Liontamer
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Posts posted by Liontamer
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Quick co-sign on the excellent atmosphere here. The piano tone has realism issues, but nothing major. Very cohesive sound for something that was a very start-and-stop process! My man tinkers too much after submitting. :-P
YES
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Literally have to leave to drive somewhere, so I don’t want to text and drive. Strong medley, great production!
YES
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Artist Name: Kuri
This is probably my favorite song in DKC2. David Wise is awesome and what he was able to pull off with the limited space of the SNES was nothing short of amazing. Forest Interlude just has a vibe of its own right up there with Stickerbush Symphony. Every time I play through DKC2 I find myself humming and beat boxing a long with the tracks or adding my own twist to it while I sing along. This arrangement is the manifestation of just that. A beat I heard in my head that I felt would compliment Forest Interlude. It was a lot of fun to make.
Games & SourcesThe game I've used as a source is Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. The song I chose is Forest Interlude. The composer is David Wise who as most of us know crafted some amazing music for the DKC series.
Here is a link to the aforementioned song:
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Artist Name: jnWake
Collaborating artists: Mattmatatt and Kev Ragone.Another month passes, another DoD song to submit! This time, the monthly theme was "Mega Man" and I took the opportunity to cover a source that had been in my mind for a while, the boss theme (+intro) from Mega Man X2. Being honest, I'm not sure why my mind ever registered both as things to remix since I don't think they're actually that good haha, but I guess they do have some fairly unusual melodies and progressions so that must have registered as "interesting" in my mind. Regardless of that, I simply went ahead with making a cover despite some doubts about the quality of the sources! My approach here was jazz fusion-ish, Boss 1 in particular has a fun progression (Eb-Gb-F-Ab-B-D) that's harmonized in 4ths so it hides a bit of jazz behind the rock elements of the source. Initially, I set out to write something in the style of pianist Hiromi, but in the end the arrangement came out a little more like the supergroup U.K.... of course, on my musical level, not the much higher one of those artists!
Since I went for the jazz-ish feel I recruited Kev Ragone, who's a very prolific drummer in DoD and live bands but I think hasn't been featured on OCR before, and Mattmatatt on guitars, who recently made his OCR debut. Both are extremely talented, I tasked Kev with finding his inner Simon Phillips (former Toto drummer who sometimes plays with Hiromi) and tasked Matt with finding his inner Allan Holdsworth (very well known technical guitarist, who played in the aforementioned U.K.). I don't recruit actual drummers often but it definitely adds a special feel to tracks! Matt did great as well, adding his brand of virtuosity to the track. I handled all the synth/piano programming/recording, including the bass which I wanted to have a funky FM-ish sound.
I often make pretty detailed descriptions of source usage but this time I'm feeling a little lazy on that, so I'll go with "simpler" descriptions...
0:00-0:47: All of this section is based on Boss 1. Bass plays the Eb-Gb-F-Ab-B-D progression and is later joined by synths, piano and guitar noodling. At 0:22 the progression is slowed down for a guitar solo. Guitar lick at 0:40 also has the same progression as background but with more "standard" chords.
0:48-1:39 : All of this is based on Boss 2. First we have the chord stabs from the intro, then the main melody on piano at 1:08 and the next section from the source at 1:29.
1:40-2:11: All of this features the main melody of Boss 2, first straight on guitar and then a reharmonized variant on synths.
2:12-2:57: All of this section is a jam over the Eb-Gb-F-Ab-B-D progression from Boss 1 on bass. There's a reprise of the cover's intro as well.
2:58-3:19: Bass riff is the main bass riff of Boss 2 but the highlight here are the drums!
3:20-end: Main melody from Boss 2 returns with some variations, first on piano and then on guitar. We then have a repetition of the 1:29 section's chord progression and end the track with some rising arpeggios based on Boss 1's progression (now transposed).
Hope you enjoy!
Games & SourcesGame: Mega Man X2
Sources: Boss 1 and Boss 2
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Artist Name: Xaleph
Arrangement:
- Main Arranger: Xaleph
- Co-Arrangement: Zack Parrish (2:43-3:31)
- Mastering: Zack Parrish
Instruments:
- Electric Guitars (both leads, rhythm) [Non-7/4 parts: Ryan8bit 99%, Xaleph 1%] + 7/4 Electric Guitars Zack Parrish
- Drums (Paradiddles)
- Piano + Organ (Xaleph)
- Acoustic Guitar (Zack Parrish)
- Banjo (Zack Parrish)
- Foley -> "There's an encoder" (Zack Parrish)
This mix has a bit of a story. So it started off with me wanting to do a mix again with Ryan8bit when I first came back from my long hiatus. I couldn't get a hold of him until like a year later, and one year after that we decided to do a Mega Man mix. We initially were thinking using dueling guitars - Zack joined, and then we wanted Metal drums, and who else is better at that than Josh? With 34 mains / 43 total tracks in DoD, and the quality of some of the tracks, we knew it was going to be a tough competition and were thrilled to get third. The version here is a better master than what we had previously submitted as we had more time to master (I gave Zack like 30 minutes initially).
