Liontamer ⚖️ Posted February 6 Posted February 6 (edited) Artist Name: 7DD9 As usual synthesizers taken over the arrangement and gave it a dark and cold mood exposing the dark chronicles of war and perhaps something beyond... Once again i couldn't upload the track through your upload system, i will post the track below. Games & Sources Game : Command & Conquer (1995) OST Track 13 : Rain in the Night Composer : Frank Klepacki Command & Conquer (also known by the retronym Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn) is a real-time strategy video game developed and published by Westwood Studios in 1995. Set in an alternate history, the game tells the story of a world war between two globalized factions: the Global Defense Initiative of the United Nations and a revolutionary militant organization called the Brotherhood of Nod, led by the mysterious Kane. Edited 16 hours ago by paradiddlesjosh
prophetik music ⚖️ Posted February 7 Posted February 7 opens with some heavily filtered and effected synths handling the initial arpeggio. i like the shift in tempo as i think the slower tempo gives it more gravitas. there's some beefy bass synths and taiko used as well - the buzz on that bass synth is fantastic, i love it. the slower tempo allows for some more space in the articulated lines in the background too which is nice. the mix is pretty noisy with all the edge on the different synths chosen, and the bass's first overtone around 100hz is very boosted which makes it dense down low. there's a bit of a falloff/break and then we get another repetition of the initial arp and chord progression at 0:59. this sounds to my ears very similar to 0:23 but there's some subtle differences in the chord progression as it goes on. this probably could have been trimmed a bit so that we get to the melodic material that comes in at 1:35. there's a very loud and resonant pad through here that's crushing most of the background elements. the melody's in a bell-like pad that doesn't seem to have much ring to it so it's a little hard to trace as well. 2:33's really the first significant shift in the background elements for the entire track, and we get some high strings that have been brutalized. this progresses through to an outro that is mostly the initial arpeggiated instrument's release sustain automating back, and it's done. i really like the initial presentation of the arrangement - the buzzy bass, the heavily effected arpeggio, and eventually the limited percussion that comes in. i think it sounds pretty over-loud initially, but if anything that accentuates how distorted the elements are. but then it didn't do anything for several minutes =( there's no dynamic variation, and the extremely loud and pushed mix just accentuates that by crushing any possible dynamic contrast into sameness. it feels heavily compressed. i also found that by the 1:35 mark as we were getting close to the actual melody showing up that my ear was getting tired of the same bass, arp, and percussion elements since they'd played for nearly that entire time in a row. that was a golden opportunity to mix up the instrumentation a bit or at least freshen up the rhythmic elements of what was playing, but it's more of the same, and that doesn't change the entire rest of the piece. i like this concept a lot overall. i love that you managed to wait for 90s before bringing in any melodic elements and you focused so much on the backing elements so much. i love the highly complex effecting on the arpeggio and the bass's edge to the tone. however, even when the track isn't being repetitive (like the slight changes in chords between the first main phrase at 0:22 and the second at 1:00), it feels repetitive because nothing ever changes until halfway through the piece, and the balance at that point is way off. it's definitely possible i'm making perfect the enemy of good here, but i think that the mashed mix and lack of dynamics combined with a highly repetitive background (when that's what's carrying the work due to a lack of melodic content) puts this in the not-quite-there-yet range. i don't think it needs much to be stellar. NO
jnWake ⚖️ Posted Tuesday at 01:01 AM Posted Tuesday at 01:01 AM (edited) What a strange source... Begins with a voice clip and the main arpeggio from the source on synths. There's fun sound design here as the initial synth sample, which is a bit percussive, is quickly joined by a very fuzzy one. At 0:12, bass and percussion join, creating an oppressive rhytm. Around 0:27 we get the sax melody on a quiet synth that's kinda buried in the soundscape. At 0:55 there's a small break before we continue with the same buzzy arpeggio + buzzy bass + heavy percussion mood. At 1:33 we get another melody and there's a snare added to the percussion. It's kind of a weak snare but it does fit, although it could be beefier. At 1:35 a buzzy pad synth joins the background and takes over the soundscape, it's super loud. Around 2:17 there's another stop in the rhytm, more similar to what we had on the 0:12 section, until that exact section repeats. At 2:31 we get a very random cut for a "nuclear weapon" voice clip that leads into a section with more buzzy synth pads doing a heavy melody. We then return to the intro arpeggio and the track ends. On arrangement I dig this, I like how you transformed the somewhat jazzy source into a very oppressive synth piece, which is a good use of the odd chords in the original. The track flows well IMO, having a few breaks here and there so that it's not constantly in your face (conceptually at least). It's a challenging source to cover and you did well IMO. On production I feel more mixed. On the positive side, I really like your synth work, there's a lot of great sounds in here and clearly a lot of effort putting into how they evolve. Now, there's 2 main issues IMO. First is that the track has very little variation in volume. Most of the track seems to hover around the same level, which lessens the impact of the small breaks you put in some sections (like 0:55 and 2:17). Second is that there's some elements that take over the mix at times, like the bass at 0:27 (completely burying the lead) and the buzzy pad string at 1:35. Overall, this is an interesting remix. The arrangement and production have a harsh mood that I really like, but the lack of dynamics and issues with some samples make me feel more mixed about it. After several listens and pondering my decision, I'm gonna reject this, hoping that there's a chance for you to revisit the mix/master (for more dynamics) and, especially, tame that synth pad around 1:35, it's very grating on the ears. NO Edited Tuesday at 01:06 AM by jnWake
paradiddlesjosh ⚖️ Posted 16 hours ago Posted 16 hours ago Howdy, 7DD9! I'm siding with prophetik and jnWake on this one. The dynamic curve on this one feels too narrow IMO, and a lot of that has to do with the repetition in the backing elements throughout (of particular note is the arpeggiating synth that trucks along from beginning to end). 2:17-2:33 has a missed opportunity to pull things back further: it seems like you intended a build here for the "Nuclear weapon launched" drop and because the backing elements don't simplify enough, there's no room to grow. The other Js have pointed out the mixing imbalances on the resonant string pad at 1:35 and the bass. I agree with them: these are hampering an arrangement that does a great job of ratcheting up the dark mood of the source material and demonstrates restraint in delivering melodic content. While I agree with jnWake that the snare at 1:35 could be beefier, the taiko-like percussion elements are super solid. The reverse cymbal at about 0:06 is tasty as well. This track's really close to a YES from me and I'd love to take another listen to this one after another mixing pass! NO (resubmit)
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