[OA]

Original Decision: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=35730

Remixer Name: Darangen
Real Name: Michael Boyd
Email:
Website: www.darangen.com
UserID: 8948

This is part of a multi-resub/sub that Sir Oji said was ok.

NEW URL to Resubmission:
OLD URL to Remix:

Game: Killer Instinct
Song: The Instinct
Original Soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avPSzGVCPH0

Resubmission Comments:

I re-recorded the guitar parts to fix the timing issues.
I boosted the vocals a bit to try and place them better.
Redid the mixing, tried to un-overcook the production a bit.
The piano bass notes that “don’t sound in key at all” are still there. The piano is a sample/loop and the bass notes aren’t meant to be perfect. I like it.

Comments:

I actually remixed this source about 5 years ago, but was rushed trying to meet a competition deadline and I wasn’t satisfied with the outcome at all. So this has actually been in the making for 5 years, on and off. I finally came back to this source for the June 2011 Dwelling of Duels competition. I’m much happier with this outcome.

The meaning behind the lyrics to this song are that at some time in life we all have to find who we are. For some it’s an easy discovery, for others it may take years upon years. A few years ago I found myself at a crossroads and I had to rediscover who I was in order to move on, and that was the inspiration for this song.

As mentioned above, there are lyrics to this and they are as follows:

Searching
You’re looking from the outside
Yearning for the inside
There’s nothing that you can hide

Exhausted
You’re pushing yourself too hard
You’ve never gone this far
To find out who you really are

Another day
Another way
To see the end your story brings
Try again
To see the end
And open up yet another dream

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did creating it!

-Michael ‘Darangen’ Boyd

[DragonAvenger]

I'd say this is an improvement over the sub. There are still a couple things I'm noticing, mainly a couple of minor timing issues, and the piano loop feels a little mechanical and dry still. I'll still echo that your vocals are really working very well here, so I'm glad you kept at this one.

YES

[OA]

The timing on this track is really loose, but I love the vocals, which have a bit of a pink floyd vibe for the verses, and gain in intensity. The mixing and balance was solid, and the only issue I have with this is the timing is really really loose in a ton of spots.

I really like the track, but the performance needs to be locked. Sorry to send this back, as everything else was great, but the timing is too much of an issue for me to pass this.

No, please resubmit

[Liontamer]

:32.5-:38, :40.5-:45.5, :48.25-:54, :56.25-1:00, 1:19.5-2:07 (backing guitar part from :16 of source; buried from 1:35-2:07), 2:39-2:56 (more backing guitar), 2:56-3:28 (main source verse paired with the guitar), 3:59-4:14.75 (more backing guitar)

Need 131.5 for acceptable source usage. I counted 100.25 of overt usage along with 32 seconds of the buried guitar riff. So it would barely get over the line from what I can make out, provided the mixing was better and I'm not missing other interpretation.

I'd need a breakdown to better understand the way the source material was used (aside from the obvious verse from :50 of the source). Sounds like there's no source usage until :32.5 of the mix, if I understand the arrangement correctly. Also seems like a lot of it rests on using the backing guitar as a background element, which isn't working that well. The arrangement came off as too liberal, and should use some more overt references to the source tune in other places in the arrangement, IMO, but it's all about what you'd be willing to do with it.

Hated the piano introing things. It was so barren sounding and the sequencing sounded way too robotic and out of sync. I try not to get carried away describing it, but "hated" was indeed the right word. Sorry, bro.

Gotta agree with Andrew that the timing was too loose. However, I thought the mixing was still sloppy in places, making individual parts too difficult to parse. The cool crystalline sounds from 1:03-1:20 were buried in the soundscape; as is, there was almost no point to them being there doubling the piano (which was also buried during the section).

The chorus from 2:07-2:39 just sounded like a wall of guitars; you couldn't really hear the notes change from those rhythm guitars. Same problem with the guitars being overloaded from 1:03-1:20. Something needs to be dialed back. During the vocals at 1:35, the backing guitars are supposed to be paying an arranged variation of the riffing from :16 of the source (a part first brought in at 1:19.5), but the soundscape is muddy and cluttered, so you can barely hear them even though they're supposed to be the main connection to the source tune. If you COULD hear them better, it's apparent the timing's too loose.

Also, the vocals needed de-essing, and were too dry.

Love the drums, though; beefy as hell. They end up kind of being in the way of hearing the source tune arrangement in the guitars, but they were cool nonetheless.

Anyway, in short, more overt source usage would be nice, the timing between parts needs to be tightened, and the mixing needs to be properly balanced.

NO

[Vig]

Agree that the timing is way too loose, especially the guitars. I think the snare chosen is really inappropriate for the genre. The snares ring for so damn long. Metal demands a much tighter, snappier snare.

The vocal performance and mixing is also pretty genre-inappropriate. The performance is way too sedate for a metal track, and it's mixed warm and intimate. It's not very aggressive at all.

The piano part is also pretty loosey goosey. It could be brighter and airier. Maybe more verb, put it up front, and rewrite the part a bit, let it drop out during the choruses or something.

NO

[Nutritious]

Gotta go with Mr. Tamer here. Piano is super rigid at the start and sticks out in a bad way here. As mentioned, guitar timing also is one of the main issues here. At times, it's loose to the point where it's offbeat from the drums.

On the positive side, I liked the Lead guitar on the main melody. Gonna detract a bit from Vig & larry as the vocal performance didn't seem inappropriate to the track to me personally, and I thought it reasonably produced for the track.

Gonna sign off on needing more source material here as well. It seems to rely heavily on the backing guitar rhythm for a lot of it as the only real connection.

No, resubmit please