Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

This was my Dwelling of Duels submission for December 2022, MAGFest Month. I participated in DoD for the first time in January 2022, not knowing what I was getting in to. After seeing the enthusiastic (and constructive) response to my submissions, I got hooked and committed to do a full year of DoD to practice recording, arranging, and production. This track was the culmination of that year. I wanted to take everything I had learned submitting to DoD in 2022 and crank it up to 11. I thought the Mole Knight boss theme would make for a good djent cover, so putting the arrangement chops I gained over the year, this is the result. It's heavy, it's prog, it's got vocals, it's got guitar solos, it's even got a violin solo! Track credits: * minusworld - guitars, bass, programming, lyrics, arrangement, production * Brandon Strader - vocals * Development of Avoid - guitar solo at 2:23 * Shea's Violin - violin solo The opening of Mole Knight's Boss theme reminded me of the intro to "Make Total Destroy" by Periphery, so I adapted it into a similarly fretboard-spanning octave tapping riff and went from there. I knew I wanted alternating growled and clean vocals, and Brandon Strader delivered 110%. Development of Avoid did the solo at 2:23. This track was perfect for his style. The solo is weird and alien, but also strangely memorable. I added the bridge really late in the month, and Shea's Violin came on board for a short violin solo and killed it. The main source used is Mole Knight's boss theme, "Claws of Fate". Mole Knight's stage "An Underlying Problem" is used in a few places, and the Specter of Torment version of the stage, "Facing the Task" is lightly used. Main source: Shovel Knight - Claws of Fate (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/the-claws-of-fate-mole-knight-battle) Other references: * Shovel Knight - An Underlying Problem (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/an-underlying-problem-the-lost-city) - melody from source at 0:00 adapted at 0:49 in this cover; bass line from source at 2:14 adapted into breakdown at 1:23 in this cover * Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment - Facing the Task (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/facing-the-task-lost-city), chord progression and melody from source at 0:44 adapted in the bridge at 1:57 of this cover The lyrics are mostly a generic "down with the system" deal, but with some mole- and shovel-related imagery. I did take some inspiration from current events at the time... namely a certain head-of-state warmonger and a certain owner of a bird-themed company. ### Verse 1 We are beneath you We make the ground quake under your feet Collapse the system Bring it down to earth You are beneath us You think your status makes you our savior Demon in disguise Fallen angel ### Chorus Walking all over us again Can’t take much more, we are at our wits end Look at this world you left for us Covered in rust, and dust, and lust Fire and smoke reach toward the sky Brandishing claws, revolt sparks in our eyes Through with the lies you’re shoveling Disgust, distrust, combust Yeah, bring it down ### Verse 2 For all your worth You are worthless A blight On our kind Your cultists Have disowned you True colors Red stripes, blood ### Bridge Shining brightly As we unite! We Will strike the ground Move this mount-ain On our own And you’ll Be left all alone All alone ### Breakdown Influence overthrown Name no more known Monuments overgrown Yeah ### Down Bridge The future’s Shining brightly As we unite! We Will strike the ground Move this mount-ain On our own And you’ll Be left all alone ### Tag Rise up Break through the fallow ground Sharpen your claws New world inbound ### Outro Walking all over us again Can’t take much more we are at our wits end Fire and smoke reach toward the sky Brandishing claws, revolt sparks in our eyes Games & Sources: Main source: Shovel Knight - Claws of Fate (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/the-claws-of-fate-mole-knight-battle) Other references: * Shovel Knight - An Underlying Problem (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/an-underlying-problem-the-lost-city) - melody from source at 0:00 adapted at 0:49 in this cover; bass line from source at 2:14 adapted into breakdown at 1:23 in this cover * Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment - Facing the Task (https://virt.bandcamp.com/track/facing-the-task-lost-city), chord progression and melody from source at 0:44 adapted in the bridge at 1:57 of this cover

Artist: 8bitsofglitch I had a rhythm in my head for what I wanted the SMRPG map theme to sound like, and I've wanted to do a version of the Wario land map theme for a while, but seeing as its so minimal I decided that it would be a good idea to combine them together. Originally I was going to expand on the Wario theme a bit, but it just wasn't working in a way that suited me.

