*NO* Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 64 & Super Mario World 'Koopa's New Dungeon'

[Liontamer]

Contact Info

*Mike Dissonant
*Michael Isel
*rockfreakmike@yahoo.com
*User id (19903)

Submission Info

*Super Mario bros, Super Mario 64, Super Mario World.
*Underground BGM, Hazy Maze Cave, Sub Castle BGM

Doing this mix was soooo much fun!!! It was one of those "Based on my own Enthusiasm" moments were everyone thinks you've fallen out of your tree because you haven't done anything else except mix. Honestly I can say this is the fastest completed mix I have ever done, 2 weeks. That's probably not a lot to all you expert mixers out there ;) But for me, that's pretty fast. My reccuring thought while mixing was "What if Koopa finally made the most badass Dungeon/Castle ever"? Well anyway here it is, This mix is called "Koopa's new Dungeon". Enjoy everyone .

P.S. To C.T snokins, the Donkey Kong Mix is next!

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http://www.zophar.net/nsf/smb1.zip - Track 2 ("Underground BGM")
http://www.zophar.net/usf/sm64usf.rar - 14 "Cave Dungeon"
http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=smw - "Sub Castle BGM" (smw-15.spc)

:29 was just the start of some extremely empty material. There's just no body on this, either in the front or in the back. Even brief moments like leaving the empty drums alone from 1:34-1:39 and 2:49-2:56 sounded totally beginner-ish.

1:38 moved over into some original material. 1:58 was a little better in that now you had another major element come in and help fill things out via that synth. But the sound balance was off, with the synth lead being way too loud and thin; it didn't mesh well into the soundscape and sounded stapled on top, plus the timing on it wasn't smooth at all. The Bowser sound effects at 2:54 just came off as cheesy.

Better energy with the "Sub Castle BGM" theme though, going for a more aggressive approach, though I'm not sure why the guitar work was produced with such a lo-fi sound once the electrosynth came back into the picture (loud as ever) at 3:33. It just created a quality disparity between the sounds, where they didn't sound like they were in the same room so-to-speak.

Probably the best textures resulted from 3:59-4:19 with the chorus of "Sub Castle BGM"; why can't the rest of the track be put together that effectively? Some tweaks in the sound balance and more sophisticated textures throughout the track would lift this up a lot. Think about putting in some more time on this one. Keep at it, Mike, you continue to show potential.

NO

[Vig]

For how prominently the bass is featured in this track, there really isn't a lot of low end. The bass is focused around the 500Hz range, which leaves a hole in the bottom, and clashes with the guitar and other things during the busier sections. The arrangement is alright, but you really need to fill out the bottom.

NO

[Palpable]

Haha I can tell you had fun with this because I had fun listening to it. It has a lot of cool ideas and a playful, spontaneous spirit. The problem is that for every few good ideas, there are one or two that don't work. The drums opening the song sound awfully plain, the improvisations of the synth sound very rigid, and the transition at 2:57 is like starting an entirely new song (and I wasn't a fan of the Bowser SFX either). At 6:10 in length, you don't necessarily need all the ideas you have. I'd recommend figuring out which parts don't work so well and try to tighten them up or cut them out.

And your production has some ways to go. At times, the soundscape is dry and feels empty. Instruments are too loud (the synth), or emphasized strangely (the bass, the guitars). There's some instrument clashing as well. You've gotta make the parts sound smoother and more cohesive. To get you going on the right track, I thought the 0:54 section came together really nicely. Soundscape was filled out, levels were good. If you can make the whole song sound as good as that section, and I think this one will be a winner.

NO (resubmit)