Emunator Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Contact Information Your ReMixer name Rom Tom Your real name Tom Zanay Your email address Your website Your userid 17900 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged Donkey Kong Country Name of arrangement Cast Away Banana Name of individual song(s) arranged Aquatic Ambiance Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site) David Wise, Eveline Novakovic, Robin Beanland Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKAc3nYEatw Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc. Greetings Judges, Djpretzel, and awesome OCR Fans. I'm excited to present, yes, yet another Aquatic Ambiance remix from DKC! I was a wee young lad when I happened upon OCRemix in 2003, and if you were to ask me at that time who my favorite musician was, I would have responded with "the ones on OCRemix". It would be another 4 years before I figured out about the existence of and tried my hands at the DAW FL Studio. I joined the forum in 2007, and produced a few remixes for the WIP forum. There really is no better place to learn music production outside a music school, and I remained fairly active for about 2 or 3 years, until about 2010. I did try submitting a song once before in 2009ish, though I'm glad it went unnoticed. It needed work like a house needs bricks. Indeed, I had always wanted to enter the OCR ranks as a fellow remixer, and I used the submission guidelines as a constant reminder for how good music should be made. But alas, I have returned, like Donkey Kong did to the Wii. It was at the beginning of 2015 that I spontaneously made half of this song in one sitting. I hadn't touched it from that point on until about a month ago, and have been touching it up since. And then I thought, it just might be that time, to try again at submitting an OC Remix. There is something simply magical about this tune. What inspired this tune was hearing all the other great versions of this song on OCR, and I intend to join the Aquatic Ambiance Lounge, so to speak. I am inspired by an odd variety of music, including power metal, black metal, 80s rock, dub (without the step), dub (with the step) and an assortment of acoustic-electronic mashups. No, I did not employ all of the above genres for this tune, but would classify it as a taste of dub with mostly electronic-acoustic elements. The song's concept plays with the idea that a lone banana is somehow let loose into the ocean, as the Kongs start up a drum circle next to the shoreline. Join this banana on a journey into the depths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 47.75-1:04, 1:10.25-2:04.5, 2:06.5-2:09, 2:10.5-2:33.5, 2:39.5-4:22.75, 4:39.5-7:36 The source tune was there in spades, so I won't add it all up since it clearly dominated the arrangement. The pipes at 1:55 and brass at 3:49 were so-so as far as realism and sounded a bit stilted but serviceable enough, and more importantly, mixed well into the soundscape to minimize the realism issues. The mood sometimes feels a little static, like with some of the mallet percussion, but the overall presentation is awesome. Emu's right in that no one's arranged "Aquatic Ambiance" this way, and it's a unique approach; not sure why there would even be pause for a vote just because the source tune is "over-mixed." The piece could be a little shorter without losing anything, especially since 3:39's section repeats at 5:53 (except filled out a little more), but it's a comfortable 7 1/2-minute listen that employs textural variations to keep the piece fresh. Nice work, Tom! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 The wind samples felt pretty stiff and lacking human articulations, although most of the instruments felt this way as well, it's more noticeable in these because they take the spotlight at a couple of sections. So overall the performances didn't feel very natural to me but I think in this case they didn't need to be. Other background textures on the mix fared better, creating a more interesting soundscape. I felt the subs were affecting too much the mix in the busiest sections due to the compression but the song's elements were clear enough throughout. The arrangement starts off very creative but gets less interesting for me over time. The background is constantly evolving, and the structure is handled in creative ways but I wished more variations were done to the main melody and motifs, an opportunity missed in this regard was at the second brass section where the main melody repeats verbatim. There is however, as previously mentioned, a lot of work done to keep things different everywhere else as the song runs its course. Not a fan of the ending, as the main arpeggio just cuts off abruptly. Overall I have to agree it's an original take on a very popular song, which evolves constantly an can either keep the listener engaged if one's looking at the details, or just act equally as nice if just used as background music. The dub sections were a highlight for me (3:08). YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 The high bell timbres starting at 0:48 are piercing. The hand drums are just the same two samples over and over. And they are loud, and so dry. (Heck, even the ocean sounds dry. Is that possible?) Until 3:09. At which time suddenly this track is... reggae? With staccato strings? The bass at this part is too huge, it's booming, taking way too much frequency. The bass needs to come down in volume and be tamed in the mid-lows (200-300ish Hz). All the sequencing in this track is really mechanical. That backing arp with the sampled guitar sounds so repetitive by the time I've reached the fadeout. The melody line, when it repeats, is exactly the same as the first iteration. The drumming during the reggae portions is very simple and the drum timbres are weak. The transition at 4:23 is weak, and you've transitioned into... just sub bass and mechanical piano. There are a lot of very cool and unique ideas here, to be sure. It's not all clicking for me though. I think the elements need quite a bit of humanization (winds, guitar, piano, drumming). Adding some further texture to the soundscape would help to hide the super-quantized sequencing and the overused loops. Some reverb or delay on the hand drumming loops and the guitar would help a lot. The bass boominess needs to be addressed, and the drums in the reggae parts need to be cleaned up or the samples replaced. Also, I suggest sidechaining your kick to that bass for more groove and a cleaner mix. