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Breath of Fire IV - Endings and Beginnings remix

anosou

By anosou,
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anosou Newbie

anosou

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Okay.

I don't do this a lot since I hang out at #ocrwip all the time, but I thought I'd give the WIP forums a chance.

This is my latest remix. After the success of my Jade Cocoon remix (to be posted cue) I felt that mixing electronica and ethnic was the way to go. And I really do like the sound of it.

So here is a remix of Breath of Fire IV's theme "Endings and Beginnings". I'm probably gonna name it "Endings, Beginnings and one hell of a trip" just because it is that drugged out.

I found and made some pretty warbly synths, I love warbly synths, to make the mix a bit rubbery. Then added some harsh beats to even it out.

I'm especially proud of the Dulcimer (the string instrument). It's not sequenced at all, it's played live on my Korg padKontrol (example youtube vid of how I do it can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXSmYwzqUFs ).

I also played the solo during the second Chorus, although I did slow the song down a bit ;) Still proud though.

The remix is a bit uneven in levels, I haven't had the time to mix it properly. But the sounds I'm pretty happy with.

One thing I was thinking about was getting more of the original in there, now it's a bit un-focused, at least I think so. Tell me what you think ;P

EDIT: Okay, pretty much done. I didn't feel like making something fat after the build up so I just ended it, fits quite nice though. I'm not that good at mastering but I think it sounds pretty ok.

EDIT2: DONE DAMNIT! Might be too much bass but I'm not sure.

So, without further stalling, here it is:

http://soundscape.escariot.net/private_files/Breath_of_Fire_IV_Endings_Beginnings_and_One_Hell_of_a_Trip.mp3

And, if anyone's interested, the original:

http://soundscape.escariot.net/remuxable/Breath%20of%20Fire%20IV%20-%2008%20Endings%20and%20Beginnings.mp3

Thank you for your time!

//Mattias Hägström Gerdt (Another Soundscape)

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avaris Newbie

avaris

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Hey dude. :grin:

Listened to the source...def a diamond in the rough.

The soloeing in the second half is awesome great stuff. The mix tends to rely on the melody and the percussion. The harmony and other backing parts are waaay too queit. They are there but the snare masks all of them. I would really try pan certain elements and the hats/snare away from each other.

My biggest grip with this mix is the intro. The bass line is decent but it's nothin stellar to really brinf the lisener's attention in.

How compressed in the mix? 2:14 for example is suppose to be this big dynamic breakout but it sounds squished.

IMO an ethnic flute solo or something with an ethnic flute would totally kick ass! The source also has some room for some really nice chords to be written under it. A soft pad playing those chords in the intro could go really well.

The percussion can become a tad bit stale towards the end of the mix. Some more fills or different rhythmic patterns would do wonders for this.

Congrats on the Jade Cocoon mix! I am being uber picky on this. I really liked the 2nd half with all of the synth soloes and more defined ethnic percussion. Those would have went great in small places in the first half. The arrangement and transition ideas are spot on and well executed.

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anosou Newbie

anosou

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Thanks for the great feedback mate, as always ;)

I know this is a bit rough at the moment and I will def check out your tips.

I've been listening to this today in my headphones and yeah, the melody and drums takes all the place. I haven't even started on the chordwork yet so :)

You don't like the intro? Hmm. I was kinda proud of that cool bassline.. is it okay when the dulcimer comes in then? Because I REALLY enjoy that myself. Maybe layer some chords with a soft pad and a small ammount of ethnic percussion?

I haven't compressed more than put the "Perfect Master" combi on top and didn't touch it, yet-

The percussion is being reworked, I just slapped some loops on there to see how it worked. It's only one or two bar loops for ever and ever ;) good thing you noticed though

Thanks for the gratz, and thanks for the feedback.

Later dude!

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OceansAndrew Newbie

OceansAndrew

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Well, if say you are pretty much done, then these crits probably won't be all that useful, but maybe they can convince you to take 1 more pass at this.

Right now i'd say it's at 95% completion and is alrady a really good mix, but with a little work this can go from "really good" to "legendary".

The song starts out really nice, i like the cool filtered bass, and when the dulcimer comes in, it's really nice. I'd like to hear you add a very subtle pad in the background at 0:26, maybe have it fade in from 0:23-0:25.

Transitions are the weak point of this mix; there is one sortof half-assed drum fill I noticed at 2:01, and a lot of the transitions didn't have any lead-ins to them. Do some bass runs at the end of the measure, or some cool drum fills. Your beats themselves have some great syncopation and a really nice groove; kick that feeling up a notch for the fills. Just listening to this groove makes me want to drum solo; adding fills to this should be easy.

The solos are kick ass and a highlight for sure, and the synths and sounds throughout are well chosen.

I like the idea of what you have with the ending, but the ending needs to be enormous. HUGE BUILDUP.. HUGE BUILDUP... POWER HIT! then bass echo/fade.

This mix could be one of the best on the site, but you need to do the detail work. PLEASE!!! (for my sake)..

If you are sick of working on it and think it's done; set it aside for a month and then work on it after a break. The remixing world will thank you for bringing this to it's full potential.

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anosou Newbie

anosou

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-loads of text- :)

Wow. Now I feel I wanna work on it even more :D

A subtle pad for 0.26 might work, I'll try it out

2:01 is a typical trance fill, maybe not good for this genre.. I'll try to make something a little more kick-ass there.

