OCR04894 - *YES* Flowstone Saga "Fight for My Friends"

[Hemophiliac ⚖️]

So a long while back I was talking with TSori, and we ruminated on wither or not we had heard any solo trumpet in a synthwave styled track as a lead. We could not think of any examples and so I said I would write one and have him play on it. Fast forward to sometime in the future when I had been playing ImpactGameworks' beta for Flowstone Saga and I was being immersed in the art and music. I recall a scene early in the game where a solo piano version of the main character's theme plays with gorgeous visuals. I wanted to just sit there and be immersed for as long as I could. I knew that I wanted to arrange that source from then.

I had an initial attempt at arranging this that didn't work out and so I put it aside for a while. I picked it back up and started with the bass this time, everything clicked and fell into place very quickly after that. I got the trumpet part to TSori and he crushed it as always.

I spent a lot of time working on mixing and lots more attention to the mastering this time around, I feel like that was reflected in this compared to much of my previous work. And I have to give thanks to Chimpazilla for some crucial critical feedback at the end.

Enjoy!

Games and Sources:

Flowstone Saga: "The Climb" (Mirai's Theme)

[prophetik music ⚖️]

big synth horns to start and a funky bass synth. i like the half-time tempo and feel right off the bat. it picks up and we get the first bit of trumpet. this is interesting, because the bass is pretty rhythmic in what it's playing with a lot of space, and the trumpet has a lot of verb on it and is playing very legato.

0:57 is a piano break, and this is very stripped back - it's just the keys initially. there's some build for a bit bringing in some nice right-hand stuff in the piano, and then it's back to the melodic material at 1:22. this is a pretty low-energy version of what was playing before - the half-time feel definitely is more laid-back, and the lead's slow filter fits into that too.

the bass starts to do some more complex stuff after this and there's some backing elements that are also building up a bit, but there are a lot of false builds and drops for a while. this part of the mix felt a little more directionless until we got back to the melodic material in the trumpet at 2:26. like, 2:23 should feel like a high point in the piece based on what the trumpet's saying, but there's just nothing there to support it, and it immediately goes to a very reserved feel in the chords and timbre there. there's one more blow through that melody, and a short tag after the last chord.

i think overall this piece suffers from a lack of cohesiveness, and that while there's some big builds and drops, there's no real payoff sections. for example, in the opening you've got this big build over time, with a switch to double-time right as the trumpet's about to come in. i expected this big wall of sound at 0:25 to really be a banger start to the track - but the trumpet comes in and kind of legato plays over the existing elements, and there's no intense wall of sound there or anything. so that build didn't feel like it was for anything. the next section is a big step back to the piano, which is nice (but we never get solo piano again in the piece), and it quickly ramps back up to the recap of the melody in the slow-filter lead with the chippy arps behind it. this is a cool vibe, but it's very similar to the opening section in that it doesn't really go anywhere during the section, and it feels light on content even though there's a decent amount going on because a lot of that is sustains. the next section is very different, with a highly rhythmic bass element, but again there's not a lot going on so the soundscape feels empty, and it doesn't really correlate to anything else in the track outside of being the same bass element. we do get to a recap of the melodic material, but again there's nothing to drastically make this section stand out - no big wall of sound, no changed chords,  no altered rhythms, no payoff chorus - just a few flourishes in the trumpet, and it's done.

this is a tough vote because i actually really like the concept. there's some really fun few-second snippets that are very chef's-kiss. but i really feel that the verby trumpet over washes of strings and synths with a highly rhythmic bass instrument below it felt jarring and disconnected throughout, and that the whole track never really gets to that "ok, this is what i was waiting for" moment. it's got the pieces but the picture on the box never quite comes together. i'd love to hear more intentionality with the soundscape on the melodic sections to give them more verve and body from an instrumentation and contextual standpoint, and i'd love to hear more overall dynamism in the work.

 

 

NO

 

[Chimpazilla ⚖️]

Hemo reached out to me for advice on getting this track mixed and grooving the way it should, and I think it really does!  The mix is well balanced and the mastering is appropriate.

It would never have occurred to me that this arrangement was lacking cohesiveness, so I find proph's vote somewhat confusing.  Could more have been done with the arrangement, sure, perhaps, but what is here is more than adequate to convey the ideas.  The focus was on the trumpet, and that trumpet is performed extremely well.  The gentle synthwavey backing is a surprisingly good fit for the trumpet lead.  The arrangement is gentle and laid-back, with quiet sections building into fuller sections, none of which is ZOMG EDM BANGER material but that wasn't Hemo's intent here.

I see no reason this track shouldn't be on our front page!

