Liontamer Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 I mailed the artist about the source tunes, since I've got no idea what they're supposed be; any help? - LT Remixer Name: MarcstaR (spelled like this now) Real Name: Marcus Sartor Email: motb2@hotmail.com Website: www.myspace.com/Marcstar1 Game Remixed: Final Fantasy XI Song Remixed: The three songs that the bard class can play Game Info: Final Fantasy XI. PS2, PC, and Xbox 360. Compsers on FFXI are: Nobuo Uematsu, Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanoki. Game Soundtrack: It's hard to find the FFXI soundtrack for download, the best I've found is a page with midi versions of the songs: http://ffxi.mmosite.com/downloads/midi/midi.shtml Remix comments: I made this remix using a combination of Reason, Digital Performer, my Yamaha Motif and my guitar. Here is a link to the song: Thanks for your time, MarcstaR LT EDIT (9/28): DarkeSword's speculation that the sources weren't in the soundtrack was dead on. Finally heard back from Marcus via Facebook, and he provided the low: wow, I some how managed to delete the mp3s from my cpu... But I found this on youtube. These are all the bard songs being played together. usually they are played one at a time, but they all go together. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pfnjju9CqZk sorry for the inconvienceMarcstaR No worries about the inconvience. Just glad to have reached you on this. Indeed, though the 3 melodies are harmonized in the YouTube video, they're easily distinguished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted September 9, 2007 Author Share Posted September 9, 2007 This is now our oldest submission. Took yet another look through all of the FF11 and FF11:RotZ PSFs, and I have absolutely 0 clue what's being arranged here, if anything. The MIDI site linked to in the sub letter was busted from the day we received it, and looking through other MIDI sites has been a bust. You'd think, based off the arrangement, that the source songs are very easily identifiable. They certainly seem to be. Replied to Marcus on July 27, I believe I may have tried his MySpace (I may not have though), and I just sent him a message on Facebook. Will pursue other avenues in the near future. DS and zirc let me know they weren't familiar with the game/soundtrack. Anyone that has played it, please swing by and confirm that what's being arranged is actually in the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 well, with no source tune, obviously this is going to be based solely on production at this point. Short and sweet--the track sound very incomplete at this point. And I'm not too fond of the mixing. Some good ideas, track isn't bad by any means, but the mixing/mastering of the drums is pretty far off. I took a look at the waveform, and the drums are way too loud in comparison to the melodic instruments, and it gets annoying. Also, the 1-2-3-4 repeat hit (whatever it is) sounds too much like a metronome, and it distracts me in a negative way. At 2:15 when the bass comes in, I do believe there's some clipping on the drums. Pretty mellow track otherwise, pretty cool background music, albeit a little repetitive for a standalone track. The dropout of all instruments except the IDM-ish beat at 3:00 is kind of weak, IMO. Might want to rethink that. Definitely fix the EQ/volume on the drums, and tweak some knobs here and there. NO It should be noted that even had I heard the source on this, I would still NO this in it's current form, regardless of how well it may or may not be arranged from whatever it's source is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted September 28, 2007 Author Share Posted September 28, 2007 Oof. Sounds pretty harsh from BGC. I agreed with his production criticisms though. The percussion moving all around the stereo field was really cool, but sounded too loud compared to everything else. Loved the bowed string work brought in at 1:07 to add to the texture of the piece. The dropoff at 3:00 was definitely abrupt though and should have been a smoother fadeout of the string instrument. I thought the song filled out the soundfield well enough most of the time. The backing percussion wasn't the most dense, but I thought it was well produced enough where it had actual meat on it and thereby didn't feel too empty. It's minimalist, but not entirely spartan. For whatever issues it has, I'm feeling this. The arrangement is pretty straightforward, but personalized well with the beatwork (which was integrated well regardless of the volume issues), and with the instrumentation changes and additional part-writing (beatwork, bowed strings, supporting plucked string instrument) beefing things up (the middle section especially). The arrangement had style and instrumental similarities to the originals but enhanced the originals well. As weed says, "count it." YES EDIT: Or not. Vote change. For pwnt, see