*NO* Final Fantasy 6 "Temporary Tina" *RESUB*

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Original Decision

Artist Name: Audiomancer, Aka Eric

This is a resubmission of this tune. One of the judges said something about why I don't play the flute live, and that's because I have zero quiet time to myself. The only reason I was able to sample myself is because I got out of work 15 minutes early one day, and rushed home to use that 15 minutes to record myself real fast to make my Directwave instrument. I wish I could, my live playing is (I think;) at least a bit better than this stopgap solution, but it is what it is.

I lowered most of the levels across the board, especially on the flute and low brass...and part of the melody I changed to a trumpet to add some variation. I also tamed the saturation automation on the flute as well. I increased the volume on the strings, however. I also did a bit of sidechaining of the flute to the high mids of the backing elements to make room without increasing volume. I shared a revision on Discord earlier, but a huge spot of distortion showed up.... even though it wasn't audible in any other context besides played through Discord. In either case, I still altered this version slightly, I think I improved the balance even more:)

As always, I appreciate the feedback and time taken in reviewing submissions!:-D

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Games & Sources

Final Fantasy 6, Forever Rachel.

Edited 11 hours ago by paradiddlesjosh

[prophetik music ⚖️]

my last vote on this focused mainly on the directwave flute adaptation (i'm probably the one that was asking why it wasn't live!), and on dynamics and execution.

very long strings to open the track (this might be a touch too long). vocal elements come in at 0:16, and some cinematic elements. the flute comes in at 0:32. it's a little farther back in the mix this time, to my ears. the horns at 0:54 are nice and heroic but a bit loud there.

1:01 brings in a men's choir with a very long attack and swell, which is distracting as it doesn't really imitate what we'd expect to hear from a choir. there's a nice pizz in the background, and a piano with a real dancey tone - it doesn't sound classical at all and didn't really fit. the pizz at 1:19 and again at 1:25 and 1:31 isn't idiomatic - fast pizz isn't possible, so this sounded a bit weird. vocals are again used as a transition element after this.

1:44 brings in brass and some harp, and a solo trumpet. the trumpet writing is fine, but the quality of the instrument isn't there. separately, you often pair legato and marcato articulations (for example, the pickup notes at 2:01 and 2:06), and that sounds confusing. i'd recommend normalizing your articulations more consistently (and use less stop-tongued marcato) so that it's more flowing. when the tempo is so slow, the time you spend not playing feels enormous.

the flute comes back in at 2:45 for one last play-through of the melodic line, and again there's some nice backing elements here. the flute also does the very short stop-tongued marcato articulation, which again sounds confusing, and the final flourish moves fast enough that it reveals the flute's origination a bit. just jumping the octave there instead of the run would probably help cover that up.

i think that the flute adaptation feels more believable for the most part this time around, outside a few nits (it's still not clear why the few minutes of recording needed for this can't be done ever - it'd be such a huge boost in musicality!). i think the vocal sample used doesn't really fit the overall feel given the persian scale it's using vs. the very standard progression by the original, but that's not a dealbreaker. i found the trumpet to be the thing that's really needing some help, and a few elements that need some tweaks, but i definitely think this is a lot closer. if this had a better trumpet sample and some of the idiomatic elements like the pizz and articulations cleaned up, i'd be on the side of passing this.

 

 

NO

[Chimpazilla ⚖️]

I was a borderline YES before, and I still am.  I do agree with the issues proph brought out.  The men's choir has a too-long attack so the notes swell slowly and consistently which sounds awkward.  The pizz does not bother me in the least though.  The trumpet does sound fake, and I agree with proph about the mismatched articulations, but that isn't enough of an issue to be a dealbreaker for me.  The piano is indeed a "dance piano" and the tone does not match the rest of the instrumentation super well, but it is used so sparingly.

I am also confused on why zero time to record a flute part can't be found, but I empathize with anyone who cannot find any alone time, that sucks!  But for me, this flute does the job while not being perfect it sounds good enough.

I still like this arrangement.  The big mixing crits I had from before have been addressed.  The mastering has been tamed nicely.  I am still a

YES

[Emunator ⚖️]

I still really like the intro here, it sets the stage really great without ever taking too long to ramp up the intensity. The vocal interludes add a very organic feel that the rest of the instrumentation is unfortunately lacking to varying degrees, but the programmed instruments are pretty serviceable. I actually thought the trumpet sounded more believable than the flute, although the flute was much more expressive due to the vibrato in the sampling. I really wish the flute could be played live, to really sell those legato transitions between notes, but judging based on what we've got here, it does the trick. The balance on the backing instrumentation is much better this time around, so there's no points where anything feels jarring.

I do think this is the kind of track you'll look back on with more experience under your belt in orchestral programming and have a multitude of new techniques that you could use to improve this, but just looking at what's in front of us, I'd say you got it close enough to pass this time around!

YES

[XPRTNovice ⚖️]

To me I'm not sure what to do on this one - I voted on the first one and the flute was the big hangup which doesn't seem to have been changed much here expression wise, and now we have this trumpet that's out in front and has the same problems as the flute, but is an even louder instrument so the problem seems to have worsened. 

To emphasize, it's not the sample - it's how you're humanizing it. The fact that we have the same issue with the trumpet here confirms that for me - the attacks and releases are awkward marcatos that don't fit with the piece.  

I am also still iffy on the interpretation, where I am just not sure if this is far enough from the original to qualify. 

NO

[jnWake ⚖️]

I already voted on the first iteration so I won't make a long breakdown this time. My main issues at the time were the unbalanced volumes and the flute.

