Liontamer Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 XMark's the spot! I'm sure he's never heard that one before. - LT ReMixer name: XMark Real name: Mark Hall E-mail: xmark@abstract-productions.net Website: http://abstract-productions.net/ userid: 13079 Name of game: Final Fantasy 6 Name of individual song: Cyan's theme An entry in the March 2005 Dwelling of Duels competition. This is a metal adaptation of Cyan's theme, done in a style influenced by Metallica's "Sad But True", but with a traditional Japanese-styled introduction section. -------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff6 - "Cayenne" (ff6-113.spc) Played this way back on VGF56; it was the track that put Mark on my DoD radar. Good ethnic intro; seems a lot of people take that direction with the source material. Plucked string stuff sounded a little awkward, but it wasn't too loud. The orchestration was a bit thin, despite the war drums (which could have been beefier). Transition into the rock stuff at 1:22 was pretty smooth on the whole. Tone of the guitar at 2:01 lacked meat on it, so I was glad it changed up at 2:16. I feel like the production didn't give the rock section the oomph that the writing was going for, on both the lead guitar and the drums; felt empty up until 3:30. Better power after that though. Perhaps it just needed another instrument in the background to fill that out more, or more active drums. If Vigilante chimed in, he would have a better grasp on what might be lacking, if anything. The Metallica/"Sad But True" influence was definitely apparent, and a cool idea. Definitely one where the interpretive-ness of the arrangement carries it more than the production. Giving it one uninterrupted listen-through, this is above the line for me, but the track feeling a little empty/thin during the rock section undermines the final product a bit. I'm definitely interested to see what Mark has to offer in the future. He's one of DoD's more solid contributors (plus his Dragon Warrior audio dramas are always good, even me having not played the series). Really glad to see you make your way over this side. Clearly the evil side. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 time fore some GLIBTASTIC GOODNESS from BGC: Production/arrangement etc was coo. Only thing I didn't like was when the ethnic drums dropped out alltogether and your kit drums were still fading in, I don't think that worked out as smoothly as it could have / should have. Other than that, great performance, good track YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 I really was not feeling that entire ethnic intro at first, since the samples aren't so great and the tuning of the plucked instrument is weird. However, on subsequent listens I got used to it and I don't think it's a dealbreaker anymore (even though I think it could be polished way more, as the concept itself is good). The rock stuff is way more solid. The timing feels a bit off on some of the parts, the high end feels a little dulled, and the melody on lead guitar could be brought out more. Plus, I think some synths or ethnic instruments could have made appearances elsewhere in the mix so the intro would have more of a connection. That would have made it more interesting, IMO. That being said, the arrangement is quite good and highly interpretive. Nice changes to the chord progression + melody. Riffage and soloing is also tops. I was surprised at the abruptness of the ending, however. After such a long intro, to have an ending like that seems out of place. Basically my main complaints here are production. Some stuff could be hotter and meatier in that department, and I'm a sucker for denser textures... but those concerns aren't enough to merit a no. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jillian Aversa Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 Plucked guitar sounds waaaaay out of tune with everything else in the intro. It didn't quite fit in texturally, either, perhaps due in part to the mixing. In fact, I'm not sure how much the entire ethnic introduction really enhanced the arrangement in the first place. It was in an entirely different key, and the production qualities were weaker here. I liked everything from the metal entrance on much better, to be honest, and I'm not even a big fan of the style! Very nice soloing, solid production, great interpretation. The ending was a little abrupt for my taste, but it works. I'll YES this, but I hope that you consider a different approach for future submissions. In the end, the entire intro section felt like more of a gimmick than anything else. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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