progressive

Here's a small update to justify all the post bumping (also updated in first post).

I thought that was pretty funny, too... especially since this is the old thread. If you want to check out the new one, it's at http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17982 I will post a small update there to make all this relevant. -prog (P.S. Mods can you lock this thread?)

Closest I've come, which meant getting choked up, was during the sunset credit roll of Zelda 3 when it seamlessly transitioned into the main Zelda theme. And I agree about the Mario 64 credits. Much more upbeat but pretty moving at the same time. Also, the credit roll for Super Mario World.

I don't think people have appreciated just what the Wingless accomplished here. He's given this song a brand new personality through a completely original and nuanced chord structure along with some excellent writing. He's infused it with a level of complexity and maturity of sound we rarely see in video game music and made it contemporary and relevant (after all, isn't that what this site, above all else, aims to do?). It's subtle yet dramatic, and very clever. This song has been mixed over and over, and nothing else I've seen posted or in the WIP forum has come close to its originality. One of my faves.

I'm going to break from the rest here and say that the first minute of your original submit is how you're going to get in here. Flesh it out, develop it, but don't stray too far, get too disjointed, or let it get too sparse, which is what happened to the rest. The final product has to be cohesive. You captured Super Mario World perfectly in that one minute. I'm sure your can do it with three or four more.

Great title. Great ending. I always like to here the Mario theme in this style. This is a good start. Other than what Roz pointed out, I'd add that the mix stays at the same intensity level the whole way through. Vary it up, soften some of the harsher and repetitive elements, and punch up the rest. Also, the piano is a nice addition but it sounds like someone just banging on the keys repetitively. Writing a more nuanced piano solo that you can add the brass back into later would definitely give this mix more personality.

Pretty cool, although I do think you are hugging the source a bit too closely for just about the entire way. The original bit near the end was nice but I'd work on the writing there. You want your stuff to melodically sound as good or better than the source to keep the interest level up. Also the harmonization is nice but around 3:00 it becomes rather dissonant with the source's chord progression. You will get major points for recording a live version, but I still think there's some work to be done before you sit down in front of the microphones. Good luck!

Don't have time for a full comment, but I like how you randomized the stereo placement of some of the sound effects and acoustic percussion. Sounds like lasers whizzing by.

Updated to v3.3. See first post.

Hey Txai, thanks for posting this. I always wonder what the songs on the judges' decisions forum sound like. I did listen to the whole thing, and it sounds like you've got enough material in there for about five songs. Some of the effects are really great, though, and I think if you adopted a very critical ear you could edit out what doesn't work and stitch together what does, assuming you are still working on this. Anyway, good luck with your future projects!

Well hello again everyone. I've been ridiculously busy with work and school lately, but I've managed every now and then to work on this track. Like the last time I revised it, it sounds significantly different. Hope you all like the changes. I think I might be in the running for having the longest-living WIP on the board, so hopefully I can bow out of that race when I sub it soon. Listen to v5 here. -------------Older Posts------------- OK, this time when I say this is nearing completion, I really mean it. New stuff: Tempo up 4 bpm Some new sound effects/ambient stuff (you may love it/hate it) Changed the melodies in the second half a bit (again love it/hate it) Upped the sound quality and stereo production (finally) As far as the Daft Punk source goes, I may tweak it before submitting so that problem goes away. I hate to do it, but I'd hate getting NO'd simply for being stubborn more. Anyway, have a listen and I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts. Listen to v4.5 here. ------------------------------------------- Since my links at Tindeck went down, the new v4.0 will be the only version up for now. I've reworked this one for 2009 and am hopefully closer to submission with it. Let me know what you guys think. -prog Listen to v4.0 here. ------------------------------------------- Alright, here's a small update to address some issues with the main leads getting too loud at higher frequencies. What I changed: -Main leads shouldn't be ear-splitting (I hope) in their upper ranges anymore. I tested this on several speaker setups. -Drums are now punchier and have a bit more drive to them. Shaker on left, hi-hat on right. -Bass thump is new. -Tempo is up to 110 bpm now to fit the drums. I think this works even better than before, but I hope I can resist speeding it up any more or I'll end up with a 2 minute song. :\ ------------------------------------------- Well guys, it's been a long ride with this one. I decided to start a new thread because this song now sounds nothing like what I originally posted (link). I intend to tweak a few things and listen to any comments you might have, but I think it's nearing completion. For those of you who missed the speed of the first version, this one will be something of a hybrid between that and the second. It now moves along at a brisk 105 bpm to regain some forward movement without compromising the elements I added in second version. You'll also notice more links to the source, more original content, a brand new minor section in the middle, and that everything has generally been polished and moves along more confidently. Let me know what you think!

Ok, serious now, something tells me that if you got a talented voice actor, cut out some of the vocals, and shifted the emphasis to the (very good) writing you've done (parts like 0:50, 1:40, 1:50, 2:33, 2:55, 3:15, and 4:30 stand out), you might actually have a shot here - even with the na, na, na's. But right now it just sounds like Zelda porn.

.....lol wtf.....

I think the pitch bending is your golden ticket for this song. It's suited perfectly to how the windmill really did get out of control during the game. I do think you could take it a little more slowly at 0:44 so the change is not so abrupt. It would be great for it take the listener a couple seconds to figure out exactly what's going on. The second time you do it sounds a little gimmicky since it happens so fast, and you can't afford to be gimmicky. You've really got to sell this effect. I don't care for the ending. Slowly pitch bending while fading out and bringing the rain effect back in would be better, imo, than that weird psssst noise.

