TheVideoGamer

Compo: MnP (Meat 'n Potatoes) Congratulations to Coloradoweeks for winning the last round! As a result, she get's to choose this month's MnP source! Here's what she had to say about her pick: "i chose this song mostly for nostalgia reasons. The Granstream Saga was the first RPG i’ve ever played, and i’m a little sad to see that over the years it hasn’t gotten much love as some other RPGs of that era. i couldn’t remember much of the details about this game, but as soon as i heard the battle theme, all of the memories started flooding back. it’s a pretty short loop, but it’s a fun piece that’s jam packed with some really interesting bits. i can’t wait to hear how you all interpret this piece!" - Coloradoweeks GAME: The Granstream Saga (PlayStation 1) SOURCE: Cut Your Way VIDEO: Deadline: 2nd October @ 1PM Closing Date: 4th October @ 1PM Vote Ends: 11th October @ 1PM MnP ARCHIVE - made by Trism submit: http://compo.thasauce.net/rounds/view/MnP127 MISSION STATEMENT The goal of Compo:MnP is to promote that "meat and potatoes" conservative approach to remixing: this includes the mood and composition of source tunes. It is up to the remixer to create their own personalization, or to simply give it a sound upgrade. Moreover, the compo is a great opportunity to hone your remixing skills and give video game music the respect that is due. SOME reinterpretation is recommended, but not required. MnP Instructions/Guidelines Rules for Picking a Source: All video game sources are limited to the 6th generation of video game consoles and earlier. This was due to community consensus, where people preferred to remix more retro games, than newer games. 6th generation includes: GameCube, Xbox, PS2 and Dreamcast. I'm now restricting big name franchises (Such as Zelda and Mega-Man) to one source per year. This is to encourage more obscure games, that not many people will know about to be picked. Make sure you provide me both a video and a MIDI of the source in question. Note: This is subject to change. Also keep an eye out, if any special rounds come into fruition. Guidelines: Modifying the Source is fine, so long as it doesn't sound completely separate from its original intent. If you're gonna do a genre change, at least make sure the original aspect of the source is not lost. Tempo changes are fine, as long as it's not a big change. I'm talking like, going from 80bpm to 140bpm. Submissions must be at a maximum of 20mb (keeping in step with ThaSauce's file size max), and submitted as a MP3 file. Only 1 entry per participant. Previous winner cannot participate but can submit a BONUS entry. Try to avoid making quality-based comments on submissions until after the Round is concluded. It is to avoid a Bias in Votes. MISC/TIPS - When picking a source tune, make sure it has a MIDI to make people's lives easier. - In-game sound FX are permitted, so long as they don't comprise the whole track (i.e. replacing entire MIDI tracks with just sfx)

Results In 1st place with 15 points: Coloradoweeks In 2nd place with 14 points: Wassup Thunder In 3rd place with 11 points: APZX In 4th place with 6 points: Souperion And the last place hero with 5 points: TheVodouQueen Souperion created a bonus mix. Coloradoweeks please PM me with your source pick for Round 127. Ideally for next week. (Roughly the 11th of September) Congrats to everyone who participated, you peeps did great! Comments: I was meant to do this earlier, but i was away, and i had limited internet, which haunted me all the way home lol. It's fixed now, so i can do this no problem. I was shut off from the internet for quite some time, enough that i forgot to even announce the voting lol. Oh well, it's here and here to stay. Also while were here, i have something fun planned for round 128, so don't forget to stick around for the updates!

Alright i think i've left it long enough. Time to announce the results. I didn't leave it intentionally though. I've been away on holiday, and i've had problems with my internet, which has caused some delay. However i'm back, and ready, so we can proceed.

