Zelda OoT - Spirit Temple (Middle Eastern-flavored electronica/dance).

[Villainelle]

Edit 04.02.07:

WIP #3!

More clarity, less half-assed ending (more like...3/4-assed).

link: http://leah.johnsandford.org/music/seekrit/Zelda_64_Book_of_the_Dead_OC_ReMix.mp3

[Theory of N]

Middle Eastern-flavored electronica/dance...wow. It works. some of that guitar/sitar/whatever that stringy thing is around 1:45 sounds a bit strange in places, but this mix is sweet.

Oh yeah btw, don't quit your day job!

[avaris]

Oh nice I've been waiting for other people to integrate some ethnic flavor with electronic sounds. There is a song by Delerium called Remembrance that has a very middle eastern feel that's pretty bad ass.

The entrance for lead at the very very beggining is just a lil loud in comparison to the pad.

Some really good synth design in this. All the delays really add a lot of flava to the soundscape. The low to midrange feels a little lacking in movement. 1:30 is a lil better. Maybe get some saw waves with some small amounts of phase on em and get them sweeping across the spectrum.

The kick could use a tad more compression IMO. Try to find some middle eastern drum sounds to really enhance the ethnic feel. You could some breakdowns goin with those. The sound of the bass could be a lil more present, that's more so just a personal taste of mine though.

[Villainelle]

Haha, thanks man. I'll check out that section you mentioned...all the notes *should* harmonize okay, but there might be weird clashing harmonics or something because of all the detuned instruments...who knows, but thanks for pointing it out!

[Villainelle]

Oh nice I've been waiting for other people to integrate some ethnic flavor with electronic sounds. There is a song by Delerium called Remembrance that has a very middle eastern feel that's pretty bad ass.

The entrance for lead at the very very beggining is just a lil loud in comparison to the pad.

Some really good synth design in this. All the delays really add a lot of flava to the soundscape. The low to midrange feels a little lacking in movement. 1:30 is a lil better. Maybe get some saw waves with some small amounts of phase on em and get them sweeping across the spectrum.

The kick could use a tad more compression IMO. Try to find some middle eastern drum sounds to really enhance the ethnic feel. You could some breakdowns goin with those. The sound of the bass could be a lil more present, that's more so just a personal taste of mine though.

Thanks bro, you give some great commentary on this forum. Appreciate it.

Good call on the low range, the bass is just one repeating pattern...it should probably switch up and follow the chords but I'm lazy. And yep, already have a breakdown in mind with ethnic drums--you must be psychic.

Thanks again man.

[Villainelle]

Bump, major update, see OP.

[avaris]

I think that the instrument that you use for the lead in the intro has too much a grated/unison feel. It sounds great later on the mix, but it kind of jumps out at me in the intro.

The hats feel a lil loud in comparison to the kick. Try to make the kick a lil more present.

1:00 to 2:18 introduce a 2nd instrument playing the melody. Or have the lead expand dynamically. It's great a sound but its in there quite a bit in those sections. Easing up on the intro will also help it to fresher throughout.

Vocal parts FTW!

Try to make the ending section a lil more climactic

Overall it sounds like everything could be a a lil crisper. Maybe try to pan some of the sound harder left and right. Did you cut out the low frequencies about 150 and below? There is so much going on but they could def have more of their own space IMO. It sounds like you got some faint vocal parts in the first half. I'd turn those up a lil bit, they sound really cool and emotive and would really add more flava if brought into the foreground.

This is a wicked good concept, being a lil harsh bc your about to submit. Overall I'd def say it's pretty much done. It just needs a lil more attention to the production to really put it over the top.

Where the hell did you dig up those vocals?

[Villainelle]

Man Avaris, you are always right on the money. Good ears! I agree with everything you said, tweaking accordingly. Appreciate the honesty too.

Where the hell did you dig up those vocals?

Recorded myself. Actually bought a copy of the book with phonetic pronunciations of the hieroglyphs...but the chanting has a huge chain of effects on it anyway so it's not like you can tell how accurately I pronounced stuff. The one line that's actually sung is flipped backwards...it sounded cooler.

Transcription is here:

http://leah.johnsandford.org/music/seekrit/zeldaoot_botd_transcript.txt

Btw, you think the chanting section sits okay in the mix? I've listened to this too much so it's hard to be objective about the arrangement anymore...

[avaris]

That was you!? I tried to record my self doing some whispering before but it came out pretty bad, let alone my recording device sucked.

I def think it sits well. I'd say break it up into two sections. If you go for a big climax at the end, then spend the 2nd half of the chant section slowly building up to it. Kinda like how in Pillar of Salt the song is always gradually building up, except your just builing up to one section. That's my idea.

[Red Shadow]

! WOW

[Villainelle]

Okay, WIP #3! Tried to incorporate some of the suggestions...it sounds clearer, and the ending isn't as abrupt. Did some light filter automation on the lead to smooth over the shriller parts too. Sooo sick of this thing now.

It's made me really listen to and appreciate OoT's soundtrack though...methinks a mellow Water Temple/Serenade of Water mix is next.

[chumble spuzz]

Hey, this is sounding really good. That gargled chanting is creepy like all get out. I couldn't detect the source melodies the first time through, but I found them upon re-listening. Requiem of Spirit was somehow less memorable for me, but you used it well--actually, the airy synth at :40 reminds me of Metroid (a good thing, as far as I'm concerned).

