Stratovarius Community

So everyone by this point already knows about this thing...

When it was released, I made a comment on how much I hated Pasi's mixing, and how would I try to do something... anything of post-release work on the whole record, and that for better or worse I'd leave a different stamp of flavor into the album.

Well, I made this topic for the like 2 people (me and someone who found it randomly via Google) to post about the work that I'm doing on the record.

Just as a heads up, I don't intend for this thing to be an "ultimate" kind of thing, but more a fan thing that I made based on me being displeased with the final result when it comes to mixing.

Do I expect everyone to like it? Nope, not at all... but still, why not I figured... I like doing things nobody really asked for anyway, and it's fun

I'm trying to alter the original thing (music wise) as LITTLE as possible, but there are things I'll just have to touch in a couple songs. Please note that the samples posted will be low quality, till I'm done with the whole thing.

So here's the first couple of updates:

FIRST UPDATE:
The mix is filled with audio oddities that I just don't understand how they were in a final release. If I was an exec at Nuclear Blast I'd be like... "Dude, Pasi... fix your shit or give it to ANYONE ELSE to mix"

In particular I wanna bring up a very annoying sound in Destruction Preventer that happens right before Tony screams the high note "Eeeeeeeeeeennd!". For a reason that I'm still trying to figure out to this day, Pasi left some kind of "BRRR" high picth noise that has nothing to do with anything... here it is:

Original with BRRR before EEEND

So for this one, I simply removed that damn noise. How it got there in the first place is something I may never know, but I surely did my best to remove it.

New WITHOUT BRRR before EEEND

The noise actually appears before as well, at the 4:36, and that noise has been removed as well. It's the exact same thing, so won't post an example for that.

SECOND UPDATE:
So... did you know Sonata Arctica has keyboards? Yeah! It's insane I know!... I mean, from listening to some of these tracks you'd think it was an after-thought, not a KEY ELEMENT of Sonata's Music... For 8th Commandment, I'm resorting to re-recording parts of the harmony keyboards, to give the song the depth it should have.

I'm trying to not play anything that's not on the original keyboard track, just virtually giving the song a second keyboard track so make it actually appear in the track... seriously Pasi, do you have a grudge against Henkka or something?

Original 8th Commandment Intro
Enhanced 8th Commandment Intro

The samples are not that good in quality, but it's much more noticeable in normal quality.
I'm also putting some work into making the guitar sound stronger in this one, because you know... Sonata Arctica also has a guitar! Yeah, insane right? You'd think it was just drums and voice, but NOPE!

I'll post the next update soon!

(inb4 nobody cares)

Have you considered starting your own band?

If you could just replace all the guitars with trumpets, that would be great.

And with Soprano saxophones and Helicopters. Sehr gut! Vielen Dank!

Replace the bass with the screams of the damned and you'll really be on to something.

Also replace all vocals with duck quacks. Quack!

If you absolutely want, you can replace the helicopters with Jetplane, even if it NOT will give the same mumttering effect...Danke anyway...

the brrr sound seems like a snare rebound or something like that, sometimes the plug in that is used in the mix creates crazy shit like that, I dont think is as disgusting as you describe it, but that is where the art lies in.

about the keyboards, in your samples they do sound very low in the mix, almost non existent I have a copy of the 2012 re release and they where really bright on that one, I wonder what happened there, maybe the hapsicord has gone out of fashion.

like I said in your original post, no body needs a re re re re re release of ecliptica, except maybe the japanese guys just ignore and forgive sonata dudes.

THIRD UPDATE

Some work on Blank File's post solo section. I felt it was so damn dry...

Original Post Solo Section
Enhanced Post Solo Section

I think this whole project is a bit how I imagined Ecliptica would sound 15 years later, not really the band's vision... but I don't know. I know I'm having fun with it.

I'll also consider the helicopters.

adrian9 wrote:the brrr sound seems like a snare rebound or something like that, sometimes the plug in that is used in the mix creates crazy shit like that, I dont think is as disgusting as you describe it, but that is where the art lies in.

about the keyboards, in your samples they do sound very low in the mix, almost non existent I have a copy of the 2012 re release and they where really bright on that one, I wonder what happened there, maybe the hapsicord has gone out of fashion.

like I said in your original post, no body needs a re re re re re release of ecliptica, except maybe the japanese guys just ignore and forgive sonata dudes.

The Brrr is really distracting for me, because it's on such a climatic point of the song, but I'm sure many wouldn't notice if I didn't bring it up, but I hope it'll be noticeable when I put up the whole thing and in proper quality.

As for the keyboards (I think you mean 2008 release?) I was just very sad, because Ecliptica and Silence and maybe even up to WHG were albums worked around the keyboards, sometimes even more than the guitar. I don't understand why Pasi muted the keyboards SO HARD in this release. I also didn't like a declaration Henkka made a while ago, saying... "I basically played Tony's parts, just updated the keyboard sound a little" which seems really dumb to me, because the point of the re-record was to capture the feel the different musicians (new lineup) would bring to the table, not play the same parts Tony did in 1999... I mean, the original release does that just fine, and having such incredible solos from Henkka specially in Reckoning Night and UNIA like the closing solo at the end of Wrecking the Sphere, I just feel it was a super wasted opportunity for him, specially with Elias stepping up his game so much for the 2014 release.

As for re re re re releasing Ecliptica... I can see where you are coming from. I wouldn't want to see RN re-released 500 times... but aside from this being fun for me, I'm just trying to inject some love into Ecliptica's 2014 release, at least from the mixing perspective... Unnecessary? yeah, totally... but I'm not really going to sell it or anything. It's just a fan project

I also didn't like a declaration Henkka made a while ago

I haven't been impressed with Sonata Arctica since Reckoning Night, with the exception of Days of Grays, and parts of Unia.

Stones Grow Her Name was very bland. The new one has its moments, but nothing compared to WHG and Reckoning Night.

I think Henkka is not that talented. He seems like a sloppy musician. Elias guitar tone is horrible, and Tony is not a great singer.

Thanks and farewell!

FOURTH UPDATE

Again, some keyboard work on My Land...

No Keyboard?...
Enhanced (New Keyboard Track)

Really excited to eventually post all these in better quality when I'm done with it all

Less keyboards, more dog barks and cat meows.

FIFTH UPDATE

Now for a sample with actual audio quality...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc04vt9sMbM

Did you play or program the keyboards?

robocop656 wrote:Did you play or program the keyboards?

Played, so will be the case with 8th Commandment

Nice!

HinatAArcticA wrote:FIFTH UPDATE

Now for a sample with actual audio quality...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc04vt9sMbM

Nicely done