*NO* Chrono Trigger 'Factory Groove, Baby'

[Liontamer]

remixer: HoboKa
game: CHRONO TRIGGER (I know this game gets whored off too much, but hey it's CT)
original: Factory Ruins
remix: Factory_groove_baby (you can change the name if you want, providing it gets accepted)
link:
Description:
OKAY I know I've been submitting a lot of my stuff to you guys recently, but this one is a gem amongst the pile of cow excrement, at least to me, so here I am submitting it. It's not really your typical dance song, in fact I've no clue which genre this is =/, although it's kinda DnB-ish. I tried to vary it up a lot, making the drums very interesting to listen to, I even got a bassline for you guys, seeing as my last DnB song got anally raped for not having an "apparent" one even though there WAS one...maybe you guys ought to get your headphones checked :P. And Larry, I think I've finally learnt how to walk and I'm somewhere in between the walking and running phase...maybe I'm wunning. Well, enjoy!

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http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Remains of the Factory" (ct-210.spc)

You've got the personalization vibe down at least. The saw lead at :28 sounded pretty tacky, IMO. It's just a pretty generic choice and didn't really work in the texture you created once more stuff entered at :48.

1:11-1:33 moved over into some original stuff that didn't quite click. Same with the original writing on top of the source from 1:33-2:11. Really awkward writing of the lead synth that didn't have any synergy combined with the source. A lot of similar issues with your previous CT sub "Grief Stricken" in terms of when the arrangement worked better and when it went off the rails. As soon as you try to do your own thing, you just don't have the ear for writing cohesive original parts and it ends up messing up the flow.

I thought the sound choices lacked, but what really needs work is effectively forming your original writing ideas. When the source is the focus, you're able to play with it a bit, change the sounds and give it some rhythmic or other small touches. That's all good. But when you aim beyond that for something more complex like original sections or adding original "melodic" lines around the source, you're quickly getting out of your depth, which is unfortunate. Beyond "practice, practice, practice" to train your ear, I'm not sure how else you can address a pretty critical issue like that.

NO

[Fishy]

Intro reminds me of something from Goldeneye.

By about 1:05, my ears are getting confused by the soundscape. The mix is very messy, and lots of the instruments just don't gel and just seemed tacked on. The original writing is very dissonant and doesn't seem like it works with itself. The melody and harmony don't match at all in places. I get the feeling that the little chromatic bits here and there like at 2:09 or 1:44 sound really cool in your head, just not to everyone else and thats a huge problem really.

Again with Larry hitting the nail on the head before everyone else :p. The more listenable parts of this are in the first minute or so before the original additions kick in, and then everything goes haywire. As I've suggested to you in the past, try remixing something simple and recognizable, and I think you'll do a lot better and be able to isolate some of your key areas to improve upon much more easily.

NO

[Palpable]

I like your moods, Alex. This had a cool 80's Depeche Mode industrial vibe that was quite different from the original but fitting to the context in the game. Your Castlevania 4 sub had a nice mood too and I think this is becoming your biggest strength.

Like some of your previous submissions, the original writing doesn't sound very melodic. The other thing that perhaps we've never mentioned is that your writing is not very lyrical. Sometimes the notes are melodically correct but the phrase has awkward jumps or starts at a weird beat in a measure. Sometimes the phrase never really stops! Maybe try experimenting with shorter phrases first. It could help you to start simple, like Cain said.

Mixing was off. The drums should have been a lot louder and set a strong beat for the song - instead, they kind of just glided along. The whole song also sounded a little compressed, which took away some of the power.

NO