Marathon 2: Durandal and Marathon Infinity - "Lh'owon"

[Zanezooked]

 

Hey everyone! I’m looking for help revising to the feedback of the judges for my Marathon remix.

I tried attaching it but when I played it back it didn't work properly, so here's a link to an MP3: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6r0yhvlom8nfga95ekzmm/Marathon-Remix.mp3?rlkey=w5h82npsu16by8f4wqt90tq6u&st=e8n1efnj&dl=0

For context, here’s the mix as originally sent to the judges: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MPDu8DWY5Q

It was well-received in the Marathon community. Hamish Sinclair even featured it on the Marathon’s Story pages, which was surreal as I’ve been reading those pages since my first forays onto the internet as a teen in the 90s.

The judges’ feedback was largely positive about the arrangement but negative about the production and mixdown, especially the balance of sounds and general muddiness.

Changes I made in response to judges’ comments:

• Re-mixed pretty much everything, and changed a lot of the EQs
• Added more sidechain compression on the kick (there was some originally, but not enough)
• Took treble off the bass when the guitar is present.
• Swapped the bass in the opening sequence for cello and bass strings. Prophetik seemed to find the synth bass out of place, but I still wanted something in the low end to provide variety from the wall of pads and environmental sound. I really like the result!
• Changed some of the drum rhythms

I should mention that the goal of this remix is to capture a certain Marathon “feel.” It’s not meant to improve on or sound like the source Marathon songs, which are amazing as-is. It’s intended instead to take those themes and give them another showing, in a setting that’s different but still evokes what Marathon feels like as a whole — which for me include not just the original Power of Seven (Psykosonik) music but also Craig Mullins concept art and the philosophical rantings of a rampant artificial intelligence intent on escaping the closure of the universe. I’m not going for a pristine sound, but a dense sound awash in spaciousness, layers, and grittiness that evokes cosmic vastness, ancient mystery, and aggression. Judging by the reception of my original version in the Marathon community, I think I did manage to capture the vibes. So I’d like to retain that, while working to remove muddiness and sound balance.

Thanks for any feedback!

Edited November 13 by Zanezooked

[Zanezooked]

Bump, and a new mix. I decided to shorten the song, taking out the reprise of the M2 theme after the middle slower string part, and ramping directly into the M∞ theme.

DL link in case the upload below doesn't work: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/d5a9713dua8ghzyutied7/Marathon-Shortened.mp3?rlkey=hsbiourne18qrcah6cxeaky44&st=ajei38mt&dl=0

Still hoping for feedback about whether I succeeded in addressing the muddiness and balance issues.