Liontamer Judges ⚖️
-
Posts
14,942 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
171
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
8Tracks
Events
Blogs
Posts posted by Liontamer
-
-
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.
-
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.
-
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.
-
For the instrumentation, it's OK, albeit stilted, particularly the drums; nothing has velocity variations as the patterns repeat, so that's part of everything quickly feeling stale, stiffly-timed, and plodding. Drums in the opening are plodding with no meaningful round robin attack variations, which exposes the sample. You weren't kidding about the drums being repetitive. I can hear how the track subtly but steadily grows in textural complexity, but because you just have the same core bars repeating over time, everything feels very stale. The additive part-writing's not bad in a vacuum, but maybe of the more ornamentation-like lines are mixed in so quietly when they're introduced that there's minimal textural effect (though the changes do stack over time).
Melody arrives at :34, and it handled with some decent energy. The bassline's not bad, but it's not very audible with the way that it's mixed. Better changeup at 1:44 with the drums getting WAY more interesting, but the lead becoming buried. Then back to the plodding drums at 2:08 and some keyboard-focused original writing that was very quietly mixed and should have been way louder than then the rhythm guitar writing. Melody's back again at 2:42 with a higher lead that's piercing, but I'll live. The backing writing has decent energy, but it has only one gear, so it feels like a total cut-and-paste job (aside from 1:44-2:08) and dragged this way, way down.
EDIT (4/3): I'm just voting on the initial/V1 version that was sent, mainly because the V2 version, as different as the leads & additive writing were handled, still had plodding drums that guaranteed it couldn't pass in either form. The other version you sent had more of a melodic focus on the chorus section of the source, but it had the same overall repetition and lack of dynamics. All in all, you'll have to develop your concepts more, which you seem aware of in your submission comments vis-a-vis the repetition. Keep at it!
NO
-
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.
-
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.
-
The vote's already closed, so I'll just tack on some brief comments. Rux Ton's a high bar to compare to, so forgive me for sounding as if I'm saying you have to sound as polished as him; OCR's bar isn't that high, so at least you don't have to reach his standard. :-)
Levels appear to be insanely loud right at :13; had to turn my volume pretty far down. At :57, the beat-writing's underwhelming, and the synth briefly handling the melody also sounds generic. Very weak claps at 1:51, zero power and a flimsy sound, so your builds aren't paying off in terms of then delivering intensity (e.g. shifts into 1:51 & 3:09. Claps were thin at 1:29 as well and the kicks at 1:40 seemed to be lightly distorting or at least too punchy yet lacking any body behind them. I agreed with Chimpazilla that the limited number of parts leads to a samey sound over time that's also dragging the track out. Good potential here though, Matt; explore how you can vary up but also intensify the tone of your instrumentation. It's not all about volume.
NO (resubmit)
-
Artist Name: AceVanWay
This is a trance remix of the boss battle theme, The Darkness Nova.
I referenced sheet music when creating the track, but came up with my own instrumentation. Once the music has been transposed to my DAW (FL Studios), I tweak EQs, mix and master the track.
Thanks for listening.
AceVanWay
Games & SourcesTrack: The Darkness Nova
Game: Legend of Mana
Composer: Yoko Shimomura
Source Track:
Reference Track:
-
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.
-
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.
-
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.
-
Bah, I thought I voted on this thang! (Lazy./Busy./Not actually lazy.) Amazing source tune.
Some pitchy slips, no doubt, yet well-performed on the whole and full of heart.
PINK ENERGY, a.k.a. LOVE! :-)
YES
-
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.
-
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.
-
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.
-
Artist Name: Mike Norvak
This is my final submission from the Doom remixes of the album. The style is really different from the rest of the EP. The first half is more 90´s EDM oriented with a tripplets beat base whilst the second half is more 80's influenced with a regular 4x4 compass, both parts driven by nostalgia. I think this is my particular way of saying goodbye to the synthwave era, at least for now... Thanks for listening!
Games & SourcesRobert C. Prince Endgame Music
1994 -
Every OC ReMix that we currently know of on Spotify has a embedded Spotify link on its ReMix page. Thanks to DarkeSword for creating the new feature!
If anyone knows of other OC ReMixes the artists put on Spotify that aren't shown on the ReMix page, add them here. We'll eventually figure out how to make a playlist. -
In a vacuum, this is definitely a strong Game Boy track. It could definitely use more going on with the stereo field, so I agree with Hemo saying it would be better as chiptune+. Right now, the potential dynamics of the track aren't fully realized.
The intro's really spartan, and I realize there's a build; that said, this could start at :16 and not lose anything.
The percussive crash-style sounds brought in at :47 are too sizzly, IMO; I'd pull the volume of those back.
The CV source usage seems very limited as mainly a countermelody/call-and-response underneath the SM arrangement, but that's not inherently a problem, it just means it's not a huge focus.
