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*NO* Pokémon Yellow Version 'The Pi-Kahuna'


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Submission Information

  • Pokemon Yellow
  • Arrangement name: The Pi-Kahuna
  • Songs Arranged: Pikachu's Beach
  • System: Nintendo DS
  • Comments: Surprisingly, little people actually know about the minigame exclusive to Pokemon Yellow version. Titled Pikachu's Beach, you could play this fun game where your Pikachu goes surfing. The music, in my opinion, was not that great... But since surfing was the theme at hand, I had to take a stab at it. What came out was something that sounds like a relaxing day at the beach while keeping true to the ongoing theme song of the minigame. Sit back and enjoy!
     

 

Edited by Liontamer
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  • Liontamer changed the title to 2017/03/03 - Pokémon Yellow Version 'The Pi-Kahuna'
  • 2 weeks later...

It's a pretty interesting take, and I like the core of it.  But this is really more of a proof-of-concept than a full track.  It consists of an intro and two nearly-identical loops of part of the source tune, and then ends at the 1:34 mark (the last 8 seconds are just ocean SFX).  It takes a really dense or otherwise special arrangement to merit going under our usual guideline of 2 minutes, and this isn't it.

The lead also needs some work in the production department.  It's so quiet and so wet that I can't even be sure what instrument it is.  That would need to be cleaned up substantially.  The soundscape is pretty muddy in general; I catch hints of instruments that are being buried by the wash of reverb and ocean sounds, but I can't make them out.

Thanks for submitting, but if you'd like to send us something else, I strongly recommend taking it to our workshop forum first.  The main issues with this remix would have been caught quickly there.

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MindWanderer makes some solid points, though I will give some more credit for the overall arrangement being an interesting interpretation of the source. There's not nearly this kind of detail in the Game Boy source (obviously), the style is less 'Happy-fun time' and more 'Laid back on the beach' (which is pretty cool), and the production has decent volume without limiting or compression issues. Even though I'm going to give it a NO (heads up), I would definitely say this has some potential to be postable with some work.

But to get to the point, this does have quite a bit that holds this back. The lead is certainly mixed too far into the back of the mix (...is that a lap guitar?), and I fear it would have some piercing EQ if the levels were raised on it.  As that's the element that best connects to the source, it really should be front and center of the mix. Bringing down elements like the rhythm guitar while bringing up the levels of the lap guitar would help give this arrangement better focus on the important elements that it has to offer (though again, you'd need to watch your mid/higher EQs for the lead instrument as you raise your levels).

The 'repeat the song twice' format feels like padding, and while what you had the first time around was pretty cool a direct repetition doesn't add anything to the arrangement. Considering the track is only 1:42 long, relegating half of it to repeating the arrangement means that it's effectively a 0:50 song on repeat. You could take the arrangement in any number of directions and it would be interesting and cool, but there just isn't enough for us to sink our teeth into, right now.

The arrangement sounds very wet, which is problematic for mixing purposes. I know it's the Hawaii sound you're going for, but don't overdo the style and cause yourself production issues, like a messy soundscape. Tone down the reverb so you can hear your instruments more clearly (while leaving enough to evoke that sound you're looking for).

It's an interesting source - one of the very few that can uniquely be called 'Pokemon Yellow' rather than the 'R/B/Y' grouping that's traditionally given to these games, so it's something I'd love to see posted someday. However, the mixing and arrangement has some work that needs to be done before we can take the track. Thanks for sending it our way, though!

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Not much to add to what the two gentlemen have said.  The arrangement is quite static, with the same backing guitar groove and drums throughout, and no breakdown or energy shift anywhere in the track.  The track is too short to get enough material in there for it to be an interesting arrangement.  No outro either, just one final note, which is a letdown.  Also, I agree that the lap guitar isn't carrying the lead well enough, although it could stay as a layer for some stronger lead sound to play over it.  Still some work to do here, but cool concept.

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  • Chimpazilla changed the title to 2017/03/03 - (3N) Pokémon Yellow Version 'The Pi-Kahuna'
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