Volume issues seem to have been fixed, I don't think there's anything catching my ear on that front anymore. That said, the track is overall a lot quieter now and it's arguably even too quiet, sitting at -15.66 LUFS.

Now, on the flute issue... I remain skeptical sadly. I noticed some weird articulations are now removed but it still doesn't sound natural to me. One of the first examples is the very first articulation 0:33, it sounds extremely mechanical. 3:03 still sounds weird.

There's some additional elements now as well. There's a piano on the background a few times which, as pointed out above, sounds completely unfitting. It's more of a ragtime honky tonk than something to use in an orchestral arrangement. I do appreciate the attempt to flesh out the background though. There's also now a trumpet lead replacing the flute on part of the second half and it has similar issues to the flute sadly. The articulation I pointed out from 0:33 seems almost copy pasted at 1:48 for example.

I'll remain with my original vote for now. Production has improved on original issues but the orchestra in general could sound better. More natural attacks on most instruments would help, there's a distinct lack of proper legato which makes everything sound fake.

NO

Edited May 26 by jnWake

[pixelseph ⚖️]

I missed out on this one the first time, glad to be able to give it a go around on this version.

Very cinematic opening with the swells. I do agree with Proph that the scalar pattern differences between the vocal and the rest of the track could fit together better, but aren't a dealbreaker. The flute has some digital artifacting on the vibrato that is distracting, notably audible @ :40, 1:02 - 1:05, and 1:23 - 1:33. Aside from the artifacts, the implementation also feels somewhat mechanical because of the tempo; the other Js have noted the stop-tongued marcato elements on both the flute and trumpet (later in the piece) sounds out of place and I have to agree. I don't think the marcato is a bad idea, per se - just that the current implementation takes more away from the piece than it adds. Lingering on the shorter notes longer could make the phrase sound more compelling without compromising the vision.

The arrangement overall leans conservative, though there's enough here to work - the expanded cinematic intro and the rubato breaks (@ :59 and 1:34 - 1:43), combined with the melodic flourishes, are just enough to get over the bar for me.

I think this idea has legs, but there's more work to be done to get it across the finish line. I'm aligned with my fellow NOs in that, for me to sign off on this one, I'd need to hear more organic expression from the lead instruments (flute, trumpet).

NO (resubmit)

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Glad to see this back again. Opens up with a nice fade-in of strings and cool sampled female vocal line. Whoa, woodwind at :32 isn't winning any realism contests, for sure. :-D It's serviceable, but it did jar me to start. Nice addition of the low pizz strings and male vox at 1:01 behind the lead. Piano accents sounded fake, but quiet enough to not stand out too much and were tastefully produced. This is so reminiscent of my first vote nearly 21 years ago when I NOed Koelsch1 for the same kind of thing going on with his woodwind lead, though his got shrill and had some trills that majorly exposed the samples.

Brass at 1:46 was also fairly anemic, but became a little more forceful not too long after coming in. Nice lil' percussive thump as a transition to the organ and vox padding up the texture after 2:13. Nice countermelodic writing going on with the brass underneath the woodwind for a stronger finish.

It's not humanized-enough sequencing, so any uncanny valley criticisms are valid, but for a mockup, which is where I believe our hobbyist bar is, this is alright. If this doesn't make it as is, it's not because of the structure or arrangement, which are already well personalized and dynamic, it's for the production. This is solid enough though, I'm not being smacked in the face with any terrible-sounding samples, just cognizant enough at the fact that it could be better humanized.

All that said, the instrumentation choices, particularly in tandem, demonstrated a lot of care and intention, and the execution's cohesive enough! Good job, Eric; I know you'll stay with this and improve it further if this doesn't make it, you've got the sticktuitiveness we wish everyone had. :-)

YES

[Hemophiliac ⚖️]

 My complain with the first version was that the balance between parts was off and the humanization of the samples was not ideal. The flute has been improved some by removing some of the chromatic runs, but it still needs improvement on it's humanization. The same goes for the new trumpet lead. Individual notes are static and don't have movement, as well as the line being detached and not legato. Legato samples are not a requirement to get passed, but more attention to their humanization will go a long way in improving the realism.

The balance between parts is much better this time around.

At 1:04 there's a piano supporting underneath, I don't recall it being in the first version. The part sounds ok, but the piano sample itself does not feel fitting for the style.

This version is closer, but still not there as it's being held back by the uncanny valley. Some improvements made, but now other issues have appeared in their place.

NO

[paradiddlesjosh ⚖️]

I also missed out on this track on its first time 'round the panel. Thanks for sticking with it, Eric!

The string build in the intro is quite long, but I'll live. 

I agree with proph, XPRT, Seph, and Hemo regarding the articulations on the flute and the trumpet holding back the humanization of those two instruments. I wouldn't mind the approach so much if the shorter notes weren't so short and detached: the stop-tongue marcato is so short, it's practically staccatissimo.

The piano from 1:04-1:30 sounds timbrally more appropriate for a dance tune than the orchestral piece you've made, though the part is brief and in the background. I could see a world where this part is covered by the harpsichord instead, especially since that instrument appears in the recap of this section later on underneath the trumpet.

The triplet descent in the pizz strings at 1:32 is the worst offender for the part in terms of realism, but otherwise seems serviceable. I agree with LT on the brass being anemic at first; overall, the second half of this track feels stronger in execution than the first half.

I'm very borderline on this one. The arrangement's conservative but offers embellishments and personal touches. The mixdown and master are appropriate for the style. Really, the flute and trumpet programming are the only real downsides here. Ultimately, I gotta come down with the other NOs, but this one is really close!

NO (resubmit)