The :48-1:38 & 2:08-2:40 sections should be shortened. When the channels are so limited and you have long runs of writing where the dynamics don't change, it makes these sections feel overlong and dragging out. As prophetik noted, there's too much cut-and-paste and too many areas that don't feel dynamic because of retreading.
Winddown into a transition at 2:59 and then arranging the Super Metroid theme again with different sounds. The faux-string stabs have pop sounds from 3:21-3:28 & 4:02-4:09 that should be eliminated.
Cool stuff, but the structuring should be tightened up and more varied up. Well in the right direction, and the transformation to Game Boy chiptune's very creative.
NO (resubmit)
-
Artist Name: MET∆TRON
Originally called "Link and the Wind Fish Go Clubbing," this ended up becoming more of a piece about Link having a nightmare about battles past, and the looming threat of Ganon's return. I had the drums done first and wasn't sure what to do with them, and I had just played through Link's Awakening again, so I dreamed up this little ditty.
Games & SourcesLegend of Zelda - game over
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - light world dungeon, ganon's message, final battle
Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Final Boss, Miniboss, Ballad of the Wind Fish -
Would suggest listening to the source theme more so that you're absolutely sure you've substantially invoking it enough instead of going for just vibes, but of course that's just keeping OCR's arrangement standards in mind rather than dictating what creative path you ultimately choose to go down, which can obviously be whatever you want it to be.
At :25 it moved over into this bassline being the most prominent aspect, and it's not musical. Same with the electric guitar-like lead at :49, which is not melodious. There's the source melody at 1:04, and the notes have been changed in a way where this all sounds flat and isn't melodious. Another flat lead at 1:36 then back to that bassline.
Agreed with proph that it's unfortunately all tedious and difficult to enjoy because it's not musical. There's definitely some creative SFX usage, but it's all pretty scattershot, and none of that could make up for an arrangement that isn't musical. Abrasive messiness at 4:47 that just comes off like randomness without direction.
There's always latent potential, but you'll need to put the time in asking questions in music communities on where you're going wrong. In short, far from musically coherent, so you need to spend more time arranging or crafting something that sounds melodious and THEN working on all the sound design stuff would be worthwhile.
NO
-
Listened in my car yesterday, but that's not my ideal set-up, so I didn't want to lay down a vote until I could hear it on headphones and better appreciate the soundscape. I'll firstly say though, fun source tune choice, which has a Mega Man X vibe for me in some ways with this sound palette.
If this was old-school OCR, this would have been a shoo-in and looked back on fondly. As is, the breakbeats all feel very stapled in and some of the synths feel generic. But the energy's solid and the interpretation's creative; if it were 20 years ago, this would have likely made it (I was on the panel back then, so I'm pretty confident in saying so.)
Good Game Boy sounds, then a nice synth at :10 and again at :21 as more elements came in for the build. Kind of murky, but no problem. More warbly at :43 with a changeup of sounds. Breakbeats start fading in around :54.
Yeah, at 1:01, the breakbeats come in and the mixing choices definitely don't make any sense. The melody barely sounds out over the pad-like sounds and breakbeats until 1:22. The breakbeats sound very lo-fi like you grabbed a very low bitrate sample; the contrast between how lacking in highs & clarity the first set of breakbeats is compared to the next set at 1:42 feels very sloppy and disjointed; and I get that this is purposefully jumping around the place with different textures and big intensity, but there's ways to have other sounds and effects create logical transitions to where sudden major changes in the sound quality/clarity makes sense, but there shouldn't be quality disparities in the mixing (Speedball "Speedy Guitar" is a good example of pulling this off).
The bassline from 1:22-1:33 has decent presence, but doesn't have a firm shape, so the notes it hits adds some textural body, but otherwise aren’t audible and don't register much, if that makes sense. I did like the brief chiptune transition at 2:02 before going back to the fuller texture at 2:12, which was better handled, even though again the full soundscape at 2:12's muddy until 2:34.
Since I'm not a musician, and the musician Js have tried to hone in on how you can improve the production side of this, all I can say is that this has a ton of potential and doesn't need to be mucked with in terms of the writing and structure. Again, super creative approach, cosmo, and I'm fully on board with the arrangement side.
To sum up the production side, look into reducing the overall muddiness and imbalance amongst the parts, ensuring you don't have such quality disparities from section to section. No more clean, then muddy, then clean, then muddy, at least not without more intentionality and transitions.
Varying the breakbeat loops would be cool, and the way they don't vary much does undermine the dynamics of the piece some, but it wasn't a huge deal for me; that would be a nice-to-have, but just addressing the mixing would be enough to nudge it over the line for me.
That's about it, and I hope you're willing to revisit this one!
NO (resubmit)
-
Artist Name: Audiomancer, Aka Eric
This is a ReMix I put together with a few solo instruments. It's an arrangement consisting of trumpet, violin, and flute. I had trumpet carrying the melody throughout, but paradiddlesjosh said something about switching the lead instrument in the WIP forums, so I had the violin take the lead for the B section. As always, thanks for the time taken to review this submission!:)
Games & SourcesFinal Fantasy 6, Terra's theme. Nobuo Uematsu,
-
Artist Name: WhoAmI?