YES

Edited April 15 by Chimpazilla

[XPRTNovice ⚖️]

I'm more on Chimp's wavelength here but I am not jiving with the way the trumpet is mixed and it's throwing it into the NO range for me. It often disappears into the background and weaves in and out of the foreground even within a line, when it should be the featured instrument in almost all instances when it's playing. Some simple (maybe not simple) automation can likely fix this. 

I enjoy the piano break at 1:00. 

the other part that gave me real wonky vibes is that ending. It sounds like a gate or a compressor is firing like mad there. 

Overall though, I think the mix is good and the vibe is vibing. I don't hear anything that would make this unpassable; I just think it needs another crack at trumpet automation (and maybe a touch less reverb) and then to figure out what happened with that ending. 

NO (resubmit)

[Emunator ⚖️]

My first listen to this track was on a single airpod while sitting at the OCR Merch Booth at VGM Con, so I have to imagine that this second listen will give a clearer picture of what's going on!

Out of the gate, the sound design is not necessarily offering anything groundbreaking, but the fusion of acoustic instruments with a more traditional mellow EDM synth palette sets the stage nicely for the dynamic arrangement and fluid melodic adaptation of the source material, which I think is this mix's strongest asset. The drum and bass programming is incredibly nimble, and overall speaks to a great understanding of the source material and its potential. 

The string swells during the last minute are great, though I was underwhelmed by the realism on the strings when they were more exposed at the very end. It feels like the tremolo swell has an unintended click when the dynamics fade kicks in?

The trumpet mix is indeed a little uneven, like Joe said - some points it gets lost and others, it feels like it's towering way over everything else in the mix. Not the end of the world for me.

I don't think this is your most polished mix from a technical standpoint, and the actual drum/synth sounds admittedly feel a little basic, but what you did with them is enough to sell me here! At the end of the day, the foundation is solid enough to support a litany of creative part writing decisions and an arrangement that goes a lot of places in such a short time.

YES

[jnWake ⚖️]

Begins with a pad and a fuzzy bass. One thing that catches my ear right away is the heavy reverb on everything, it's super distracting. Drums soon enter and there's kind of a weird rhytm going on at first with the snare dropping in many beats, but it's kinda cool. Trumpet enters around 0:26 with the main melody and the track settles in a more stable groove. The constrast between the trumpet and the rest is interesting, at times it feels like it's not really jelling well for some reason though. I do agree with XPRT's note on the volume, maybe it needs to stand out more. I also think the tone could have some more bite. We reach a piano break around 0:55 and then a repeat of the main melody with a synth now, it feels like it fits better this time. At 1:58 we reach the 0:58 part from the source, which is IMO its most interesting section by far. The heavy rhytmic approach of this section really highlights the awkward sound of the reverb... Trumpet returns at 2:16 for some melodies and after some neat chords we return to the main theme. Sadly the trumpet gets very lost this time, a lot of its notes are very hard to hear. The track has a bit of a fake ending at 3:15 and then a small string segue for the actual ending on a low piano note.

On arrangement, this does a good job of taking the material of the source and adding your own spin. I don't have many nitpicks here really. Maybe the only would be that I'm not sold on the ending after 3:15, it feels kinda random.

On production, however, I have some issues. First, however, I'm gonna mention I liked the drums, they sound punchy and clear! Now, my main issue is the reverb, it's all over the track and it's super distracting, it completely kills the vibe at many times, especially on 1:58. Second there's some balance issues, the bass is often louder than it should (made worse by the reverb) and the trumpet gets lost often and lacks bite. I think with a more balanced volume and some extra grit the trumpet would fit the soundscape much better.

Overall, I'm a bit torn but I'm gonna side with proph and XPRT now. Balance is off with reverb and trumpet and that makes this track a little weird to listen to.

NO

Edited May 26 by jnWake

[pixelseph ⚖️]

Oh yeah, this one is definitely a tough vote. Trumpet over EDM is not a combination I'm used to hearing just yet, though Tsori's performance is excellent here. @ 2:30 - 3:15 is a great example of balancing lead voices while trading parts; while I can conceive of a mix where the trumpet is always forward, the instruments trading off the spotlight is a feature for me and not a bug. The piano break @ :57 and the bass build break @ 1:56 are tactically deployed and well-handled, even if I find myself thinking that I would handle them differently.

I'm with Emunator here in that I think this isn't your magnum opus, Hemo, but it's above the bar in terms of quality and arrangement on the site. Happy to continue the split on this one with another

YES

[paradiddlesjosh ⚖️]

Oh, I remember an earlier version of this sub!