One thing I noticed: the reverby-falloff of the last note gets cut off--but you probably already know that. Other than that, the mix flows nicely. Keep it up!

[Tricklozen]

Only heard WIP#3.

First couple of listens (monitor headphones, no treble or bass eq, "as is"):

[0:40] ) (That's what emoticons are for.)

After a couple of listens (crap speakers, no treble or bass eq, "as is"):

[2:41] Some slight dissonance with regards to singing (sustained voice, not chanting). It doesn't detract much. Dissonance isn't necessarily negative here, but I'll mention it anyway.

[4:03] Somewhat piercing lead when played loud. (Hard to notice with headphones.)

The bass sound fits really well, but it could be wider (feels like there's more room for it due to the overall treblish soundspace). It may be a subtle thing.

Love the structure of the song (especially the returning bassline, waiting for it), detailed percussion, swirling synth sounds. The chanting adds depth and credibility to the theme. Some of the sounds and elements give associations to Astral Projection (Dancing Galaxy), Man with No Name (Moment of Truth), Hallucinogen (Twisted).

Feels finished structurally. Cool take on this one.

[Villainelle]

Thanks so much for the comments guys. I <3 you all. This is the finished version that I submitted (ignore tags/filename plz, it has not been judged yet):

http://leah.johnsandford.org/music/seekrit/Zelda_64_Book_of_the_Dead_OC_ReMix.mp3

Pushed it a little louder, more definition in the highs.

Tricklozen (awesome comments <3), yup, there's dissonance with that sung clip, and earlier at 1:55ish when the sitar plays against the lead (as Theory pointed out). It bothers me a bit...but then, considering that the original song has a bunch of pitch bends and grace notes that are dissonant (there are some pretty flagrant G#s in it, while the whole thing is in G minor o.O), it seemed to fit okay. I ran it by a jazz musician friend who actually told me to leave the dissonance in, because it was interesting. So I guess it's tolerable?

Chumble, good catch - I didn't notice that cut at the end, added another 2 secs to catch the whole fadeout.

There are still some points in the final mix where all the shrill voices add up to be on the piercing side, which is what I'm most worried about...it sounds okay to me on headphones, but on my monitors it sometimes seems overwhelming, sometimes not. I don't know anymore. ; ; Guess the judges will determine whether it's unbearably piercing!

[Vidilian]

This is a very strange song to remix so I wasn't sure what to expect. Props for making a great remix out of very sparse source material. At first the chanting kinda ruined it for me but I actually like what you did there now. Captures the creepiness of the spirit temple. Good luck.

[Evfan42]

This is an Excellent song, and the chanting fits well with the rest of the theme of the song. Nice job adding it there

[Dr. Rod]

I think the chanting is great, it really does capture a dark, ritualistic feel, making the title "Book of the Dead" all the more fitting.......excellent all around : )

[Villainelle]

Thanks, guys.

[Sole Signal]

Rapidfire thoughts:

Intro is definitely cool, though afterwards it seems like the source tune lets you down. I'm not familiar with the original track, and there doesn't seem to be much of anything to grab on to immediately after the intro. I enjoyed the 1:25 and thereafter stuff more. I liked the chanting stuff, I think. The percussion around that part was good stuff. The violin around 3:00 made me cringe a bit. As much as I didn't really like the synth work at :27, I liked the return at 3:43 for some reason.

Overall, nice work you have going here. Definitely interested in hearing updates.

[Dr. Rod]

Oh yeah, did u use actual quotes from the Book of the Dead in that chanting section....it sounds kinda like u did, and if so, that just makes the song all the sweeter : )

[Cloral]

Intro is definitely cool, though afterwards it seems like the source tune lets you down. I'm not familiar with the original track, and there doesn't seem to be much of anything to grab on to immediately after the intro.

Zelda dungeon themes tend to be fairly atmospheric without a whole lot of structure. I think the theme worked quite well in the game itself, and this is definately an interesting take on it. Didn't like the chanting all that much though.

[The Joker]

I finally gots a chance to comment on this. First off, I like this mix, it's pretty dang good, espceially the chantings. now for comments in numerical order!

1. First of, the tracks seems rather... how can I put this. The tracks doesn't feel thick enough in the sound department. What I mean is that, it sounds fairly hollow. I'm not saying it needs more added, it just needs to be a little phatter in the soundscape.

2. It needs more... I'm gonna say, egyptian. There's a bug going round, & the only perscription is some ethnic percussion. Maybe some underlying bongos/congas would thicken up the soundscape, as well as make it a bit more unique. Listen to the timesplitters 3 track, "Whos' the Mummy" to hear what I mean.

3. Thicken up those chants, & maybe pan them a bit more/fatten them up.

Though, like I said, I like the track as is, but I think it has huge potential. Keep up the good work!

[Villainelle]

Joker, interesting comments. There are actually tabla and other hand drum fills and syncopated beats playing throughout most of the song, more noticeable at some points than others. I can see the "hollow" sound though - overuse of tube saturation and compression. :\ All these things start popping out after you've put the mix aside for a bit. Meh!

[kakos32]

interresting enough

[The Joker]

Finally got a chance to reply to this again. What I meant by some more ethnic percussion, is more of a bass heavy, I guess you can call it "south american" groove. Also, maybe give have a swoop/reverse snare right before everyother snare hit.