*NO* Final Fantasy 4 'A Musical Portrait of Love'

Groove bias! - LT

Link to "Musical Portrait":

Your ReMixer name: Status Kuo

Your real name: Dennis Kuo

Your email address: denkuo@gmail.com

Submission Information

Name of game(s) arranged: Final Fantasy IV

Name of individual song(s) arranged: Theme of Love (Ai no Teema)

Thanks for listening!

Dennis

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http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff4 - "Theme of Love" (ff4-04.spc)

Light pop at :21, otherwise, very serene opening. The drum groove at :38 initially threw me off, but you get more adjusted to it. After establishing the groove, the source melody kicked in at :59. Basically repeated itself at 1:59 with some some minor additions. The strings added in for the chorus from 2:57-3:17 sounded slightly behind the beat, plus the articulations sounded very mechanical; gotta improve the execution there. When those strings supplemented the glassy notes from 4:56-5:35, the timing sounded better and the sample wasn't as exposed (though the articulations still need work). 3:38 went for another iteration of the source melody with much more personalization, comping and interplay this time around. Definitely some good contrast with the previous iterations.

I liked the light jazz groove here, though it was on total cruise control. Honestly, the groove could afford to do more, yet the bass work and the overall dynamics of the source arrangement did offset that to some degree. I'd say fix the string articulations, and see what you could do to vary the groove as long it wouldn't involve fundamentally changing it, then this would sound fully developed and cohesive. Very awesome base so far, Dennis, I hope we hear more from you.

NO (refine/resubmit)

The drums did throw me off as well.. That snare sounds strange but it grows on you. Could do with a little less reverb and some more meat though. The piano handling the main melody could be a little louder, it's the instrument that is the most quiet of everything. Either that or pull back the drums/bass a bit.

Quite sparse with pad+bass+piano+drums. Not a dealbreaker but it feels like some other chord instruments could've been used to great effect, maybe some rhythmic comping to supplement the grooving bass and drums. Like Larry said, the strings that enters for the chorus are very mechanical and the articulation could be improved.

The second time around with the piano the source is handled better. Some other element wouldn't hurt but this time around it's not really nessecary. Still this is quite repetetive arrangement wise because of how static the groove and backing instruments are.

Production wise this has some balance issues. The drums and bass are very loud compared to the rest of the instruments. Seems like there's quite a lot of reverb on some sounds too. Work with the levels and EQ to make everything really glued together.

You have a good start here, try improving the flow and the way the instruments fit together. Now it sounds like the drums+bass is not really playing together with the rest. Some variation in the arrangement would also help, the groove could do much more. Some additional instruments and a varying backing section in general is also a good idea. Keep working with this one, it's a promising first sub! I hope we hear from you again.

NO(resubmit)

Haha, love the remixer name.

I definitely like what you're going for here. The piano is gorgeous and the mood is smooth. I could imagine Barry White whispering over it, but he's already got a Love Theme. The drums are a weak link and they didn't fit with the rest of the piece for me. They overpower everything, especially the snare. I would have gone for a snare that's deeper and more tucked into the background. Massive reverb on it too - think about cutting that back, it gets distracting. The song is also a little repetitive but I felt reasonably engaged for the six minutes, which meant you were doing a pretty good job. Some slight details in the groove or the bass could help distinguish the verses.

Song is overall a little thin, and I wouldn't have minded some fuller instruments. When the strings come in, you're doing a good job with the soundscape, but there's some moments with just the bell lead that sound awfully lonely. Maybe even just making the percussion quieter and everything else louder would help. Last thing is the slight timing issues that my fellow judges noted in the chorus.

You've got some stuff to fix here, but I hope you stick with this because the idea is good. Good luck, Dennis.

NO (resubmit)