Mega Man: The Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet 2011

I'm super-happy with how my mix is turning out right now. Y'all better be scared.

lol i'll give you a run for your money im looking forward to hearing your mix been having my eye on you since youve became a posted remixer.

Can't you two just unite under the Wild ARMS banner?

My mix is also shaping up quite nicely ..cant wait for you guys to hear it.

Aw snap, I didn't realize the Joob was in this round, too. This really is gonna be an epic week!

You will all fall prey to my epic remix.

i think...

Hylian Lemon, Flexstyle, Prophetik, Jewbei, Rozovian...

Lots of big names this round... Bring it on.

All this smacktalk makes me think this upcoming round is going to be the best so far .

Hylian Lemon, Flexstyle, Prophetik, Jewbei, Rozovian...

Lots of big names this round... Bring it on.

Actually, this round has the shortest names. I checked.

Yeah I'm looking forward to this round quite a bit. I enjoyed this past round's tracks a lot, but it seems like the same 3-4 tracks have been getting the majority of the votes.

Actually, this round has the shortest names. I checked.

...

Is that actually true? If so... damn you're bored

...

Damn you're bored

The man analyzes everything he sees/hears. Have you not seen him tear up the workshop forum??

Aren't you supposed to be some kind of mod there?

Is anybody listening to me?

Is anybody listening to me?

Hell no

...

Is that actually true? If so... damn you're bored

Rozo better not be bored, he has a mix to work on!

Just wanted to say that everyone has done a great job on the mixes thus far, and the rest of this competition should be freakin sweet!

Rozo better not be bored, he has a mix to work on!

But if he's bored that might mean he's finished...

looks like i'm going to be up late trying to salvage this mess of a song

Anyone from my team able to do speaking parts?

You could always use a Nicolas Cage movie, or a bunch of them. He's done enough movies that he has probably said every word in the dictionary!

You could always use a Nicolas Cage movie, or a bunch of them. He's done enough movies that he has probably said every word in the dictionary!

My three favorite words of his are "not" and "the" and "bees"

Recording session time! Woohoo!

My three favorite words of his are "not" and "the" and "bees"

Sorry,

I really don't have time for a long review. Knowing me though, I'll probably end up making one.

I found voting really difficult this round. I had two of my picks fairly early on, but settling on the last one (which ended up being my second place vote) was challenging...

I listened to them in the order of groups on the point spreadsheet. I'm not sure how exactly the album order is organized, but I like my equally arbitrary order. Not that it matters

For ease of reference, this is what I ended up voting:

1. No Ticket!

2. Far From Home

3. Root of All Things

Root of All Things - Right off the bat I knew this one was going to be a great contender. Two great themes in expert remixer hands. The start was pretty darn awesome, just enough to keep me really interesting. Great transition work, like at 0:45 - 0:55. I loved the drums at 1:34 - 1:58 which lead up to a flute Wily 2-1. That part really fleshed out the piece, and showed a mastery that eventually was the deciding factor for me. I had no problem with the slightly more subtle plant man because its definitely there. The breakdown from 3:08 - 3:32 was really good to. In terms of improvement, I don't have much. Rexy nailed the amount of combination I love, with still beautifully DISTINCT themes. Stylistically, I don't think there was much to be improved on. I knew that, whether or not this earned my vote, it's still a lovely piece!

Far From Home - AWWWWW YEAH. Dem some lyrics. They are very melodious and are just vague enough to tell an interesting, unique story almost entirely up to the listener. I like to imagine Cold man thinking to himself as he freezes his way through Wily's forces "I'm far from where I come from. But this is is what I was built for" Then as he makes a frozen wasteland of one of the castle's rooms he mutters "I'm quite at home in the cold..." I love it! The soundscape was wonderful, and the lyrics really add a melody of their own. Initially, this was my first place vote, and I still have mostly the same view of it as then. To all those who immediately went against this just because it 'has lyrics', you all are being silly. Go listen to some Megas.

No but seriously, this was really well done. I think the background melody could have been fleshed out a little more, and I think Willrocks review of this one was particularly accurate. Definitely, though, this was one of my favorites of this round.

Attracted to Power - This one is good, no doubt at all. Electronic Magent man? I dig it! The initial transition to Wily was good. 2:35 - 2:48 deserves special mention because it was some outstanding overlap. The ending was particularly good.