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Haha Larry, just to clarify, my "over-mixed source" comment was a purely off-side remark that has nothing to do with my opinions on the track or my judgment I paneled this because of the issues I'm about to go into. So, yeah. VERY creative arrangement, perhaps one of the strangest approaches I've ever heard to Aquatic Ambiance. I really love the thought that went into this, and although the genres that inspire you don't necessarily come through in this arrangement, it's cool that you're pulling inspiration from some lesser-explored realms of music. Arrangement-wise, I'd call this an easy pass. I wouldn't mind hearing a bit more variation to the hand-drumming rhythms in the intro if you can, and the last few minutes of the track felt somewhat extraneous, but for the most part that side of things checked out and I wouldn't necessarily solicit any changes there. Kris definitely has a good handle on the production issues, and for me, I think they add up to warrant a resubmission. All of the samples sound lower-than-average quality, but the sequencing and humanization is what really brings this down. I disagree with Larry that those realism issues are well-mitigated here... the pan flute and trumpet particularly stuck out to me as needing some TLC on the ADSR envelopes so that the notes fade more naturally. I think the pan flute is the biggest offender. The glockenspiel sample is piercing and has almost no expression, and the same can be said for the piano. The bass is also dominating the track quite a bit and Kris offered some fantastic advice on mixing that in better with the rest of the track. I really want to sign off on this because I do tend to give the benefit of the doubt on production issues when the arrangement is this creative, but I think this could really benefit from a second pass on the sequencing/humanization along with some mixing tweaks to help get it up to the bar. I won't be disappointed if this passes and I'm sure I'll find myself listening to it from time to time regardless, but I don't think it's ready to be posted yet. Good luck either way! NO (please resubmit!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Nice theme to the source - I agree that the arrangement is incredibly fun. It evokes just the image intended, and since it really incorporates the source through and through, I'd say it's an easy pass on arrangement. As Chimp and Emu both mentioned, though, the samples are mechanical throughout. The wind samples are especially noticeable, though, as virtually no one would play a wind instrument like that. For longer notes, performers include subtle amounts of vibrato. Many samples incorporate this on their own, but for samples that don't you need to add a very slight, subtle wave of pitch bending to emulate this. Both the trumpet and the pan flute would improve immensely from this. Most of the other instruments are not quite as noticeable - you do pay attention to dynamics for the most part, which helps make them sound a bit more lively. However, if you copy/paste textures, those same dynamic changes can get repetitive, as well - changing the dynamics from one run to another even just a little would improve the humanization quite a bit. The organ causes a few problems against your other lower instruments, as I hear a few pops signalling either clipping or limiting issues (like at 3:14, for example). Mixing it down a bit against the other instruments would probably help. The reverb also sounds a little much in the context of the other somewhat more dry instruments, and lessening the reverb a little would also help clear up any clashing it currently has with the other instruments. The piano has just a little too much reverb, as well - it compounds with the delay and clashes with itself a bit too much. It also seems to lack in dynamics even more than your other instruments. Give each little run on the piano some real dynamics change from note to note, as it sounds very mechanical otherwise. I feel the mix is a little unfocused overall. The bass and harmonies tend to overpower the melody, which makes it sound a little cluttered, especially after 3:09. Mix your textures more into the background, bring your melody lines out more, and make the bass a little less dominant. I agree that this one doesn't quite come over the bar, due to these issues. The track is still great, though, so I look forward to a resubmission. Give the woodwinds some vibrato to give them life, vary the dynamics of your textures a little to improve the humanization, mix the textures and bass more into the background and let the melody stand out, and make sure that organ doesn't cause any sort of clipping or limiting issues.NO/RESUB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Wow, the ocean is loud today. I think you can take it down a bit so that it isn't (literally) drowning the hand drums. I did like when the ocean filled in the empty space at 1:03 though. Speaking of the drums, they were very dry and sounded odd next to the ocean sounds. Adding some reverb there should make everything sound like the same space. You can even cut the reverb some when you take out the ocean noises, as if we are moving into the studio. I like the bells, but I love the guitar line you added. It compliments the source arp so nicely. The pan flute is the first big misstep. I'm surprised that some of the judges were ok with it because I thought it was flat out awful. Sorry to be harsh, but without humanization, front and center, it sticks out really badly. In fact, the stiffness of it made that section pretty boring because there wasn't a lot else to focus on. Big shift at 3:09. I thought it was cool but wasn't a fan of the pad playing the reggae offbeats. It was a weak, washed out sound. The trumpet is better than the pan flute, but not much. And again, there aren't enough other things to focus on that I can overlook it. The arpeggios started to get a little repetitious in this section, but the cool drum and bass work covered for it. 5:15 went back to the reggae, minus the pad but plus the guitar. I thought this worked much better. Unfortunately, so many of the patterns were cut-and-pasted that it didn't sound different enough from what had proceeded it. Sounded like it was composed almost entirely (or entirely?) from older sections. It also ran long. You've got a lot of great elements here, and an ambitious arrangement. I think subtly varying patterns and humanizing the leads are the biggest problems here. Fix those and that goes a long way towards a pass. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMonz Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 This is definitely creative and shows a lot of potential. The arrangement has a good flow overall, it's quite evident that you put a lot of work in structuring the arrangement. It's a very slow progression, but I think that's an acceptable design choice here and makes for an interesting journey. Some parts have particularly interesting ideas (I really liked the section around 6:39, very nice sound on those arps, and the subtle marcato strings to back them are well-mixed). Some parts, though, I think could use some more work in the creative department (for example, the breakdown at 4:23 takes a *lot* of time before anything significant happens again, I strongly suggest exploring some detail work to keep things interesting). I also think most of the melodies could use more personalization, especially because of the organic feel of the instruments. I have to agree about the humanization problems, especially on the pan flute and trumpet. The glock and piano definitely need some more attention to the velocities. I also agree that the bass takes too much space, and should be toned down. I recommend following Chimpazilla's advice. I think you have a good concept, and a good creative potential. I hope you will use all the feedback we have provided for you in order to hone your skills. I look forward to hearing a revised version of this remix! Bottom line: Good concept, interesting arrangement structure, but the humanization and mixing problems are deal-breaking. I also suggest adding more detail work to the 4:23 section. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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