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Beatdrop

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Everything posted by Beatdrop

  1. YES I was really conflicted about this one. Ultimately, my decision boils down to a few specific things: 1.) The source doesn’t have a whole lot to it, and I think the arrangement here takes enough liberties with harmony (and, obviously, style) to keep it interesting despite being nearly four minutes long whereas the original was essentially an 8-measure loop. That takes some effort. 2.) Texturally, although it’s rife with dance music tropes, all the sounds fit together very nicely, and the contrast between the more delicate sections versus the main dancey sections warrants repeated listens. Yes, it's generitrance. But it's generitrance executed really damn well. 3.) Lastly, and most importantly, it’s just damn catchy. While the original is well and good, it's too short and inconsequential to make an impact. This take on it is probably going to be stuck in my head all day, and I’m not going to complain.
  2. NO (borderline as hell) This one is so borderline, it’s ridiculous. I went back and forth on it for a while. Since I’m having a hard time trying to phrase my reasoning into a coherent paragraph, let me just rattle off a few things, list-style: 1.) Arrangement is pretty good. It doesn’t take many liberties with the original, so it’s instantly recognizable. However, my complaint is that the arrangement isn’t interesting enough to warrant the length. At nearly 6 minutes long, you could have done away with some of the vamping (like near the 3:25 mark) by using shorter transitions. There's notably a moment right after that at 3:35 where I thought the song was over, but then it repeated again. At the same time, I didn't think it needed to. Kinda like the extra endings at the end of Return of the King. 2.) There’s a lack of dynamic contrast. The whole song is pretty much just LOUD GO GO GO WALL OF SOUND, and it gets tiring very quickly. I think a huge part of the problem here is that a lot of the timbres are nearly identical, whether it’s because of the mastering or just the synth textures used. For example, during the main theme of the song, I can hear there’s guitar in there somewhere, but it’s nearly impossible to make it out clearly. 3.) On the subject of mastering and production quality, it’s mostly good, but as alluded to in the above point, it’s noisy. Again, I’m not sure if that’s because it’s just really sharp in the high range or because a lot of the sounds blend together and/or mask each other, but… Honestly, this is pretty damn good as it is. But I feel like there's just some really quick edits/tweaks that could be made to make it even better.
  3. YES Not only does the arrangement of the source kick ass, the orchestral elements sound EXCELLENT. I mean, from the very beginning, this grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. The hybrid of acoustic and electronic works very effectively here to the point that this sounds like it would be right at home in Konami’s own Beatmania IIDX series (indeed, the only Castlevania arrangement they’ve done themselves in that series wasn’t nearly as good as this). There’s so much going on here, it’s impossible to capture it all in a brief snapshot of a critique, so let me instead say that the only thing I could take issue with in this was the ineffective processing/mastering of the synthetic elements. Handled differently, they could have popped out a bit more. But again, that’s a VERY slight complaint, and maybe even more of a matter of preference, especially because the way it’s mastered prevents the drums and synths and what not from overpowering the orchestral elements, which are really the focus here, and rightfully so. I loved this.
  4. YES This is one of my favorite songs from the game, so it’s nice to hear an arrangement that retains the eerie quality of the original while turning it into something heavy as fuck. I like heavy. The mastering could use some work, as it gets kind of muddy at some points, particularly during the opening section, but I can forgive it because the arrangement is just so good. This is littered with amazing guitarwork, and the soloing in the latter half of the song melted my brain. To beat a dead horse into a bloody pulp, the sampled audio from the original in the beginning has to be nixed. With or without re-creating that tiny part, this absolutely shreds, and that’s not a term I use lightly.
  5. NO While I like the concept, there are a number of issues with this. First of all, the primary guitar/plucked instrument sounds very ingenuine, largely due to a lack of humanizing. While something sounding fake isn’t really a problem by itself, unfortunately this sound dominates the entire track. Pretty much every note is at the same velocity, or very close to it, which causes the primary instrument to lose interest. Even if authenticity isn't what you wanted here, adding humanization of the note velocities would go a long way toward breaking the monotony. What few other sounds there are, such as the percussion, are nearly inaudible in comparison. Even in terms of the arrangement, humanizing what ends up being the primary sound for the entire song can create dynamic shift throughout the length. Speaking about the arrangement, nothing particularly noteworthy happens versus the source, and it actually stays fairly true to the original in terms of form. However, I should note that due to the previously mentioned predominant instrument, most of the really cool solo sections from the original are lost in the fold. Again, I enjoyed the concept, but in this case, it turned out to be a faux-acoustic piece that’s just a bit too heavy on the “faux” side of things to be effective.
