Gario

I haven't been able to use my computer at all this week - sorry, but I won't have a submission this time around (it really sucks because the source was indeed awesome and worthy of a remix). Sorry, bro!

Nice orchestration, dude - I love the nearly complete switch to major throughout. It almost sounds like a Secret of Mana track, the way you laid it out . Beautiful.

Yeah, I know I'm posting stupidly, but I couldn't help it...

You've been hanging out in the one liners thread too much, Ferret .

There was a time when I played Smash Bros straight for 6 years. Sadly, I stopped playing about a year ago since I couldn't get any internet on the wii (and therefore couldn't get Brawl to work online), so I just said to myself 'What's the point?' and walked away from it (I live in the middle of nowhere, so I can't just invite people to play it with me irl). Brawl+ sounds epic, by the way.

It sounds like an Unreal Tournament rendition of Super Metroid... Neat. I like the instrument choices and the production values of this song (as well as the arrangement ) - you've got a strong song going on here, so here's a few suggestions to make it stronger. The drums seem to have too much side chaining going on in the bass for my tastes. Also, the drums seem to repeat a bit too often - make the drums more interesting and varied, the genre calls for it. The soundscape, while nice and full, doesn't change enough. I'm entranced in the beginning, but that doesn't last long. What can I say, I'm an American - we need flashy things that change constantly so we can stay interested longer. Really, though, the soundscape could use some more variety throughout. I like the idea of making a medley for the game - are you going to incorporate your Norfair remix in there (breakbeat orchestral style)? Yes, I remember that one; tis' a shame that you didn't follow up on it . Keep it going (when you can, obviously).

It's gotten me into playing and writing music (seriously, without it I wouldn't care about music, much). It's sad, but true .

Coop steals the show (no really, he stole this round!) - Hey, Jerry, that might give you some more time to produce something well done for the next compo. Damn, if I won I had a great Halloween song to submit. Alright, let's see if I can get something out for this (not too sure, this time around).

