Lufia II WIP - Pufifia and Ending Motif

[Meteo Xavier]

Since my Super Castlevania IV WIP failed temporarily, I'm going to try my hand at this one. This is a remix of Pufifia and Ending Motif done in an emotional, ending-style tribute (at least thats what I was going for) with trumpets and electric piano leading.

As I listen to it, I'm pleased with it, but I'm not sure I got the sound or arrangement correct. I tried writing some more stuff before the electric piano (the meat and potatoes so to speak) kick in, but it just sounded plodding and weak. I thought it would be better to just get right to the point.

Let me know what you think and please be specific (not complicated, specific) in your criticisms.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, this is not done yet, obviously. There are a lot of holes in the melody and still straightening up to do. The ending definitely needs work.

http://www.savefile.com/files/786409

[Karth]

Lufia II is one of my favorite RPGs of all time, and I really don't think its incredible soundtrack has received enough coverage here. So I'm excited that you've decided to remix some Lufia II music--and I'm DOUBLY excited that one of the tracks you chose to remix was Pufifia! It's one of the most beautiful tracks in the game.

All that being said: I understand this piece is far from finished, but you're going to need a clear idea of what to fix, because there are some problems you may not be aware of.

First of all, the bassline wanders too much; it doesn't really establish what the background chord is very well, which makes the song's harmonization factor suffer. Second, the drums are lacking in variation--that part won't be hard to fix, I'm sure.

What's killing me is the way you incorporated the Pufifia theme. It's incredibly far from the source song's original melodic build, first of all...and that sort of negates the nostalgic feelings I would normally have. I think you can take some liberties with it once you've established the original structure, but having makes its entrance in a severely altered state like you have right now is an iffy idea.

Keep working on this, because I'd love to see more Lufia remixes on this site. And hey, if you're using a program compatible with Fruity Loops, I'd love to collaborate on this if you're up for it.

[Meteo Xavier]

First of all, the bassline wanders too much; it doesn't really establish what the background chord is very well, which makes the song's harmonization factor suffer. Second, the drums are lacking in variation--that part won't be hard to fix, I'm sure.

I think the bass is just fine with the strings supplementing it. There are only two main chord parts used, the major and minor and its not too hard to get what kind of feeling they're going for. The drums you might be right about, but I wouldn't know what else to do with them and screwing with whats already there might just create more problems, if history is any teacher.

I'd be willing to take some minor imperfections to just get this piece workable as opposed to upsetting it to fix something small.

What's killing me is the way you incorporated the Pufifia theme. It's incredibly far from the source song's original melodic build, first of all...and that sort of negates the nostalgic feelings I would normally have. I think you can take some liberties with it once you've established the original structure, but having makes its entrance in a severely altered state like you have right now is an iffy idea..

Thats a fair point, but my last remix submission was rejected because it didn't "interpret" the source material, whatever the hell thats supposed to mean. I figured this would more interpretive.

Apart from the obvious holes in the melody, I'm satisfied with the way it turned out. Its not an obvious redo nor does not resemble the original in any. My biggest concerns are the sound quality and arrangement (like being too short or whatever).

As far as collaborating, yes it is a Fruity Loop and I wouldn't mind, but have you done any successful remixing before?

Also, thanks for being the first person to give helpful criticism on this board. Now I have some hope to work with.

[Meteo Xavier]

So uh... checked my song on savefile today.. and despite having only 55 views for this topic, I seem to have amassed 1800 downloads.

WTF!?

[OceansAndrew]

First thing I noticed is that the samples used are not going to cut it with the judges. The pan flute in the breakdown will be nice with a little shaping, but the rest is too midi sounding. Another factor to this is the sequencing is pretty mechanical.

The good news is that the arrangement is pretty good, and I totally get the emotional ballad feel you are going for.

Send me a PM if you are still working on this, and we can go into more details.