>>41506499I want to preface this response by saying I know nothing about music theory, composition, or mixing. I'm somewhat interested in learning it, and your post added to that interest since I want to fully understand what you mean.
To my untrained ear, I do hear differences in the background melodies in both songs, and the instrumentation does sound less punchy than the originals. In particular, the little horn scale towards the beginning of Route 120 feels like it ends off on an underwhelming note, and the little "doo-do-loo" part from 0:53 of E4 is too soft compared to the original.
I feel like I have to be listening for these, though, and on their own they sound acceptable to me. Sure, it may be technically inferior, but not unbearably so like in Route 113. I honestly prefer the higher quality instrument samples themselves (notwithstanding how they are used or mixed), and think that they could have produced some good music if used better.
FRLG, on the other hand, does bother me outright. I can agree that key changes don't make a difference in terms of arrangement, but I'd disagree on composition. Perhaps we have a different definition for the word, but to my understanding key directly changes which notes are played and affects how the song sounds, despite the scales themselves being identical. Still, I do think that the FRLG songs sometimes mess up arrangement, particularly in instrumentation.
I'll give an example with the gym leader theme.
https://youtu.be/VxFadPqMbfMAt 0:18, the switch to what sounds like some sort of flute or other wind instrument creates something that sounds weirdly whimsical, unfitting for the more intense atmosphere the song is meant to create. I also feel the same about the bells at 0:42. All of this is compounded by the higher pitch, which makes the song sound too happy.
Ruining the mood is especially poor for a video game, in which music is supposed to accompany the events and intensify the atmosphere.