Yes, I haven't updated with anything in 3+ weeks (sorry for those who've waited!), but I have a monster analysis to present to you all. Special thanks goes to Moseph for pointing out the peculiarities of this song earlier in this thread - since it authentically baffled me, at the time, I promised to do a more complete analysis of the song someday. Today is that day, ladies and gentlemen; may I present the first full analysis I've ever given in this thread (everything else up to this point has gone into detail over a single point in a song). Bear with me, as there's a lot to look at in here, and be aware that there is some pretty hardcore music theory in here. Today's song comes from Zelda: A Link to the Past, and it's specifically Zelda's theme. This will be broken into five sections - form, motivic, melodic, harmonic, and general analysis. Each area has many points of interest, and they all add up to make a very interesting whole that may change how you listen to the music. Let's dive into some music theory in ACTION! Form Analysis The form of the music is the common structure AB, in it's essence. Given some more detail, it is actually an intro (not included in the score for the sake of simplicity), followed by A for eight measures, then a variation of A (commonly referred to as an " A prime " or " A' " section) for another eight measures, followed by the final B section for the last eight measures before repeating. Pretty basic stuff, at first glance, but it's important to understand the direction of the music - Kenji Kondo has done some very interesting things within this structure. The A and A' section form an antecedent/consequent phrase, as I've discussed it in the Mario analysis. However, this deviates from the normal antecedent/consequent phrase - the consequent does not end with a resolution, as it should. Instead, the entire B section prolongs the supposed resolution of the music, finally completing the resolution in the last two measures of that section before repeating. Strangely, at the same time it also creates a tension at the same time. How can something create both tension and a resolution at the same time? I will explain this in more detail in the melodic and harmonic analysis. Motivic Analysis There are a few choice motives that threads the entire song into a unified whole. The first motive shown is the descending step motive - it is the primary basic motive of the piece, and everything in it is based on that single motive. The next motive is the leap of a third up, followed by the leap of a fourth down. You'll notice that I color the first and last note of that motive differently, as that accents the fact that this is a variation of the first motive (it inserts a leap in the middle of it). The reason that I include it as a separate motive is because the music often plays off of the leap in significant ways - thus, it's prudent to include it as it's own separate motive. The third motive isn't any different from the first motive - in fact, one could rightly say that it's simply the first motive repeated twice in order to create a descending progression. It is used so often in the music in this very fashion that I included it as a separate motive. It has some significance to the harmonic development of the piece. Melodic Analysis In order to present each motive in a clean fashion, the motivic and harmonic analysis do not present rhythms - instead, barrings and hollow notes will represent something important in the music. Be aware of that when looking at the analysis. Almost anybody who listens to this piece could tell you that it's a tonal piece of work. However, I can assure you that asking them what key it's in would baffle people (like it did for me and the others involved in the discussion of this song earlier in this thread). That is because it, in fact, often uses properties from two keys simultaneously. Melodically it makes sense to analyze it in one tonal area, while harmonically it makes sense to analyze it in another tonal area. This is called 'Bitonality', and it was common in neo-classical music (developed around 1920 - 1940). In this case, the two keys are 'C' and 'F', which are related by perfect fourth/perfect fifth, so they do not sound too harsh. However, the further along the circle of fifths you make your bitonality, the more extreme the sound will be (for example, 'C' and 'F#', because they are seven perfect fifths apart, would sound very harsh, while 'C' and 'D', two perfect fifths apart, would sound mild, in comparison). Because of the bitonality, I will analyze the music in both keys and explain why I favor one analysis over another. The intro has an interesting combination of motives as well as an interesting combination of tonalities. The general shape of both the melody and the bass is a retrograde of the leaping motive (meaning it's the same as the motive, except it's backwards), and the shaping of the melodic line repeats the descending stepwise motive. Another very interesting point is the very interesting voice exchange that takes place with the melody and the middle voice (represented by the arrows) - the melody moves from the C to the F while the middle voice moves from the F to a Bb. The melody used the voice exchange to complete the retrograde motive explained earlier (leading into it using an inverted leaping motive, by the way). The middle voice, however, takes advantage of the descending motion it has created with the melody now and completes the third motive I discussed above - the longer descending motive. The intro of the piece combines all of the motives together in a very interesting fashion that paves the way for the rest of the piece. Unfortunately, you'll have to take my word for the intro (or listen to it yourself) - it seems that I'm lazy and didn't include it anywhere. The picture above begins in the beginning of the A section. Looking at the A section, we'll see two very obvious motives immediately - the stepwise motive (which I mark with a slur) and the motive with the leap in it (which I mark with the bar above the notes). Kenji Kondo made these motives very salient in this part of the piece - many classical era composers introduce bare motives in the beginning of a piece that they're going to elaborate on later so the listener can follow the music easier, and it looks like Kondo is doing the same here. Continuing past the repeat of that part (a repeat except for the lower neighbor in the second measure), the phrase moves into a complicated network of motives that I've outlined. Notice that I do not mark the leap as such in the analysis - I've instead opted to use the octave equivalent to emphasize that nothing has changed motivically. Due to the change in the shape, however, Kondo has managed to include two of the same motive overlapping itself while at the same time effectively creating the antecedent. The A' has very little that is different from the previous section, with one very large exception - the consequent melodically answers the antecedent. However, instead of simply resolving it creates even more tension (as I mentioned before). If one analyses this in F melodically it makes no musical sense, but if it's analyzed in C it makes perfect sense - the A section noodles around from tonic to dominant areas, then settles on the second scale degree (which is the fifth of the dominant chord). The A' section makes the same motions, except instead of landing on the second scale degree it lands on the fifth scale degree - leaving us once again with the dominant area. This doesn't resolve the tension - the listener needs to have a tonic in order to have a resolution. Motivically speaking it is also left unresolved, so this adds to the tension already built into the music. The B section melodically makes more sense if analyzed in F, especially in relation to the harmonies below. I'll go in more detail with that in the harmonic analysis, but let's look at it from the 'C' scale, for a second. Essentially, while using the descending motive heavily the melody hangs around the fifth scale degree, finally leaping up to the tonic note that we were expecting at the end of the A section at the end of the B section (thus, the resolution has been found). Also, the motive that was incomplete in the A section is completed at the end of the B section. However, due to the harmonic context of the song, it doesn't sound like a resolution at all - in fact, it has another tension that leads us back to the loop point. How can that be - the melody resolves the consequent, yet creates another tension? Let's take a look at the harmonic analysis. Harmonic Analysis Interestingly, the harmonies do not coincide with the melody in the beginning - they make much more sense when analyzed in the key of 'F' - a pretty basic motion throughout the 'A' section, noodling around the tonic and dominant areas. It ends with a dominant of the dominant in both the A and the A' section (marked as a major supertonic, for the sake of a clean roman numeral), meaning it needs to lead into a dominant somewhere in the song. The B section of the piece (beginning with the IV9 in the key of F) capitalizes on the descending motive in the bass, but it's really an extension of the tonic harmony (notice it's prevalence throughout the section) that leads back into the dominant of the dominant, towards the end. Unlike the A sections, this harmony resolves into the dominant (which, in turn, resolves into the tonic once again when the music loops). Dominants create tension, which is a conflict to the resolution that occurs in the melody at the end of the song, interestingly enough. Other than the interesting chord clusters created by the juxtaposition of the melody against the harmonies, there isn't much else happening there. General Analysis Overall, there are quite a few tensions and resolves that are being toyed with throughout this song, but there is a particular tension that sticks far above the rest of them - the bitonality between F and C. Because of the bitonality, there are simultaneous tensions and resolves that occur throughout the music (something that really can't be done and sound well in regular tonal music). Kondo masterfully weaves these tensions and resolves throughout the music seamlessly while never allowing the music to resolve completely. This gives the music a real ethereal quality. The motives that are used heavily throughout the textures, melody and harmonies keeps the music unified despite the conflicting ideas, though, and the use of larger motives keep the sections together. The structure, while simple, creates some very interesting tensions that are both accented and subverted by the music within it (thanks to the bitonality of the music). In short, Kondo uses bitonality in such a way that he can make wonderfully simple sounding music that simultaneously pulls the careful listener in multiple, conflicting directions. *whew* Well, although I have a few ideas for the next few weeks, I'm very open to some suggestions for music to analyze. It's difficult to come up with something different for each analysis, so I could use all the help I could get. Throw some ideas out - I'd be more than happy to take a stab at whatever you guys can come up with (and I'd be even happier to hear any analysis you all may have). Have a great one, everyone!

