MindWanderer

The first few seconds of bass now seem overdone. Otherwise, still sounds great!

It is very good, though it's very similar to things that have been done before, by semiprofessional bands no less: Metroid Metal (a.k.a. Stemage here on OCR), and the Minibosses. I do like the synth interludes, but you're playing with the big boys here.

I'm new too, but that doesn't mean I'm without opinions! Pros: You do have some creativity going on here, it's no longer just a cover. Switching up the pace works reasonably well. And the original solo at around 2:50 is actually quite good. Cons: There's still some dissonance at times, and the samples still sound pretty bad. I know it's supposed to be pure synth sounds and not "real" instruments, but that's a handicap to be working with. It's also a handicap that you've chosen a song that's been done to death--not just by some of the best composers at OCR but by Konami itself. My advice is to find yourself some new samples (I like Fluid R3, a free soundfont) and, as Nutritious said, work on something else before coming back to this. It's going in a good direction, but I think you could use some practice before you can take this one all the way.

Oh, this sounds awfully familiar. Not just the source material, but the mix itself. I can't find it right now--the only remix I can find is the soft one from the official MIDI collection--but when I get to my home computer, which may take me a while, I'll see if I can dig it up. Assuming I'm hallucinating, I do have some constructive criticism: I doubt it would pass review here based just on the fact that it's pretty much a straight cover, hardly any arrangement. It's also just as repetitive as the source material. If you want to see it on OCR, get jiggy with it and turn it into a real song. That being said, it is a good adaptation, and I'd like to see how far you can take it.

Battle of the Holy by Minotaur Project--would that make it Battle of the Holy Cow? Sorry, I know that wasn't helpful! I promise I'll give it a listen later.

Ah, that's why I didn't recognize it. You took a few of the series of rapid notes and compressed them into one long note. When a song is basically only 7 notes long, it makes a big difference!

Hm. I tried my hand at humanization on the celesta, jogging several of the notes forward or backward by 1/64 note, and altering the volume by +/- 20%. It's too subtle for my ear, but I'm no audiophile. It's been uploaded. As for the kick, I'm very confused because there isn't one. There was in version 2, to replace the very low notes in the Charge Man theme, but I replaced it with a bass orchestra hit in version 3. There's an orchestra bass drum (timpani), snares, hi-hats, and cymbals, and that's it for percussion.

Chiptunes? Really? That's the exact opposite of what I was liking about this piece. Backup focals, yay! Congas and tribal drums... could work. You guys are the pros, but I was liking the pre-personal-computers vibe going on.

My headphones aren't any better than yours, but I can share my thoughts about the arrangement. At first it sounded like a fairly humdrum instrumentation of the theme. Heavy synth, not really arranged--sounded like an old MIDI that was trying to be faithful to the game with an early 90's PC. But at 0:50 it really picks up and I found myself enjoying it, with a more creative arrangement and much better instruments. More of that, please!

I can't place the source tune. Either it's from the "new" Ninja Gaiden (X360/PS3) or it's a bit different from the source tune. Or my memory sucks, but I know that soundtrack reasonably well. It's a good start, but it's very repetitious. I'd take the first 16 seconds, then 0:36 to 0:46. Then new material after that. But if you continue along these lines it could be very nice.

Thanks, that was incredibly helpful! A new version is up, with the following changes: - I lowered the bass strings by an octave, but it became hard to hear the melody of them, and they were too quiet anyway, so I just doubled them, at both octaves. A nice combination of resonance and melody, I think. - The bass drums were also doubled, and increased in volume a little on top of that. - I also lowered the horns by an octave, to make them more distinct from the strings. The tone is now more melancholy than sweet, but it does make for more variety. - I took a few of the string parts and moved them to a celesta. Also added a tiny amount of harmony for the celesta. If it's still too monotonous, I can play around with the arpeggio and the bass strings, but I'd rather not if I don't have to--when I was first playing around with this mashup, I was struck by how effortlessly the two pieces went together, and the more I diverge from the source material, including the harmonies, the less advantage I can take of that serendipity.

Super Metroid really ought to be mentioned as a source, as well as Metroid. The influences of both games are unmistakable. Oh, and I'm loving this.

This is a great piece, but I do have 2 cents to throw in. The guitar and the strings at 0:22 and later have very similar ranges, and I think it's just a little muddy here. Plucked/strummed and bowed strings seem to have that effect together. Also, this is such a beautifully "natural" piece that the synth sounds at 1:32 and 1:44 sound very out of place, even ugly IMHO. If you feel something like this is really necessary, try to find a real instrument to take its place. I like the ending as-is, but the judges seem to prefer more use of the full range of sound, so DarkSim's suggestion might help it pass. A mod review on this question specifically would be useful.

I wasn't expecting this to sound like a 60's folk song--definitely unlike your usual work, and very refreshing. I kind of hope it stays close to this in the final mix. I honestly don't think it needs any more parts, except a vocal harmony.

While this isn't my style of music, I can see what the judges mean. The bass is heavy and dirty, by which I mean that there are multiple parts around the same low frequency that get in the way of each other, and even individually they're loud enough to drown out the melody. IMO, you could make the bass lines quieter and with less reverb, perhaps pulling one of them into a higher register.

Revised per your recommendations. I pulled out the bass drums and gave them a whole lot more oomph and a little bit more variety. I mixed up the snare (maybe a bit too vampy, tell me what you think) and did add cymbals after all. I also killed the goofy tuba entirely, just replacing it with a kettle drum hit and a continuation of the melody. A bit less faithful to the source material but I like the result. It does make the ending a smidgen weaker, I'll have to think of a way to shore that up a bit.

Very nice ideas, kind of reminds me of soundtracks from 80's movies. But the instrumentation and balance do take away a lot from my enjoyment of it. The excellent Cossack tune is often drowned out by the driving rhythm. Production aside, there are a few disharmonic harmonies scattered throughout. When you get closer to a final product I'll try to pinpoint them.

I guess introducing myself doesn't hurt.... I have next to no music experience and next to no budget, but I'm not ready to let that stop me from trying! I can sing but not play any instruments, I have crappy headphones, and I'm using Rosegarden, Fluid 3, TiMIDIty, and LAME on Linux as my production tools. My first attempt is in the WiP forum... we'll see how this goes....

Thanks for the feedback! Now, please forgive me, as, as I said, I'm really new at this.... Variation on the percussion line I understand and can do. Some bass drum would be welcome, cymbals... I'll think about that. I don't want too much harsh metal noise in there. And by the high brass, did you just mean from 0:17 to 0:29 ("trumpet"), or the horn part ("English horn") through the whole thing? Odd that you said there was too much Charge and not enough Wily. From a purely source material perspective it's about 60/40. Melody-wise, from 1:23 to 2:39 is purely Wily, and most of the rest is either mixed harmony or not much like either source. The electric piano is from Charge Man and the bass line is from Wily. I agree that the tuba is a bit weird, but it's hard to be faithful to Charge Man without it or something like it. I'll think that over, and maybe someone else will have a helpful suggestion.

Hello all! I'm new here, and this is my first attempt at anything musical since taking Music 101 about 15 years ago, so constructive criticism is very, very welcome. But try to avoid jargon, if you can, as I'm ultra-new at this. The fatted lamb I bring to the table is ...But the Trains Always Ran On Time. Source material: Mega Man 5 (NES): Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (GB): Dr. Wily's Stage 1 My resources are pretty limited--I have a budget of $0 on a Linux machine--so if you have any production quality suggestions those are very welcome as well.