Zelda: Majora's Mask

[Rozovian]

Remixed "Final Hours" because I found it requested on the requests forum. Submitted. Got a no. Worked on it, forgot all about it, and now, bored out of my skull with the lack of activity on ocr atm, I felt like getting some feedback on it, here, wosmething I should have done in the first place. Well, live and learn.

The links:

MIDI for comparison at http://vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/n64/Last_Day_v1.4.MID (remember, direct links to vgmusic don't work)

The judges' NO

The old, NO-ed remix

The new and improved, and hopefully better, remix

The newer and improveder, and hopefully better...er, remix

Bear in mind that I only recently rediscovered this one. I wanted some feedback before getting back to working on it.

[Hausdog]

Best I can tell you is to change the vox to something else.

[ThiefVI]

i like it x.x

[Tensei]

Odd that I don't remember this song at all from the game, even though I played it to death. Anyway, I mostly agree with the judges on the lack of a captivating melody throughout. I've often been in a debate about ambient approach vs. captivating melody, and this definitely falls into the ambient category in that it sketches a soundscape, rather than a song itself.

There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with that IMO, but I know the Judges tend to dislike it (Take a look at how long it took a guy like Avaris, who has a similar ambient approach, to get accepted by the panel), so this is quite a tough nut to crack.

There IS room for improvement though, and I think with time this could very well get accepted. Production is quite stable throughout, I think it's mostly a question of giving the mix a direction to head to. I'm mostly thinking, since it's a bleak, apocalyptic musical sketch, it should get darker and more pressing throughout ( A good idea would be to use a church/tubular bell at set points during the mix to signify the impending doom) .

I liked where you headed with the marcato strings, as it seemed the mix was finally building up to something, but unfortunately it slowed down after that. I'd say the mix has some very nice single sections, but the way they're arranged doesn't make much sense to me at all, what this mix needs most is a working excitement curve (is that how you say it in English?), i.e. a song-structure that naturally builds up to a climax, in the same way a movie does.

As I've said, this is a tough nut to crack, thus my advice is a little vague (And that's why there's probably no other feedback here ) . there's really nothing wrong with the sequencing, production and general mood, it just needs a working build-up.

[Rod F]

I liked it but as the guy above mentioned you should build it up to a more apocalyptic ending. I mean, it's a theme that projects impending doom in the game and the music is pretty much helped with what is going on with quakes, the bells and the non.stopping clock in the HUD.

You should definilty build increase the tension as it goes along, maybe -if possible- change from synths to a chorous to build up drama. Just a thought.

Maybe for the cherry of the pie you could finish abruptly when you build enough tension and leave some notes hanging from the synth and finally conclude with a xylophone playing the "Oath to Order" as a sign of hope.

[PrototypeRaptor]

So I love your orchestra. It's clean, crisp, well produced and not drowned in too much reverb. And the repeating staccatos aren't mechanical..wow. Props on that. Just a few thoughts I have to perhaps help you out.

As Tensei-San said, it needs to build to a climax.

I think you could add that section onto the buildup at 3:00 where instead of it just dropping out into a new section, you could use some tremelo strings and fortepianos to build up to an increased tempo section.

This song really reminds me of the Saw soundtrack in places (esp. that harp-ish sound with all the delay).

I think that if you built up using modulations like the most memorable Saw tune (http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B0002WZSNU001013/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_013), this could really be epic.

My two cents...looking forward to an update!

-PrototypeRaptor

[Rozovian]

Haven't had the time yet to try out your suggestions, but here's the most recent version. My biggest problem has been direction. There's a few things I know I need to change in this, sections to bridge in better ways, but in case there's stuff I've missed, and in case I'm compeltely screwing up the direction, let me know.

And I also appreciate positive feedback, so thanks for that. Constructive is more helpful, but...

Rod - it's all sampled orchestral stuff. No synths. Also, I have no decent or half-decent choir samples, just bad and/or low quality ones.

[Hausdog]

I really like how it sounds. You unknowingly changed the vox like I asked!

The xylophones sound much more clock-like now. At 2:28, I'm not quite sure I like the sustained harpsichord or what have you. The other instances after it sound good, but the notes are very... amelodic. Nice clock percussion around 3:30. The string ensemble sounds great.

At 4:35 you build up some nice tension with the clock, but after you bring in the woodwinds at 4:46 the strings aren't enough of a presence anymore. They're a little too quiet.

The ending... sounds good, but I agree with the others. Maybe keep the xylophones where they are for 1 repetition and then double-time them and put something with a sense of urgency to it. It certainly SOUNDS like death, but in the game, the people aren't going to die lying in a hospital bed and flat-lining, they're going to be crushed by the moon. Some high strings and some big-sounding brass at the end might be what you're looking for.

[LiquidusSnake821]

Dude this is the first remix for this game and you are working on my favorite song from the game. Ive game overed so many time just to listen to it. keep going w/ it it sounds good.

[Rozovian]

Dude, the first ain't mine. But thanks.