Alright, I'm hearing a lot of good things in this latest version. Especially that high guitar squeal at 1:46. Perfect. If you could wammy that it would be even more perfect. Transitions have also improved greatly. I do think you need some faster, more impressive note work to offset the guitar solo, because, right now, it sounds like a modified, plodding version of your chorus laid over the same chord progression. Also, the tempo change leading into the piano solo starts too early and is too long, which makes it sound like the song is about to end. And have you tried tweaking the cut knob on the non-melody piano parts to soften them a bit? They all compete a bit because they're the same hardness and approximate volume. Great idea putting the guitar back in with the piano, which creates a nice transition leading up to the end. I would hold the last guitar note a little longer and slide it down before cutting off to simulate a real electric guitar (you may have to play around with this to get the right effect).

Nice improvement from the last version. I don't have long so I'll just bullet point some stuff: - Some of the transitions (in and out of guitar solo, in and out of piano solo) feel pretty abrupt. - The higher piano parts are too loud during the solo. We need to hear the lower hand of the primo part foremost because it contains the melody. Overall, sounding good!

I don't know where you got the idea to do a completely staccato version of Dire Dire Docks, and I won't ask, either. I like it. But like others have mentioned, it needs some of my favorite element - progression. And variation. It gets boring. And if you have a melody (which you should), for this mix it'd probably come in best around 1/3 through. And for pete's sake, make it legato so there's some contrast. You want the listener to feel like you've legitimized all this staccato ambiance into a "melody" all its own during the first 1/3, then when the melody does come in, they should be thinking, "Wow, now all that plucking is a great counterpoint to this new, kickass (preferably) melody." So keep going with this, I think you're on the right track.

When you've got a piano solo, you should treat any accompanying piano parts as if they were played by other hands. In your case, you've got a primo melody, a primo embellishment, and a secondo bass line that's terribly repetitive. I'd suggest either changing the bass line to synth (which won't be as exposed and jarring) and keeping the two hands you've got, or keeping the bass line as piano, changing it up, and adding another hand so you've got four. Three won't do. This is your chance to set yourself apart from the other (and there have been many) attempts to remix this song and write a kickass piano part. Play around and see what you can come up with. I also should point out that if you're planning on submitting this for OCR, there's already been an electric guitar version of this song accepted, so you many want to consider finding a better sample or switching it. Good luck!

Did you update it? I can't remember... Anyway, you've really complemented the source very well. It bounces between the bravado of Braveheart and the more erotic nuances of the Diablo 2 soundtrack, which I suppose can't be bad. I've got one request, though, and it's to change those damn Terminator drums that begin at 1:10. You've got so much ridiculously good, original stuff here that hearing them at 1:10 takes me completely out of the world you're creating. I start seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger with a shotgun walking out of some wall of fire. Change it!

I really like this retro style. Great intro. I also have to agree that this could have come straight out of Cave Story, which imo is a high honor. Sounds like the track to a long level lined with wind generators leading up to the final boss level. The synth gives it that ominous feel, but it does need to be toned down a bit. You've got a lot of great stuff going on here and in parts it can be pretty distracting. I won't comment much on the ending but I think it would help to use a sound effect, like the warbling square you first use at 1:02. Great stuff!

I actually like some of the dissonance here because I think it's suited to the Metroid ambiance. My concern is that this sounds very midi-ish and repetitive. Some remixed albums go for that kind of sound---something that could replace the original in-game tracks---but I'm not sure this was your intention. I'd suggest listening to the Spore Spawn track (which was excellent) again and seeing if you can't find some "essence" you could incorporate. I do like the new title, though.

Alright, I realized I had to post on this one after I listened to it more than once. Here's the rundown: Start to 0:07 - Great hq train sfx, liking this already. 0:07 to 0:50 - Chord progression sounds pretty naked here. We know you're going to layer on it, but until you do at 0:44, it sounds too simple and exposed. The sounds you add are great, though. 0:50 to 1:17 - Nice beat. Fun computer blip. 1:17 to 1:46 - Bongos are kicking ass. Nice scratchy background synth. 1:46 to 2:43 - Not a huge fan of this particular synth in the foreground. Low range synth at 2:05 sounds fine, though. 2:43 to End - Whatever that woodwind is, I don't like it. It's certainly interesting, but I don't think it fits the song well enough. Imo quality dipped a bit here because of it. I think the bass level is fine. My headphones are pretty bass heavy and I think taking it down a notch would hurt the mix. As far as progression, you've got plenty. It never gets boring, but if you wanted to just go apeshit somewhere and do some beatslicing and breakdowns, I don't think anyone would complain.

Good luck, Vagrance, I'm really pullin for you on this one.

Well it's one of my favorites, too, which is why I took a stab at this. My idea to use Daft Punk was tailored to this song - I didn't try to drop the source onto Aerodynamic. I agree, though, that slowing the mix down as much as I did really unhinged my work from the source. If you want to listen to how it sounded before, here's the link: Molgera (untitled) WIP v1.5.mp3 I also wanted to preserve some things from the original, which is why I didn't change the melody in the first half (and also the reason for those weird harp parts that I think I'll take out), but I'll see what I can do about matching it to the new tempo. I think I'll also add a break and start relayering some of the elements, because though no one's complained about the second half being a little cluttered, I think it is. I might also experiment with some tempo changes and see what I can come up with. As for the non-game-music problem, I've heard lots of songs with the same chord progressions. If I reworked the DP parts, do you think it would still be an issue? I'd really like to submit this one at some point.

Wow, that was some fast work. Second half has a lot more interest to it now. Ending is great. Wish I could comment further but I'm leaving for vacation in a bit. Nice stuff!