  6. Hey everyone! I just received notification that as of today, the remix of Angelspit's "Ambassador" that I submitted to their recent competition has been officially selected to appear on the final EP release, "The Recall." For those not familiar, Angelspit is an industrial band signed to Metropolis Records and hailing from Australia that's been around for quite some time and has toured with the likes of KMFDM, Lords of Acid, Ayria, Ikon, and The Crüxshadows. I've been a big fan of theirs since my older brother introduced me to them following their tour with KMFDM, who happens to be my favorite band of all time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelspit So yeah! If you'd like to support the release, it currently has a flex-funded project up on Indiegogo at the following URL with some cool merch up for grabs at various contribution levels: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-recall-angelspit-remix-release I highly encourage supporting it since it's going to provide a great deal of exposure for some very talented (and otherwise unknown) indie musicians, and is guaranteed to be jam-packed with awesome versions of various tracks from Angelspit's most recent album, "The Product." My remix of "Ambassador" can be heard at my Soundcloud page at the following URL: http://soundcloud.com/beatdrop/angelspit-ambassador-beatdrop-remix
  7. Put a pin in me at 56762, please.
  8. Seriously, take your beliefs/opinions/philosophies regarding depression to a private message or some shit, and stop tainting what was meant to be a tribute thread to one of the greatest comedians who ever lived and who tragically took his own life. This has turned repulsive.
  9. Super tragic. I'm gonna be the odd man out here and say that Toys was my favorite movie of his.
  10. Yay, you're older! There had better be much cake eating occurring, or you're doing it wrong.
  11. Wow, 3 pages. There is literally nothing I can add to this subject that hasn't already been said. Good job, ya'll.
  12. Nice video! Well explained. People should find this useful. EDIT: Seriously, there's so many applications for this.
  13. It actually is mentioned right in the album description on OCRecords. Sorry if I came off as harsh, I was just surprised to see that the only post in this thread so far didn't even mention the music, only the legality. You're right, I forget that not everyone who frequents this site is going to be acquainted with the term "licensing."
  14. WOPPZ. I responded to the thread about this in Announcements, and not this one. I WHOLEHEARTEDLY SUPPORT THIS ENDEAVOR.
  15. Really? This is the first response to this thread? It's called "licensing." ANYWAY--the previews sound super great, Jivemaster. I'll mosdef be picking this up once I'm not flat broke. The first Sonic game always was my favorite as far as the music goes. EDIT: Also, your new take on Scrap Brain sounds marvelous. I think your old "Particle Brain" remix was one of the first I ever heard on this site forever and a day ago. Much love.
  16. Let's take a look at my discography really quick: 2003 - Operations 2003 - Final Energy 2005 - Everlast 2007 - In The Dark 2008 - Revolution 20?? - Superluminal (in progress since 2009) Finishing things gets a lot harder when you keep raising the bar for yourself. And I think it's only natural to want to improve continually.
  17. Believe it or not, in terms of ease of use, Guitar Pro actually works pretty well. I've had more experience with Sibelius and Finale than it, but out of the three, I had the easiest time with it. Can't recall why exactly; it's been a while since I've had to notate anything on staff.
  18. Thanks! Thanks, everyone. Put a lot of work into this; my heart and soul, you might say. Seemed important, being one of my favorite tracks off the first videogame OST I ever owned. Might do some more Red Alert in the future.
  19. Hey, add me to the player list. I've been back into LoL something fierce, lately. I mostly play ARAM, though, to those who might be interested in joining me at some point. I'll do the occasional SR match, but I just find ARAM to be a helluva lot more fun. EDIT: Durrrrr, forgot, my screen name is BeatdropMusic.
  20. Only 30 seconds into the first track and I'm sold. As soon as I'm not disastrously broke, I will buy this album. Oh yes... This can only be described as "tasty."
  21. Wahey! Thanks, The Coop! Say, have you ever gone to MAG? You're one of those people who's been around for ages and who I don't think I've ever met.
  22. Oh goody me! I'm older! Thanks everyone. I have commenced with the drinking.
  23. Can only rehash what other people have said, but I'm also a proponent of albums. Unlike what Skrypnyk said on page 1, though, I don't think you should let your fan-base or skill level determine whether or not you decide to produce albums. I mean, there's all kinds of different albums: concepts, compilations... I look at it the same as visual artists who collect their works together. I mean, music is art, even if it's poorly made, and you don't necessarily need to think of albums as something that need to be sold, or even as something that need to exist at all. Their existence should be predicated by more than just feeling compelled to make them because "that's what people do," you know what I mean?
  24. But of course! Remixing video game music is how I learned most of what I know. I owe a lot to this community, and I can think of no better way to pay it forward than to just keep at it. Plus, there are still so many game tracks I want to reinterpret.
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