Thank you all who joined this last minute!
Games & SourcesMega Man 3
- Skull Castle 5 & 6 theme (Zophar -> Dr. Wily's Castle III / Fortress 3)
- Wily Boss theme (Zophar -> Wily boss / guardian battle)
- Title/Intro theme
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Clear pass despite the production issues. Digging the approach and wanted to co-sign. :-)
YES
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Quote
Super Metroid: Maridia (Rocky Underwater Area)
- 0:17–1:10: Melody (Pan pipes) - I'm not hearing this
- 0:04–1:10: Accompaniment (Pizz strings) - what part from the source is this accompaniment referencing?
- 2:02–2:40: Accompaniment (Pan pipes, piano, harps)
- 3:38–4:10: Accompaniment (Piano)
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow: Purification
- 0:31–1:10: Accompaniment (Harps) - if this is the theme, the part's barely audible anyway
- 1:22–1:50, 2:40–4:42: Melody (Pan pipes, piano)
- 2:02–2:40: Melody (Bansuri)
- 3:08–3:35: Accompaniment (Harps)
"Bloody Tears" - 1:18-1:36, 2:34-2:55, 3:33-4:25
"Maridia" - 3:04-3:30= 117 seconds or 40.20% overt source usage
Yep, whatever you did with the Maridia Rocky theme, congrats, it's unfortunately not recognizable in the first half. :-D I did hear the CV2's "Bloody Tears" melody from 1:18-1:36 & 2:34-2:55, even though it wasn't listed as a source tune, but "Purification" only arranges the intro of that song, not the verses, so this should have been DQed from the compo if "Purification" was the CV source, no? Maybe there's another Aria of Sorrow track also arranging "Bloody Tears"? There's Maridia finally from 3:04-3:30. Back to "Bloody Tears" from 3:33-4:25. Really dunno where this source breakdown even comes from, because the times and instruments don't match what's been given. I'm just confused, which doesn't mean I'm not being obtuse here, but just chiming in to say this didn't immediately make sense to me.
To me, the instrumentation quality's solid enough, but the dynamics can feel pretty flat here despite the obvious gradual build when you skip around from section to section and better notice the changes in textural density. I'm willing to say that I also thought it was too dynamically flat on my first listen, but on repeated listens, I was fine with how it subtlely builds, and I'm OK being outvoted.
There was a change at 3:04, albeit with no real transtion, so the switch felt awkward; see what you can do to smooth that out. To me, I'd just need a more accurate source breakdown, but if this source usage was explained better to me, and it was all in place re: sufficient & recognizable source usage, then I could pass this as is. For now though...
NO (resubmit)
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"Forbidden Area" is a great source tune choice to work alongside Metroid music and definitely feels like Super Metroid music from another mother. :-D
Very cool opening sound; that chirping-style lead was interesting, albeit the high-end felt a bit hot. Metroid Prime theme on belltones sounded off until it resolved at :59 and I understood where it went. Good bass writing (and presence) during the CV melody from 1:17-1:41. Nice breakbeat writing.
Very effective dropoff at 2:39, though it felt like the track meandered until the MP melody came in at 3:14. Pretty cool how full the texture got when the bass beefed up at 3:44; cool contrast for a stronger finish!
Count it!
YES
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Artist Name: Mel Decision
This piece was inspired by Emi Meyer's cover of Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls that appears in Blue Eye Samurai. I loved the tolling of the bells followed by the heavy intro. I had the idea of starting off with a choir that trails off into bells, before pivoting to a metal mix of The Cathedral. The loop for that theme is exceptionally short, however, so I dug into parts of Light of Silence, which appears inside the cathedral's dungeon, and then bits from World Revolution, which plays during one of the final boss battles of the game and slotted nicely into place with the rest of the mix. I wanted to keep the instrumentation fairly minimal for this mix, so I stuck with drums, guitars, an organ synth for timbral contrast, and occasional choir to really dig into the cathedral feeling. Outside of EQ and compression, the processing was fairly minimal—mostly reverb, a little chorus, and some short delay.
This piece probably ended up being 20% arrangement and 80% fiddling with guitar VSTs to make them sound more natural. Props to the Sages & other remixers during office hours for all their feedback and advice around guitar tones, amps, and humanizing guitar midi. The tips I learned were both immediately applicable in this piece and also helpful for some other WIPs I'm tinkering with. I would have loved to get some live instruments playing on this track, but going all-in on VSTs did allow me to learn a lot more about programming guitars, which I'm grateful for. Hopefully I was able to bring some semblance of realism into the parts.t
Games & SourcesChrono Trigger:
- The Cathedral by Yasunori Mitsuda: entire source, 0:00–1:10, 1:34–2:10, 3:22–3:46, 4:28–end remix
- Light of Silence by Nobuo Uematsu: 0:06–1:05 source, 2:16–3:10 remix
- World Revolution by Yasunori Mitsuda: 0:25–1:18 source, 3:10–3:22, 3:47–4:28, 4:40–4:52 remix
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Artist Name: Aaron Lehnen
Created unique sections, extrapolation of melodies and chord changes.
