[Liontamer]

Could use some theory here. Sounds Mario-esque, anyway - LT

ReMixers: halcyon (23301), chthonic (3842)
We are both existing remixers in the database.

Email: andrew@joename.com

Game arranged: Super Mario Land
Individual song(s): Stage 1-1, Stage 2-1

Link to remix:

halcyon's comments:
Let me start by saying that Super Mario Land is really hard. We've been producing this on Ben's computer, and there's no internet at his place, so everytime we needed to hear the source tune for Stage 2-1, I had to pick up the Gameboy and beat the first three stages, which was like... extremely difficult (for me, anyway) at first. Now I can play through the first three stages flawlessly without losing any lives. Enjoy and god bless the chip.

chthonic's comments:
What to say. First off, I should probably mention that this is a collaborative effort... halcyon and I live in the same area, and we recently started using my brand new desktop pc. I thought of this theme on a whim, and we ran with it for a few months until it became this strange little super mario opus. This psuedo-chip tronica of sorts is becoming one of my personal favorite soundscapes... but really, the title says it all. Relax, people.

[Vig]

The melody is recognizable, if somewhat altered. I can see this one being somewhat divisive, but it certainly is no worse than some of Wingless' artistic "transgressions" with regard to liberal interpretation. Ignoring that issue, the piece sounds great, and is well arranged. I might have asked for more variation in the beat, which gets a bit tiresome, but I'm not going to complain too loudly. This sounds great.


YES

[Another Soundscape]

A tough one. Took the liberty to break it down for future voters.

Breakdown:
:00 - :55 - vague hints to 1-1's melody, not enough to count imo
:56 - 1:24 - guitar-ish sound arranging 1-1's melody
1:35 - 1:45 - original or too liberal.
1:46 - 2:00 - arranged version of 1-1
2:01 - 2:13 - original or too liberal
2:14 - 2:26 - good connections to 1-1
2:27 - 2:55 - vague hints but not enough imo
2:55 - 3:31 - good connections to 1-1's second part
3:32 - 3:47 - original or too liberal
3:48 - 4:00 - 1-1's melody
4:01 - 4:16 - original or too liberal
4:17 - 4:29 - 2-1 finally enters!
4:30 - 4:43 - original or too liberal
4:44 - 5:32 - good source usage
5:33 - 5:47 - original or too liberal

If we go by the 50% guideline that's 162 seconds of non-source (or vague connections) and 185 seconds of source. That's just above 53% for anyone that cares. Some of the vague transitions does keep the general feel and to some extent the chord-progression of 1-1. Making hints to the melodies (especially 2-1) less subtle would've helped to make this seem more like a Super Mario Land arrangement. Additionally, some variation to the drum patterns (especially the later loop) would be very welcome.

I thought the production had issues. The melodic connections (the guitar-ish lead, some of the brighter synths and the chip leads) all sound a bit buried compared to the quite loud drums and bass. Especially the guitar-ish lead. The mixing was a bit unbalanced in general (quiet backing pads, leads, loud drums+bass) and the track lost a lot of focus because of it. When the arrangement borderlines on too liberal you really shouldn't mix the hints to the source lower since it hurts the overall arrangement. The soundscape sounds quite sparse too, the bass is the only thing with any low frequencies and the rest just seems very treble-heavy. Some attention to equalizing each sound to ahve it's own space would've helped a lot. The distortion on the acoustic guitar near the end hruts the track in my opinion but I won't hold it against you since it is a pretty cool creative effect.

Overall I would like this to be touched up before I can comfortably pass it. Since both the arrangement and production is hanging loose I'm going to go with a resubmit and hope that you take some more time to really perfect this. I can see this being passed as is but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that.

EDIT: I've settled for a conditional vote based on brining the melodic material (guitar-ish lead especially) a bit more to the front to keep the melodic connections more audible.

YES(conditional on touch-up)

[Palpable]

Good breakdown from Mattias, I'd agree with that. A few of the original sections also use the chord progression so I'm comfortable with the liberalness. Great use of texture in this, you constantly go from one soundscape to another (soundscape). Even though the 1-1 melody is used a bunch of times, the track still evolves through the use of different drums and synths.

Mattias's comment about the mixing being off is fair, but I didn't think it was as big a deal as he did. It was a little subtle at times, but never too background-y. Pushing the leads a little higher and certain drums a little lower would have helped. I'm ok with it as it is. Nice work, sirs.

YES

[Another Soundscape]

Originally Posted by Palpable

another (soundscape).

I lol'd

Just for emphasis here, I thought the production COUPLED with the rather liberal take on the source made it a NO. That the production issues were concentrated to the actual melody line being muffle also didn't help. If we get one or two more solid YES's I'm willing to go conditional on just one or two of the production issues but until that happens this is a NO (resub).

[big giant circles]

Sweet mercy, I'm voting. What is this panel coming to?

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. SML was the first game I ever owned (besides Tetris which came with my Gameboy, so I don't count it). I'm quite familiar with the melody. I played this game for freaking hours and hours and hours.

I think it's a fun deviation from what a lot of people around here seem to try to put into a remix lately. I didn't hear any production gripes that caused me to bite my cheek. I think it's a great arrangement and to me, the source connection remained plenty solid even during the parts where it seemed like entirely original music.

This is great, I think this type of arrangement is in perfect accord with our standards.

ABSOLUTELY

[Another Soundscape]

With Jimmy's vote in mind I'm going to go conditional on bringing the melodic material a bit forward instead of a NO (resubmit). See above.

(also, welcome back to the panel. I missed you.)

[big giant circles]

awwww

hugz and kissez

[DarkeSword]

This a fun track that really plays on the source tunes nicely. I like all the effects and sounds. Great arrangement.

YES

[big giant circles]

4 solid Y's and a conditional--I see no reason to throw this one into the limbo known as *PRODUCTION HOLD* personally. Shall we close it out and move on?