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The production quality causes the track's workability to plummet completely off the radar. i haven't heard that awful of sounds from anything... not even my old casio 77CT is as bad as this. I wouldn't even say that FL's standards have to sound this bad... everything is either flat, abrasive or uininspiring. however. the arrangement shines in a few places (although for the most part it is lined with boring drums, a subpar bassline and otherwise no creativity). i agree with michael on the success of 1.22, i really did like that part of the track... the idea is a good one but its execution hindered by the samples. it sucks when a good idea gets punched in the balls by shitty sound - like gray mentioned, checkout hammersound feel free to ask for help at our remixing forums and throughout the scene. otherwise, here's a NO to gaze upon for a bit.

ok the groove to this is awesome. you're right when you say throwback and retro... i'm stuck in some dive bar/night club thinking about watching the neverendingstory when i stumble home drunk - in 1985. and the girl i'm dancing with has bigger hair than cher, frilly socks and earrings i can stick my head through but with all the good feelings i'm getting from this... this just goes on and on and on and doesn't really do ANYTHING. and i had no idea what you meant by awkward pitch bends until i heard it the second time through and noticed how every once in a while there would be a note off by like a smidge but it was noticeable enough ... almost as if the "instrument" was slightly out of tune. all in all, there are a lot of weird things happening with this mix... that whole section after 3.00 minute mark with just the drums and the wild soundin classic pad in the background made me dizzy. dont know if i liked that. slap the awkward off-notes onto the fact that this is grossly conservative and this thing gets a FED-EX overnight delivery to NO

i'll take that as my cue to enter... unfortunate, this is. i'm afraid there isn't much in the way of suggestion to be given here because something tells me (and i'm usually right about my gut senses) that the artist intended this to be exactly as it is - short, unadventursome and simple. it achieves those things admirably... for being short and conservative, this works as easy listening and sets the mood almost instantly. i've had this on loop for the past 10 minutes. yes, i'm enjoying myself... but good gollyness, i can only imagine what else can be done with this that change at 1:36, just as this is ending is such a tease - you are almost relegated to bastard mode because of it. there just simply aren't any fresh ideas past porting this beautiful (i know its been mentioned already several times but i'm going to play echo... Gabriel knight music is amazing and neeeeeeds attention. badly) piece to the guitar and likewise changing what was necessary to achieve that and not much more. the performance is flawless and the tone of the acoustic guitar matches the soft synth pads so well that i'm heartbroken listening to this. i'm sorry but this just isn't long enough, just isn't creative enough and somethin tells me that we aren't going to get a resubmit on this one because i think this may have very well been the intention all along. NO and i hate/love you.

funky russian the bass has been the thing mentioned often so far and i have to say i'm lovin da bass. bam in your face. the rimshot is used well, this is very loungy and the percussion and bass really help that... i do have a problem with the piano... just doesn't sit well with me - either it is too muddy or just frantic like jesse said but i just don't think it works well. but this grooves too hard and i can't stop enjoying it and that grainy, dirty synth YES

i really don't mind the reverb. i like the tone and i don't think every piano piece needs to be bright or sharp... that is a quality that i think is reserved for a particular approach where the edge and attack is more critical than the piece's flow... in which case, this piece flows very nicely.... the reverb gives it the nice ether touch having said that, i dont like it when people drench things in reverb and make them soggy with it but i don't find this at all bad to a point that i'd reject it. as far as arrangement, i'm wth larry on this one and i think this is awesome. i'm going to vote yes because i don't feel the reverb detracts from what the piece does in its quiet parts when that reverb makes a world of diffrence. but if this is eventually rejected... please guys... scale it back a bit, then and re-submit because this is quality work. YES

the drums to this are awful. i'm goin to rename this zyko in a daze cuz i'm seeing weird lights. i'm going to be as positive as i can. this needs some serious variation. some serious creative intervention is needed in the mix the synths are too soft - i think the idea is there but you have to eq them to have presence because presence is about the most important aspect of electronic music for the listener...if you're going to make dance music, you have to get your listener to want to move and this makes me want to sleep. then again, i'm assuming this is supposed to be a dance mix which means this is a misappropriation because the idea for a subtle, relaxing arrangement of julia is a winner but the execution here is lacking. the ending is exactly as larry said. an excuse for not having anymore ideas - there isn't one. i mean, this is about the most uncreative stretch of 3 minutes i've heard in a while but the ending only capped it for me. i want to echo zircon's advice and point you towards our WIP and remixing forums - there are a lot of folks around here who are very experienced in electronica and in dance music and you should seek their advice on the technical aspects of eqing your drums and giving more presence and use to your synths. as it stands, this track cannot be considered, sorry. NO

