Super Mario Land - Coin room + Easton Kingdom [Archive]

Dafydd

07-01-2006, 07:50 PM

EDIT: I added the poll above.

The idea just popped into my head and here it is. It has a lot of flaws, but I like the ideas as such. I don't think there's another remix of these songs, at least not one that sounds like this one... I spent 4 or so hours making this first WiP, and I should have been sleeping so I can stay awake when working tonight, but I needed to make this WiP before I forgot the whole concept. And so, having made a listenable first WiP, I thought I'd show it to you, for comments and suggestions.

First version:

WiP (http://home.student.uu.se/d/dahe9761/wip/smwip.htm)

The next version will likely have improved mixing (provided someone can give me useful, specific tips on how to improve it), better guitars (OA has recorded a live guitar part for me :)!!), more source music covered, a better transition (making the first set of instruments play the pyramid part and make a transition from there to part 2, maybe?), more arabian-style strings and also some slap bass and possibly some ud.

I need some suggestions here: I was thinking I would go from to the second part via song #17, which starts playing half-way through #16 in the real game. Now... how should I go from the first half of the song (the theme from #7) to #16?

Source:

http://www.zophar.net/gbs/

the songs remixed so far are (in order of appearance) #7 (with a hint of #1) and #2 in the gbs.

Ujjay

07-01-2006, 07:54 PM

I'm getting a real Banjo Kazooie vibe from this song.

Dafydd

07-01-2006, 07:55 PM

Yeah, the beginning of it is very Banjo Kazooie. :)

Can't say the other half of it is though.

Ujjay

07-01-2006, 07:57 PM

Pretty good for four hours. Do you have the source material?

Dafydd

07-01-2006, 08:00 PM

You can always get it off zophar...

http://www.zophar.net/gbs/

the songs remixed are (in order of appearance) #7 (with a hint of #1) and #2 in the gbs.

Edit: I've added what was written in this post to the fist post.

Ujjay

07-01-2006, 08:25 PM

Thanks never knew mario land had such a good soundtrack.

Is that a tuba in the first half? It's too loud. The transition to the second half is great.

Chickenwarlord

07-01-2006, 08:34 PM

Second half begins a tad messy sounding. Might want to polish that part.
First half reminds me of my Crown's Classics version of Snow White. Don't ask me why.

Dryer Lint

07-01-2006, 08:58 PM

The underground bit is really nice!
The transition to the second part is too harsh. A quick crossfade just doesn't cut it here, the parts are too different.

Also, in the second part the section before the flute starts and only the weirdinstrumentIcan'trecognize plays, it goes on for too long and the track of that instruments repeats too much and also seems too loud.

The general vibe of the second part is pretty cool as well though.

I am eager to hear the next version! Super Mario Land is seriously under-remixed.

Dafydd

07-01-2006, 09:13 PM

It's all a little loud. :) I wanted to achieve the compressor effect, but I guess I should try to do that using a compressor instead of turning the volume up. The instrument you can't recognize consists of a distorted bass and a distorted what's-supposed-to-be-a-muted guitar. I'm gonna ask a guy I know to play that part irl instead, and replace the current instrument using his recording. I guess 2 loops would be enough where the second part begins. Right now, I think there's 4. It's supposed to repeat itself, but it's suffering from the machine gun effect somewhat, and that's not good. I guess I should work on that. The transition isn't great, I know, but it's not supposed to be that quick, I need to meddle more with the volume controls...

As for SML being under-remixed, that goes for ALL game boy music. :( Only those who've played the game boy know about the music in its games, which is very unfortunate. As I've said before, there are 35 game boy remixes in total on this site, 14 of which are Z4 remixes (and none of which are megaman remixes wtf?). As a comparison, there are 72 Chrono Trigger remixes. Yes - twice as many Chrono Trigger remixes as there are game boy remixes. I'm losing sleep over this fact. I'm serious.

The tuba is too loud? ... I'm not sure I think it is...

Thanks for the comments. Keep 'em coming.

Jens Wulvik

07-01-2006, 10:10 PM

SOMETHING WENT WRONG WITH THE QUOTING HERE DUE A ERROR AT OCREMIX!!
Yeah, you'll sure need some more, but a hihat is a good start and it keeps the drummer from getting bored to death!!

Dafydd

07-02-2006, 04:27 AM

Yeah, good point. I need to find some Austrian marching music and listen to what the drums are like there, and then I'll try to copy the feel into my remix. I doubt a hi-hat would quite do it.

watkinzez

07-02-2006, 04:28 AM

Well, you say Banjo Kazooie, but all I can hear is Noddy. :)

The main issue throughout the whole song is the recording and volume, as other people have said. And the transition- perhaps the original melody could slow down and then have a creepy opening to the second verse?

At the moment, both sections are good, but I'm partial to the former- love it.

