Seiken Densetsu 3 - Decision Bell

[Robotaki]

Alrighty, hi again guys! Here's a little thing I've been trying to work on. It's just an beginning, and there are a few balance issues I still need to tweak. But, overall idea? Okay? Bad? Tell me if I should change any samples, suggest instruments (especially ones playing the main melody), etc. As of right now isn't much since it's just the main theme of the piece, but I'm going to add more original parts later. Comments are always welcome as usual! =P

LINK:

Seiken Densetsu 3 - Decision Bell ReMix

CHANGES MADE:

1. The cymbal was toned down.

2. Percussion volume turned down slightly.

3. Stereo separated some instruments a little further.

4. Brought out higher frequencies. (A little EQing basically.)

CHANGES IN PROGRESS:

1. Reverb is getting toned down.

2. Rawrrr, NO TITLE!!! I'm uncreative...*meep*

[DukeNukem007]

WOW, I like it, it sounds really heavy and dramatic already! Although it sounds NOTHING like the original until about 1:10, then it starts freestyling again at 2:15, which is all a good thing. I love how it builds up at the start. And it almost sounds like you have a little bit of Innocent Water/Sea right before the main theme.

Around 1:42-1:46, I would include the background bells in addition to the main ones. They gave the original song a lot more style at that point.

Cymbals are wayyyyyyyyy too loud at the end, and honestly almost all the other percussion should be toned down 10-20%.

You haven't done much of the quiet refrain part that comes after the bells in the original song.

But good work, SD3 has way too many good songs that haven't made the light of day with remixes (Evening Star is another of my unsung favorites.)

[Villainelle]

But, overall idea? Okay? Bad?

Awesome!

Just curious, why so much reverb? It makes the piece sound bigger/more epic, but also more distant and blurry. If you're using it to fill up space, a string or brass pad could do just as well. It's a personal taste thing, but I'm thinking of GrayLightning here...he likes his reverb too, in ethnic soundscape stuff like this, but uses it more subtly and lets the delicacy of the interplay of instruments stand out more. I'd love to hear more of that in this.

This is an excellent start, eagerly awaiting more.

[avaris]

I'm on my out the door this morning but I though I'd give you a shout saying this is pretty darn good. You got some really good ideas goin here. Try to implement a lil more give and take between the melody/harmony/rythms. Go dig up sephfire's Shadow of the Colosuss remix for a good example.

About the reverb, in my little experience here are two options:

1. Cut the low freq at 300hz. Turn your decay down on the reverb. I found these two things to really clean up the reverb while keeping a similar feel.

2. If you have any type of guitar amp simulator...use it! I have found this to be an awesome effect on natural instruments or sounds you want tons of reverb. It can yield a similar feel without creating any mud.

Also using some overdrive(default preset) on the instruments you want to stand out is another good way to vary the soundscape and give some added clarity.

Def work on this one and finish it off.

[Robotaki]

Sorry it took so long to reply. I went out on a trip with my folks for the break. I'll get to fixing the reverb asap. I usually try and use reverb to kinda "cover" the sound of the crappy, no-$ spent sorta sounds I got to work with so they sound half-decent. But sure, I'll turn a few knobs here and there. Thanks for the comments so far guys!

[Monobrow]

Haha, this is way cool. This makes me want to get to work on my own song on this project.

The beginning is so "American Beauty" - Thomas Newman ish...

Well done though, can't wait to hear some more interpretive parts to this piece.

Awesome.

[Jinnosuke]

Very very nice, great work. Maybe too short

[Ciel]

Excellent as always Robotaki!

[Legion Kreinak]

I love SD3. I love the music as well. This song, in particular, is one of my favorites. The remix sounds great. I can't give any real critiques like the others here who actually make music, but as a listener, I have to say it's great. Where can I download it to my PC?

Question (I don't mean to highjack) - what's reverb? I know what it's short for but...where do you fool around with it for songs? What does it do, essentially?

[John Revoredo]

Hey... didn't Usa say that we couldn't post mixes outta the Seiken Densetsu project forum? ... Anyway, great stuff here. I really enjoy your music, even if the marimbas at the beginning sound fake, there's a LOT of work here building the rythm and the athmosphere. Although really love this, to me, nothing beats lab 16.

Also, you're an imposter. Weren't we supposed to do a collab?!!!!!

