prophetik music ⚖️ Posted February 20 Posted February 20 This is a resub, original submission thread is here: Changes: - Changed the chords on the melody, as requested. - Re-Recorded the clean guitars to fit the new chords. - For the main lead synth, re-recorded the leads to be less 'stiff' and changed delay/reverb settings. - Changed the balance of the lead synths volume - Changed the low pass on the lead guitar - Re-did the bass line - Re-did the guitar solo - Changed the balance on the hi-hats - Changed a lot of the drum patterns Mix breakdown stays the same: 0:00-0:33 - slightly changed version of chord progression from source 0:41-1:22 - original source melody 1:22-1:30 - altered chord progression 1:30-2:02 - new arpeggios with different backing and variation bassline 2:02-2:11 - original source melody 2:12-2:26 - new guitar solo 2:26-2:42 - original melody 2:42-2:50 - altered chord progression from source 2:50-2:59 - new guitar 2:59-3:06 - original melody 3:06-3:31 - new arpeggios over the original chord progression 3:31-3:50 - slightly changed version of chord progression from source Games & Sources Earthbound - Twoson
prophetik music ⚖️ Posted February 20 Author Posted February 20 my last vote was pretty flip-floppy, but ultimately i settled on the side of the crunchy chords being too much, and the repetition in the backing parts and the execution of some of the synths needed work. opens with some spacey stabs and eventually a nice meaty bass tone. melody comes in on the guitar at 0:41 (it's a bit loud initially) and then is passed to the lead synth with some rhythm guitar underneath. the first break hits at 1:22 and i especially like the tone of autopanning arp here. there's one more short recap of the melody in a middle voice at 2:02 (probably could start a touch louder) and then we get some guitar solo work. there's a bit of a bridge which works well to mix it up a bit, and then some more handing off of the melodic content before some outro content that goes on a bit longer than i'd have expected. i think this is a lot more cohesive of a package this time around. the variety of drums especially really helps each section take on a voice of its own, and the 'fixed' chord elements allow the track to speak cleaner. YES
Liontamer ⚖️ Posted March 3 Posted March 3 I was fine with the previous version, though I can certainly empathize with why it got voted down. There's a very stilted quality to this from the drum programming, but I feel what's here overcomes this. Same with the synth timing for the line at 2:25 and the bass at 2:41, it's not pleasing. Second verse, same as the first, the overall interpretation and treatment carry it over for me more than the stiff timing holds this back, but I can see the case for arguing otherwise. I've heard plenty of tracks where the metronome-like timing is a feature not a bug, and this isn't a case where it's the same. For me the live guitar and the some of the synth design are solid enough as well to walk it over the line. :-) YES
Emunator ⚖️ Posted March 3 Posted March 3 "I've heard plenty of tracks where the metronome-like timing is a feature not a bug, and this isn't a case where it's the same." I really appreciate this take from @Liontamer because it speaks to the dilemma I faced when listening to this. It obviously feels like it's inspired by new-wave tracks from the days of drum machines where the rigid quantization was very much intentional. I see what you're going for here, but I think the lead synth programming still has plenty of room to be more expressive without subverting that feeling, with subtle modulation and expression or fills. The lead guitar breaks out of this rigid lockstep in a way that's very satisfying, so I have an immediate reference within the song for what it sounds like when you have a very expressive lead melody on top of the machine-like drum and synths that unfortunately makes the first half of the track feel underwhelming by comparison. That said, I was already pretty borderline with the last submission, and I can't deny that you did a great job of addressing nearly everything that we brought up. The mix is much cleaner, there's no more individual elements poking out of the mix in a distracting way, and you cleaned up some of the crunchy chords. While I do think there's room for additional development, I think this now sits comfortably above the bar. Great work taking all of the feedback to heart and putting it all together to push your arrangement where it needed to be! YES
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