Dafydd

07-02-2006, 04:40 AM

The former part is very under-developed right now, and will likely be extended and such later on, but I'm glad you like it. Unfortunately, since I'm using reason (which doesn't support automated tempo changes unless you hook it up with another $1,000,000,000 music software such as Cubase), I'm afraid a tempo slowdown is something I'm not going to aim to acheive, although it would have been a good idea. I'll work on the transition, I'm not very happy about it as it is right now. The song is 2 minutes long by now, and I've managed to present the ideas I wanted. I think the track shouldn't be more than 4 minutes long in its final version, so I've got plenty of time to play around with transitions and other things.

FraGmenTd

07-02-2006, 06:43 AM

The pyrimid level was my favorite track from SML! I really like how your version sounded. The two songs together greatly contrast to each other; not sure they would have fit together very well. But I like this tune nonetheless. Keep working on it. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this one :D

By the way, FL can do automated tempo changes :wink:

big giant circles

07-02-2006, 02:21 PM

woah, right there at 0:46, the synch gets off on your tuba/whatever. that should probably be fixed.

also, like you said regarding volume and compression--this really is way way too loud at this point. rediculously, even.

i like your ideas, don't get me wrong, but production is killing the piece at this point. i definitely like the actual pyramid segment. for some reason though, the arrangement isn't really clicking with me.

have you considered leaving the marimba intro and instead of pursuing the circus-ish theme right away, going ahead and kicking off the actual pyramid theme right after 0:07? then you could play around with the other gbs tunes you want to bring in, and perhaps crossfade and have the song END with the happy-go-bouncy pipe-coin music. It just seems kind of awkward the way you've got it now.

Anyway, fix the volume issues mainly for now, and I hope this input helps.

Dafydd

07-02-2006, 04:38 PM

The sync doesn't get off at 0:46 - it goes from playing triplets to playing straight notes, then back to triplets, and finally back to straights. I realize the transition isn't very smooth, but the same thing occurs at 0:23 and 0:27, for example.

Now - I know there are things I could do to improve production, but since you seemed like it bothered you so much, maybe you could suggest some things to do, other than lowering the volume? I still want to achieve something of a compressor effect where som sounds cancel out others, and I want to keep the distortion on the synth thingy and on the bass/guitar. How do I do that while keeping the song clean sounding?

Sonic Tooth

07-05-2006, 07:00 AM

I basically agree with the rest of the comments. Change the following, and you have gold!

- Needs a smoother transition to the solo bass bit.
- A little rough edge / distortion on the bass & brass? synth.

+ Great mixing / leveling of the different instruments.
+ Like the contrast of an 'Easy / Fun' Intro to 'More Difficult / Sinister' Energetic Body.

Definitely want to hear it finished. Both parts are so good on their own, they could be candidates for separate remixes if expanded upon.

Dafydd

07-05-2006, 01:51 PM

I've presented my new ideas in the first post.

Cerrax

07-05-2006, 04:52 PM

I LOVE THE END OF THE SONG!!!

The beginning of the song is okay (not really my style and it does sound an awful lot like Banjo-Kazooie) but the second part really took me back. It was a weird mix of Gameboy nostalgia and modern day Prince of Persia. If anything, I would suggest taking the mix in that direction and get rid of the beginning altogether. Please do that. This mix would be SO COOL ifthat part was at least longer.

Dafydd

07-06-2006, 06:19 PM

Both parts will be longer. :)

Ujjay

07-06-2006, 06:45 PM

The final version is going straight to my MP3 player and never leaving. :D

Dafydd

07-06-2006, 08:34 PM

Hey guys, updated the first post again.

ESHbyESH

07-10-2006, 10:04 PM

I think it sounds pretty great. You must've fixed the transition problems because it melts very nicely from one theme to another. The tuba/xylophone at the beginning are as expressive of easy/good/happy as the hords and woodwinds are of evil/hard/scary at the end. Nice one. Are you going to segue into the overworld theme at all?

Cruiser4478

07-11-2006, 12:30 AM

Wow. I was wondering if somebody was going to do a remix on the pyramid theme from that game, and here it is!

Let's see here:

Pros:

Nice, energentic beat. Although a bit simplistic, the drums for the beginning theme suit that tune nicely.

Absolutely love the pyramid aspect of the theme! It's just as catchy as I remember it! Everything flows well there.

Nice fadeout at the end.

Cons:

The beginning part is a bit too simplistic as it stands. (From 0:00 to 0:50) Maybe another melody line to go along with the xylophone, so the listener has a little something extra to follow?

Suggestions:

If you can, fit the Underground theme in there (the tune from World 1-2 and so on, usually after the Overworld theme if I remember correctly). When I was looking at your title, I was expecting that theme in there.

Looking forward to the final version!