Juxtaposing various themes and extending harmonic structures.
Heavy usage of double bass metal drums and 8 string djenty guitars.
Multiple harmonies re-imagined through various instruments and ranges.
Harmonized guitar sections/solos. Synthwave portions mixed with Prog/metal
Games & SourcesMetroid is an adventure platformer released for the Famicom Disk System in 1986 and the NES in 1987. In this game, you play as bounty hunter Samus Aran on her first mission to defeat Mother Brain on planet Zebes. Platforms: FDS, NES Year: 1986 Developed by: Nintendo Published by: Nintendo
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Oooooh, for this Shinobi 3 source, I get why it's breaking Chimpazilla's ears in our #judges chat; that line brought in at 1:29 of the source. I 100% hear the dissonance; there's something about it though where's it not THAT bad for me; my mind's playing it to me like the way you'd THINK it would sound if that line were melodious, which might make 0 sense to say; I'm unsure of if there's a musical term for this dynamic. :-)
The beats at :25 are mixed in an odd way; a nice, booming presence, but sounding on the lossy/no-high-end side, so it's not benefiting the texture. Then some light claps or layered finger snaps, whatever they were, came in and also sounded very lossy and also very flimsy and dry.
I liked the transition sound at :57, but then the mixing of the next section also felt off. The light clacking percussion part added at :59 was too flimsy, then some beats added in at 1:10 sounded beefier, but again very lossy-sounding. The buzzing synth line brought in at :59 is practically buried once other elements are added at 1:13. The string line at 1:13 initially sounds decent, but gets way more exposed from 1:33-1:55. The overall sound & flow of the track is serviceable, but even by 1:33, it's pretty repetitive; 1:10-1:55 could be cut in half. MindWanderer's correct that the melody, as presented now, drags out over the course of the track; there may be other ways to present it to better maintain the interest.
2:07 changes up the textures more, but, from 2:11-2:52, lines begin to step over one another and competing to be heard, it's too messy, cluttered, and indistinct, due to that part added at 2:11. From 2:29-2:40, there's some clashing writing from whatever line was handling the lead before the part shifted back to the source melody at 2:41. Lots of quiet indistinctness from the bass writing as well from 2:30-2:50, where it's filling in the space some, but you're not making out any individual notes.
Back to the source melody at 3:03. Key change at 3:25 that sounded really clunky. I dunno any theory, so while I can't articulate it, the transposition of the part-writing taken from the source isn't clicking. I've said this to HoboKa and think it's the same for you; when you play it straight with your source tune transcriptions, it's fine, but often when you try to deviate in big ways, it opens up the potential for non-melodious writing.
Dunno what that instrumentation is with kind of a light phasing effect on it, but it's just creating clutter, and when it briefly drops out during transition phrases like from 3:46-3:48, it makes it more apparent how awkwardly it sits in the texture just adding noise.
Much better texture at 4:11; less was more there, both in terms of having a direction and the textures sounding clear enough, so it was an effective finish.
I didn't catch any of the Rise of the Robots writing; I'll check it later, but it didn't affect anything from a source usage standpoint.
To me, when the textures are fuller, you're inadvertently adding a ton of clutter and making it difficult to follow along, even though the core melody is repeating so much (and could use other variations), and the off-key sections (2:29, 3:25) dragged this down as well. Hemo made a good point that everything right now seems to pull emphasis away from the live parts, which come off extremely subdued.
Like MW, I agree there's good potential here, but it'll need a mixing reboot, undoing the off-key writing, and maybe some further melodic variations (not necessarily changing the notes, it could be the instrumentation), in that order. The first two are necessarily, the third may not be but is worth exploring. Unpolished is an apt word for it that MW used; we don't need perfect polish, but it'll need more than this. Lots of good potential here. :-)
NO (resubmit)
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Man, I hate this slow shit... when's it gonna GO somewhere? (Kidding. :-P) I definitely hear the Skrypnyk influence, not just in the music, but in the effects and audio sampling of the kiddos playing and yelling at one another. A classy, mellow mood that breathes, clicks, ebbs, and flows. :-)
YES
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7 minutes ago, Emunator said:
After comparing both versions, I actually wish you had submitted the DoD version. I'm not totally sure but I think we've had tracks posted before with extensive sampling of spoken word so unless Carl Sagan is owned by Square Enix, I think that would be in the clear.
I'm totally ready to co-sign on this, but if we can use the DoD version with the voice clips, I think we absolutely should - it's the better version of this track. @Liontamer would that be an issue?
Carl Sagan is an agnostic demon, so we shouldn't use his quote. (Kidding!) Yeah, no problem here, if jmr would want to use it.
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OCR04687 - Super Metroid "BLOOD CONSTRICTION"
in ReMix Reviews & Comments
Posted