Liontamer Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Hey Judges! Here is all of the pertinent info! ReMixer Name: siven7 Real Name: Kenley Kristofferson Email: kenleykristofferson@hotmail.com Website: http://www.intothescore.com Forum ID: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/member.php?u=16878 Name of Game ReMixed: Uncharted Waters: New Horizons Name of Individual Song: "Close to Home" Add. Info: The game was released in 1994 for the SNES console by Koei. The game is based in the 16th century and allows the player to assume six different roles where their destiny forces them to a life on the high seas of exploration and (often) piracy! The score is written by Yoko Kanno and is composed as though it were to be performed, having lots of effects (delay/reverb mostly) on instruments and scored in very playable ways (unlike an impossible mallet part from... say... "Main Theme" from FFIV... for example). I have a podcast called "Into the Score", which focuses on the academic study of video game music - studying Uematsu and Kondo like one would study Mahler and Beethoven! UW:NH is Episode 8 of the podcast, if you want to check it out! Right now there are some server issues, but I'm hoping that they get resolved in the next few days! Link to the OST: http://snesmusic.org/v2/profile.php?profile=set&selected=3146 Comments... This game is definitely a diamond in the rough... one of those soundtracks that has the best OST that you've never heard, you know? In which case, the ending theme of the game is a work called "Close to Home" and it is one of my favorite video game music tracks of all time. It was arranged for performers and recorded (as well as other UW:NH tracks) on a compilation called "Uncharted Waters: Special Edition," which is when the score hooked me. I submitted a remix of "Close to Home" earlier in the year called "Sunset on the Horizon" and it was for strings and woodwinds - it got 3 No's and 2 Resubmits. While different judges had different opinions about what was good and bad with it, I reflected on it some more and realized that it hadn't strayed far enough from the arrangement - I simply hadn't pushed the envelope far enough. With that, I re-imagined the potential of the work and started making something a bit darker with a stronger focus on ostinato and really filling out the texture, rather than having it really thin... almost like an impending storm. If was going to push myself compositionally, this was the time The first section establishes a foreboding and dark feel, setting a really strong groove right out of the gate (something my last arrangement was lacking) with cellos/double basses, acoustic bass and highhat. The groove is solidified with the marimba and congas setting the groove. The flute hints at the melody, as though trying to say a phrase in a crowd of talking people. The melody shows up in full with singing bowls and a santoor, in minor. There is a break in the darkness at 1:16 where harp and guitar are playing a repeating 3-note pattern (in major, which is also the first notes of the next section/the A section of the original melody), only to be discarded by the dark groove from before. The piece mounts in tension from 1:40-2:05 as though the clouds are dark and the storm is going to escalate to a hurricane, wanting to reach a climax. However, a ray of sun cuts through the clouds and the dark and endless stormy horizon is wounded at 2:05. The ray of sun is in the harp, repeating the 3-note pattern and setting up the B-section, which the flutes will start at 2:10. The key moves to the relative major with a melody in the flute and a new piano and string accompaniment. This section reaches its height at 2:35 with a modulation from F major to Ab major (I know, it's crazy) and a nice big open major chord. This section only gets bigger as it progresses, as thought the ray of sunshine is expanding and disbanding the intricate weaving of storm clouds. Again, the transition point is with that 3-note repeating pattern, this time in the harp and santoor. It sets up a return to the A section, but this time in a warm, major sound rather than a dark and ominous minor mode. This goes to show that the worst is over and the sky can reassure the land and the sea that everything is going to be okay... like a lullaby. The melody is in the flute (like the hopeful flute in the middle section) and the texture is full and rich until 2:38, where the instrumentation begins to thin out, allowing the work to have a natural feel of winding down. The work ends with a three-note motive, now seeming very comforting and supportive - the world will continue, the nightmare is over, and again... hope prevails. "Everything is always okay in the end; if it's not okay, then it's not the end." ============ Thank you for the consideration of my work! Most sincerely, Kenley Kristofferson, siven7 Kenley Kristofferson Into the Score http://www.intothescore.