It's hard to not end up voting for this one, but it just didn't quite stand out to me as much as the three I voted for. The mixing was very creative and well done, but overall I felt the piece was lacking a *little* continuity. Which is perfectly fine, and it's still an epicly great piece.

Wily's Inferno - Loved the orchestration! It gives an amazing image of Napalm man in front of a host of Wily's army. To advance, Napalm man is forced to blow them to pieces and set them in a fiery inferno of justice. This carries through. I'd say it looses some steam sometime in the middle, but I can't quite pinpoint exactly what it is. It's probably right after the willrock breakdown, but it's definitely not bad, adds to the overall feel. I dig orchestrations, too, so I really enjoied this piece. It feel just behind being a contender for my votes, because that slot was already at 6 that I had to narrow it down from. This one was great, though.

Glitch in the System - Hrmm. Very catchy start, though I think it lasted a little too long on its own. Once we got some crash man in there, and that catchy beat came back, it really worked well. The crash man part could have been more polished but it got the job done. Overall, this piece was just too dichotomized; it was crash man and then it was wily 2. They've got to be REALLY AWESOMELY DONE if you want to pull that off while loosing out on all the awesome things you can do while combining them. Like, for example, that ending. 2:10 - 2:26. That was some good meshing, but it needed to be explored more, though that of course has been said in other reviews too. Good mix, though I'd really have loved it to really take that ending and run with it.

Shadows of Wily - Rock shadow man. Hard to do, but amphibious does it amazingly! Ties in some amazing overlap, making an overall wonderful piece. There's some really creative stuff done with the themes, such as 0:50 - 0:55. I thought the section 1:42 - 1:51 would have been a really great place for meshing of the two themes at the same time, but it was epic nevertheless. This was one of the ones I was heartily considering. It had the edge on the last spot for a while, but I eventually decided that Root of All Things achieved a slightly better level of mixing. This was my 4th place though, and was 3rd for most of the past week

Light Your Way - I was reminded of coiled copper wire at the beginning of this. Good things were happening. I was really surprised this didn't stand out to me more, because it's really good. Great soundscape. 1:12 - 1:23 was especially stylish. 1:35 - 1:45 had a great wily appearance. The ending section from 2:19 until the end felt good, but could have been a little stronger. This one is probably about even with Attracted to Power for me.

No Ticket! - Woo! This one was all over the place, but was also in just the right place. The two themes are really interplayed well, and made to sound like one solid piece. It was a great combo of effects without ever going overboard. It felt really alive, especially in the Charge man portions. 2:17 - 2:48 in particular. 3:05 - 3:28 was an especially 'charge man' styled rendetion of the Wily theme. The overall combo of effects, style, meshing, and cohesiveness earned my first place vote.

Smooth Heat - I don't really know if I'm ... cool ... with what some people got from this one. Just the start itself I felt was actually fairly unique, and certainly catchy. Felt like the start of Heat Man's theme proper, only it was Wily's. That earns points in my book. 0:28 - 0:41 was just was was needed to make for a really solid beginning. 1:09 - 1:15 was at first a pretty rough transition, but ended up working with the slight overlap of themes @ 1:15 - 1:21. Loved that part. 1:37 - 2:04 was also great because it overlapped the wily theme with itself, to great effect. 2:09 - 2:17 was very stylish. The image I got from this suaveness is pretty cool. While Nalpalm man is engaged in a frantic battle outside Wily's gates, blasting through robots in a tough struggle, the Heat man this remix gives image to casually lights himself ablaze and with a smirk barrels through robot after robot, melting through any obsticle in his way. Probably wearing fireproof sunglasses. Maybe lighting up a smoke at the end. Overall? The image is that Heat Man is a badass. I agree fully that this remix really plays it safe with the themes, but I felt it still did a really good job and was amazingly catchy. Not in my top 3, but I did want to mention that I really liked it.

whatever.jpg- I like to imagine the name of this is a reference to how bubble man is battling through the Wily castle. Really meekly and sort of a whatever feel. Anyways. Though I can turn my volume up to fix it, this piece really is at too quiet of a level. It's also quiet in another respect, it doesn't really build up to anything particularly moving. It could have used a lot more bubble man. Those things being said right off the bat, I do like the direction this took. I would have liked to see it branch out more, but what's there is interesting.