Thank you for your comments about the solos, I actually played them

also:

This mix could be one of the best on the site, but you need to do the detail work. PLEASE!!! (for my sake)..

What's up with THAT!? :D Don't overdo it ;) It's not that good. but thanks

Glad you really do take this wip reviewing to heart OA, you're a true hero to me for doing this and I'm sure everyone agrees

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anosou Newbie

anosou

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Okay, I actually updated an adressed some problems.

A second pad is introduced and gives a new level to the remix.

A fatter drumfill is introduced.

One drumfill is completely removed and I used a reversed cymbal, I thought it was too much with two monster fills in a row.

I fiddled with mastering. I'm not sure about this, may need some more bass.

I did a couple of tweaks here and there.

Still no perfect ending :(

same link: http://soundscape.escariot.net/private_files/Breath_of_Fire_IV_Endings_Beginnings_and_One_Hell_of_a_Trip.mp3

Thanks for all comments! :)

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avaris Newbie

avaris

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I'm loving the improvements. The pad in the beggining is really nice. I'd prob drop the volume down just a tiny lil bit.

In the main sections things start to get a lil crowded.

OK this is gonna sound generic...but 2:01 would be an awesome place for a huge taiko drum hit. There is too much a build-up to not have another dynamic element appear there. 2:12 transition is waaay too abrupt. All of the sudden it's like WHAMO! big drums. Some big Taiko drum hits would help the transition. Arrangement wise the idea is spot on.

Still loving those hand drums around 2:50.

WTF the ending dude haha. :-D The only thing I can of is to have a nice 1 bar snare roll that leads into a big taiko drum hit and a cymbal crash. That last section seems like it is leading into something and then all of the sudden it dies out.

Overally the mastering is def sounding better. In particular I would go back over the mid-range synths and percussion. When those areas of the sonic spectrum get goin things are a lil muddy. Try some harder panning and make some small cuts in the 250hz to 1.5khz range to see if you can't get things to come through a lil clearer.

It's def nice to see the effort you are putting into this is paying off. The mix has a lot to offer. :-D

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Tensei Newbie

Tensei

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Wow, I haven't seen this before? How ignorant of me =P

I think Avaris has pretty much covered most of the criticism, but I'll give this a fresh listen in the morning and see what I can come up with. In the meanwhile I'll say that the section after the half-way point with the WICKED synth soloing absolutely stunned me. While the first half sounded pretty good, nothing really stood out for me, but the contrast it had with the synth solo is what really did it I guess. Great job there. =P

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Monobrow Newbie

Monobrow

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wow I really enjoyed this...

I do agree about things getting muddy when everything is going on... but jeez, you're using everything including the kitchen sink in this song it seems...

I really agree about something going on at 2:01, some crisp drums, taiko sounds good too... hell even a triangle dinging there could help with some sort of contrast (or some kind of cymbal)

I'd say just a couple hits from the high and low spectrum drum wise would help that part a lot...

I also agree with that ending, a little too abrupt... Also I have a suggestion: I think your ending is a nice combination of everything going crazy and all, but I think you could always bring back in that bassline from the beginning during the last few seconds or at least a nod to it (I think that'd really help bring out that part anyway, focus back on those offbeats... accent them with your other instruments maybe about halfway into that part before the ending... then solo the original bassline and fade out with that...

hope that made sense, just a suggestion :J

anyway nice song

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OceansAndrew Newbie

OceansAndrew

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nice update. :nicework:

I think this is improved productionwise, but there are a few things, like the high end seems to top out at a certain point. the hats and cymbals need a bit more sizzle in some places. The spots where it's somewhat more sparse drum-wise doesn't really need any more high end, but adding some, especially the huge climax right when the big solo hits would kick it up further.

It's really good now, and the changes are nice, but i think some subtle lead-ins to that point would make it even better.

Right now the strongest points of this mix hinge on effective transitions to new spacial sections. The biggest one is obviously the solo at 2:14, but a smaller version of this transition is at 1:22, and could also use a little bump in intensity right before opening out wide. For the first transition, I think a more pronounced reverse cymbal with a long decay would ease the transition, and for the second, I think a very *very* subtle snare roll and maybe some low end pads crescendoing would improve it.

I've already said this mix does a lot right already; the additional parts you've added are filled with hooks; you have a great ear for melody, and the textures throughout are all very interesting and varied. The stuff needed is very subtle polished details.

I think others would be better nitpicking production, but besides the lack of a little bit of high end, everything sounds uncluttered and crisp to me. I love it. Good luck dude. :-)

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anosou Newbie

anosou

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Dear helpful citizens of the wip boards. FINAL UPDATE HAS ARRIVED:

http://soundscape.escariot.net/private_files/Breath_of_Fire_IV_Endings_Beginnings_and_One_Hell_of_a_Trip.mp3

the only qualm I have is that it might be a little too heavy on the bass. I'm not sure if it's just me though. please comment on that.

Otherwise, IT'S FREAKING GOOD TO GO!! :D

EDIT: To laugh at the sample at the end, watch family guy the movie.

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avaris Newbie

avaris

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I think it is way classier without the sound file at the end; it has nothing to do with the mix itself and just seems really cheap and annoying. Big thumbs down from me on it.

The highs could be increased a good deal from about 2k and up and it'd add a nice point to the sound in the mix.

Totally agree!

Also the crashes when the crazy synth solo is goin are too soft IMO. You can barely hear them. Yeah the synth solo is crazy but goin that long without any audible contrasting elements ain't good.

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