this mix just lacks so much in its production that its depressing. there are a lot of good ideas here and discipline but the presentation detracts a lot from it. first off, the good. excellent variations on the original although not very much of it, this is where this track shines. i strongly dislike the intro, i think the piano is weak on its own especially since it is not good piano... it cuts off odd and the tone is nothing short of annoying and synthetic. when the guitar comes in, it reminds me too much of several other similarly arranged versions of this track... the ones that come to mind are by chaos and dark apocryhpa... but what this version has that the previous bunch of rock arias didn't is the mind to go further with the source material. from 1:40 on, this gets smart and starts doin its own thing - its tightly performed, its cleverly written and at 2 minutes when the drums pick up again, the overall groove is a pleasant one and the song is good. my problem still is that everything outside of the effort put in here is too close to the original. now the bad and decidedly why this mix has to be rejected. the tone is awful. its too flat, empty and bright - you almost need to meat out your guitar... don't worry so much about eqing it after the fact, try doing it before you even record. a huge aspect of writing guitar music is the tone you are using coming in and that is where this track lacks the most. the drums have been mentioned before. i've heard worse (i've done worse) but these drums are weak and boring - try to vary it up a bit and the cymbals have to come more naturally into the soundfield... remember that the "drummer" is playing all of these at once so having the cymbals so far off in the soundfield on their own sounds as if you have a unique cymbalist or something which is preposterous for making a rock mix. shrill is an interesting word choice and i don't think i'd call the mix shrill... it sounds muddy to me. and its all in one place throughout the arrangement and dosen't occupy the full soundfield and gives it a very tunnely sound. the choir is a nice touch and i can't knock you for having a bad choir sample... not evrybody has the capability or access to good choral sounds but it serves here mostly as a pad than as a choral part. all in all, an ambitiously arranged track that sounds very subpar NO

i'm gonna also use most of my earlier vote on this: the source material doesn't give much to work with melodically yet it is very quality ambience... one of the more entertaining ambiences from DKC, in my opinion and one that stuck in my mind well after having played the game. in that regard, the track is exactly what it was meant to be - background music that is hauntingambient and has a distinct industrial emphasis in the arrangement (especially with the steelmill rhythm that is present throughout most of the track). for as much as the track doesn't "go anywhere" as most purist pundants would put it... the track allows the listener to go anywhere and everywhere... essentially, the listener that isn't taken anywhere didn't want to go anywhere. i think the track serves its purpose well. it is great ambient, background music. do your work listening to this. relax, sleep or have sex listening to this. play sim city to this. its that versatile. its that good. YES

i have to agree with liontamer on this one. very awkward sounding. the organ does not seem to fit in at all... and i'd initially say it was the mixing but it seems a little more deeply rooted than that - i'm afraid the tone is just out of place. the mood set by the first part with the syncopated piano part and the overlapping bells gives an ominous feel and that is absolutely ravaged by the jazz organ. the percussion is decent although the shakers do need to be scaled back a bit. i'm not impressed by how uninteresting the whole drive of the track is - it needs to either be edgier or more subdued but not lost in between. in the track's defense, i like the piano and bell parts, i think they're functional but that organ just drowns everything else out with its displacement. as for the arrangement, i too had trouble finding the source material but regardless of what that sounds like, this has to go into more places - as it is now, it sort of doils around the same general ideas and doesn't do much with them seeing as how the organ kills whatever mood it was beginning to show. in so many words, its boring. maybe its only clear to me but as much as you're new to the scene, you're not a newbie to music because there's a defined sense of understanding of what you're doing as there are no glaring shortcomings in that regard. try evening out the soundscape and use the mood you set in the first 30 seconds to drive the piece and elevate it above mediocrity. and can the organ or get a more subdued, grungier organ if possible. i didn't have any qualms with the bass ideas just their execution... better samples, more defined slap perhaps... i really don't like how the organ gets quiet around 1:50.. i know you're trying to create dynamics but it really doesn't sound like it - sounds more like the volume just got hit all in all, i'm goin to say this is a NO - it just doesn't have the sound quality or the coherence to be entertaining past one listen (or even halfway through the first). take these advices and the ones larry's given and i hope to hear either a revived version of this or improved future work by you.

VGF #20 do you have a file of this, larry?

please please please ... do not insult del the funky homo sapiens jesus herald christ

hahaha

strange that it got re-popular as of late. but i dont know why i never said anythin before. this is very awesome. EDIT: this was my post 187. on the motherfuckin cop.

yea, you just called my guitar cursed.

hehe, yea. its all good thanks for the pimp, brother glad you liked it. it was a phenomenal experience writing it thank you

whatever. you kids will never ever get it. keep your eyes open for the recording of my band's gig tommorow... it'll make all you stupid "rocker" kids who hate "crap" realize that i can rock it harder than you ever will. versatility and genius grow off the same root. predictability, limitation and lack of tolerance are the spawn of retardation. so quit your whining, find your third eye and open up your fucking minds.

