Xenogears - Gathering Stars in the Night Sky Remix

[Kivou]

Hi, this is my first attempt at a remix. It is a very rough draft, but I wanted some feedback as to whether the texture and style were working at all, and maybe what I could do to expand it further. Here is the link:

Old version: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ez9nj4

Edit: New version: http://www.sendspace.com/file/4fb0kd

[Geoffrey Taucer]

The source is one of my all-time favorite songs.

THis is definitely an interesting take on it. Sort of a laid back piano/guitar jazz thang; I'm definitely digging it.

I'd make the guitar a bit quieter and add a touch more reverb; right now it sounds like the guitar amp is right next to my ear, while the piano is in the next room.

Noticable mistakes on the guitar at 1:35 and 1:43, but I assume you already knew about those.

As far as production goes, it's difficult to tell what's intentional and what's not; the piano is really bright and the guitar really dull, but to a certian extent that works with the style. The whole thing is very minimalist and my first impulse is to say that it needs bass, light percussion, and perhaps pads of some sort, but again, the minimalism sort of fits with the style, and adding other instruments could well destroy the charm that makes this mix so captivating.

I think it could do with some more movement earlier in the piece. It's very slow and laid back, but that gets old quickly without any spice. This could work as just a guitar/piano duet, but you'll need to do a bit more to keep it interesting. It sounds like between guitar and piano, piano is your forte (forgive the pun), so I'd focus on spicing that up a bit. I'd love to see the piano take center stage at some point in the mix with the guitar sinking into the background; perhaps this could be done in the next section (I assume you were planning on making this longer than it is now).

There are a few points where the chords on the piano sounded a bit wierd to me, but I don't know enough theory to say why they sounded wierd or how to fix it, and it may well be intentional anyway.

I'd say for a first mix, you're off to a very good start.

[Z]

sounds good,but yeah it is a bit slow.Would like to hear some drums and such come in at about the time where the song is about to cut off in order to pick-up the pace of the song.Unless of course you want this piece to be slow.

[Kivou]

Thanks for the feedback, guys The kind words are very encouraging as I try to figure things out.

I fixed the levels as you said, it was a very obvious mistake but I'm very new at recording. I also upped the tempo slightly which will help the energy. I do like the crisp piano, but the guitar is not quite right yet (I am hearing Pat Metheny's tone in my head). Do you think adjusting the EQ would help, or what? I am using Amplitube to record my guitar, so there is a lot of tweaking options.

It would be nice to add either acoustic bass or a brush kit to make it a trio; the only problem is finding some organic sounds that won't stick out. All I have now is some rather unconvincing MIDI sounds in my keyboard. Any suggestions?

Anyway, I intend to add a piano solo with guitar comping next, hopefully I will get it together and uploaded tomorrow or Friday.

[Kivou]

Okay, I have a new version up with drums and a piano solo (link in first post). There are still some performance mistakes, particularly because I suck at guitar, but I think the levels and energy are better.

Still looking for a brushed snare drum sound, I tried Maestro Brush Kit soundfont but wasn't very happy. Is it a matter of processing and mastering, or do I just have to get better quality samples?

Any more comments or criticism would be great

[Martin Penwald]

At first, I was like "This is horrible. Absolutely horrible. I can't remember the original song!" But listening to your version, it all came back.

Now, about your remix. I think the guitar is still too close to the listener; try to get it to the same level the piano is at.

I personally like the very laid back style of the piece. Changing the pace would take away a lot of the atmosphere IMO. Some solos would be nice, though.