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Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

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Posts posted by Liontamer

  1. Hefty beats here that fill up the soundscape well. The saw lead’s too abrasive for me personally, but I’ll live. Cool to sample the “GO!” vox from the original. Some patience/restraint shown by not getting to the melody until later on, which helped this take stand apart. Didn’t realize how overlooked this Sonic 3 theme was; it was a great stage theme from a fun zone. :-) No stress playing that level back in the day!

  2. Opens up with some pretty vanilla leads, but they've got power behind 'em, so props on the production there. Nice guitar-like chugs at :17, combined with the loud "woo"-like synths doubling the melody. Nice dropoff at :41 to a thinner texture while preserving the groove and gradually rebuilding, including with the vocal samples.

    For the new section at 1:13, it felt like the bass and lead were both too loud compared to everything else, but nothing majorly dinging this. Overall, this has a fun Genesis+ kind of sound to it. At 2:01, the woo-like sound handling the melody was again way too loud; nothing where I'm saying this can't pass, but it felt imbalanced.

    Regardless of some mixing & volume reservations, the sound design's cool overall (whether "dated or "vintage") and I loved CJ's arrangement approach, which has a lot of character, and that easily trumps any minor production critiques.

    YES

  3. I remember listening to this on my phone a few weeks ago and thinking the initial sequencing felt stiff. To me, it's lacks humanization that undermines the energy of the writing, but it's serviceable. The creativity of the arrangement side tends to make up for this for me, though I can absolutely understand others feeling otherwise, and it's a borderline case for me.

    I liked the bass writing; it's oddly mixed in that I hear the notes, but it's not as audible as it feels like it should be, so you don't get the full effect of the cool composition there. Nice sudden rhythmic shift at 1:59 as a subtle transition into the chorus at 2:02, that was smart stuff. At 2:14 when the snare rhythm shifted, it exposed the relative emptiness of that drum sample more, but it wasn't a huge deal; the textures are cohesive enough. Sampled guitar from 3:43-3:54 is weird in that it rings out so loudly yet it's there so fleetingly (the part comes back at 4:19); didn't make sense to mix it like that.

    In any case, while the sample realism was the biggest drawback to me, Kevin's arrangement approach was cool, and I thought the combination of themes was effective. I would love an improved version if possible, but I'm willing to let it ride, and appreciate the creative arrangement approach first and foremost.

    YES (borderline)

  4. I remember voting on ella guro's and, at the time, we'd had a falling out, so though I was impartial with the vote itself, I was upset and shouldn't have let it to color how I expressed things. I still enjoy the arrangement side of "Unleashed!" and most of the production. I've listened to "Unleashed!" multiple times afterward to ensure I wasn't being biased, and I still couldn't get behind the (fully intentional) levels of distortion for the big boom-boom-boom drumming, even though I heard the Guided by Voices references and understood the influence, so it'll be interesting to see if I also feel jmr's approach, inspired by all that and "Ashes in the Snow", is too much. For example, 7:52-11:10 in "Ashes in the Snow" just sounds like noise & mud where the details of the writing are too obscured, so I hope it's not a ton of this. :-(

    Source theme arrives at :45. Great gradual build of the textures until 1:50, and I of course enjoyed the rhythmic changes. Nice transition into the chorus section at 1:50. I love the tension of the backing parts here, especially knowing the influences, as I'm 2:30 in and now I'm bracing for the hit, it's on the way. :-D

    OK, 2:43, we get some added geetar in there, and we don't have any massive booming or distortion yet. A-ha, 3:23, there it is, though I'd say this is way more tame than "Unleashed!" You get the boominess and the volume being overdriven some, but "Ashes in the Snow" had the distortion of backing guitars as a really thick backing layer and that didn't happen here, while "Unleashed!" had the drums & cymbals distorted and blasting at 1:33 & 1:47.

    I'd be really interested in Emunator (this is his kind of thing) or another J comparing "Unleashed!" and "Ashes in the Snow Man" to better articulate why I'm OK with the latter; the best way I can describe it is that the booming drums here didn't slam over the top of the other instrumentation and sound as crunchy & clipping. 

    Diggin' it!

    YES

  5. Artist Name: jmr

    Games & Sources

    EarthBound - Snow Man
    https://ocremix.org/song/820/snowman
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niE24aTdtns

    EarthBound - In Winters There Is A Genius (similar song, but has a unique section at the end which I've used in my arrangement) 
    https://ocremix.org/song/26452/in-winters-there-is-a-genius
    https://youtu.be/NY2SD4ur0Gc

    oooh fancy new submission form!

    Hey all! Hope you're doing well!
    Last month, I used Dwelling of Duels as an excuse to shake off the rust and try recording a solo arrangement for the first time in a while.  Normally I'd turn to my Marshall Art bandmates for something like this - I'm severely outclassed as a guitarist compared to Mikhail and Cory, and I haven't programmed anything other than famitracker drums in years (and why would you, with ErichWK and Kev Ragone around?) - but I thought it would be a fun challenge for myself to make something entirely on my own. 

    As the title of the arrangement alludes, this track is heavily inspired by the band Mono, particularly their song "Ashes in the Snow". There are some clear aesthetic and arrangement choices that are, shall we say, "borrowed" from that song (especially the drone and glockenspiel intro), but as my song proceeds I think it becomes it's own thing and leans less into their specific sound. 

    A large number of the choices I made for the guitar tones and drum production (kick and snare spring reverb! :D) owe a lot to Cory Johnson's music. Cory's been an inspiration and a friend for over a decade now, and I've had the opportunity to collaborate with him quite a few times so it's maybe natural that his style would rub off on me. I think a few DoD voters might have thought this was one of his entries; I am merely the Big 8 to Cory's Coca Cola.

