Disco Dan
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Posts posted by Disco Dan
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guys, are we seriously debating this? There really shouldn't be any question on this one. It's high quality, it's interesting, it has all the right notes, it's done something to the original. This is perfect for the site. The only thing I personally would change would be adding some bass to the bass drum so you can tell where the hits are. And that's totally subjective and personal, so I have to give it a yes with no qualms.
Also this would fit perfectly on any smooth jazz radio station. If you don't have a smooth jazz radio station where you live, you need to get one, just to listen for one day. I personally hate the stuff, and DJP knows exactly what I'm talking about because he can probably pick up 105.9, Smooth Jazz unless he lives TOO far away from DC. But anyway, yeah, this is radio-worthy, so let's put it on OC.
DC
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Yeah I'm gonna let this one squeak by (OH THE POWER!!!) for a couple of reasons. When I heard the beat start, I thought, "great, another super fast techno song." But the snare drum being half as often as you'd expect makes it much more bearable, almost cool. As for the emptiness of it... if you've ever heard the original.... there's not a whole lot to work with. If I had done it, I would have come up with a chord progression that matched up with the melody. Tricky work, but it can be done, and would surprise and enlighten the listeners. But be that as it may, he did a fine job layering and keeping it interesting throughout. Not TOO much repetition. And that intro part with the sub-bass is NOT random. It matches up like so:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Repeat
Listen to it and count that along with it starting from the beginning so the three bolded numbers line up with the first three notes. YOU WILL SEE.
Anyway, yes, solid work. Gets better with more listening. Samples could be better but that's sort of a restriction we all have to work with, so it's no biggie here.
Did I mention I was going to vote yes on this?
DC
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Shred guitar isn't my cup of meat but this is done very well. It's not too empty, maybe even a bit too full, but I'm sure that's what he was going for. My only REAL qualm with it is that instead of a whole song, it seems more like PART of a song. I mean, the way it fades out at the end makes it sound like I was listening to a clip from cdnow.com... granted a very high quality clip from cdnow.com. And on that note, I don't think that the quality is too high. So 320 is fine by me as long as he's stayed under the file-size limit. But the ending... well... I really would like to hear an ending, and I don't think I'm being too picky here, because there are a lot of other songs on this site that I wish had endings, and don't. It's very... un settling. Even a repeat and fade of more length than he has there would be better, since it wouldn't be so jarring and sudden. I keep thinking about the high quality thing we talked about on this site and I'd like to do MY part in keeping the bar up just a little higher than the ground, if no one else minds.
So, in conclusion, the piece is VERY well done, sounds professional, and needs an ending. If he has trouble tacking an ending on to an already recorded piece, I understand and if he needs any help he can contact me, but I'd like to hear a finished version.
DC
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Well see, I submitted a song a while ago... I think it was called "Blue Lightning" or something like that, but anyway, it was 8:40 and I toned it down to 96 kbps so people could at least get the idea of what it was supposed to sound like. Now ideally DJP was supposed to post a link to a higher bitrate version (which I supplied) so people could get that instead if they didn't want the smaller version. So I think he can do the same. CotMM had to lower the bitrate on his epic CT ambient piece. I'm really not all about exceptions because somewhere along the line someone else is gonna be like "How come HE got to break the rules?" So I'm gonna have to say no for consistency. Lower the bitrate, cut a shorter version, and post a link to the full or higher-bitrate version. Use the main page as a sort of ad for the other version. That's my take.
So "no" in its current form.
DC
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well I got logged out for some reason so this is going to be the brief retype since none of what I typed was saved.
I say yes:
Solid mix. He knows what he's doing and he shows us that in the end part. The beginning 3 minutes is kind of empty but not like half-assed midi-style empty. More like rap without a rapper, empty. Like the Dr. Dre 2001 instrumental album. Anyway, all around a good solid mix with something to offer for those who like the music and remember the game. My only gripe: Too little evidence of a chord progression. most of the "harmonies" used in this mix are unisons or octaves. Not much that implies a chord progression or even a current chord. But this is minor because the whole thing is solidly built besides that. Anyway, my vote is yes. yay.
DC
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Anwyay, yes this mix should be posted already. it's long past. Please someone post this. Whoever has the power of greyskull... er somethin'.... Yeah this is long overdue. Post please.
DC
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ok it finished this time. I guess I'm gonna say yes on this one. Despite the the dominant minor chord, which according to the original should be major. And it'd be one thing if a whole chord progression overhaul was going on, but since it's not, it seems wrong. But other than that, the rest of the song sounds well done. Well thought out, even the key change, which is kind of rough, but done successfully. And he managed to change key with all the instruments and didn't forget any. Yeah I'll give it a yes.
