Liontamer Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Your ReMixer name: 2Radical Your real name: Tim Schijf Your email address: tim_tim_tim_2hotmail.com Your website: n/a Your userid: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/member.php?u=16609 Name of game(s) ReMixed: Kingdom Hearts II Name of individual song(s) ReMixed: Sinister Sundown Your own comments about the mix: I just loved this track, and got bored of it, so I gave it my own twist, the original song was about 11 minutes , but after a hard time of scrapping some bars here and there I ended up with 7 mins, I used as many elements from the original as possible since all the scores just add alot to the song as a whole... some info on the games OST http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Kingdom_Hearts ---------------------------------------------------------------- Even taking down the arrangement from 11 to 7 minutes, the filesize is still too large. All subs should be exactly at or under 6MB in the future. Kingdom Hearts II Original Soundtrack - 105 "Sinister Sundown" Some of the panning during the first minute of the intro was way too extreme. Same around 3:15. The bowed string work ended up sounding really strangely placed in the stereo field, sounding warbly at times. Things picked up more at 2:11, though that mechanical piano in the background until 2:39 sounded pretty weak. It's such a defaulty sample sound, it can't help but sound worse when not used well. The pizzicato string stuff, first used at 2:57 and first used more prominently at 3:57, was really ultra cheap-sounding and tacky, even if it's meant to sound like a real instrument. Lasted all the way until 5:09. Sounded better at 6:08 when the sample wasn't placed in the foreground and could be surrounded by the other instrumentation. Bad exposure of the vox sample at 5:33 as it faded out. Ending just abruptly cuts off at 7:04, but it could have been my download (which everyone else will be going off of, so let's give the benefit of the doubt, Js). Though some brief sections were IMO too spartan, the groove was decent. The bowed string work compared favorably to the pizz strings, but those samples weren't used well enough, leaving the overall execution lackluster. It's not awful, Tim, but it's not there yet. Definitely keep working toward improvement, you show promise. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 The opening panning is definitely WAY too extreme, and that string sample right off the bat sounds worse than the strings used in the original. The entire intro sounds very disjointed and generally not pleasant, between the random extreme panning, the harsh trance-like synths, mechanical piano, and (seemingly) random note sequences. This part alone merits a NO because it's so grating to listen to. The choice of sounds is really confusing - you have soft orchestral instruments, then edgy, annoying detuned trance/techno sounds.. please pick one style and stick with it. By 1:40 hardly anything has happened whatsoever. Some of the theme has been interpreted but it's so unenjoyable and sonically unpleasant, especially considering the pumping, over-compression production. There's no pause right before the beats come in at 2:11. If you're going to spend all this time building up to it I would make it more obvious that it's going to be coming in. And that being said, I think 2:11 is too much time for an intro that is fairly repetitive to begin with. Sections like 2:58 and 3:04 are really irritating. The overly bright strings get exposed at the first one, and at 3:04 there's the pitch bending synth. Please take that out entirely, it doesn't work at all. Then just to reiterate the compression issue, everything sounds a little too smooshed together and saturated here. It seems like you're going for more of an easy listening groove, but the end result is something like a big beat sound. I could go on but I'll sum up my vote. The production here is bad, the arrangement ideas are decent, so if you just focus on improving the sonic end of this I think you'll be a lot closer. Once you're done with that, then try tightening up the arrangement as per our suggestions (making things less sparse, etc.) NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 I'll go contrary to zircon and say I really liked the choice of sounds. It's like futuristic orchestral. Little kitchen-sinky but I think you can sell it. However, the execution needs to be stepped up for that to happen. The massive compression is extremely distracting, and it actually makes it hard for me to give you more production advice! The balance of the instruments seems really off, and it sounds like compression is being used to compensate. Make it sound good without the compression first, to get a more natural sound when you do compress. I rarely get bothered by panning, but there's too much here. At times, because of how far to the sides the instruments are pushed, it's almost like listening to two different songs at once, especially before the elements truly gel at the 2:11 mark. Unusual instrument choices can work, but only if it sounds like they have purpose. Things are a little too random in the intro, though later on, they start to make more sense. Maybe rework that intro so that it builds more cleanly. Also, that pizzicato string is a little too annoying to be used so prominently and repetitively. I'd like it to be pushed back, or possibly removed. I hope I haven't put you off too much, because this is an ambitious song with some very good ideas. The approach you took was inventive, and the percussion was snappy. But ambitious songs need a lot of work to sound right, and this song needs that level of work. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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