Ok time to submit feedback for the rounds i've missed. Let's take it from the top yes? Wassup Thunder - I am really starting to think this is your signature style. It's what you are mostly known for, and you do it very well. The melodies just transition well, especially in high energy sources like this. I also really dig the call and response of the melodies here, it goes from something simple like a 4/4 into a complex fill. Now this source is very short, as with a lot of NES tunes, so it's hard to loop it, without it being boring. Plus as well, when you go for long lengths, you really have to add creativity. Throughout all this, you really have proved to me, that you can turn 1 melody that lasts about 20-30 seconds into a full 4 minute racing machine. I love how you've managed to change the chords and bass, while still keeping the core foundations in tact, it's great. The only critique i can give it, is that i feel the drums are a little too quiet for me. I would have loved for a more fatter beat, to drive that intensity home, but really that's all i have, the track was lovely from start to finish, really like the direction you took, just lovely work. Well done! Souperion - This is a lovely take on the source, i really like how you've made a very short and simple source shine. Loving the dynamic changes here, very moody and dark spacious intro, almost right out of a horror movie, with a nice texture shift of the melody. It's got some lovely pads and soundscapes. It's almost like a complete 180 to the original source. The second part of the remix is also very cool, it's very similar to Wassup Thunder's in that it's full on Eurobeat, the vibe is kind of similar. However a similar critique in Wassup Thunder's also makes it here, in that the drums are quiet, and so the synths seem to mask it. The synths themselves are very lovely sounding, and do provide a seriously nice contrast from the first part. It's like ambient, and then suddenly Eurobeat electronica. The only other thing to critique, is the duration it takes to get to it. You have almost 2 minutes of what i would call an intro, before it arrives, and when it does arrive, it's very sudden, there's no real hype or build-up to it. It's just there. It's not bad or anything, but for me i feel i don't get as much relief as it should. Like i don't feel as hyped. However though the synths sounds are super lovely, and very nice, the best bit about your remix. All in all, lovely work, well done! TheVodouQueen - Interesting rhythms in this one, great processing. Has a really nice drum groove. The drums are really tight and sound awesome. The melody seems to come in at around 1 minute in, it' obvious that you've structured it like a intro/source/groove thing. Really lovely pads, the whole thing is very spacious i love it. Personally if i were to critique it, i don't like how simple it is. You have your beat, then the melody, then the beat, especially for 5 minutes. Towards the middle things get complex, however it feels weird atonal at parts, the melody looses the original meaning, and opts for more complex jazz. I don't know what the remix is trying to tell me, but for me i feels it's a little too sporadic. Also the out of key parts (Or at least it feels like that to me), are a little on the jarring side to me. There's only some small sections where it sounds like the original, but this is probably just a transition. Really my main critique is how empty it feels. Sure when the saxophone comes in, it sounds lovely, but there's a lot of drums going on, and not a lot of melodies. The drums were the best bit about this, your drum work is incredible, the grooves kept me vibing throughout. Really the idea isn't bad, it's lovely, and definately strong production here, so it actually turns out better in the end. All in all, lovely work, well done! All done. Hopefully i'll managed to submit on time, and vote on time too lol.

Ok guys since i missed it, i've finally sat down and gave some feedback. Let's see how this goes yes? Souperion - Really nice choir and strings here, really brings out the darkness of the source. Like with a lot of NES tunes, they can be very short, so creativity is needed here, and you did that perfectly. Love the rock vibes, the guitar and drums are really nicely done! Lovely melody additions here, lots of cool ideas not found in the original. The only critique i have, is that at times it can get very busy, so i have nothing to really latch on to. There is a lot of great call and response between the melodies which is awesome, however i do feel like an instrumental part of just guitars can really make things work. Now i say busy, in the sense that it's quite aggressive, however in this case, everything flows nicely, so it's no tiring. No what i think could work, is just guitar and drums in one sections, as a breakdown. Not only does it propel the hype forward, it also makes the melodies more exciting. The orchestral work is super lovely, and very nicely done. I mean the whole track is very groovy. There are moments where the drums seem a bit too forward, however i would say this is a minor issue, maybe even just nit-picking. All in all you've done an amazing remix of the source, well done! TheVodouQueen - This one is quite the journey. 8 minutes of full dark orchestral ambience. Interesting for you to approach it in this style to be honest, you don't usually go for orchestral music. Still though, the instruments sound quite high quality, so this composition is really going places. It's also lovely that you've taken into account, where each instrument belongs in the orchestra. For me, i have a habit of just adding layers upon layers, without thinking about dynamics. To be fair i rarely if not, never make orchestral music, because i don't have the capacity to handle it. After 5 instances it crashes. The harpsichord kind of makes it folk/baroque inspired i love it. Great processing on each sound too, the reverb is there. The one thing i have to say that sticks out, and i consider this critique, is that it echoes your comments about mine, in that it's too long. I feel this arrangement could work best at around 4-5 minutes. I know you said, you are new to this kind of music, so i assume 8 minutes is you trying as many techniques as possible. Also a minor one, but i feel the sound effects could be better integrated. The sounds kind of sit there in the background, without much in terms of brining life to the party, however though i'm not focusing on that in the piece, and it is only background elements. Last minor critique, is the crash cymbals. They sound very much like dance cymbals (EDM), however i'm not an expert on cymbals, so i can't really comment on that, these are just my own observations. On a good note though, you really created some seriously good orchestrations. For your first major orchestral work, this sounds awesome. I could never do this on my first try. (And no this is not me being "supportive" or "helpful", i literally would not do this on my first try, full honesty). The sound selection is also very much high quality, i must commend you for that. All in all, well done! Wassup Thunder - Very military inspired, that's a great way to approach this, especially since this game is military inspired. Really digging the drums, awesome work! Lovely flute melodies, this really makes it seem action movie appropriate. Loving the drive of the drums, it just keeps on powering through. The sound selection is also very quality here, very convincing mock-up for a moving score. If i had to critique it, only 2 really come to mind, which i have to provide, because this could influence and future tracks. First i feel this is very busy, but unlike Souperion's in which the busy nature of the piece actually helps propel the piece, i feel this needs a break. For practically the whole composition, i'm bombarded with drums, strings and brass. I don't feel they could sustain that long, but that might be me. Interesting how i'm the only person who did an electronica remix. The only other flaw left, is that i feel there is a lack of a strong bass presence. I know there's the drums and the brass, but it seems to be missing something like a tuba or a double bass or something, just so it doesn't feel hollow. Obviously it doesn't need to be powerful, just something light to fill the missing gaps. I still love the sounds here though, and that military inspired march approach was a lovely idea, definately makes it feel like it's ready for an action movie. Well done! Sorry this took so long, i've been away, as well as being so busy!