Yeah, basically got two days to get it done (seriously), so get to it!

*growl, grumble* Congratulation on the win, dude - be sure to post an awesome source for us all! And yeah, I was totally thinking the Mario Land 1-1 song. It does sound like it in parts of your mix, lol. Get workin' on the source, now!

Personally, I think the arrangement took too long to get to the more recognizable source material, but then again I haven't heard the source in 6+ years. It also felt a bit too empty throughout - you'll probably need some more texture so there aren't so many block-chord ominous moments (a few are okay, but over 50% of the song is pushing it). Of course there are production issues, but those are a non-issue since you're planning on remastering it, anyway. Yeah, it's worthy of a remake, but add some more flair to it this next time around. I know you can do it, so don't disappoint, dude.

Hey, I'm getting Sibelius in the mail in less than a week - I promise you that I'll send my sib project to you when I get it going on, dude (which will now be soon). Thanks for the offer - I'll certainly capitalize on it .

I hope it's still going - I've been actively waiting for it's release for a year, now...

Holy shit, that is an epic source! I'm pretty sure I'm going to make something for this - I've always wanted to, and now I've got an opportunity .

Happy birthday, you bad dude, you. Now go join more contests and write more albums.

Hmm... actually, I'd say they're getting over a billion in subscription fees alone from that damn game. Ah well - good for them, I guess.I actually had this topic come to mind a few days ago, and realized that I got pumped up for it when announced, and so crushed when Blizzard did it's thang. I was such a fool. Anyone know when it's coming out?

Hey, I'm still interested in the project - I know I haven't been in contact, but I really have been waiting on Sibelius before I get started on it. Just lettin' you know.

You really like Donkey Kong, don't you? Your remix focus is certainly heavily DK biased... Yeah, it's close to the source (unacceptibly so for OCR's standards), but it isn't bad, at all. You're showing signs of musical progress, and I enjoy it . Nice use of the sound effects to create the beat - it's not everyone's forte, but it's something I personally like. Be careful of the bassline - it doesn't move enough when it should (like when the rest of the song changes the harmonic scheme), and be careful that you don't use too much reverb on a drumline like that - it'll muddy the sound considerably. Nice work in general, though.

Dissonant? Yeah, but the source is, as well. Only one or two voices playing at a time? Yeah, and that's a turn off, for me. The mix goes on too long in a single voice soundscape. Also, because of the very heavy reverb it's muddying the sound considerably. The structure is a bit unorganized, and the source is scattered and repetitive. Be careful of the rhythms - when they're supposed to hold you end them early, which is disconcerting. It's not clicking for me... Listen to some of the music on this site and notice how they generally have more than one instrument going at a time - it makes the music much more interesting, thus keeping the listener's attention better (also notice that music generally has different music playing simultaneously - that's important). Listen and learn, and try, try again - it's a difficult hobby, but with practice you can get the hang of it.

Great - actually, you're encouraged to vote, if you're a mixer (as long as you don't vote yourself, like I did during one compo ). Otherwise it puts the mixers that voted at a disadvantage (like me ). Best of luck

I think the actual contest guidelines say the limit is 8 megs, but the compo site doesn't want more than 6, so if Jerry could have gotten around that he would've been okay. Of course, keeping it under 6 megs is a pretty good habit, all around, so... yeah.

Will? ProtoDome made the source, Jabond, lol. I understand, though - Will seems to have the most attention in these compos . Not a bad turnout, considering there were no entries about an hour or so ago.

I've come to this site for a few years for the music, but haven't been involved in the forums until about November of last year (I signed up January 1st of 2008 so I could submit music here, but didn't do anything with the forums until much later). Relatively new, I guess.

Well Jerry, you could upload the music on another site (such as box.net or something) and one of us could compress the Mp3 file down to an acceptable size. Just be sure to do it within the hour! Wait, you've fixed it, nm Got mine up, Proto - there's now at least two settings of your song (and probably three, with Jabond).