Mr. X was Wily the WHOLE TIME - Ahh, this was a good one. Felt like a Russian jig. I also like the almost cathedral-like Tomahawk Man, worked out really well. 1:26 - 1:33 was particularly awesome. Great piece, I'd reall love to hear you finish Sheep in Skull's Clothing - it felt like it was going in a similar, really cool direction that I'd like to see a finsihed copy of.

I felt that this piece delivered, but it just wasn't quite at the level of the pieces I voted for. Tough competition this round!

Glacial Age - Hmm, I wish I was musically talented at all so that I could give some specific constructive advice. I thought the soundscape was good, as has been mentioned. I loved the effect in the beginning, as well as the different trails of instruments. I think this piece lacked direction and a more substantial touch on the themes. Not terrible flaws, and things that can be gradually improved on. What's important to take away from this is that you had a really cool and creative idea. Good job!

Blargh, I always write the longest reviews. I'm probably getting funny looks for how much I represent a mental image of what's going on and the story the remix tells. But I personally think those are important things. It's not hardly the majority of what I vote on, but it is a part. Because that's what I love about music, the setting it can build.

Okay, I'm apparently being a harsh critic this round. Must be frustrated with my own track as I write this, I guess. You have been warned. Tho it _is_ still me, so it can't be that bad... right?

--

the root of all things:

The choice of lead seems a bit wrong; it's really soft compared to a nice and rocking rest of the instrumentation. The synth lead that comes in later works well, but the flute is weak, which doesn't go with the nice and driving drums. I want those drums. From around 2:00 and on, we have a more functional flute lead. Maybe it's just got enough volume this time around? Some timing problems make it sound a bit sloppy. The arrangement is rocking, and the melodies flow well from part to part.

wily's inferno:

The intro is just starting to get a little dull when it's over. Good timing. Lead feels a little weak, and often ventures close (if not actually into) piercing territory. No surprise that there's a big, intricate and animate solo in here. The tempo seems wrong for the Wily stuff, it's way too slow, especially as the drums just drive the pace up.

attracted to power:

Chipstuff mixed with some really cool sound design I should steal. This one has a more appropriate tempo, tho it feels a bit rushed. It emulates not just the waveforms but actually some of the techniques oldskool chiptunes used. Chip solo bit - really cool. Only thing that really bothers me here, besides the slightly high tempo, is the slightly high pitch. Either the instrumentation or the arrangement itself is bordering on annoyingly high.

mr. x was wily the whole time:

Mechanical intro, buried guitar chugs, unbalanced panning. The tracks so far have been difficult to crit, this one was a little easier. I like the altered scale used here. The different scales and altered melodies coupled with the instrumentation give this very much an exotic flavor.

smooth heat:

Feels very much like a cookie-cutter remix™. There's a cool sound design thing in the background, those bells behind the lead, but the arrangement itself is just... boring. Feels like you didn't have the time to make anything more elaborate.

glacial age:

The intro - it better just be an intro - seems like a hodgepodge of decent ideas that weren't given the time or room to develop, instead being derailed to make room for the next cool little thing. The whole track is like this; cool little underdeveloped ideas unarranged in an arbitrary order. Every other melody veers off in an interesting direction, and the choice of marimba (or something) was pretty cool, but this isn't a song.

light your way:

neblix is ripping off Pendulum, but that's nothing new. Like a lot of pendulum's stuff, this sounds overly bright and, as a result, a little flimsy. Funny how he didn't look to their Showdown (1:24), seems to me like that'd be full circle. Close-sounding acoustic guitar book ends the track, which works well. The sound could use some work, it doesn't quite mesh with the clean electric second intro and the DnB parts. Something about the attack of the guitars sounds artificial, but the disparity between the acoustic guitar and the rest of the mix is as detracting... which isn't necessarily much.

far from home:

Whoa, eighties nostalgia. While a refreshing reminder of a past decade, this wasn't among the cool styles from back then, but it works all right. While many vocal tracks suffer the problem of relying too heavily on the vocals, having poor vocal performance or recording, or a boring arrangement; this track avoids all three, the last one narrowly.

shadows of wily:

A bit too bright. Considering the name of the track, the thought that it was named ironically crossed my mind. A rocking Wily arrangement and a decent cover despite some mixing problems. It doesn't outstay its welcome.

whatever:

it's a little soft. i mean, there's dynamics, and then there's forgetting to check the levels. is it normalized, even? it's a pretty little piece (not so little, actually), but there's really no excuse for not slapping a limiter on it and giving it a few dBs of boost.