Again already messaged them about it, and as of now, no further response.

What you think one problems is enough for me to leave haha.

I've already messaged the ThaSauce team about that. Expect to see a response soon.

Yo dudes it's me! As you can tell i missed quite a few rounds, both submitting and voting. Well truth be told is, i was on vacation for 9 days, and i usually don't bring my software with me, nor do i type well on a phone. That combined with very busy areas and low signal, so i couldn't submit any music, or upload any voting. I have GarageBand, but it's not the best for remixing personally, and i'm not always sitting making music, i'm exploring and doing other things. Now i got back a few days ago, and since then i've been busy adjusting to normal life, so i haven't had the chance to vote or submit. But since i am here, i will listen to the rounds i've missed, and try to provide feedback (Both MnP and PRC). Congrats to the winners of all these rounds! Hope your days are as good as mine! All the best!

Guys if it helps, i've sequenced a new MIDI. All the problems listed have been fixed (Including an added drum track) https://www.vgmusic.com/file/cfcd5e5d3d66e18f349b9c756d34aa97.html#disqus_thread

Submitted my entrant!

Congrats HarlemHeat360! Next round is up!

Compo: MnP (Meat 'n Potatoes) Congratulations to HarlemHeat360 for winning the last round! As a result, he/she get's to choose this month's MnP source! Here's what he/she had to say about their pick: "Well, after some thought, I felt it would be nice to go somewhere nice and simple but lovely. I was inspired partly by Chris Cornell and his video about pokemon music (link below). I think I myself often overlook 8 bit music from the GBA for my go to PS1 classics and such, but man the guys behind Pokemon found a way to give us some lovely tunes. This one has pretty start and I'm really digging that alone but then that breakdown? Wow! I'm so curious as to what you creative folks could possibly come up with! Funny thing is I don't remember this track from my childhood and this version was my favorite! Oh well, lets dust off our thinking caps and try and make some beautiful pieces!" - HarlemHeat360 GAME: Pokemon Gold/Silver (GBC) SOURCE: National Park VIDEO: Deadline: 20th August @ 1PM Closing Date: 22nd August @ 1PM Vote Ends: 29th August @ 1PM MnP ARCHIVE - made by Trism submit: http://compo.thasauce.net/rounds/view/MnP126 MISSION STATEMENT The goal of Compo:MnP is to promote that "meat and potatoes" conservative approach to remixing: this includes the mood and composition of source tunes. It is up to the remixer to create their own personalization, or to simply give it a sound upgrade. Moreover, the compo is a great opportunity to hone your remixing skills and give video game music the respect that is due. SOME reinterpretation is recommended, but not required. MnP Instructions/Guidelines Rules for Picking a Source: All video game sources are limited to the 6th generation of video game consoles and earlier. This was due to community consensus, where people preferred to remix more retro games, than newer games. 6th generation includes: GameCube, Xbox, PS2 and Dreamcast. I'm now restricting big name franchises (Such as Zelda and Mega-Man) to one source per year. This is to encourage more obscure games, that not many people will know about to be picked. Make sure you provide me both a video and a MIDI of the source in question. Note: This is subject to change. Also keep an eye out, if any special rounds come into fruition. Guidelines: Modifying the Source is fine, so long as it doesn't sound completely separate from its original intent. If you're gonna do a genre change, at least make sure the original aspect of the source is not lost. Tempo changes are fine, as long as it's not a big change. I'm talking like, going from 80bpm to 140bpm. Submissions must be at a maximum of 20mb (keeping in step with ThaSauce's file size max), and submitted as a MP3 file. Only 1 entry per participant. Previous winner cannot participate but can submit a BONUS entry. Try to avoid making quality-based comments on submissions until after the Round is concluded. It is to avoid a Bias in Votes. MISC/TIPS - When picking a source tune, make sure it has a MIDI to make people's lives easier. - In-game sound FX are permitted, so long as they don't comprise the whole track (i.e. replacing entire MIDI tracks with just sfx)

Pretty much sums it up lol.

