Liontamer Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Hello! Here is all the information you need: - OC name: med00sa - my name: Markus - mail: med00sa@kabsi.at ; markus@everynote.at - webs.: www.everynote.at - game(s): chrono trigger - frog’s theme I’d like to say a few words about this piece, and a few other things concerning it… sorry for possible grammar, etc. errors, I’m a foreign speaker and my English is a bit “rusty”… I have been ‘remixing’ and arranging for quite a long time now, although I wouldn’t necessarily call it ‘remixing’ in terms of what you and the people in this community do, since I always tried to stick as close to the original song as possible, trying not to interfere with the basic structure, melody, harmony, etc. of the songs. Really incredible, ingenious songs have been written in the history of gaming and I always believed that the songs shouldn’t be altered in a “weird” way, for instance making a drum& bass song out of a majestic, beautiful orchestral piece…- But this is only my personal, maybe even a bit bigoted opinion - and it doesn’t change the fact that I really enjoy the tracks on your site, and respect the people who contributed anything! -> But my motivation for “remixing” was always….well different, since I strictly separate composing, and “arranging’”. I always feel like a murderer when I change everything about the songs that I love, and adore. When I found out about this site I knew that it would be pointless to submit any of my (many) songs because I knew they were just too authentic, or ‘too close to the original’ if you like. But when I finished this song - which was dedicated to one of my best friends, a hardcore chrono-trigger-fan in form of a present - after 2 months of careful orchestrating and producing, I felt that it shouldn’t lie around and get dusty, because it was just way to much work! - and is way to good, if a dare to say so! It may be short, it may be not terribly original, but I think everybody can hear that there’s a lot of time, sweat, and professionalism behind this one! I’m really exited to hear what you think about it, and I especially hope that you like it just as much as my friend did! Best wishes Markus. - Vienna ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Frog's Theme" (ct-119.spc) The melody holds pretty fast, but he's got some clear interpretation and embellishment in terms of the supporting material, which is mostly new and very substantive. The ending at 1:52 was a bit too thin, IMO, and exposed the sample a bit; not a huge deal. While short, much like Select Start's take on the theme, there's lots of evolution and dynamics in the piece that give it a lot more bang for the buck. Not sure if the volume is an issue as I'm not on my usual setup, but someone else can confirm or deny that. What's up with these <2min "Frog's Theme" mixes bringing it all of a sudden? I don't even like this theme. YES EDIT: Vote changed. See below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Straightforward interpretation, inconsistent sequencing. The interpretation shows promise but lacks development. The horns towards the end are a good idea, but it never advances beyond a relatively clunky countermelodic line. Potential here, but it's an easy NO larry wut u thinkin bro? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Yeah I'm with Jesse here. I don't find the interpretation particularly interpretive at all. There are some embellishments, but it's all too little too late. There's some balance issues between brass and the woodwinds at the end as well. Way too much reverb on the ending brass there. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Definitely not interpretive enough, in my opinion. EVERYTHING up to 1:06 is basically straight from the source with very little (if any) variation or interpretation. After that, it's more repetition from the source, with some basic added harmonies & a counter-melody at 1:22. I do not think the additions are nearly enough to make up for how closely this sticks to the source in terms of chordal structure, rhythms, dynamics, etc. It really is basically the source twice in a row with some light additions the second time through, nowhere near enough for our bar. Larry, what are you thinking on this...? Production-wise, the orchestration is well-done, but things get muddy in the second half. This is because there's a tendency to simply layer up sustain parts instead of using rhythmic unison or syncopation to really make things interesting, which has the negative effect on the freq balance. Volume level is also a little too static across the board for orchestral, IMO, needs more room to breathe. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted November 10, 2007 Author Share Posted November 10, 2007 http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Frog's Theme" (ct-119.spc) Gotta readily admit, super pwnt here, as I had even rechecked this one after Vigilante's vote and didn't get any red flags here besides the melody. The reason several of the instrumentation ideas seemed new was because they just didn't stand out at all for me in the original. As alluded to earlier, clearly I didn't like this theme enough to really have it click with me vs. the arrangement, despite the unapologetic description of the sub letter. But going the full cavity search here and deconstructing this with the individual SPC voices clearly showed too much verbatim usage of the parts from the original, just given a nice sound upgrade, so the structure is clearly too similar and uncreative. Let's attempt to redeem it with... The breakdown: *Voice 1 (brass) = melody essentially used verbatim from :33-1:05 & 1:21-1:52 *Voice 2 (woodwind melody) = melody essentially used verbatim from :33-1:05 & 1:21-1:52 *Voice 3 (high reverbed string 1) = not ripped anywhere, AFAIK; pattern is similar to voice 7 *Voice 4 (high reverbed string 2) = not ripped anywhere, AFAIK; pattern is similar to voice 7 *Voice 5 (low reverbed string) = feels like it from :17-:33, but not used, AFAIK *Voice 6 (military drums) = pattern essentially used verbatim from :07-:49 and 1:05-1:51; seemingly different stuff from :49-1:05 though sounded similar to :45-1:01 of the SPC, so that could have been ripped. *Voice 7 (boomy drums) = pattern essentially used verbatim from :33-1:05; still used the same way until 1:51 but very obscured due to the other instrumentation added after 1:05 If this track is exactly the way you want it, that's fine. Don't change a thing. But if you're interested in getting this passed as an OC ReMix, you need to take the theme in new directions that don't rely this heavily on copying the parts of the original and merely beefing up the instrumentation. For example, uniquely rewriting the supporting instrumentation and reinterpreting the melody and countermelodies. Although limited, the added embellishments and new part writing are definitely cool, especially the brass upfront from 1:21-1:57. The comparatively more interpretive intro (note: comparatively) from :00-:17 was a highlight as well. So you had some brief ideas going in the right direction for what we're looking for, Markus. Definitely read Section 4, Part 2 of the Submission Standards for more information and details on ways an arrangement treats the source material to fit with our creativity standards. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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