[Robotaki]

Ah yeah, about that. Somebody on the project's already taken Decision Bell so I figured it'd be alright with Usa if I put my version of it. I think Tenku has it =P

And about that collab man, omgg sryyy. I haven't generated a list of tracks that I think are good simple choices that can be expanded on a lot yet. Do you have any possible choices? I was sorta thinking that track from Dark Cloud 2 when you travel to Jurak's place and stuff. I kinda dig the melody on that one. But anyway, again, sry for not replying in the longest time. >.< Forgive?

To the rest, thanks a lot for the comments. Still trying things in terms of arrangement for the next sections, but things'll be a little slow from here on in since it's hell week at my school. Jeesuuusss!!!

*Legion Kreinak* - Reverb is "a type of digital signal processing that produces a continuous wash of echoing sound, simulating an acoustic space such as a concert hall. Reverberation contains the some frequency components as the sound being processed, but no discrete echoes." Woohoo, google definitions! ^-^

[Robotaki]

Alrighty guys, exams just ended today so SUMMMERR!!! I got home to work on it right away and got a good few hours on it, but I'm still correcting reverb. I just wanted to put some new ideas into it though. A few balancing issues were fixed up. Yep, I'll continue to update this, but pour your mind out while that's going on and you'll shape the way this thing works out. Thanks!

Here's the link that's in the first post:

Seiken Densetsu 3 - Decision Bell ReMix

[John Revoredo]

Tune to Mix : FEMALE TURBULENCE, from Seiken Densetsu 3.

Now the point is... how do we do the collab? .. um.. Why don't you try to do a "first mix" of it, you send it to me and I re-remix it ? . Then I could send it back to you to have some re-re-remixing. heheh ..

[Mike Z]

Still amazing, even better than the SoundClick version was. Finish it up. <3

Mike Z - I don't 'do' constructive comments.

[Robotaki]

Just wondering, would a live instrument be necessary in this? I haven't really worked much with live recordings and stuff so I'm kinda blah on it. Thanks for the comments so far!

[avaris]

Hey dude damn you've gotten alot better in a year.

On the reverb turn down the decay times alil. Long decay times on reverbs are one of the biggest reasons reverb can sound really muddy.

3:51 to 4:12 seems kinda pointless. Up to that point in the song you have gone on an extended breakdown already.

3:51 to 4:51 needs to shortened. Too much of the same rhythmic ideas. I start to loose to interest and I don't want to because the song sounds really good.

The whole 2nd half of the mix wtf happened to the marcato strings? The whole first half had a real nice build and climax. The 2nd half just runs through different ideas. Individually they all sound really good and they are great to listen to. If you look at the song as a whole the 2nd half needs a more defined structure and movement. You have all the elements to make this incredible friggin remix. Just get your structure flowing right dude.

[Splunkle]

Holy crap, this is awesome. I'm only 2:15 in, and I love it so much. Very, very nice use of samples - every blends together very well indeed.

...

Okay, nearing the end now, and I don't have a shred of advice, as this is smoking hot. Nice work!

[Robotaki]

Ah, really good points to consider avaris. That minute-long section did run on quite a bit, and to be honest all I was doing was adding a new instrument layer one by one each pattern. In terms of the marcato strings, I believe they were made less apparent BECAUSE I layered instruments so slowly. A quicker introduction and maybe a slight increase in velocity may fix the problem. I have a sense that the feeling of loss of structure is a result of this section being too long-winded. I'll be sure to get to the point when I revise it. Do you have any suggestions on how to move the 3:51 area straight to 4:51? Would a sort of bridge be necessary or just a direct transition? (since 3:34 - 3:50 might already take care of it) Thanks!

[avaris]

I actually really like the intro it's awesome. I'd keep it exactly as is.

Haha actually cutting out 3:51 to 4:51 sounds like a perfect transition. If that's the case at 5:10 expand the marcato strings more like you did at 1:35. See how the song expanded there? Up until 5:10 the song has this forward movement and then all of the sudden at 5:10 it goes away? Why?

You clearly defined sections so it shouldn't be too hard to get a nice unified build-up to the mix.

[Robotaki]

Wow this thread hasn't gotten killed yet...lol might as well jump on the opportunity. So, I put this aside for quite a long time because I tried to lower decay times on reverb, but it ended up making the whole orchestration a little cold. It wasn't broad enough for my ears. Is there a way I can maintain the expansiveness of the orchestration but lower the muddiness? Maybe selective reverb adjustment for specific instruments?

[Radiowar]

Doesn't sound too muddy or cluttered to me. But it's definitely close in some parts. On the other hand you do a really good job of having so many different things going on at once, yet they all lock into the groove really well. Maybe one thing to think about would be the individual volume levels.