[djpretzel]

This was my mix for PRC63, the original song is called "Judgement", don't know much else about the game. The original is very rock orientated, good stuff and I wanted to keep that vibe, and extend on it into something alot more cool feeling and grooving.

The mix is guitar focused, hard hitting and constantly varies to play around the idea. From hard rock to slipping into some funk based ground, with slap bass solos and mad drumming. Basically just good fun, and fun listening. I've been playing around with guitar ideas for a while, and wanted this to be a piece to show what I could do with fake guitars. I've dipped into some metal ideas, mostly with some of the drumming and bass, but kept it as energetic as possible. The synth work is just a layer of icing on the cake, to keep a unique feel about it, along with the second phased drum kit. This was great fun to work on in the end, I wish I could've made it longer, but I feel it does enough for its time. I hope Metal Slug fans can think fondly of it too. The games are a great series and really need more coverage.


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[zircon]

Hey, fake guitars can do an awful lot. Just check out SSH - the majority of the stuff you'll hear from that guy is sampled guitar, and he probably uses cheaper samples than you did in this one! Gray will tell you, it's all about the technique. But anyway, that's on a side note.

For once, I gotta say, your heavily-compressed approach to production (specifically, drums) works very well here. This is exactly the style of execution I would expect to hear in this genre. The guitars are pretty well sequenced, you've got some nice breaks, a badass bass, and nice drum patterns. I can't quite place my finger on what style this reminds me of, but it's good. I think you've found a niche that really suits you. All your other mixes I've heard had elements that I hear now, but those elements didn't work as well in those other mixes. They DO come together in this one. Way to go. This is good stuff :)

YES

[DarkeSword]

Sounded iffy when it started off, but when that percussion came in and those synth guitars started gating, I was sold.

The texture does get a bit crowded, and I'd have liked to hear some stronger basslines (also a lower treble in the EQ), but this is fine as is.

High energy. Nice.

YES

[The Orichalcon]

Whoa, that intro guitar is awfully loud and abrasive. It builds into a generally very loud soundscape pretty quickly, so it seems less out of place in context. I think this could've been a bit clearer if it wasn't quite as loud as it is now. Checking the file in Cool Edit shows that everything was mastered properly. Gray or Larry can give the final word on that, since they both seem to have bat ears when it comes to noticing small sound discrepencies

Bassline from 2:00 = hotness. Very cool with the drums. You win the prize.

Overall it's a cool soundscape. This is the type of genre where your natural loud-mixing style actually folds in fluently with the mix. Well done, and make more of these.

YES

[Liontamer]

Metal Slug 2 Original Soundtracks - (04) "Judgement"

Played this back on VGF83, so I've had a chance to hear this before. What a crappy source tune though. Those voices bug the crap out of me, and it's such a lame track in the first place. It does spell "Judgement" with an E though, so props for that.

GODDAMN son, this is way too loud. Bah, it's a Roetaka piece, so it's always gonna be needlessly loud, I dunno why. Guitar at :39 went for the source chorus and sounded absolutely buried under the drums. HAHAHAHA! Comparing this to SSH is way out there, I'm sorry. Not that I'm looking for SSH-quality sequencing, as I don't mean to diss Alex, but this isn't as sophisticated and, when used without doubling, doesn't sound very good.

I thought the guitar tone in places was awfully flat (e.g. :39-58). Doubling them at :59 helped alleviate some of the issues I had there. Whenever the drums are in play though, like with :59-1:12, they're just dominating over the top of the guitars and bassline and making the soundfield sound like a cluttered mess.

1:39-1:52 is just so loud and poorly balanced, I can't imagine why anyone would think it sounds ok with this ridiculous amount of sizzle. The bass sequencing done at 1:59 is alright, but isn't ridiculously strong. 2:12, again with these loud, washed out drums. Jesus, the cymbals were sizzling so loud there. I can't believe no one else is complaining about this stuff. Tons more clutter and sheer volume from 2:39-3:08 leading toward the end.

Like everyone else, I feel like the overall texture and sound selection was better than most of Alex's previous pieces. But the production is still holding this back substantially. It's just way too loud, abrasive and overcompressed. Personally, I didn't feel the arrangement was strong enough or cohesive enough to make up for this kind of overly swamped, cluttered sound. I don't see why such a problematic production approach that has hurt other subs in the past seems hunky-dory in this instance when it's causing the same old problems. Even though the track's probably not clipping, that's clearly not the problem here.

NO (resubmit)

[GrayLightning]

Ok so where's the sourcetune? Is it me or was larry the only one who mentioned anything about the arrangement comparison?

[The Orichalcon]

Originally Posted by Liontamer

I don't see why such a problematic production approach that has hurt other subs in the past seems hunky-dory in this instance when it's causing the same old problems. Even though the track's probably not clipping, that's clearly not the problem here.

Loudness isn't necessarily a bad thing. Roe's naturally leaning towards a louder sound. He's done this mix in a way that it's loud, while still being technically efficient. As long as it doesn't clip and fits the genre, I don't see how you can reject it based on that.

[Liontamer]

Originally Posted by The Orichalcon

Loudness isn't necessarily a bad thing. Roe's naturally leaning towards a louder sound. He's done this mix in a way that it's loud, while still being technically efficient. As long as it doesn't clip and fits the genre, I don't see how you can reject it based on that.

I don't think it fits this genre at all. I think a somewhat less compressed sound would sound powerful without making the loudest sections sound imbalanced and indistinct.

[The Orichalcon]

So you're saying that in it's current form, it's unacceptable for OCR under the guidelines? Not based on your personal opinion.

I've no doubt it would sound better if it was a little softer. But rejecting it over such a small thing seems a little unfair.

[GrayLightning]

Loudness can be a bad thing, but it depends on the context and how it was compressed/etc details. Honestly I could write a book on it but don't feel like it right now. :P I suggest checking electronicmusician.com and other sites on this topic. But the short answer is it depends.

My main concern is I hope you all at least double checked against the source file to compare. I'm getting a vibe that only larry did...

Anyway listening to it now... will edit shortly.