Gario Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) Contact Information: ZBad Zachary Badreddine Submission Information: Silver Surfer (NES) [1990] "Ride the Silver Line" Stage 1 Theme Original Composer: Tim Follin Link to Original Song It started with me listening to the original track over and over again. I was obsessed with the bass line, the song's high speed, the drum track, everything about it. I wanted to remix the song immediately, but I loved the original so much that I didn't want to deviate too drastically from the source material. So I did my best to simply take everything Tim Follin did and crank it up to 11. It's my hope that this track succeeds. Edited March 29, 2017 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Mission accomplished, I'd say. This started off worryingly conservative, but after passing through the original source closely one time through, it goes off into arrangement territory. My one big gripe is that the instrumentation is very much on the static side. The same lead synth is used the whole time, although it does undergo some small filter changes every once in a while. The percussion and bass also follow mostly the same pattern the whole time. The changes, such as the choir, bells, and timpani, help a lot, but they don't change the fundamental issue. Especially starting at 2:55, things get same-y and rambling for much longer than strictly necessary, considering most of the same ideas had already been explored, more dynamically, in the section starting at 1:34. Had this been done with a live instrument, it might have stood well as a solo, but with a synth it gets old, especially since it's the same lead synth the whole arrangement. The electric guitar cameos are almost like a slap in the face to me, saying, "Hey, wouldn't this be awesome if the guitar was the lead instead? Well, too bad!" I think overall, the production and instrumentation are nearly solid enough to make up for the static lead, bass, and percussion, but not quite. Definitely look into switching the lead up a few times during the piece. Or find a seriously amazing guitarist to take it on. I know you really love the original bass and drum line, and while I think this would benefit from deviating from those more, I think you could probably get away with leaving them if you did more with the lead. Best of luck! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Sounds like 1:33 was a loop of :12's section. Annnnnnd... this arrangement essentially just repeats wholesale three times. Well, it's a Tim Follin track, so I love the source already, but this is just an uninterpretive and repetitive cover, so it falls outside of our arrangement/interpretation standards. Try to do your own thing with it beyond adapting it to synth and adding in some basic orchestration. Here's an example of a Silver Surfer cover of the other stage theme that's more personalized with live performance flourishes, more expansive instrumentation, and some brief original writing ideas integrated with the source tune: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02492. In other words, it's always possible to have a melodically conservative piece on OCR, but you need to personalize, develop, and vary the the arrangement way more than what's here. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted March 29, 2017 Author Share Posted March 29, 2017 Silver Surfer! Tim & Geoff Follin! Instant street cred goes to anyone giving this soundtrack remixin' love. While I agree that the track sounds similar when it repeats at 1:30, there ARE some significant differences between the sections that should get the credit that it's due: the choir is handled differently, there are portions that are repeated with variation to prolong the more active arps, etc.. To be honest, I'm not against how this one was arranged, from that aspect. It's conservative, and it recycles ideas, but it isn't what I would call a direct repetition. The criticism against the static nature of the arrangement certainly holds, though. The NES source has a whole lot more variety in the lead, so perhaps take a look at it as a guide - Follin was a master in that aspect, so this source is a perfect guide to that sort of thing. Parts like 2:48 - 3:31 would be far more effective if the lead wasn't the same for each repetition; it ends up sounding repetitive rather than being variations on the theme (which I thought was a pretty cool way to change up the arrangement). Give the source a listen and check out how Follin handles the repetitions for a great example of how to get life out of repetition: at 0:50 - 0:56 and 1:15 - 1:21 of the youtube source link every repeat has a pretty significant change to the timbre that keeps the parts interesting. Take note of that and see what you can do with the repetitions that can keep the listener engaged and interested. I like your arrangement, and I like where you're going with it - some TLC on the lead variety and execution of your ideas would make it an easy YES from me, next time around. Good luck! NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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