My goal for this remix was to create something inspired by 90s happy hardcore music, which was a favorite back in my teens.
For the overall structure, I wanted contrasting sections, starting off harder and darker, before transitioning to a more uplifting midsection.The source track begins with some catchy major chords, which I molded into a sinister rave stab. To fill out the track I added another stab that bounces nicely off the first one, and a galloping bassline. And of course, genre-typical drums.
The next two sections are all about upbeat pianos and sweet synth choirs. My friend @fataloror helped me create the choir patch. She provided a bunch of breathy vocal recordings that were perfect for achieving that retro choir sound that I love.
I didn't have a plan for the final section, but I did want to include a droning acid line somewhere and found that the chord progression there lent itself perfectly to that.
As usual, it was a ton of fun to work on and I learned many new things, including:
- Volume automation is important and something I need to practice.
- Time stretched samples can become cool transition effects.
Hope you like it!
Games & Sources
The track is called "See You Again" from the game Ys I. To my knowledge it is included in all versions of the game. -
Artist Name: jnWake
Another month, another DoD track! This one's from december though, as I didn't enter on january (breaking a 25 month streak... everything ends eventually!). Anyway, this is my first DoD related submission that's an ALT track, which are submissions that aren't sent to the competition. Many of them are jokes but some people send alts because they have too many musical ideas! In my case, this particular track was created as the background music for Naop's (another DoD member) interview of evilsonic (yet another DoD member, who's now the site's director). Some time ago, Naop (who hosts a podcast) started doing interviews of DoD members and since july has been submitting snippets of interviews (with background music) as ALT entries to DoD. The first one was from my own interview and had evilsonic doing background music, so for december we turned it around! As evilsonic's name comes from Shadow (the character), I thought it'd be fun to cover something from his titular game. After listening to the entire OST, I settled on "Event - Flying with Tornado", a 20 second track with one fun melody... extending that to a full cover was fun but I'm not 100% how the judges will feel about it!
The source is basically one guitar melody over a G# -> F# chord progression and then some descending chromatic arpeggios to end (as Tails' ship Tornado falls to its doom). Lemme now do a quick breakdown:
0:00-0:05: Descending arpeggio from the source.
0:05-0:29: G# to F# (over G# bass but still) and some variations.
0:30-0:53: More direct cover of the source material over a chill backing.
0:53-1:17: I don't think I can pretend there's any source here, but the melodies I wrote feel fitting for the source's style!
1:17-1:30: A bridge, also "original".
1:30-2:22: Source melody on piano as we do a key change for a synth solo that begins with melodies taken directly from the source.
2:22-end: Variations over the descending arpeggio riff to end the track.
Hope you enjoy! In my mind there's over 50% source but you'll be the judges (literally)!
Games & SourcesGame: Shadow the Hedgehog
Source: Event - Flying with Tornado
OCR04842 - *YES* Skies of Arcadia "Sacrulen Shroud"
in Judges Decisions
Posted
Artist Name: Michael Hudak
There was an awful lot going through my mind when I made this, but not much I want to actually say... I approached this piece like I was painting a picture as much as I was making a piece of music (I'm an awful visual artist). That's often how I work, but for a ReMix I'm a slave to the source, so it's exciting to find more ambient sources that I can find a reflective quality in that also happen to be from a game I love.
The source is based around the following (seemingly endless) arpeggio progression:
Ax6, Bx6, Cx3, Ax4, Bx7, Dx7, Ax3, Ex6, Fx6, Gx3, Hx3, Ix4, Jx3, Kx6, Lx6, Ax6, Mx6
I don't know what these chords are, but essentially what I did was this - Line them up the proper order, use some as arps, use some as held chords, test out instruments with different granular synth and reverb sends (sometimes just using the sends' audio and ditching the instrument VST audio after bouncing them separately into the track), and start painting. Lots field recording snippets. I faded out a lot of the transients in lieu of the smeared nature of the song, but kept some because I like how they sound and the rhythms they generate.
There are all kinds of extra bits of melodic content floating over top of these arps in the source, and I was happy to ignore them, aside from the magical bit at 1:58 that appears at the very end of my version.
It's a quiet master, but it's ambient/post-rock/room noise/whatever, so I think it's fine. The dynamic range is much more important to me in this particular case (I think it's around 15 LUFS of range). Originally, I had a bit more in the subs in the mix, but I rolled them back because they were too overpowering and IDM-like. The granular plugins I used were Fritz Granular Engine, which is part of the Reason rack, and Imagiro Autochroma. This write-up looks a little pretentious reading it back. A couple of the songs I listened to while making this were "New Grass" by Talk Talk and "In a Silent Way" by Miles Davis. Now it looks even more pretentious!
"Ancient Temple Dungeon" from Skies of Arcadia is the lone source. YouTube link. That is the official song title listed on the game's OST. Yutaka Minobe & Tatsuyuki Maeda are the composers.