OCR01915 - *YES* Kirby 64 'Dark Matter'

[Liontamer]

Hey judges,

It's been awhile - this is your friend and pal PrototypeRaptor aka Jonathan Paulsen here.

I'm kind of surprised that nobody has done this source yet; Kirby 64's "final" boss, Miracle Matter, had one of my most favorite fight themes ever.
I always have wanted to do that crazy boss justice - so here I am.

This is a pretty hardcore DnB tune influenced heavily by Prodigy, Crystal Method, Dieselboy, Noisia, etc etc.
As such, it has obnoxiously loud drums, lotsa distortion, grating leads, glitching, evil laughing, and, most importantly, loud, ridiculous drops.

I wanted to capture the essence of Miracle Matter in this mix - he was a crazy, psychotic boss that switched between several forms so quickly that you were at the game over screen before you knew what happened. I picture poor kirby walking into the boss room expecting a nice, easy fight with Dedede and his useless hammer only to be confronted by the one and only Hannibal Lector. With the ability to change shape. And superpowers.

He never stood a chance.....:'(

Hope you like it, and thanks for listening!

PrototypeRaptor (Jonathan Paulsen)

(here's the source:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRy4sqdZ7VA)

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http://www.zophar.net/download_file/12189 - "Miracle Matter"

Hahaha, you've got the obnoxiously loud part down. Nailed it. :lol:

The source's backing patterns from :05-:16 and then expanded from :16-:26 form the primary connection to the source. Considering that there's not much there with the source, going the expansive route with the arrangement was sensible way to go. It's worth noting that what little melodic content was in the source (1:09-1:31 of the source) was used as well.

Dynamically, this clearly has breakdowns that varied up the intensity of the piece. I just ended up recalling the in-your-face stuff the most due to the volume. :lol: So just keep in mind that this does have some worthwhile dynamic contrast, as I almost painted this with too broad a brushstroke after the first cursory listen.

As far as synth design & writing goes, I would have loved to have heard more bells & whistles, but that's not really the point of this one. Nice approach, Jon!

YES

[anosou]

Scary stuff. Very, very loud. :tomatoface:

You totally nailed the arrangement though. That track ain't got much speaking for it but you squeezed it and used every little drop of source juice. I applaud you for that! Breakdowns were hot and drums were positively bad-ass.

Production was scorching my ears. Then I checked it against the ChaosField-soundtrack (my go-to 'is this loud' source) and I'm cool with it. Distortion was a bit all over the place but it was never ruining the track. The "simpler" sounds used in the breakdowns were good pauses from the over-the-top sound design too, good balance.

Yeah, this is quite awesome.

YES

[Palpable]

Haha I love this one. Totally in your face half the time, and then the other half of the time, there's some great breakdown stuff going on. I'm not sure which breakdown I like more - the weird bee stuff at 2:13 or the piano and super distorted drums at 2:30. Great creepy plucked strings following that too.

Production is pretty good and over the bar, but I think you could have spent more time polishing it, and I could see the 4th judge knocking you for it. I would have liked the synths brought out for a more balanced sound. There's probably some EQ work you could have done to get that without sacrificing the power of the drums, though the messiness adds a little to the mood. Just something to consider next time.

YES

[OA]

I love how this starts out intense from the getgo but with a lot of expectation on how it'll just blow open, and it certainly doesn't disappoint. This takes the energy and mood from the original, feeds it some sort of unholy cocktail of Bawls and gasoline, lights it on fire, and lets it run loose. It adds a lot of additional melodic elements to a source that was pretty much a rhythmic exercise, and I think it comes out ahead as a more interesting and listenable than the original. I wasn't totally sure about the modulations at first, but with the frantic beats and the mode used for the solo, it clicked for me your intent, and i think it fits very well.

The beatwork was relentless- the little breaks that allowed for a single breath before plunging back in were very cool, and the transitions and buildups were amazing for building up tension. I especially loved the gradual filter build followed by the bass drop. Awesome.

I dislike the laugh, but it's a personal preference, and it fits well enough that it's not an issue to the mix.

Production was pretty packed, but everything was audible and well balanced, and there were plenty of (very brief) chance to get my bearings aurally before getting knocked back on my ass. The only issue I had really was clarity, but as you were specifically going for a heavily distorted sound and the rest of it adds up, i'm not gonna hold you back.

yes