Lots of RTA viewers commenting that they want Sean Bialo's Donut Dodo soundtrack! https://cosmicgem.bandcamp.com/album/donut-dodo-original-soundtrack

RTA in Japan (essentially the JP version of Games Done Quick) is doing their Winter speedrunning event RIGHT NOW and using OC ReMixes as the break music once again! Their charity of choice is Doctors Without Borders! They first used OCRs as the break music for their Summer 2023 event, and we're honored as always to be a small part of it as the break music! https://twitch.tv/rtainjapan https://rtain.jp

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Opens up sounding kind of flooded and muddy; not sure why it feels like it's cluttered, but it does. Vox in the intro was cool, then it transitioned more into strings at :53, and it really feels like something's lightly distorting or messed up with the mixing. Arrangement-wise, I'm about 1:45 in and enjoying the expansive treatment. The brass at 1:50 actually sounded pretty solid for samples and had some impact. Still, the mixing's all off, because most of the soundscape seems like mud and muck. The parts themselves sound good, so it's unfortunate that different instruments are so hard to hear and parse due to the mixing. 2:40 had a dropoff and gave things a chance to reset. 3:00 had a return of the vocals, then :41's vocals were repeated at 3:21. 3:53 went for a bigger energy again, but it was a rinse and repeat of 1:13's section, though you did try to vary up the placement of the vocals to provide some textural variation later on. Still, from about 2:44-on, the overall energy was being retread with some minor differences; the arrangement really didn't have anything new and substantive after that halfway point. Agreed in full with prophetik that the mixing needs to be addressed so that the piece's dynamics aren't undercut so much, and you also need to either drastically reduce the track's length or add some new compositional ideas or variation somewhere in this, otherwise the second half feels too tacked on and unnecessary. The overall concept and sound is very promising, Bryan; don't be discouraged if this doesn't make it with any YES votes. Great source tune choice, and you've got something to be proud of here, even if you don't work on it further. I hope you'd be open to revisiting this and would love to hear how much you can improve the arrangement and production. NO (resubmit)

"Train Ride" - :00-1:16 "Die Toteninsel (Emptiness)" - 1:16-3:13 "The Promise" - 3:13-5:13 "Cigarette Wife" - 5:52-7:30 "The Promise" was the hardest theme for me to grok, at least until I looped it tons of times. The other 3 sources were easier to wrap my head around, but everything's arranged in a pretty straightforward way, so there's nothing cerebral or difficult to recognize in that respect, which I'm thankful for with a longer piece like this. (Obviously, the tone and tenor of this as a piece of music IS cerebral.) Once I listened to each source then its corresponding section, I ticked the source usage box and relistened to see how it felt as a unified idea. Nice quick stereo bouncing around the soundfield of Andromeda's vocals from :57-:59. From 2:16-2:27, the vocals felt out of place or in a different key than the music; maybe it's just me, but it felt odd. I thought the vocals were well performed and layered overall though, along with Nicole's harp, and the other instrumentation by PF. I don't mind the gap between parts 3 and 4. I've played enough scary games to have heard sound design like this, so I'm flexible enough to say let it ride. The vocal processing for section 4 didn't click for me, the singing was flat and was getting in the way of the music; clearly it's a feature, not a bug, and tied to the strangeness of the secret ending, it just didn't work for me personally. Interesting piece of business that won't be everyone's cup of tea, but can be appreciated for what it is. Weird shit? Count me in! YES

Despite the strong energy of the performance, the mixing sounds pretty rough and lossy, so much so that I needed to throw on a control track to ensure my setup wasn't messed up. What happened to the highs? From :36-:54, you can very faintly hear a pad-like line doubling the guitar, but if you're not listening on headphones, you won't hear it, and it was mixed in a way where it might as well not be there. The overall performance still has a strong presense, with the drums in particular do a nice job filling things out. The arrangement has nice dynamics in spite of seeming like just a big shot of metal intensity. I'm not going to go conditional YES because if the source files were gone, I'd want this on the site, but we should certainly ask Mauricio about it. YES