i've said it before and i'll say it again. this is still the very best vg arrangement ever made and arguably one of the finest pieces of music i've ever heard.

davis california? damn, man, i lived there for the last 5 years. i own that city holler

what does that mean?

i gotta agree with al cpwn on this. the horns rubbed me in a very wrong way. jose definetly can spit, though. would have preferred more original lyrics but the whole thing was still delivered well and clearly. and the original segments were all legit. the choruses are presented with a credible voice - this is hip hop done with a good sense of rhythm and touch. the beat, though... i'm not sure if i like it. the "gangsta" synth is a neat touch but the whole track doesn't feel right. its like a tight emcee on a mediocore beat. or maybe its just those horns. either way, a definite keeper as there are not many tries at rap on the site (at least successful ones) ~weed

if you're so sure, kid, then say it in my face and not from behind your computer screen and then we'll talk. otherwise, sit the fuck back down. ~weed

hahah Dhsu is very clever i can't because it doesn't qualify as an arrangement (the reason it was moved from vgmix 1 to virt's personal space way back when) i'll be putting zyko.com up very soon and you can count on Brothaz 4 life being one of the first things up there. also, if you tune into vgfrequency this saturday... you may or may not hear it... who knows woohoo ~weed

in response to the inquiry over a clean version of the song, i don't think it is beyond question and i'd love to record one for those interested in a cleaner version of the track. however, just for the record, i really think the distaste over the present profanity is a bit much... endblink recently sent me a message concerning that very subject and made a very good point to me that i suppose this would be an excellent time to share with you: Ubik & Zyko - Niggaz 4 Life Use of word "nigga": 34 (including title) Use of any other profanity: 7 JaY Z f/ BiG Jaz & Amil - Nigga What, Nigga Who Use of word "nigga": 30 (including title) Use of any other profanity: 36 Busta Rhymes - Break Ya Neck Use of word "nigga": 35 Use of any other profanity: 15 Dr. Dre - Nigga witta Gun Use of word "nigga": 21 (including title) Use of any other profanity: 26 Snoop Dogg - Nigga 4 Life Use of word "nigga": 52 (including title) Use of any other profanity: 24 50 Cent (f/ Eminem & Biggy) - Too All My Niggas Use of word "nigga": 45 (including title) Ise of any other profanity: 20 ------------------------------------ really, i don't think i swore nearly as much as some of you think i have and i still was able to put out 4 solid verses that did not need the "crutch" of profanity. and "nigga" was the point of the title and song so its understandable that it was mentioned a lot. i dunno, just thought you'd be interested in seeing those numbers. thanks to endblink for the information. and i will consider a clean version of the track. thank you for your suggestion ~weed

wow. first of all, let me clarify that i'm not defending the track or its message. i didn't really expect anybody to like the track, i had fun doing it and i feel it was an honest and genuine endeavour. there is plenty of reason for somebody with family and children to be concerned about a track with profanity used in it... hence why David wrote the disclaimer on the front page of the track. anybody who did not want to hear the track after knowing that "nigga" was used (its in the title, einstein) should not have pressed download right then and there. there are plenty of people who do not like the word "nigga" - you can feel free to dislike it. i am not here to convince you that you should like the usage of the word. that is perfectly fine and "every man to himself" applies here as far as the "ridiculous" comment... kram, you are getting a little too worked up about it. you need to chill out. i did not mock olanmills out of malice. i thought it was a little odd that somebody who was questioning the intelligence of my word choice would in fact consistently mispell a word throughout his post. i still feel that my statement, though clearly mocking, was not done distastefully nor disrespectfully and i did so without resorting to curse. also if olanmills is offended by my statement, i'm sure he can defend himself (note how he responded and how you did)... it was a little joking jab that i am sure he and i can resolve (i strayed a bit from the crux of the issue as he pointed out - so, olanmills... my bad) but kram, thank you for being the forum samaritan that you are - i am sure he appreciates it. there are no holes here dug aside from the one you are quickly digging for yourself. the fact is, there are more intelligent, tolerant people in the world than there are bitter, narrowminded ones... its borderline entertaining how you refer to me as a "grammar nazi" when you and a small handful of others are questioning my ability to use the english language which, so far, has been superior. the shift key is not the defining element of an individual's eloquence and if you think so then you are grossly misguided and need to give your pinky a rest. again, i am not debating the use of "nigga" any further. you need to get in touch with modern times and the reality that censorship and art don't go hand in hand ... and also that nigga no longer means nigger and no longer refers to a subserviant african american if you still have a problem with me and feel that you'd like to be thoroughly humiliated then feel free to privately email me or start a general discussion thread to continue this conversation but don't litter the review section of this track with your narrowminded flame. there are people who enjoy this song and are not offended by the use of a single word. thank you for your feedback and expression of your opinion. ~weed

try spelling ridiculous again. ~weed