    I've also got to highlight one final influence - ella guro's "Unleashed!...".  I posted a review of that track back in 2016:

    Quote

    It's always been one of my favorites on the site, and I feel like some of the original material I've done with Marshall Art might owe itself to the noisy, abrasive sound and chaotic drums of this remix.
    I kind of want to do my own version of this source at some point, but then I listen to this and realize how hard it'd be to make something I like more than this.

    So here I am almost a decade later, finally recording the arrangement I had in mind back then. It's pretty clear how that version influenced mine: BIG AND LOUD AND SATURATED DRUMS. Thanks for the inspiration, Liz.

    One final note: the intro drone. It is intentionally uncomfortably long. For the DoD version, I decorated that section with a Carl Sagan sample from an interview about the risks of nuclear winter that is awfully, scarily relevant to today's climate change crisis. I've removed this sample to comply with the content policy, but I've opted to not cut down the length of the drone that was under the sample. Even without Carl's prophetic voice that drone sets the tone for the rest of the arrangement in a way that I felt simply didn't work when cut down. The whole idea is to create a mood of tension, discomfort, and unease, so if you don't like how long it takes the song to start, I say it's done it's job.

    All the best, and I hope you enjoy the track!

  6. Credits:

    Lead Vocals: Valentino Francavilla
    Backing Vocals: Susanna Gray-Jones
    Guitar, Bass/Drum Programming, Mixing, Lyrics - WillRock

    Artist Comments

    "What if Helloween covered Shovel Knight?"

    Honestly, I'm not sure where the idea for this came from, because this idea first came to me maybe 5 years ago. 

    This is the first time I've done a video game arrangement with a main vocal part taking the lead melody, complete with original lyrics. There are no synths this time around, and I went full on quad time drums power metal with this one, which I've dabbled with in previous remixes but never gone all out like this. 

    Plus, Valentino Francavilla, a vocalist so good he could give Bruce Dickinson a run for his money, absolutely DEMOLISHES this vocal part. He steals the show completely, and I don't even care because he's THAT good. I'm amazed he agreed to it. I also got my cousin, Susanna Gray-Jones, to provide backing vocals that were layered into a choir, and you can hear her most clearly just after the last chorus.

    I know a lot of people often say this of their most recent work while they're hyped up about something new and exciting they've finished, but I'm going to go out there and say this just might be the best remix i've ever done, and it just wasn't possible without the help of both Valentino and Susanna.

    I should probably do more collabs...

    Source usage notes:

    0:36 lead guitar riff is actually taken from the source, it plays in the background during the main chorus section and I expanded on it a bit. 

    3:48-4:28 is taken from Cargo of Fineries. The rest is from High Above The Land.

    Should add up to 50% all in. 

    Lyrics

    Observe the skies for the air assault
    The captain knight, he prepares for the flight
    Into the skies, to the heavens we go
    A battlefield cry, we prepare to die
    Swift as a bird, a magnificent cur
    Watch your back for his rapier attack
    The engines roar as it takes to the skies
    We’ve got to prepare for war

    And we will lose ourselves in the clouds
    Just like an eagle
    We will fight and we will fly
    For valour and hope we rise
    We will fly high above the land
    Shoot into the stars
    We will fight and we may die for all of mankind 

    Jumping on platforms that fall from the sky
    Using propellers to court his ascent
    The gallant knight will traverse the terrain 
    Through burdensome winds
    The sunset blares as the wind knight looks on
    He meets his foe, for they’ll soon come to blows
    Ducking through every attack that he throws
    The propeller knight he falls

    And we will lose ourselves in the clouds
    Just like an eagle
    We will fight and we will fly
    For everyone we try
    We’ll fly high above the land
    Shoot into the stars
    We will fight and we may die for you

    AHHHHHHHHHHH

    The engines roar
    As it takes to the skies
    We’ve got to prepare for war 

    And we will lose ourselves in the clouds
    Just like an eagle
    We will fight and we will fly
    For everyone we try
    We will fly high above the land
    Shoot into the stars
    We will fight and we may die for all of mankind 

  7. Artist Name: Jonathan Fleming-Bock

    In honor of Super Metroid's 30th anniversary, I wanted to have a bit of fun and remix one of it's most iconic tracks: Lower Brinstar. Hope you enjoy!

    My thanks and utmost respect goes to Kenji Yamamoto and all those who brought us this masterpiece of a game that will forever remain one of my all time favorites.

    In the remix, I wanted to emphasize and bring to the forefront the rhythmic aspect that is subtle in the more atmospheric original piece. I imagined a more menacing, determined energy as if Samus was in a hostile environment but fierce in her conviction to complete her mission. I also wanted to bring in some more oriental instruments such as the ghuzeng and xiao as the original hinted to me to have some eastern scales in some areas. I also opted to blend synths with the more acoustic orchestral sounds as a nod to the games original soundtrack being a blend of sci-fi with more traditional orchestral scores.

    All sounds and sources are from purchased and licensed VST libraries I've gathered over the years.


    Games & Sources

    In honor of Super Metroid's 30th anniversary, I wanted to have a bit of fun and remix one of it's most iconic tracks: Lower Brinstar.

    Composer: Kenji Yamamoto

     

     

  8. When I say this, it'll sound like I'm holding my nose: I hate the dry, fakey brass samples in the intro so much! Each stab got me right in the ear. :-D It feels like the track's leaning into their cheesiness when they come back at :40.

    Nice switch-up at 1:04 into the guitar comping over the top of the source tune on bass, which also sounds super on-point; swanky swanky! I'll never love that brass; the way it's used in "Sing, Sing, Sing Your Heart Out" was stronger in that there was a fuller texture for it to sit in which helped mitigate the realism issues, but at the end of the day, the strength of the arrangement and performances more than carries it. Paperboy!

    YES

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