*NO* Mega Man 9 'March on Electric Children'

[Liontamer]

Link:

ReMixer name: The Vagrance
Real name: Samuel Day
Email address Samuel.Day@gmail.com
Website: http://reccej.net
Userid: 15461

Name of game arranged: Mega Man 9
Name of individual song(s) arranged: Plug Man Stage
Remix Name: "March on Electric Children"
Composers: Ippo Yamada, Yu Shimoda, Ryo Kawakami, Hiroki Isogai
System: Xbox Live Arcade, PS3 Store, Whatever the Wii store is called

Link to the original soundtrack:

Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind
it, how it was made, etc:
I made this right after the Mega Man 9 project was announced to get into the project, but apparently the track was filled before it was even available so I just went ahead and finished it anyway. I've been wanting to try breakbeat again and this track happened to be the perfect one to do it. Really this was done over the course of maybe 4 or 5 days total (1 full day), mainly spread about a period of 3 or 4 weeks. Its not flashy or groundbreaking but rather a sweet to-the-point kick ass remix.

The name is a direct reference to the Blood Brothers (who I adore) album of the same name (even though this remix sounds nothing like the Blood Brothers). Runner-up for the name was "Sing the Funk Electric" after the awesome Elektrik Funk - "On a Journey" house track.

--------------------------------------------------------------

There's about 12 or 13 seconds of silence left at the end that would need to be trimmed off.

Rockman 9: The Ambition's Revival!! Original Soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWsEvzGdJZY) - "Plug Electric (Plug Man Stage)"

The texture should have been a bit fuller-sounding, but it was OK; just sounded like it was missing something. Dynamically, the first 1:40 felt like an extended intro. The energy level basically peaked somewhere between first and second gear at :21. The way the melody was handled also wasn't particularly engaging. It's not awful, it just sounded as if it were playing third fiddle to the drumwork and synthwork.

1:37 finally moved into a different part of the theme, and while the drum patterns did change, the overall energy level and rhythms felt too similar. Dynamically, it wasn't engaging enough.

2:09 had a dropoff, but nothing too dramatic. 2:42's section was a retread of 1:41's section; need something new there to keep things fresh.

The dropoff at 3:11 finally felt a little different than the rest of the mix, with a some metallic percussion sounds that got a lot of room in the soundscape and sounded pretty cool as a result. The ending was pretty anticlimatic as well.

I hate to sound like I'm against downbeat pieces, because I'm not. I'm also not saying this needs a big overhaul with bombastic parts added to create a bigger dynamic curve. There's stuff like The Orichalcon's Raptor/FF7 mix "PlectraSubCity" (http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01481/) that pulls off subtle dynamics well. In terms of subtle but effective dynamic contrast, I'm just not hearing it quite click here.

If the other Js agree and articulate something similar to my POV that I wasn't able to say, I'll be sure to provide more thoughts. This is a good base, but it's missing some things that would complete it and realize the potential here.

NO (resubmit)

[anosou]

Nothing wrong with a breakbeat track. However the arrangement ended up sounding a bit repetitive. The lack of changes in dynamics and sounds coupled with the rather sparse instrumentation was a reason for this. The lack of any subtle variation in the drum patterns was also a contributing factor. The way you handled the melody made it sound like it was just part of the "backing" and not the main focus of the remix, in my opinion this could've been handled much better. For examples the TB-303 synth basically repeats one kind of pattern the whole track, instead you could've used some similar synth to actually pick up parts of the source.

Production wise this DOES sound like it's lacking something. I think the main issue is that the few instruments you do use roughly occupy the same space. The bass/lead does offer some rather heavy bass but is also rich in the mid frequencies. Overall, it wouldn't hurt adding/removing instruments during the track both to get a more even and balanced sound AND to make it a bit more varied.

In the end, this is a good track. However the source usage is a bit limited, the arrangement quite repetitive and the track's lacking dynamic and instrumental variation. Production isn't bad but it doesn't sound full, just crowded in the mid frequencies.

This is close, you just need to polish some of the problem areas, but I have to go with a no here.

NO(resubmit)

[Palpable]

Very cool beat and processing, Samuel. Sound-wise, texture-wise, this is really good. I agree with Larry that the first 1:41 feels like an extended intro - there's not a whole lot going on there to progress the song. At 1:41 another part of the source gets used, but the instrument set is the same, and the impact there isn't very big. I would have loved to see different instruments used, or another octave added on to the lead, something that fills out the spectrum more and takes the song to another level. I also thought the source could have been more prominent, especially during the first half. There's a little too much cut-and-pasting too, but with a more varied arrangement, those concerns might fall away.

No big complaints production-wise. What's here sounds tight, just like your Zelda mix. I'd say keep the sounds but rethink the arrangement a little.

NO (resubmit)