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=uw2 - "Close to Home" (uw2-24.spc) Arrangement-wise, you definitely did more to put your own spin on the source this time around. Why is this so quiet? I had to put on a litmus test track just to make sure the issue wasn't my fault. Nah, you gotta bump the overall levels up. You can't really hear the reverb on stuff like the mallet percussion without turning it way up. It looks like you didn't because the track may be peaking with some of the instrumentation, but other Js will be able to offer substantial analysis. Much like the previous sub of yours from this game, the samples aren't quite used to their best, perhaps less effectively here, though the low volume makes it sound worse than it is. Still, a lot of things sound pretty mechanical and exposed, most strikingly the higher bowed strings (worst offender 1:52-2:04), some of the woodwind attacks. The plucked strings at :52 probably could have been pushed up until 1:04 since nothing else was carrying the forefront briefly, but that could be more of a personal taste issue. I liked things such as the changeup in the percussion at 2:10. Was glad that core mallet percussion pattern at 2:52 finally changed, as it was getting annoying hearing the same thing from it every time it was in play. The dynamics are...subtle, but alright. The changes could probably be a little bit more defined. For example, 2:52 seems like the power should have been gradually increasing leading to a crescendo of sorts with 3:04's section, then making the dropoff at 3:28 more dramatic. I don't know if you feel that sounds cliche in practice, but it seemed like the writing implied that kind of structure but didn't actually follow through with it. More finesse with the sample usage is critical. Some of the more exposed areas of syntheticness hurt the piece significantly, IMO. If any other Js have their own observations on the dynamics here, that'd be appreciated. To me, everything feels like it's around 75% of the way there, but doesn't have the writing and production polish to put it over the top. Keep working on this one, Kenley, it's very promising so far. NO (refine/resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHz Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Uncharted Waters II, I approve. UWII: Special Edition is an amazing album (Kanno, I know, right?), and the original pieces are snazzy too. Nice source pick. Arrangement here is decent enough. I think the first half would've been better if it had built up into something even darker and tense to set up the contrast with the "ray of sun" feel-good second half. I have to say that it's really the production dragging this one down. First off, pump up the volume. Don't just uniformly do it across the whole track, though, but instead use a larger dynamic range as well. You have several sections that are screaming for bigger changes, like 1:52-2:04. There's some variety when instruments drop in and out, especially at the beginning and end, but overall the track is too flat. The writing is pretty mechanical also, linking back with there not being enough dynamic contrast, so definitely drop some humanization in this too. Biggest problem are the strings at 1:52-2:04: same hit every single time. It sounds like the timing is off there too; intentional or not, it's not working as is. I'd like to see a bit more oomph in your flute lines as well. There's a little bit of improvement at 1:28-1:36, and the last part at 3:28-3:52 is much better, but there's definitely more room for it to let loose and sound less canned than it does now. Good ideas, but it's the execution that's the killer. Take this one back to the shop and tune it up. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Lots to say... I'll start with production. I agree with Larry that this is quiet.. it isn't even normalized, which of course would help! Once you do that, consider using the free plugin "W1 Limiter" by George Yohng on your master track. Set the threshold to -2db or -3db. This combined with the normalization will make this sound better. The sample usage here, again as Larry pointed out, is not as good as it could be. I believe this is GPO, right? GPO is great, but has a very mellow sound. If you can, pick up soundfonts like "Squidfont Orchestra", "Cadenza II", and "Florestan Martellato". Many of the patches within these have higher fidelity recordings with more fullness. Layer them when necessary with your own sounds. I think this will be particularly helpful with your sustained and marcato strings. The percussion, aside from the orchestral chimes, sounds pretty weak. Very dry and small sounds, especially the tambourine. Maybe you need to bump up the reverb or reverb size that you're using on everything, or again, perhaps you just need new samples. Look at mixes by Darkesword, Unknown, and blizihizake as a reference for how powerful free samples can be when used properly. I like the writing overall. Pretty realistic. However there is too much reliance on the bass drum, tambourine, bongo and shaker pattern(s) used all throughout this mix. Besides layers dropping in and out, it all sounds very similar to me and while it serves capably to keep the beat it does almost nothing else of interest. Perhaps incorporating more percussive layers and varying the sequencing there more often would help. I would consider doing some rhythmic unison between the orchestra and percussion in at least a few sections, so the perc doesn't feel like a bunch of loops painted across the entire track. I did like the arrangement in general. The interpretation was creative and I feel that the source was treated well. However, I think the first half of the mix in general was more interesting, not only in terms of writing (eg. the syncopated string stabs were cool) but in terms of instruments used like that thing at :51 (very eloquently stated, I know.) I would encourage you to perhaps develop the second half even more with a larger variety of instruments. Guitar? More mallet percussion? Some other kind of harmony instrument playing a rapid pattern to keep things fresh? I think there are a lot of choices that would work. Overall, this is not quite at the bar yet in terms of production, and I feel that the arrangement aspect could also use some work. An improvement from your last sub, IMO, just keep working at it. MIDI orchestration is not easy. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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