below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Pretty ambitious mixing such short sources, but others have done it, so it's not impossible. The volume level seems a bit quiet overall, but production in general is nice. However, this is WAY too sparse until halfway through the song when the bass drum and low sustain notes come in. The sounds are all good, as is the performance, but the soundfield is really not being filled out as much as it could be. Also, there's a ton of repetition of the same riffs. The percussion basically consists of two loops repeated with minimal variation, and they're not interesting enough to merit that. The arrangement is nice in terms of the individual 'pieces' but there's nothing connecting everything together. For example, at 3:00 there's just no transition at all. Again, lots of repetition. Seems like there are a solid handful of ideas throughout the mix that are stretched far and not reinforced. This is a great foundation, but I think you simply need more layers; a denser texture. Your production, performance, and intrepretive abilities are all good. However, the mix as is feels only half done. NO, RESUBMIT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJT Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 repetition is a huge issue here. the drum loops start driving me crazy after 45 seconds. also, zircon's criticism about the arrangement being disjointed is right on. i mean, your "transition" from 3:00 to 3:12 is just that same drum loop repeating itself. that's just lazy writing, dude. on the plus side, there are some really gorgeous moments in the 1:08 to 3:00 segment. that's a good build. if you improve your skills as an arranger and put some more work into your percussion, you'll be pumpin out some great stuff in no time. keep at it. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted October 2, 2007 Author Share Posted October 2, 2007 if you improve your skills as an arranger and put some more work into your percussion, you'll be pumpin out some great stuff in no time.keep at it. IKNOW, RITE! I gotta say, I agree with the repetition criticisms, but I feel like the track still came together well enough. I would like to think that the exact same arrangement with varied percussion would be an easy pass, rather than it being voted down for being empty. I felt the textures were enough to adequately fill out the soundfield despite not being complex. If the perc patterns were more varied, that be great. But what's there was already pretty intricate, which is why it didn't catch my attention before and why it isn't a problem for me having been pointed out now. Unless that popcorn-like percussion turns out to be a preset, then I'm surprisingly ok with it. [/outlier] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJT Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 if you improve your skills as an arranger and put some more work into your percussion, you'll be pumpin out some great stuff in no time.keep at it. IKNOW, RITE! No disrespect intended, Marc. For where the bar is at currently, you still need to bring a stronger showing in terms of arrangement, song structure, and how you produce your rhythm track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcos Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 I agree with a lot of what has been said here. I recognise that rex loop from Reason, the second one in the 'glitch' folder. While some variation has been added (mostly 32nd notes added in between hits to achieve a stuttering effect) the drum loop is used almost exactly as it is previewed. Now that isn't a bad thing in itself, but the fact is that it is very repetitive and is the mainstay of the percussion. There isn't much need for me to go into further detail regarding the other elements, but suffice to say, this needs a thicker texture and more varied arrangement. What is here is very good, it's just that it runs out of steam after a while and feels underdeveloped. NO (Good candidate for resubmission) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted October 6, 2007 Author Share Posted October 6, 2007 Unless that popcorn-like percussion turns out to be a preset, then I'm surprisingly ok with it. [/outlier] I agree with a lot of what has been said here. I recognise that rex loop from Reason, the second one in the 'glitch' folder. While some variation has been added (mostly 32nd notes added in between hits to achieve a stuttering effect) the drum loop is used almost exactly as it is previewed. Now that isn't a bad thing in itself, but the fact is that it is very repetitive and is the mainstay of the percussion. pwnt pwnt pwnt. Kicked down by my own black bretheren! :'-( But seriously, glad to see due diligence come through. Well, you've got the guitar stuff down, Marcus. Now you've gotta write the rest! NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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