Nutritious Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Hey guys, this is a remix of the Last Battle track from Cave Story. It's a great original tune, perfect for that point in the game, so I definitely felt like it deserved some coverage: http://nutritiousmultimedia.googlepages.com/ShowdownCaveStory.mp3 Original: http://nutritiousmultimedia.googlepages.com/31FinalBattle.mp3 The electric guitar synth is a placeholder for now - a good friend of mine who's a professional musician is going to lay down some electric guitar tracks for the finished song. It's also missing from the end as this will be an ad lib section for the guitar. I've still got some work to do to clean up some strings (a few goofs and conflicting notes), drums (variety in middle section) and EQing, but thought I'd share it here with everyone. Hope you enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumUltimA Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 All right Master Nutricious!!!! I really love this game and i really love this song and i really love what you're doing with it! I'm looking forward to hearing a real guitar there, that's gonna be sick. However, I do want to speak with you about your drums. I understand that this type of feedback can be frustrating, especially after one's made a conception for their piece in their head. But I think your drums need to meld with the setting of the music much better. Lemme take this piece by piece. First of all i really love the strings in the beginning. Let that high suspension come out, that should soar over the chords, like a fuckin opera singer or something. When your drums lay down the beat at :53, I disagree with the choice for a 16th note pattern in the hi hat. At this point i feel like it should not feel like it's moving quickly, but should lay down a solid grove. I'm thinking like open hat or crash or just cymbal quarter note pattern with snare on 2 and 4 and whatever you want on bass drum. Right now you have more "speed", I'd like to have more grunge. I think the groove at 1:33 is great. However, at 1:40 (or essentially, the bridge of the original), I'd love to hear a great solid 2 feel groove. I'm talking, crash on the 1st beat of each measure, snare on 3, bass drum filling in the gaps down low. At 2:28 I'd like to hear the first groove i brought up for like 4 measures, and then fill and crescendo to the groove you currently use. I think it's a great groove! But I think it's too busy to start with. If any of this is confusing to you and you're curious to understand better, please let me know and I'd be happy to play/program you an example of what I'm talking about. Also, the high bells playing the descending major 3rds in the beginning, those are class. I would definitely bring those back for the end of the piece, and maybe even put them in the middle somewhere, when the texture gets thin. Pixel's use of the major 3rd seems to be an accidental motif of Cave Story, as it seems to hold major harmonic responsibility throughout the soundtrack. Also, it will help with the continuity of your own piece as well. Anyway you chose a kickass song to remix and you're doing great so far. Please heed my advice! I was dancing around the room listening and I got all passionate, I am not messing around! I think this could be really something. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted July 3, 2007 Author Share Posted July 3, 2007 Updated song, same link as above. -I worked on the drums as you suggested and I think they're coming along pretty well. The bridge section turned out a whole lot better with this type of beat, I think, so thanks for the tips -I had planned originally to use the chimes from the beginning again later in the mix, but had forgotten as I was working on the song. Added now, thanks for the reminder -There are a few clashes/distortion areas that still need to be fixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radiowar Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 this is pretty cool. it's hard to tell without a real guitar but i am getting a bittersweet symphony type of vibe from the song, with the rock/strings combination. i personally think that might be something to think about. another thing is that the strings are a little too dark, maybe brighten them up a bit. other than that...gj. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumUltimA Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 yeah man, I love the changes so far! It's definitely getting there. As to the drumset you use, however, I think you may benefit from a different soundfont/sampleset. Your snare and bass sound good, but your hi hat is a bit staticy. Go for something a bit more metallic? Also, it could use some compression or something, something to get the snare hits to really pop out over the texture. In the bridge, there's a bass drum hit a 16th note after the fourth beat of every other measure (starting on the first measure) that throws off the flow of the groove, other than that it's great. I think you could even let the drums fill into sections a bit more--especially into the bridge (where it goes into two) A nice triplet based fill will set that up nicely. Also, don't be afraid to lead the volume in the same direction as the drums... when things build, make it a touch louder I like the bells, nice Any chance of opening up a section of this for your guitarist to shred a sick solo? Maybe like right after the bridge or something, ride on that energy. I think it would do this song a lot of good. Anyway, NICE WORK so far and keep it up!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted July 3, 2007 Author Share Posted July 3, 2007 As to the drumset you use, however, I think you may benefit from a different soundfont/sampleset. Your snare and bass sound good, but your hi hat is a bit staticy. Go for something a bit more metallic? Also, it could use some compression or something, something to get the snare hits to really pop out over the texture. Well, it's actually a shaker, hence the more static sound. I'll experiment with some other sounds or hats to see if anything fits well. In the bridge, there's a bass drum hit a 16th note after the fourth beat of every other measure (starting on the first measure) that throws off the flow of the groove, other than that it's great. That was actually intentional experimentation - but yeah, I don't think it sounds good either. Will be fixed. I think you could even let the drums fill into sections a bit more--especially into the bridge (where it goes into two) A nice triplet based fill will set that up nicely. Also, don't be afraid to lead the volume in the same direction as the drums... when things build, make it a touch louder So, more dynamics with the rest of the sounds when the drums build up? Any chance of opening up a section of this for your guitarist to shred a sick solo? Maybe like right after the bridge or something, ride on that energy. I think it would do this song a lot of good. Yup, the section after the bridge where the guitar is playing alone (now with bells) is exactly for that. Should turn out pretty nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumUltimA Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 rock on!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted July 4, 2007 Author Share Posted July 4, 2007 Alright, only minor changes this time: -Worked with the drums a little more, replaced the shaker with a hihat for the most part, did a little EQing on them -Brightened up the strings a little with some EQing -Fixed some wrong notes in bridge section Same link as above. I'm hoping I can get together with my guitarist to get this recorded either tomorrow or Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 Guitars! Got most of the guitar work recorded a couple days ago and I've been mixing them in. I don't want to give away too much, so I'm posting the beginning section: http://nutritiousmultimedia.googlepages.com/ShowdownSample.mp3 Trying to get some good balancing on the guitars and other instruments in here, so any feedback would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnip Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 I dunno I liked the old version better, something about the guitar in the new version just seems slow and out of place. Doesnt really get inside your head as the old one did, perhaps it will be better next update though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumUltimA Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 The guitarist sounds pretty good! I think the delay might be a little too heavy, and i think there could be more highs in the equalizing of the guitar. However, he sounds like a solid player. The live element is definitely quality, nice job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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