Results In 1st place with 18 points: HarlemHeat360 In 2nd place with 12 points: TheVodouQueen In 3rd place with 10 points: Wassup Thunder And the last place hero (Again...) with 8 points: TheVideoGamer Souperion created a bonus mix. HarlemHeat360 please PM me with your source pick for Round 126. Ideally for next week. (Roughly the 25th of July) Congrats to everyone who participated, you peeps did great! Comments: Fun round this month, great entries everyone! Surprised to be last again lol, but onwards and upwards eh?

Agreed.

Ok sorry i was so late, i have been very busy the last week or so. I've listened to them all and here's what i think of it, in grave detail. Souperion - Really liking the dark rock vibes in the first half, it's almost like some intense boss battle. Great string ambience, this is one spooky tune. Like how you also tried to invert the chords, so we still get the complex 7th's, but in a minor key. Interesting melody switch too, it's very dissonant, but in a satisfying way. Nice that you included some synths, really brings it to life. Don't hear much of the main melody, but i'm sure that's just a stylistic choice, especially since we are dealing with a lot of synths. The mix is really nice on here, very heavy but in a great way. Now the second half really makes me feel like i'm in coral cave. It goes straight into the original vibe, with lots of beautiful relaxing synth warbles, and a great glide on the arp. Now i would have loved to hear more of this, because i'm personally biased towards this part, it's so relaxing, and play's super well to the source's melodic content. Also like how the main melody takes full effect here. Mixing wise i couldn't find any problems, not much in the overall track to be honest, it's very well done. Maybe more of the second half would have worked for me, and a better less abrupt ending, but all in all, lovely work, really enjoyed this. Well done! Wassup Thunder - This is very close to the source, really like how you made the breakbeat out of light percussion. Makes the source more airy and breathy as a result. Not as intense. This does mean we loose a bit of the low end, but the bassline is there so it's not too much. Great bass sound actually, very juicy and enjoyable to my ears. Also really like the piano integration. Now the whole thing sounds lovely, but what would really work is a drum beat. I know i said it makes it light and airy, but i do feel drums could make this into something special. You could even do your classic Eurobeat 4 on the floor. Also i feel there is 2 things that could be improved. First the bass needs to be better mixed, i sense parts where it gets a little too loud for me, like it's almost distorted. I get this a lot in my tracks sometimes, and people have rightly pointed it out. It usually happens when i go for really intense basslines, mixed with distorted beats. The only other thing i might suggest, is doing more original things to the arrangement. I feel this is more on the MnP side than the PRC side, however though i too fall into this trap in PRC, so i call this one a minor issue. Plus as well, sometimes things sound better when it's closer to the original, so don't worry about too much. The last part is awesome, i love the choir integration, it's very well done, you've take only 2 chords and done something special with it, and i love it. Really nicely done on the arrangement. Well done! Marcusg - Really lovely breaks here, i definately like the grooves a lot. Loving the wonky piano feel, definately liking the simple ideas, it's done well. The breaks are fantastic. Really liking the sub bass too. The piano is very out of time, even if i said it was nice. I don't know it just feels great on it's own, but weird when the beats and bass come in. It's also very simple, i'd argue too simple, i feel there could be a lot more to this, especially since there is only 2 chords. I also feel as well, the breaks are a tad bit loud for the melodic elements, but that's just me. I mean the breaks on their own sound awesome, but it's the integration that feels off for me. I still like this idea a lot though, the sound selection was great. Yeah it's only 2 minutes, but it's done well. Great work on this, well done! TheVodouQueen - I laughed at the inclusion of Monkey sound effects, that's pretty funny. There seems to be some kind of live recording going on, with a radio. I think that could have been a Youtube video, who knows. Now listening to this in detail, my comments need to be completely rewritten. I love the pad sounds, and definately the drums, funky vibes all around. The educational comedy part was just the icing for me, i laughed so hard. Your creativity seems to always shine, some of the ideas are so original. Now i can kind of see why i thought this was a remix of Redial, because the pad sounds are quite full on, so i hear a lot of Redial in the front and Coral Cave in the background. However though, this is PRC, so this would be understandable. I also managed to hear a lot more of coral cave this time than when i skimmed through. Especially with the melody in the middle. I kinda owe everyone an apology for rushing mine, listening to it now, it's much better than before. The only problem i really have, is a kind of a polish thing. The drums get pushed down by the pad and melody, which i feel could be big and full. Also i feel there are parts that could be instrumental, (Or at least more instrumental than i'm hearing), to give time for some melody/drum play. Really though that's all i have, the rest sounds great. I love the work you did on here, and the humour was awesome, so much originality. Much better now that i got a chance to really listen to it, in full. Well done! Ok so what would i change from my original ranking? Compared to my original vote, Wassup Thunder's track has more unique parts than before and was definately not as static as what i've written. Had a lot more cool elements to switch it up. I still think it fits more in MnP terms, but this one isn't an issue per-say. I also had a mixing issue with the bass, something not in the original critique. Souperion's track was definately well mixed, i don't know why i put that in the original votes, this obviously came down from me not listening to it properly. Listening to Marcus's entrant, definately changed a lot of things. I hate to say this, because i don't want to bring this user down or anything, but i felt i was being way too generous with this entrant. I still commend him, because it was a lovely arrangement, i loved the breaks, however the arrangement felt very simple, and the piano was a little out of time, which is especially noticeable when the drums in. It's more so Marcus started it, as kind of an idea, that could be expanded or finished upon. However though, i am taking into account it was rushed, and a couple of rounds ago, he said he was still learning FL Studio, so i don't want to be too harsh (Which i'm worried i am being). I still loved the track though. TheVodouQueen was definately a big overhaul to me. I original said it was a remix of redial, and although to a degree i still can see why i said that, it's actually got a good chunk of Coral Cave, especially in the melody. More so when i listen to it, i only came up with a few mixing touches, i felt were needed, and maybe too much voice clips were used (But i consider this small, since everytime i listen to it, i get conflicted thoughts. I love it in one part, but then i think, maybe it's a bit too much. Still enjoy them though). The main pad sound might be why i initially thought of Redial, but going back, i've decided to backtrack on that, since i didn't listen deep enough Lovely work on this anyways! Based on these alone, if i were to be given a chance to do a re-ranking of my top 3 votes it would be as follows: 1. Souperion would be first. 2. TheVodouQueen would be second (Although her's was very close to being the top spot) 3. Marcusg (I still think your entry is very solid, and i really do like the work you've done with the breaks). Wassup Thunder would have made the 3rd spot, if the bass was mixed in a bit more (Still enjoyed his a lot though). Hopefully people can be assured that i've listened to them properly now and done really critique on it, not some half-assed poor attempt. Sorry it took so long too, been so busy this week. Onwards and upwards.

