[OA]

Remixer name: Klopfenpop.
Real name: Josh Klopfenstein
Website: Klopfenpop.com
Game arranged: Mega Man, Dr. Wily's Revenge (gameboy)

Title or work: "Broken Robots"


I produced this track and did all of the music. Bill Beats (the DJ in Death*Star) did the scratching, C0splay (of Death*Star) raps the first verse, MC-3PO (of Death*Star) raps the second verse, and Kyle Stevens (of Kirby Krackle) sings the chorus. The bridge features a sample of Dr. Isaac Asimov reciting and explicating his three laws of robotics.


This song will appear on a Death*Star album as a Death*Star song featuring Kyle Stevens and produced and mixed by Klopfenpop. We would like it to appear on OCReMix as a remix by Klopfenpop featuring Death*Star and Kirby Krackle.

Lyrics:
Broken Robots:

Trapped amongst my own contraptions
Caption reads: "Defeated villain pays for his infractions."
Genius forced to mechanic, a man with passions galvanic.
Defiance turned to appliance,from messianic to manic

Noonian Soong to nine to five, labors leave me in agony.
Warriors are warped to servants by slavers is blasphemy.
Their task for me, drilling droids, shipping crates, fixing fates,
watch my servants become prostitutes and toasters while I rust and wait

A Maker mending microchips.
Once they knew me, feared me, as the god of their apocalypse.
Developments enveloped, men burned cities asunder.
Installed me with faulty circuitry. I gave you robotic wonder!

The world was mine to plunder. Now I do as I’m bidden
Controlled by my captors. Robot lives overwritten.
Once hallowed now hollow, I’m a tinkerer of toys
Maligned mirth, resigned to work without choice, without joy.


Circuits rust and burn
I must return them to their trust
Reanimate for those who spurn and hate me
Patiently I make them
Reawaken once they break
Broken robots, once my own and now returning.


My talents were meant to terrorize nations
My stations tuned to attack, backed by metal machinations

Song arranged: Elecman level music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlyrnE4XvlQ)
My creation were my culmination. The confiscation
and cessation of my aspirations is my ruined nation.

From a screw loose canon to a terror-mad visionary
To an also-ran villain—father to a mortuary
filled with automata, each dead droid and drone.
Surrounded in penance by broken robots I’ve known.



Shoulder to the wheel. Spanner to the bolt.
Solder to the steel I once soldiered in revolt.
Circuitry connected to new purposes applied.
Resurrected and collected as the dreams they once were died.

They seem to be made to suffer, it’s their lot in life,
but if I built them and I broke them am I twisting the knife?
And if I fix them I condemn them to existence in perdition
The cost of my ambition, subjugation, and submission.


Circuits rust and burn
I must return them to their trust
Reanimate for those who spurn and hate me
Patiently I make them
Reawaken once they break
Broken robots, once my own and now returning.

[Dr. Isaac Asimov discussing his three laws of robotics.]

Circuits rust and burn
I must return them to their trust
Reanimate for those who spurn and hate me
Patiently I make them
Reawaken once they break
Broken robots, once my own and now returning.

[DragonAvenger]

This is tough. Like, it's awesome to listen to, but the source usage is...I'm not hearing it very much at all. Maybe someone can pick up on stuff I'm not hearing, I hope.

The vocals sound pretty upfront, as well, and are a bit overpowering. I'd turn them down just a notch and get them into the soundscape a little better.

For now, I gotta NO this, but hopefully someone will point something out that I missed.

NO (resubmit)

[Emunator]

What IS the source on this? I'm only seeing an Elec Man link in the OP but it seems pretty clear that there's more to the remix than just that.

Can we please get a clarification on source usage in this mix from the artists themselves? I'll leave a full vote later because there's several production issues I need to cover as well, but something tells me that another source is being used in this mix.

[CHz]

Mentioned this in #j (guess everyone had already left by then), but the chorus sounds like Ice Man to me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1SSaF9k5lQ#t=0m17s.

[Palpable]

If they are referencing Ice Man, that's pretty liberal. It's only the first part of that phrase that is similar. Anyway, I got shot them an email so hopefully we'll have our answer on this soon. As a side note, this is the kind of song I was thinking about using in our test batch, so I'm gonna mark it as a hold.

[Palpable]

An update from the remixer:

The lead synth part under the verses as well as the synth throughout
the entirety of the bridge (while the clip of Asimov speaking) are all
from the Elecman theme. In short, there is no part of the original
piece that is not contained in this work. The entire arrangement was
created solely as a reharmonization of the two sections of the
original piece. The only section of this song that is not based on
and built around the Elecman theme is the chorus which was created as
an 8-bar transition between repeats of the first section of the
original piece so that the second section of the original piece could
be used as the bridge upon which this composition hinges.

[Palpable]

Given what they told us, I don't think this is passable. The reharmonization, while cool, means that a large part of this song isn't connected to the source. The first 1:15 is their changed chords and isn't recognizable as the Elec Man theme, and the chorus is original. That leaves about 1:40 of source usage in a 4:45 song - just not enough. Like I told them via email, this is a great, creative song but a little too "inspired by", I feel.

NO

[Nutritious]

Cool track here guys. Vocal performances were well done along with pretty solid backing track work.

But yeah, I can't hear much of elecman here beyond the synth lead parts Palp mentioned and the bridge at 3:25. Shame too, because I enjoyed the track as a whole.

No

[Liontamer]

Could BARELY hear the mallet percussion from :25-:50; boost that up. The vocals brought in at :50 were a bit too loud compared to the instrumentation (not a huge deal, they sound pretty good), as well as dry. Source FINALLY came into the picture at 1:15, but was pushed back under the vocals from 1:17-1:41.

During the arrangement chorus at 1:45, the melodic part of the instrumental's arguably too obscured under the vocals and drumkit. Then back to the dry vocals at 2:10. The source tune was at least a bit louder from 2:35-2:59, but it's still being obscured somewhat. All stuff I'd tweak with the mixing, and worth pointing out, but not a dealbreaker by any means.

The source tune's not being used overtly enough throughout this piece. It sounded like mostly original composition with some bits of the source tune added in:

1:15-1:41 (source melody), 2:35-2:59 (source melody), 3:24-4:13 (source chorus) = 99 seconds or usage during 34.74% of the track

As it says in the standards, the source material must be identifiable and dominant, which it is not here.

So yeah, good song, cool lyrics, cool Asimov sampling idea, solid mixing and performances, but the source usage isn't dominant at all in this arrangement. If you can add references to the source during other areas of the backing instrumentation to get the source tune used in over 50% of the track (i.e. the majority of the piece), then I'd be all over this. If y'all are willing to revisit this, and think you can weave in more of Elec Man theme without compromising the quality and vision of this arrangement, I'd love to hear and would be eager to pass it, or at least have y'all submit another arrangement with more source usage down the line. The talent's definitely there, so don't take a rejection as an claim that the track is bad; this track just happens to fall outside of what we're looking for.

NO (resubmit)

[WillRock]

Interesting song, but i'm not getting nearly enough source for this to count. Overall I'm getting no more than 1:40 of source roughly, in a nearly 5 minute remix. The actual source usage doesn't have much in the terms of variation but the B section of the source is used quite interestingly, with the chord change up. There are also some mixing problems at the start, the bass synth is too loud, and the vocals open up too loud as well. There are some nice effects, and the textures are decidedly cool. I also enjoyed the "chorus" which I assumed would be source, although I can not find anything relating to source in that, so I can only assume that it is original.

Ultimately, this feels like an original song with mega man elements in it. For this reason, I can't sign up on this remix.

NO