My only critique of the arrangement is the ending -- something doesn't sit right with me about the falloff into the tremolo string crescendo. Apropos of a synthwave track, I get a chill night-time drive vibe throughout the piece. Drum and bass part writing are solid, and I appreciated both the piano break at 0:57 and bass breakdown at 1:56 for their changes of pace. I also want to shout out the melody line trade between the trumpet and synths at 2:30-3:15. The ending is less than ideal, but in my opinion, the personalization and flow of this piece is above board.

I disagree with the NOs on the production aspects, particularly regarding Tsori's trumpet in the mix. I had little trouble making out the trumpet's melody line at any point, even when there's line interplay (0:43-0:45 between the trumpet and synth, the trumpet dovetailing into the right hand of the piano at 0:57, trumpet and synth again at 2:54-2:57). If anything, the worst offender of this line balance is 2:16-2:30 and even here, stacked with the piano and synth for a new texture, I don't find this egregious enough to say NO to it. Beyond the trumpet's place in the mix, I can hear lots of reverb, but not so much that it detracts from the listening experience.

Nothing screams "dealbreaker" to me about this track; what's here is good enough. Nice work, Hemo.

YES

[Liontamer ⚖️]

I got to sit in on BrOA listening and sharing thoughts in person with Hemo about this one during VGMCon, which was an awesome moment I was honored to witness. Needed to give some distance on this one to better wrap my head around the source, but Hemo explained it for me, and after listening to it again, I'm cool on the source usage.

I read through everyone's POVs, and I'm surprised that only Emu a little and Wake touched on where I felt the main issue was, which was the drums, namely the writing. They felt stilted and bland, and lacked synergy with the other strong instrumentation (both programmed and performed).

I can hear why some Js thought the reverb/effects were too much; wasn't ideal, but didn't do anything to hurt the track, IMO. I also had 0 issues with the trumpet mixing relative to any other part-writing. The piano writing was an excellent touch throughout, and I really liked the contrast of the synth lead at 1:23 handling the melody compared with TSori in the previous iteration; great contrast, and I thought the dynamics of that worked very well.

Also liked the shift in energy at 1:56; the bass kicks were providing some good heft, though the other occasional drum beats still felt vanilla. Not sure if there was round-robin action going on with those drums either; even if there was, it didn't sound like it from what I could tell. Weird lil' sample retriggering thing at 3:19 that would be nice to iron out, but wasn't a big deal.

Nice approach to the theme, TSori's performance was strong, the piano stuff (including ambient noise from movement) and synth writing were all good, and the shift at 1:56 was a personal highlight. I get why this has YESs, and if anything, I'd think my issues would be in the minority and that the other NOs have weird reasons for NOing, but here we be. :-D

So this is where I'm unhelpful. The other NOs brought up mixing stuff that I felt was overwrought and overstated, stuff where I agree with pixelseph was a feature, not a bug. I'm not sure what the other Js expected from the energy level here, but I thought the overall dynamics were fine. But for me, the drumbeats have a static, bland, plodding feel to them that's undermining the otherwise solid energy here. There's a rigidness to their writing/timing that's not clicking here, so this would need to be reworked somehow to not sap verve away from the overall presentation.

To me, this is 85% of the way there and the other writing and production choices don't need to be touched. Eino Keskitalo's "Sadevakio" is such a great example of a track with mechanical timing that still sounds very fluid and expressive, including his beats. I'm sorry that I can't better articulate it, because it'll sound like I'm saying the energy level needs to be picked up/ramped up, when it's more about the fluidity and flow of the drumming, not the speed and activity. If this doesn't make it as is, you're more than capable of groking something from checking out that piece to level up the drums here.

NO (resubmit)

[Rexy ⚖️]

I had to think about this one.  Yes, it's synthwave-inspired, but the intent is a more melancholy kind of direction.  The arrangement is also easy to follow, so a source breakdown isn't necessary either.  Sound design choices are befitting for the overall mood, and while not overly realistic, it didn't need to be for the broader picture.  The only concerns that I had were based more on transitioning between sections - none of them had a total number of bars that could be divided by 4, which made the payoff difficult to initially anticipate (esp. at 1:10 -1:24).  If there was any opportunity to revise the drum writing at the end of those sections to make it easier to count in, that would've been great, but it's not deal breaker territory.

Looking under the bonnet, though, the VST choices feel super clean.  The trumpet, however, is hard to say with all the reverb it's washed with.  Though that had been a talking point, I have listened to the track many times, and it's still evident enough to identify in the bigger soundscape.  Like Larry, I wasn't too sure about the plodding drums at first, as they sounded so sparse compared to the rest of the synths.  I would've liked some bigger drums to lean more into the Synthwave inspiration, but for me, this is a stylistic choice, despite the previously mentioned segway concern.

It's good vibes all around, Chris.  It's one of your more unusual submissions, for sure, but I'm still in favor of seeing this on the site.  Let's go.

YES