Dafydd

07-11-2006, 10:38 AM

Suggestions:

If you can, fit the Underground theme in there (the tune from World 1-2 and so on, usually after the Overworld theme if I remember correctly). When I was looking at your title, I was expecting that theme in there.

Looking forward to the final version!

Eh? :? Please clarify.

Thanks for the comments, people, and check out my other wips as well!

Cruiser4478

07-11-2006, 12:13 PM

David:

Your topic title says "Super Mario Land - Underground + Pyramid". That's why I was expecting the Underground theme in there. Hope that clarifies things!

Cruiser4478

07-11-2006, 12:33 PM

Well... I'm an idiot. :( It's been such a long time since I've played that game, I forgot there is no underground theme in this game, other than the Pyramid theme. Just checked to make sure, too. Sorry for the confusion, David! I'll be more careful next time to have my facts straight. Let me try my suggestion again:

Just add another melody line to your coin room theme, and everything will sound good to me. Another xylophone, or a vibraphone would work well there, IMO.

Other than that, just keep going! It sounds really good so far!

MasterKron

07-11-2006, 01:28 PM

First post :D

Fantastic, FANTASTIC mixes of each of the different songs. The problem is the two sections don't blend well together, and I that muted/distorted guitar sound during the transition isn't pleasant at all. The two sections on their own are excellent though, I couldn't help but laugh during the first one, and the second one is an awesome combination of Egyptian-style music with the drum 'n bass rhythm.

My suggestion would be to divide them up and make them two seperate mixes, or at least mix them with songs that you can make of a similar style. I can see why you put them together - the Mario Land songs go for less than 30 seconds each, so fusing them to get length would be an essential.

And in regards to Reason's inability to change tempo...I feel your pain dude, I'm a Reason user myself =( The closest you can get is to select a section of music and use "Change Events" to scale the tempo. Just my 2 cents ;)

Dafydd

07-11-2006, 02:42 PM

The transition will be improved, I promise. The guitars have already been changed for a real recording, but I haven't published a wip containing the new guitars yet, since I want to do more work on the song before publishing wip 2.

Meanwhile, I've posted another wip of mine (http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=87178&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=), which has recieved very few comments. Please share your thoughts on that one as well. :)

djbrayster

07-12-2006, 06:59 PM

Dunno if this is something people share.. but if you worked on one mix at a time you might get more completed and less unfinished mixes.. I personally am waiting for the Yoshi's Island mix and this one to be updated. :oops:

Fraging U

07-12-2006, 10:20 PM

-WHOA your levels are all out of whack. Raising the volume instead of using a compressor is a n00b mistake man.

-The transition is really rough try having a string prelude inbetween or a break just not what you have now.

-Try mixing up your drums more just in the first part

Overall excellent mix

Ps check out my mix Broken block Tetris

Dafydd

07-13-2006, 06:10 AM

Chickenwarlord

07-13-2006, 07:06 AM

Much improved since the last time I checked. Still a tad heavy on echoes in the Pyramid section, but not to a point at which I would stop listening.

Dafydd

07-13-2006, 07:54 AM

But... it's the same one? I haven't updated it since the first post. :-D

watkinzez

07-13-2006, 08:22 AM

Even though I voted for the Yoshi's Island mix, I'd just as much like to see this one worked on.

Meanwhile, I've been meaning to get back to some more bios.. hopefully expect some soon.

Chickenwarlord

07-13-2006, 06:42 PM

Well, halfway through the thread it said you had updated. And on my player the 'new' (possibly not) version read a whole 13 seconds longer.
Perhaps my standards have lowered :). That transition seems much smoother now. Mayhaps something on my end improved.

Fraging U

07-13-2006, 11:32 PM

Well I suspect you were trying to give it omph and snap. [I do it to all my drums:)] If thats the case apply a hard compressor with some gain on w/e it is you want to blast.

If it gets a little outta control make sure you at least apply a compressor to the whole song with a negative gain and a little softer.

You should be doing anywayz during the mastering process :)

Dafydd

07-14-2006, 06:41 AM

Well, halfway through the thread it said you had updated.

I have, but I haven't recorded the update yet. Also, the file is still named "WiP 1", right? :wink:

Can people vote more than once, btw?

Chickenwarlord

07-22-2006, 08:25 AM

I haven't found a way to do it. But I suppose if someone had two accounts they could.

Dafydd

07-31-2006, 04:09 PM

The votes for the Yoshi's Island remix seem to tip the balance here. I'll get around to working on it soon. :) Meanwhile, here's some fun stuff for you: http://phytrepighlet.googlepages.com/warioblast.mp3

Nineko told me I should make it, so I gave it a try. It's still too early a WiP to deserve its own thread yet, but it will have one eventually. :wink: My plans are go Russian stylee with "Hey!" shouts, male choir, russian lyrics, etc.