DC
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I just don't think I can say yes in good conscience on this one. But that's mainly because I haven't heard it yet. 25% done... come on...
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40%
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half done... I wish this was like mirc where you can play the song while it's downloading. 2/3... now it's halted at 2/3... still 2/3...
hmmm... OTHER transactions are still moving... well shit.
Guess I'll review this later.
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yeah I can see what everyone's talking about now. Even if the samples just occured once or twice instead of as much as they did I could take it. The mix is solid other than the ridiculous samples. They really didn't have anything to do with the song either. Seems like they were just sitting around on the computer and he thought "hey this fits here." but no. It only fit like the first time, and then after that it got annoying. I heard it the first time and I was like "that's not so bad" and then it did it again, and again, and again, and I thought "yes, that IS so bad." So yeah maybe just mute the sample channels in FL3.0 and resubmit. I think that sounds like a good idea. DON'T YOU???
yes you do
DC
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I'm gonna go ahead and give this a yes because I think someone out ther ... wait. no. I changed my mind. The layers I'm hearing in this song are exactly the same as the ones in the game. Now granted we don't want to have an ORIGINAL on our hands here, but it'd be nice if it didn't sound like the game + drums, which is what I'm hearing but it could just be me. That was kind of my concern with the Green Beret mix, but meh. See. 8-bit was so small sounding. That's why we do remixes usually. If the song had been SO incredibly well done with great instruments and perfect orchestration the FIRST time, we wouldn't have a desire to do remixes except maybe to hear it in a different light (i.e. Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven.") But after hearing the original, I don't really feel like he's done a lot with it. Granted not every remix should be cookie cutter, so I'm kind of drawn on this one. Who's to say it's empty and not the way he intended it to be? Ugh. I'm just gonna say no because otherwise EVERY mix will get through and then it'll just be vgmix all over again.
Concise review:
Needs to be filled in a bit more. Try maybe background ambience or arpeggios. It's up to you but in its current state it sounds a bit too much like the original with a drum beat slapped over top of it.
DC
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don't care enough to vote no. Good mix. I'll say more about it when I actually hear it.
DC
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Not sure what you all are complaining about. Maybe I'm listening to a different song than the rest of you, but I can't hear anything WRONG with it. Subjectively, I might say there's something wrong with it, but see, I haven't heard the original. Anyway, I like what I hear. It seems solidly done, and I haven't noticed any wrong notes. It goes nicely from beginning to end, and the layers are done well. I don't know, sounds good to me.
I'm a givin it a yessa.
DC
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OUCH! MY EARS! ok most of it's ok. But that part... ugh
Man. I can't say yes to it. I really can't. I want to... but...
Ugh, ok.
I would make sure you got the chord progession right before submitting it. I mean, if he can't hear it, then I guess we should give him some slack and explain why it's off, but here's my thing: If you write something, or submit something for other people to hear, and you can TELL there's something wrong with it, why not fix it? I mean, this one can't be that hard to fix. The only song I've ever gotten remotely negative reviews on was the iceman song, and why? because I rushed through it in a day. But everything else I've put out, I've made damn sure that I was satisfied with the way it was before I put it out. heheh, I said "put out." haha. ok anyway.
yeah I'm voting no until the chord progression is fixed.
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I clicked on the "Locked" icon and I got a reply board. I like this song but I have no idea what the original sounds like. Really good quality, and the mixer seems to have some semblance of musical training behind him. I'm gonna vote no, though, just because you all voted yes. No real reason, I still think it should get posted, but at 6 to 1, it doesn't really matter. So I say no.
DC
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Sgt Rama sent me the new and updated version of this song. It's got an ending and even touched up some of the other parts. Overall very good. I liked it from the beginning and I still like it. But moreso now. I think. Anyway, that's it. Someone figure out how we should get this newer version to DJP... someone like DJP?
DC
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I'm gonna go ahead and say yes anyway, because I do like it overall, but I went ahead and told Sgt. Rama my thoughts on the song on IRC so I don't know if he's gonna resubmit it or not. As for the ending, he said "I just ran out of ideas." I'll talk to him in a bit and see if we can't get at least a fade out on this thing. Right now I have to run, so I won't be around for an hour or so. Later.
DC
P.S. I hope I didn't break any "confidentiality code by telling him what I thought ahead of time. If it's a problem in the future, let me know. Thanks.
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Those "annoying" drums are sort of supposed to be there. This is hardcore. And not the rock type either. I forget what those drums are called but there's a name for them. And usually they ARE used in really fast techno songs. The problem in MY mind is that the melody seems to try and support the whole thing and there's not enough support for whatever key the given section is in. I mean, the melody is arpeggiated so that kind of helps but it still sounds kind of empty... which brings me to a new point.