no ticket!:

Sounds loud by comparison. I like the intro, even if it's a bit gimmicky. It's source-appropriate. Some transitions could have used some more work. Melodies overlap smoothly where they overlap, there's dynamic, tho the dynamic structure seems a little arbitrary at times. Nice stutter effects.

glitch in the system:

Nice intro, tho I was expecting something glitchier and more interesting than stuttery raw waveforms. Vocal clips. Dunno what I dislike more, arbitrary vocal clips, or synthesized ones. Or possibly badly acted ones, tho that's a component in the synth ones. It veers off into harmonically challenged territory following the vocal clips. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe we could all learn something about how bad vocal clips are. (Totally not a biased opinion.)

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So... Why not share my decision process? We haven't been whining about anything in a while. I'm down to Rexy, team "Will solos over other ppl's tracks", RetroBelmont, Gario, Amphibious and Pendulum. The most professional and deliberate is probably Far from Home, so that's in the top three. If that's a criterion I wanna go by. Hm...

On a higher volume, Gario hurts my ears, Pendulum sounds trashy, Rexy still sounds soft, Amphibious is rocking, and something in AkumajoFlashback's production begins to bother me, and team Solos are still slow. Not that raising the volume does much to speed things up, except possibly the onset of hearing problems, or waking the rest of the building.

So which would I play in the car the most? Gario, Amphibious, and AkumajoMcFly. Which would I wanna be able to do myself? JigawattBelmont, Amphibious, Pendulum, and team Spotlight. Which style do I like the most? Amphibious, Gario, Pendulum.

In lieu of trying to find the ideal criterion, I'll just ad these up. That puts AkumajoBygone, Amphibious, and either Gario or Pendulum in my votes. Looking at my reviews above, I'd say neither, cuz now the crits are getting to me. Anyway, Amphibious or QuantumBelmont for #1? I'm actually not happy about either of them taking up first place, one being weak on low volume, the other sounding... well, wrong on high volume. So, this whole paragraph is a waste.

So four tracks remaining... One track is too soft, one is too slow, one is too bright, and one hurts my ears near the end. I'll jsut blame that on my speakers and go with the last one, which is Gario.

So, how to rank these three... Amphibious is third, for saving dynamics and not destroying his track with compressors and exciters and maximizers and... only third? Wit the volume dropped, Gario comes in second, and ReferenceSomething first. There. Done.

Man, you guys made this round too hard for me to vote. Tons of great mixes this week. Great job guys!

Sorry,

Most appropriate post in this thread ever. I would die a happy man if someone made a Hornet Man remix using this name.

*Ahem* I'm in another insomniac spout, so may as well use that time wisely (y'know, aside from actually working on remixes).

The Root of All Things: Lots of cool harmony switch up in the beginning of the piece - mixing in Wily and Plant Man in that way is very interesting and fun. The instrumentation was well placed, but the realistic instruments were a bit dry, overall. The electronics fit in quite well. Listening to everything again with some fresh ears, I think I'll put you on my list, here (I hope DS doesn't mind me changing my votes before the voting period is up). I don't think the production is 100% up to par with a few other pieces on here, but the arrangement is quite awesome.

Wily's Inferno: Big orchestra. I thought the complete change of pace was welcome, myself - I'd rather listen to some very different renditions of the same source than listen to interpretations that were close to the same, pacing-wise. Then there's Napalm Man (a robot master that I'd love to get my hands on someday). Willrock's wankery is always a welcome addition. I'll agree that the arrangement is often in the realm of 'Wily, then Napalm, then Wily', but there are small transitional tricks that you mesh the two tracks together with that still keep it interesting. Toward the end when they're all together... while I think arrangement-wise it worked great, I didn't feel the timbres coming together that well. It sounded like two different songs just getting mashed rather than a song coming together. Doesn't take this one down much, though - overall it still earns a solid spot in my list.

Attracted to Power: Gario is a sexy beast. That is all.

Mr. X was Wily the WHOLE TIME: Love the title, and found the key change to be pretty neat, actually. Almost Arabian, even. It does generate some strange sounds from time to time, though. The guitar soup bugs me a bit, and the dry sampling could've been better with some reverb, at least. It's not the top of the crop, but I still enjoyed it.

