Gario Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 (edited) Track: ReMixer name: Overkillius real name: James Wilkinson email address: website: http://www.youtube.com/user/Overkillius userid: 33843 Name of game arranged: Soul Blazer (ソウルブレイダ) Name of arrangement: Free Your Soul Name of individual song arranged: The Mine (採掘場) Additional information: This was my submission for PRC327 Link to the original soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azA7YbrYn5k I never played this game! I looked up some gameplay and a synopsis to guide me through the remix, but I've never had the chance to play this one. The compo was loads of fun and the material turned out to be much more interesting in a remix than I had expected; it just came together really nicely and I'm pretty proud of this arrangement. Nothing too weird here to talk about musically besides maybe some of the harmonies, but I think any explanation of that would probably be not worth it for this particular song. I mentioned that I was proud of the arrangement, but I am also pretty proud of the synthesis and the mixing and whatnot. This is my third complete eurobeat song, and I went from having Famitracker and Finale as my only electronic music experience before I started, to only using the Odyssey Eurobeat Beginners' Pack with no mixing besides faders and a limiter, to doing everything myself from the mixing to the effects to the synthesis/layering. The one exception in this song is the drums; I don't want to negatively bias the judges before they actually listen, but I have to confess that I'm still using a drum loop from the Eurobeat Beginners' Pack; I do at least chop it up and use some hipass and bandpass automation to achieve effects and vary it up a little to fit the song better. Original submission comment for PRC327: I've never heard of this game before now, but reading up on it, watching gameplay, and remixing it was a pleasure. Hope you like Eurobeat Edited April 20, 2017 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share Posted February 10, 2017 Haha, that Eurobeat really brings life to a rather dull source. After hearing this track I listened to the source and it was nothing like I expected based on this arrangement, which I suppose is what OCR is all about. The production on this is pretty bright - the main synth at 0:09 really fills the high end of the EQ to an almost problematic degree, but it's not enough to turn me off to the arrangement. The synth brass work has a lot of flavor to it that really sells the idea of making this a Eurobeat track. As far as the arrangement goes, I appreciate that it definitely gives the listener room to breath from time to time with lower key moments, but it doesn't ever lose its energy. The four-to-the-floor drumwork is pretty boring, though - it really could've used a bit more variety than having the crashes create bridges from time to time. Other than the somewhat bright synth brass and static drum work, though, I've got little to criticize this for. I think it'd make a really fun post for OCR. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Very interesting, liberal interpretation of this source. Took me a few listens to wrap my head around it, since it turns the original's bass into part of the melody. Definitely agree with Gario's assessment of that bright brass synth; it's quite a bit over the top, especially at the sudden jumps (0:51, 1:48). The fact that it was the lead throughout the bulk of the mix was definitely a drawback, made more problematic by the fact that there is a fair amount of copy-pasting going on: 0:27-1:23 is copied at 1:24-2:20, 3:24-3:51 is a copy of the end of that section, and 0:07-0:27 is identical to 2:07-2:27. Close to two minutes of copy-pasting out of a four-minute mix is quite a bit. There are breaks spaced about at appropriate intervals, which helps, but not enough. The ending was quite abrupt, sounding like it was supposed to go on but was just left unfinished. Coming at the end of a loop as it does, it really leaves the listener hanging. I really do like this approach; it was a creative and lively way of handling a source that really didn't have much to it, but I feel like this needs to be less repetitive, especially considering how much of the repetition features that borderline problematic brass synth. You can use that for some of it--as Gario said, it does help capture the intended Eurobeat style--but this is too much IMHO. Add some more variety and tighten up that ending and I think you'll have a winner here. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Pretty surprising departure from the source. My reservations with this song are similar to MindWanderer's, so I won't write three more paragraphs exposing the same things, but I'll note that they are the Brass synth and repetition. The brass is soo overbearing and cheesy it just gets really tiring after the first couple minutes, and the repetition of several parts is pretty obvious and I feel not much was done to keep the copy-pasted sections different from one another. I did like the idea to adapt the source to this genre, but this needs more work on the sound-design level, with more palatable, better balanced synths and also on arrangement to get it over the bar. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Very unexpected style, which suits the tune. Lots of energy here. A few concerns to raise straight up. I share what the other judges have mentioned with regards to the brass. Initially it gives the remix a bit of a fun DDR style feel, but this wears off quickly with its over use, with the sound becoming irritating beyond the first minute. It is also overpowering in volume compared to the other elements and needs some tweaks to sit in the mix better. On the arrangement side there is a bit of repetition, with a fairly similar set of sounds and sections carried throughout the majority of the track. Things take a short break at the mid point but don't depart much from the formula. You also have some notes that feel a little clashy with other parts, especially in busy sections. I feel this mix can work with some reworking. If the brass has to stay, I feel it should be pulled back dramatically in its use, and instead use a couple of alternating leads throughout the mix. You also need to rethink the mixing here, keeping the leads in check so they are still audible but are not so loud to overpower the mix. The arrangement could also benefit from some more variation, especially in the parts that are repeated. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 As far the arrangement, it felt too liberal to me, but that may just be me wanting to have heard something more melodious; if you could timestamp how you arranged the theme from section to section, that would have been helpful. I did like the contrast in energy compared to the source. Not feeling the bright brass synth either, which definitely gets old over the long run. Way, WAY too much copy-pasta of the writing going on like MindWanderer timestamped. Dynamically, this felt very flat aside from some very brief dropoffs, and the overall groove and energy levels were too repetitive. I also felt the 2:27-3:10 section felt relatively atonal, so I'm not sure the key change there worked. Keep at it on this one, James, but you'll need much more variation and development of the ideas here so that it doesn't drag. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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