A lot of these mixes are sounding kind of... iffy, but I've seen worse on the site before, so I'm wondering if we're not giving people a chance that DJP would have given them, or if we're just confirming his already predisposed desire to not post them. This is going on the premise that what we get here is what he's not certain of, as he is still posting things that don't come through here. So as I'm seeing 3 different mixes look like they're all getting no's, it makes me wonder if we're doing our job right.
Anyway, i'll go ahead and give this song a yes if something is added to the melody. For god's sake. A bassline?
But in lieu of the other mixes we've been looking at, at least THIS one has an ending.
DC
No vote yet.
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No i kid. It's good. Over all. There are indeed a few "wrong" notes, by which I mean notes that are intended to be harmony, and work fine with the melody alone, but when put against the chord progression, don't work. Now this is something modern "classical" composers put in their work and it's called polyharmony, where you have the accompaniment in one key and the melody in another key. The part starts at 0:27 and there ARE a few wrong notes in the synth-delay part, but strangely, you've managed to get the notes right when using the "pizzicato" sound. So maybe if you changed the notes in the synth-delay section to those of the pizz section, it would sound better, seeing as the chord progression stays the same for both sets of four bars.
Now the thing Rob was talking about was the pizzicato sound. Because the melody has a very full sound, what with delay, and phaser and all, the pizz part sounds very empty because it sounds like you applied no effects to it at all. It sounds very dry compared to the rest of the song.
Also, if you could fix the ending, I'd really appreciate it. We already had one mix submitted that sort of cut off, like someone got bored of sequencing and couldn't think of what to do next so they just stopped and submitted. Fer cryin' out loud! Just repeat and fade if you can't think of anything else. Or while you've got that catchy little sample, you might as well use it to end the thing, like build up to a dissonant frenzy then cut off with a heavily delayed version of that sample. For your dissonant frenzy, you can always just throw all the parts together at the same time and see what it sounds like. It usually works.
Other than that, the whole thing is very solid. It really sounds like it was done in Fruity Loops, just based on the sounds, which is not a BAD thing, it's just that I use it too, so it sounds familiar.
Also, on a last note, I would consider calling this "Collared Greens" except that would have a sort of "black culture" implication, and this song doesn't really scream "black" in the classical sense of the definition. Maybe if a hip-hop version was done, it could be called Collared Greens... who knows.
I don't wanna vote til the song is finished.
DC
"Might I have a what what?"
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I mean no. Well
I'll put some constructive criticism here to help, or at least with that intention.
This mix is quite empty. And sometimes empty can be ok, if it's used effectively, although that opens a door to a whole other discussion. But in this case, it seems like the mixer was relying on the backbeat to keep the piece together. Now I like a backbeat as much as the next raver, but it can't be the only thing that keeps a song together. It's nice to use it to keep track of where you are ... I think I'm losing my train of thought. Man I hate it when this happens. Anyway, my point is, it could probably use some filling. Whether that means you need to add some background chords to fill out the sound a bit, or perhaps some arpeggios to give us a better idea of what key we're in. Even a bass line would be a nice addition. It just seems to be very two-part right now. Beat, and melody (also a little submelody, but they're only played together a couple of times).
The thing is, with NES songs, the textures are usually very thin anyway, so you'd probably want to EXPAND upon that, since the sound is so hollow in the original. I think more could be done with it, but I don't want to sound like "your song sucks! Do it over! Or just do us a favor and get rid of it!" because that's not what I'm thinking. In my musical opinion, it sounds hollow, and could use some work along the lines of what I've already discussed. thank you.
DC
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I'd reall like to hear the original of this, but yeah. It sounds really empty. Not a whole lot to it, but I say this from the vantage point of someone who puts a lot into his mixes. So maybe it WAS a lot for this guy, but it really sounds empty. But like I said, I wanna hear the original so I have something to compare it to before I vote. What system was this game for? anyone know?
DC
*NO* Ninja Gaiden 2 'Glowstick 4 a Sword'
in Judges Decisions
Posted
ew. The clicking is really detrimental to the song. It sounds like botched upload unless it sounds like that on his home computer too. Anyway, about the mix itself. at :58 we lose all that was holding my attention. It sounds REALLY dry. Minimalism is ok, but usually there's a redeeming quality like a really great melody or something. But in this case, the melody's so sparse... At 2:09 it gets better. I sort of feel like there's a more full sound there. but still... the clicks. Evil. I think it could definitely be touched up with some more effects, and possibly some more notes in there, but if nothing else, let's get rid of the clicks, so no from me for now.
DC