Smooth Heat: I like the beginning... and with that echoing fifth in the background, that's saying something. The hollow feeling evokes Heat Man quite well. The plan, uninteresting rendition of Wily after that, though, leaves me feeling 'meh'. The Heat Man arrangement was pretty sweet, though, using the Wily harmonies like that. The arrangement overall, though, takes more of a 'Wily, Heat Man, Wily' approach, which gets pretty boring. I like interaction when it's there, so the lack of it in general takes it down a notch or two, in my opinion. The drums stand as being pretty dry, while the instruments for most of the track (save for the beginning) sound boring.

Glacial Ice: ... I like this track. Call me crazy, but it actually evoked a very chilling image of Cold Man and Wily. Not what I was expecting to hear in the compo, at all, actually. Frankly, that synth in the background is just really cool. After a while I feel it loses it's direction, though - in the beginning I heard quite a bit of interplay with the themes, but in the middle it seems to lose it's way a bit. It comes together in the end, at least. Not the best, and I can easily see why others might not catch onto it, but I thought it was pretty neat, myself.

Light Your Way: Fun fact - Glacial Ice is the perfect opening to this track; I honestly didn't catch the transition. Almost like it was planned (and if it was, it was brilliant). Taken on it's own salt, this track has a lot of punch, and some tasteful sequenced acoustic guitar. The arrangement has a bit of that 'Wily, Flash, Wily' problem, though - would like to see more interplay in your next submission. The instruments are pretty sweet, but they seem to create some high-end clash (especially with those crashes). Nice work overall, though.

Far From Home: People seem to love the blast from the past stuff... personally I think the genre ranges from meh to just alright. The singing is excellent, though - I can't possibly fault you with that. The gated 'Oooh's were cool, by the way - worth enough for it's own comment. I'm hearing 'Cold Man, Wily, Cold Man' in this mix, though it works alright in this case as transitions to the chorus and verses. I can't really complain about much with this song; technically it comes together very well. It just doesn't ring too much in my mind - personal preference has a place in my voting, too. Love ya, but this one doesn't do it for me much.

Shadows of Wily: Fuzzy guitar. Wish I could hear that organ with Shadow Man a bit better there - there was some decent interplay in the beginning, there. I like what you did with the synth work and guitar work, overall, but the mixing seems to play it safe a bit too much, and thus nothing sticks out very much. A bit too much Wily in this one and not enough Shadow Man, which makes me sad since when you DO use Shadow Man it's actually very well done. I liked it nonetheless, though.

Whatever.jpg: Always sad to see a fallen comrade - sorry you had to drop out of the compo. The piano is a nice change of pace in the string of rock/electronic mixes we've been getting in here (of which I'm as guilty as anyone of contributing). I like the jazzy effects you've got going in there, and really appreciate how tasteful Wily sounds in this context. Bubble Man, when he's there, sounds pretty neat too. Not a bad piece, considering the time constraint you were under.

No Ticket!: More titles should end in an exclamation point. It just makes them punch you in the face that much harder - much like this song does. Glitchy train, very hard hitting synths, great Charge Man action... I'm loving it, here. Those pads are detract from the track quite a bit (0:56, for an example of them), but when they're not there, it has some of my favorite arrangement and sound design. I thought the interplay between not only the two songs, but the theme of a train was used excellently, in this. Because of the awesome stuff you do in this, I can't help but give you my vote... I would like to hear those pads changed out sometime, though. Gated explosion, for the win.

Glitch in the System: Starts out promising, with those deep sounds and drums. The heavy side chaining is quite distracting, but otherwise not bad, with the glitched waves and sounds. Nice parody of Zero Wing in there, for good measure, too. Wily's theme sounds... strange, though. Off beat, and out of tune - if this was intentional (a glitch in the system, indeed) then it doesn't work for me as a listener. I'm also missing interplay between the themes completely... which leads me to believe that this was just a work in progress. It sounds like it has potential, but it feels incomplete, as it stands.

And that's my thoughts on the tracks. I personally thought this round was quite enjoyable. Let's see what next round brings to the table!

Most appropriate post in this thread ever. I would die a happy man if someone made a Hornet Man remix using this name.

I do believe Hylian Lemon has Hornet Man this round. PM and tell him his mix must be titled "Mega Wicker Man"

RetroBelmont, AkumajoFlashback's, AkumajoMcFly, AkumajoBygone, QuantumBelmont, ReferenceSomething. There. Done.

Reading all of these nicknames (and pretty much the entire post) made my morning