end. It's not bad, but it's too straightforward..there arent enough creative ideas presented, and it falls into beginner mistakes like lots of empty space in the arrangement (string section @ 4 min) And on the production end, the highs are notably missing, and the track ought to be louder. Among other things. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 http://www.zophar.net/nsf/ff1.zip - Track 1 Lemme clarify, that we don't have any significant bias against (or for) trance. There's no need to request specific judges to vote on a mix on the grounds of having respect for the genre that the submission is in. It's a request that, while infrequent, is still misguided (and funny to me) whenever we hear it. Don't take "UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ" personally. The arrangement isn't hugely interpretive beyond the genre adaptation, though you did play around with the rhythms and supporting instrumentation a fair amount. Some of the sounds, like the lead synth and claps (at 2:30) are just really thin and sound defaulty and tacky. You've gotta explore more sophisticated processing techniques and effects to achieve more unique and complex sounds. You've got a lot of staple sounds in place, but you textures are thin leaving the track lacking energy and power. Consider adding more parts as well to flesh the track out more. The string and vox-based section at 3:18 was actually not a bad concept, IMO. I thought it was a nice way to break up the track and vary up the arrangement, gradually fading back into the trance structure around 4:36. Same issue that were there before in terms of thin sounds and bland/empty textures. The effort is there to make things full, especially in the final trance section at 5:47, so I'm not oblivious to the effort here. Right now though, it's a lot of unrealized potential. The production is bland, and the arrangement, while attempting to be interpretive, is ultimately too straightforward as well. You're going in the right direction, bro, so keep at it in the community as you gain more and more experience. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 let me just throw in a quick apology to sidecut if he saw the comments the first time around. to clarify why my vote made no sense... there were two final fantasy mixes of the prelude in queue, and they both had the word crystal in the title, and in my efforts to multi-task, i wrote my vote for the wrong remix. my bad, bro. i dropped the ball. Ok, now for an actual and somewhat more accurate vote. The cross-panning synths actually appealed to me substantially. They made me feel like I was spinning through the atmosphere. Very typical trance stuff going on here. I dig the warm pad that phases in around :25--very nice. Choir at 1:39 was used pretty tastefully, I thought. Not too loud, so as to not come across too fake. The claps around 2:34 were kind of sporadic--and not very fulfilling. Interesting transition at 3:14 to a slower, more somber mood. Ok, starting to pick up some little synth-blurps around 4:20. This track is quite appropriately named, as there seem to be several sonic references to crystalline imagery. I think you've done very well with that. The last note seemed to linger a little past acceptable margins slightly... probably could have either cropped or faded that a little. Well, I'll be honest. I'm a little closer to the fence than my fellow Jfgs. I wouldn't say that I'm so intimate with trance (or any other genre, I suppose) to say that I speak/understand the language wholly, but I do like tasteful and especially innovative trance. While not so much innovative, I certainly enjoy and appreciate what I've just heard. And while he's perhaps away from his aural preferences on this one, Vig is certainly right that it's a shame you didn't submit this one 4 or 5 years ago or so. I think you could have mixed this one a little better. You had some really excellent attention to panning for the most part, but I think your levels could have been managed slightly better. My main gripe would probably be in the drum sequencing. All the fills and sounds themselves were extremely cookie-cutter. Understand that that's a tough thing to weigh into one's vote, because I personally don't feel like we should ever reject something on the basis that it follows certain well-established tendencies of a particular genre, especially if that's how the arranger wants it to sound. Again, for emphasis, on my umpteenth listen, great work on the panning. Another thing some people may cringe at is the length, but again, that seems like its always going to be a touchy thing to bring up. IE something is too long, too short, and how long/short is too long/short, etc etc etc. Lots of trance songs tend to run 5, 6, 7, 8 minutes long, sometimes more, I realize. In the case of OCR, when such a long song is submitted, typically one has to lower the encoding rate in order for it to fit, thus sacrificing sound quality (usually in the upper frequencies) for length. Not always the best trade-off. Here's the deal, bro. I think you need to trim this one down just a bit. Though as pure trance, 7:20 would be totally cool, I think you could benefit from not chopping the encoding quality. Pretty much the same reason you'll never see a remix in the style of a 12-minute Meatloaf song. I also think you could spend a little more time on your drumwork. Might not take a lot, but I think you could definitely progress the loops just a little bit more in order to make the track a bit more engaging. Perhaps thicken the textures in just a couple (a COUPLE, mind you) places to fill out the spectrum. Like I said, with the instrumentation you've got, you do have a very fleeting and crystalline sound already, so I see no reason to suggest deviating too much from what you've already laid down. Well man, here's what it comes down to. I totally dig the song in it's current form. I think for the sake of sitting a little more comfortably on the front page, some minor tweaks are in order. I'd appreciate a resubmit, and I'm sure a lot of would be listeners would like the same, because Larry is right. This has a lot of potential. Otherwise, while not scoring a YES from me right this moment, I'll still be keeping this track in my playlist. Keep at it. NO, but tweak and resubmit. (sorry for the extremely long vote, but I felt this one needed a fair amount of assessment and analysis and reanalysis.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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