Gario Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 (edited) Hello Judges! Please see below for the submission info: Contact Info ReMixer name: Manji Real name: Chris Mole Email address: Website: http://www.chrismole.co.uk Userid: 16076 Submission Info Game arranged: Metroid Prime Name of arrangement: Heart of Ice Name of song(s) arranged: Samus Appearance Jingle (http://ocremix.org/song/12771, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxSkZ8ySo1o) and Ice Valley (http://ocremix.org/song/12749, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BJU_tDDBNU) Comments: As with my last remix, Prime Directive, this was largely inspired by the excellent work of Stemage and his Metroid Metal tracks- I wrote this at roughly the same time as I was writing Prime Directive, so I sort of consider it a companion piece. Phendrana Drifts is my favourite area in Metroid Prime, mostly because I'm a big fan of snow levels and the music is absolutely incredible, so I wanted to give it a heavy metal spin while emphasising that gorgeous lead melody. For the 'story' of the song, I liked the idea of Samus emerging from a save station into the howling winds of Phendrana (I have mixed in a sample of the Phendrana Drifts wind ambience from the game for this section; if this needs to be removed because it's taken from the MP soundtrack then let me know and I'll happily remove it and resubmit) so I threw in the excellent jingle that heralds her appearance at the start to kick things off in suitably badass fashion. As with my last remix, drums are sampled in Superior Drummer and all the distorted guitars/bass are played by me using a Kemper Profiler; the acoustic guitar is from a sample library. All mixing and mastering done in Ableton Live. Cheers! Comics | Fiction | Music http://www.chrismole.co.uk Edited January 24, 2017 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Interesting choice to base the melody on the quieter vox/strings part of the source, rather than the more dominant piano part. No reason you can't do that, although I'm having a tough time identifying source material though most of it. Here's what I can hear: 0:01-0:09: Appearance Fanfare 0:34-0:59: Phendrana vox/strings 1:13-1:38: Phendrana vox/strings 1:38-1:51: Phendrana piano runs 2:17-2:42: Inspired by, but very different from, Phendrana bass synth section (2:42 in video) 2:43-3:07: Phendrana vox/strings Total: 95/212 sec. = 45% The three runs through the main melody are also really similar. The second time through, the acoustic guitar and wind SFX are replaced with an overdriven guitar, and the third time a synth is added, but otherwise they're unchanged. The performance even sounds identical each time. It starts to feel stale by the end. That third repeat is also overcompressed, with the overdriven guitar causing the other elements to pump a bit. There's also some pumping in the wind SFX at the beginning, but that sounds like it's due to short samples with awkward cuts between them. The "runs" section from 1:38-1:51 is also really awkward, and doesn't sound like it fits the rest of the music at all. (Edit: Reading Gario's review, I realize this comment wasn't quite clear: I don't think there's anything wrong with the section in and of itself, I just think the transitions into and out of it are abrupt and make it sound out of place in the arrangement as a whole.) The ending, too, is sort of head-banging thrash, but the energy level of the rest of the arrangement doesn't build up to that at all. I'd also like a musician judge's feedback on the combination of the electric guitars with everything else. To me they sound extremely dissonant. There's some good musicianship here, but I don't think the arrangement is where it needs to be, and there's room for improvement on the production front as well. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 The guitar parts do sound dissonant - he applies power chords to the lead, which causes conflicts with the harmonies all around it. I very much do not recommend applying power chords to the leads at 0:34, as it creates painful dissonance. The acoustic guitar playing the arpeggios in the background also sounds like it's in major in short spurts, which REALLY clashes with everything being in minor above it, so watch your key clashing. I had little issue with the runs at 1:38, though - they're just wankin' some scales. Nothing wrong with that, other than being a scale wanker. Reading the analysis from MW, I think it's accurate - it's a little bit lacking in source, as it stands. The performances are not bad, the production isn't bad, and when it's not playing that kind of lead it's actually pretty catchy. But yeah, those leads reeeeally hurt the viability of this track, and the lack of source pushes this out of OCR territory.. I think the arrangement has potential, but some of the note choices should be re-evaluated. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Agreed with the gentlemen above. The major/minor clashing is odd, makes everything sound dissonant. The acoustic guitar sounds very fake and mechanical and I don't feel like it goes with the electric guitar at all. The final section of the track does sound quite overcompressed. Very awkward transition at 2:17. Drums sound buried. The track needs a rebalance for sure, but most importantly the chord structures aren't working well. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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