Liontamer Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 As of 4/22, the links have been replaced with a remastered version to fix some bass and piano issues. Please make sure you have the updated track - LT name: Shaun Wallace avaris.studios@gmail.com remixer name: avaris 88369 Game: Final Fantasy IV Source: Cry in Sorrow (this is also the name of the midi at vgmusic) Composer: uhh forgot his name... Name of Remix: Kain's Deceit Googlepages: Putfile: This is def my favorite source tune from my favorite game of all time. I have been trying to remix this one on numerous occasions but came up dry every time. Finally last winter I came up with the basic sound you are hearing now. I wanted to go for something that captured the emotion and feel of the original but with some very involved rhythms. I also tried to keep the song continuously moving forward. Overall I'm really happy with I have done and it was a blast making this. I used Vanguard for all of the synths except the droning synth in the first half. Anyways thanks for listening. ~Shaun ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff4 - "Cry in Sorrow (part 2)" [ff4-17b.spc] Ah, the source is a derivative of the Main Theme. Alright, not a bad frame of reference. Interesting intro, but it didn't have a lot of steam. The track definitely sounded lo-fi. I'm not here to tell you how you're supposed to specifically lay this out, but the intro had all the hallmarks of building up to something louder and more energetic. When that didn't happen at :29, I was left wondering what the point was. Instead, the textures remained pretty sparse with the overall production being pretty lacking. Lots of empty space, and the pacing here was plodding and stiff as well. The overall mood wasn't hugely different from the source, and the additional instrumentation ideas weren't expansive enough to flesh this out properly. The arpeggiated rhythm underneath the melody at :58 was a decent idea, but not nearly creative/interpretive enough or full enough in combination with the lead to carry the forefront of the mix. The countermelodic writing wasn't very audible at all, which undermined the potential complexity of the arrangement. Some slightly different ideas arrived later on, like the grittier synth at 2:02, but it wasn't effective from a dynamic contrast standpoint. The track's energy felt the same as before, definitely a big problem in the long run with this piece. Could have trimmed a solid 60-90 seconds off this. Didn't like the grace notes from 2:40-2:50. It didn't quite flow smoothly, and came across as peppering the melody with stuff simply for the sake of not having the melody be 100% verbatim. Sorry if that's a undeserved inference, Shaun, but you need to get more interpretive with the source melody, IMO. 3:00 was a welcome change, but dynamically it fell flat. Same with the uber-loud synth at 3:27. Last piano notes at 3:57 were completely pointless; why bother with only 3 seconds of that? It initially sounded like a nice way to close it, only to simply taper off as soon as it arrived with an abrupt cutoff. Nothing but a head-scratching move. With slight but not unreasonable exaggeration, your idea of contrast for this arrangement is, while keeping everything else the same, merely varying the lead synth and the lead's volume. It just doesn't work at all. The texture needs serious fleshing out, the melodic interpretation could use more attention, and serious work needs to be put into giving the piece effective dynamic contrast. There's still potential here. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcos Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 The energy level in the intro was building and so I wasn't expecting downtempo, which was a nice surprise, however I don't think that the drum sounds sat nicely in the mix. The mixing needs some more attention, as the sparse sound could have been filled out with good use of reverb and delays. The rearrangement level seems to be just changing the melody slightly, more original melodic ideas would make this a better submission. The ending is very sudden, I was getting drawn into the piano bit, but it just ended. This has a lot of potential, not bad by any means, however it needs some more work in terms of sound design, mixing and rearrangement. NO (Resub?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Hmm. Some nice ideas here, and this tune could be a pretty moving piece with the right touches applied. Unfortunately, it does in fact lack some of the elements that would give it that power otherwise. Not to say this is a bad track, but I'll provide some examples to (hopefully) clarify what could bump this one up the ladder so to speak. The overall volume is too consistent, which takes away from the tracks potential to really grab the listener by the [insert sensitive body part here] and take them on an emotional, story-telling journey. Had there been more intense builds, with more swooshing/swishing swelling effects etc, that could have helped tremendously. The individual instruments themselves are OK, but as I see it, synths are MADE to be TWEAKED. That's the beauty of them. I realize that technically you can run a filter pass or a flange or something over any audio now, but nothing cries out for modulation and effect manipulation like a steady synth texture. There's plenty of delay going on, but I want to encourage you to whip out that "Edit events in piano roll" feature, Shawn, and go nuts from note to note. Make it to where even if the listener has an idea of where you're going to take the textures, but once in a while throw them for a good loop. Retain control of the direction of the track. Try to avoid that dang "autopilot" tendency that so many electronica artists have such a rough time with. I hope that makes sense. Finally, the drums were a little too sparse overall. I don't ask for everyone to try to write OMFGLISTENOMYBADASSDRUMLOOPS!!!!1!11! but at the same time, try not to let the percussion wear thin. In this case, a simple bass kick and a click-ish hit just kind of ran out of gas, is one way to put it, I suppose. The piano at 1:57 and at the end was beautifully arranged. I wish those segments had been extended as I would have loved to hear more of that throughout the track. As far as the production goes, the piano sounded a little too distant throughout the track. I understand the whole idea behind wanting to use your reverb to achieve a desired effect, but perhaps it could have helped to eitehr A) automate the reverb saturation from time to time or layer it with a 2nd piano patch with less reverb, and then work on phasing the two in and out of each other appropriately to bring the piano out more into the open, so to say. Anyway, I like the melodic direction of the track, and on the arrangement level, I didn't have any real beef with the piece. But in order to bring this one into the green, I'm going to summarize with the following: -More dynamic detail. Intensify the builds through detail to spatial FX and (when appropriate) more dense instrumentation. -More use of FX automation. -Please, write some more of that awesome and beautiful piano stuff. -Thicker and (when appropriate) more intense drum textures and accents. Always glad to hear your music, Shawn, and I sincerely hope my comments (and the rest of the J's) provide you with insightful feedback that will help you continue to hone your abilities. NO If you want to take a stab at implementing my suggestions, then I'd love to hear a resubmit. Otherwise, remember, it's your track, and if you're happy with it, then that's what matters anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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