Still has lots of sample-exposing moments, like at :15, 1:50 & 1:52, where the highest notes absolutely made me wince, plus the timing still feels too rigid. More attention to the right-hand part in particular not sound as stilted would help. That said, the updated piano sample's thankfully richer and more expressive. Dunno what you did, Chimpa, meddler of meddlers, but whatever secret sauce was added pulled it over the bar. YES (borderline)

Original Decision Resubmission. I switched out the piano for added depth and warmth. Tweaked the reverb. Added a little warmth and reduced some of the brightness from the highs. I asked Chimpazilla for clarification on something she had said in the previous decision and she ended up helping me and asked to let her do a master. Games & Sources: Final Fantasy 6 - Forever Rachel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWfdEj9jHDM (main source) Final Fantasy 7 - Tifa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO_ftxA28Y8 (main source) Final Fantasy 7 - Mako Reactor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZH6coTxDTo (cameo of the intro only) Final Fantasy 6 - Terra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObccgHQdos0 (cameo of the melody)

IMO, you made the case on why this doesn't pass. Strong bell intro, which makes you think the production will be better than it ultimately turns out to be. Drums at :18 and :36 are still bland, mainly because of the snare line at the core of it, even though there's good cymbal activity. The bassline writing until :54 doesn't work in some places (e.g. :32-:36), but it's quiet enough where it's not a huge deal. Yikes at how empty this sounded from :54-1:13. The padding dropping out by 1:00 and exposing the dryness of the clap groove was needlessly sloppy. I get that it's a point of dynamic contrast; I believe another subtle part/pad could help that not feel like such a noticeable quality disparity. Better fade-in padding transition into the next section at 1:14, but the way these sections change up feels too disjointed to me. Vox sounded pretty fakey, but it's wet enough to not be a huge sticking point and gets the job done. Overall nice stuff though leading into the big bells returning at 1:53, which was a fuller presentation. The belltone-like lead at 2:11 had a nice sound, yet its timing is slightly but noticeably off, so it doesn't quite flow. There's the bassline back again noodling around and quietly sounding off on occassion until 2:29, and the snares until 2:39 were plain and plodding again. The arrangement is creative and the second half's execution is better in terms of overall fullness, Troy, and this may pass as is, but there were still lots of smaller textural details and awkward transitions that added up to prevent this from feeling cohesive enough, IMO, even though this is well in the right direction and a meaningfully marked improvement. NO (resubmit)

Just adding a YouTube for reference

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Nothing wrong with Hemo's crits and it would be beneficial to keep them in mind. My only thing was that the last note should have been a C and how it ends now feels like you didn't get that last resolving note, but the ending itself is better. Definitely a meaningful improvement where there's less cramping and conflict between the parts. IMO, it's ready now, but I'm only one judge.

Your ReMixer name: ThePlasmas Your real name: Mauricio Castro Your email address: Your website(s): https://linktr.ee/theplasmasvgm Your userid: 30081 Name of game(s) arranged: DooM 64 Name of arrangement: Condenado A Las Penas del Infierno Name of individual song(s) arranged: Main Theme (Intro Theme) Additional information about the game: Composer: Aubrey Hodges, N64. Link to the original soundtrack: https://aubreyhodges.bandcamp.com/album/doom-64-official-soundtrack Your own comments about the mix: Doom turned 30 years old, so this is a tribute to one of my all time favorite video games. I enjoyed it a lot on my N64, and this song always made me feel goosebumps as a child. This version was recorded to participate in the "Summer of 64" event produced by GameGrooves, available here: https://theplasmasvgm.bandcamp.com/album/64-ways-to-die

Contact Information: Your ReMixer name: Bryan EL Your real name: Bryan EL Your email address: Your website(s): www.bryanel.com Your userid: 34748 Submission Information: Link to remix: Name of game arranged: Eternal Champions Name of arrangement: Seraphic Legacy Name of song arranged: Tournament Results Original composer: Joe Delia, John Hart, Jeff Marsh, Adrian van Velssen, Andy Armer Link to the original soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHzy24vjWAQ comments: I recently discovered this game has an amazing soundtrack and thought it was worthy of an orchestral adaptation. VST's used: Metropolis ARK, Albion One, 8dio Jenifer, Lacrimosa, Heavyocity Damage, The New AGE 2, Etherealwinds Harp 2, Rickenbacker Bass, Vengeance Avenger.

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