All you really need to do is complete the audio file name. It appears to be incomplete. So in this case it's missing the 9, the bracket and the .mp3. I tried it, and it worked. Ideally you shouldn't have to do this, but it works. I'd recommend it.

I didn't have time to properly form opinions, because i was in a rush. I knew that by the time i would return home, voting would have ended. So i threw together very basic thoughts (I would even say real opinions). Didn't even get a chance to listen to each one fully. I just skimmed through 10 seconds based on what sounded good. It's not the most ideal... I will do some real feedback soon. Hopefully you are ok with that.

Welcome to the Voting Stage! There are 5 entries this round. There is 1 Bonus entry(s) this round There IS a voter bonus this round! Souperion has a vote worth 2x. When Voting, if possible, avoid granting 1:1 covers top spot. MnP requires a bit of remixage after all. Don't vote for Bonus entries please. Do let me know if you have problems voting, and we can sort something out. Try and not make any comments about each entrant until after voting has concluded. Thanks! Participants may not vote for themselves. Vote ends 16th July 1PM. Vote here: https://compo.thasauce.net/rounds/view/MnP125

Wow that's some good ol' NES goodness. This should be fun. Let's see what i can do.

If you want to upload it, i would do what the others have recommended and do a Youtube to Mp3 conversion, Or alternatively if you want i could upload on your behalf, but that's assuming if it doesn't work. Good luck anyways, sorry things didn't turn out so great. Edit: Ok looks like it's already up there, i don't think i checked. Disregard this message.

My bonus entrant's in!

If we can still recognise the original source very clearly, and it doesn't sound too off-the grid from the composers intent, i don't see why not. If you do, do it though, make sure the primary source is the priority, not the secondary source. After all Bonds of Sea and Fire is what we are mainly remixing.

Don't give me ideas....