*NO* Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory 'The Friendly Shadows'

Remixer Name: Brent Wollman

UserID: 41181

Game Arranged: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

Name of Arrangement: The Friendly Shadows

Songs Arranged: Kokubo Sosho Stealth, Kokubo Sosho Battle, Ruthless (Reprise)

Original Composer: Amon Tobin

My Mix:

Source Tunes:

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory has an absolutely fantastic soundtrack, so I wanted to take a few of my favorite tracks and rearrange them. I took a pretty disjointed and experimental approach for parts of this mix. The ending was inspired in no small part by the outro to the Nine Inch Nails track "The Great Destroyer", which is characterized by really wild panning and crunching effects. I hope it sounds good to you.

Source Breakdown:

0:00-0:06 Original

At 6 seconds, the main drum pattern comes in. this is predominant in the first song I linked. It's such a badass beat that I chose to base most of the mix on it.

0:06-0:18 Here the bass part from the first track comes in. In the original it comes in right along with the drums.

0:18-0:24 This is the first half of the melody from the chorus in the first source track.

0:24-0:30 The main bassline comes in with the main drum pattern. There is an original melody panned to the right.

0:30-0:42 Here is the chorus melody again, completed this time.

0:42-1:06 Familiar drum and bass pattern...

1:06-1:48 The rhythmic percussive sound from the very beginning of the second tune I linked shows up pretty quiet and then at 1:12 it takes the stage. The chorus melody shows up again and plays a couple times.

1:48-2:03 A sample from the third linked track shows up behind that same bass/drum pattern from earlier.

2:03-2:27 The melody here is from the part at exactly 2:17 in the third track I linked.

2:27-END A bunch of effects wankery on the main drum pattern from the first track.

Oy, this is an interesting one. We've certainly accepted mixes based mostly on drums before, and this goes beyond that to include some other elements, but this is pretty eclectic overall. I had to listen to this a few times; having your breakdown really helped things out. I think in the end I can hear the connection between the sources and what you've done here, I am just worried that whereas a mix like DrumUltima's track was based on a drum-only track, the sources you've used have more to them than that, so how recognizable it would be to someone listening without the references may vary.

All that writing aside, I do think this is above the bar, albeit a little weird. I'll wish you luck for the rest of the vote.

YES

I can sign off on your source usage breakdown as well, the drums that you're referencing are definitely unique enough to be recognizable in your remix as a direct source reference, and the other melodic parts work in your favor.

I'm not really even gonna talk about the production/arrangement as it's pretty clearly over the bar, you've got some awesome processing, effects, and transitions that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to. The fact that the actual mix is so strong doesn't really have any direct bearing on whether or not the source usage is acceptable, but I'm glad it checks out for me because this is a really strong submission. Keep it up Brent!

YES

That intentional clipping isn't really doing it for me. I do think it's pretty creative, but not something I would want to listen to. The source itself is pretty much a chord progression and a great beat, making it hard for me to really see much more going on than a chance to throw down some effects on a beat and progression.

Overall, I feel this is creative, but I don't think the production style of all the distortion is working for me, and the plain source isn't giving me much to latch onto.

Sorry bro, gonna have to go NO on this.

PRODUCTION

[X] Low-quality samples - drums don't fit

[X] Overcompressed (pumping/no dynamics) - drums in particular

[X] Mixing is muddy - bass, too much distortion/treble, harsh on ears

[X] Panning & gating effects are tiring/harsh

STRUCTURE

[X] Lacks coherence overall (doesn't "flow" enough), abrupt transitions

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE TRACK

[X] Creative arrangement ideas

[X] Creative production ideas

[X] Instrument choices

[X] Source tune choice(s)

NO

That intentional clipping isn't really doing it for me. I do think it's pretty creative, but not something I would want to listen to. The source itself is pretty much a chord progression and a great beat, making it hard for me to really see much more going on than a chance to throw down some effects on a beat and progression.

Overall, I feel this is creative, but I don't think the production style of all the distortion is working for me, and the plain source isn't giving me much to latch onto.

Sorry bro, gonna have to go NO on this.

Not much more to say than this. The distortion gets really heavy at points and I'm just not feeling it. Drums at points are sitting in a really weird place in the mix too. Gonna side with the NOs here.

NO

Right off the bat drums are sitting right up front and they sound unnatural. Throw some reverb on them. I like the ideas you've got, but you need to learn when to cut back. There's too many in-your-face effects like harsh synths, gating, stutters, and reversals - there's not enough flow to it. The drums were kind of low-quality samples but you did a pretty good job with what you had.

I know you're going for a NIN-style distorted sound, but this is too much. That kind of thing works better when one element is distorted but the rest isn't - otherwise it sounds like you don't know how to mix. Good ideas, but needs refinement.

NO (resubmit)

Not much to say other than I agree that the distortion is too heavy here. It's to the point where it's almost completely obscuring what's going on in places.

Very interesting take, and I think it can work. Just needs some production love.

No, resubmit please

I was worried the second source, Kokubo Sosho Battle, adapted from Tobin's non-game original "Cougar Merkin" (a live version here) was an ineligible source but it's basically an entirely new track made by cutting up elements of that other song. Thanks a LOT for the source usage breakdown as well.

This was pretty sweet. It seems like without the over-the-top crunchy distortion, this could be a pass, but I definitely couldn't pass it as is -- the first section in particular was too much. You could tone it down and retain the same overall statement and effect without it being that crunchy. Didn't agree with the drum criticism; they weren't perfectly produced, but were thick and full enough to add power to the track and fill out the background well.

Yet again, we have judges saying there's no flow to the arrangement to Brent when the arrangement and flow are JUST FINE. Don't listen to anyone who said that. It's only the massive levels of distortion on some of the parts being a non-starter. Tone that down some and send it right back, and you'd definitely have my vote. Awesome arrangement, Brent, can't wait for you to tweak this so it can go on the front page, this is strong stuff.

NO (refine/resubmit)