Metroid Prime 3 'Boss Battles Mix'

[Vidilian]

Just experimenting with this idea so its probably pretty bad.

A mix of the Gandrayda and Rundas battle themes, which are both great tracks that I don't really have a chance of improving but I still wanted try and mix them for fun.

I suppose the genre is industrial with a middle eastern influence.

http://vspaine.googlepages.com/Gandrayda.mp3

[Therapsid]

A bit messy, but nice. Keep it up

[Rozovian]

Soundwise, it's not immersing. You need to work on the soundscaping. The progression works well and I like the idea and overall tone this track has.

The plucked isntrument panned left is terrible. Whether it's just not mixed properly, doesn't have the reverb it should have, or if it just doesn't fit in is hard to say, but something's wrong with it. Drop the levels and see at what level it's just part of the soundscape rather than standing out like that. It's also very repetitive, so you should work on that.

The soundscape overall is kind'a bare, making the whole track a bit too simplistic. See if you can add a couple of tracks to give depth and harmonics to it.

Sadly, I can't comment on source. Sounds like the Prime series, but I haven't played MP3 through yet, and haven't had the time to play it lately at all. It feels unrefined, so I assume the music's pretty close to source. You may have to work on makiong it more your own, but I can't say.

[Vidilian]

Update: Improve production a lot and tweaked arrangement to reduce repetitiveness. I'll work on the emptiness of the soundscape later although I'm afraid of cluttering things. I'll also extend it, maybe adding another source tune.

Heres the sources used:

[Cloral]

I think a fair bit of the 'emptyness' comment comes from the instrument being used as the lead, especially in the first two minutes. You should try replacing it with something a bit more robust, even if just to see how it changes the sound of the piece. A second instrument accompanying it would also probably be a good idea.

[Rozovian]

Back then, I hadn't finished MP3. Now it was a while since I finished it, so it still isn't fresh in my memory when listening. But there was at least _some_ source in there. Gotta listen more before I can say, but I'm in the middle of a wip run, so I'll get back to you on source/interpretation later.

First notes are a bit too exposed. Reverb, stereo effects? Strings sound a bit too keyboard-ish.

One of your snares is really painful, makes my headphones crackle.

One of your leads is just painfully shrill, the one in the end. Sounds a bit like a raw waveform, so you might want to tweak it a bit, maybe take it down an octave and give it some strong overtones instead.

It also has something of an empty feel. That and the exposed sound are probably my biggest crits. Moar harmoniez.

It has a great sound, great idea. Has potential for awesome.

[Spakku]

You've got good variety but it feels really midi. Maybe level-changing, maybe some different samples, I don't know how to fix it.

It bothers me the way you introduce a new sound and musical theme for the last half minute only to have it repeat and fade. It seems like you want that Gandrayda whistle tune but don't know what to do with it.

I love the direction, though. Make me proud.

[Vidilian]

Thanks for comments. I can't guarantee I can make you proud though, lol...

Update:

Increased low range of the strings so they're fuller and hopefully less fake and changed the sample specifically in the intro.

Added slightly more distortion to the lead choir that hopefully makes it fuller and theres a subtle synth backing it up now.

Changed the instrument playing the Rundas them to a more subtle flute that. I'll vary the Rundas part more when I get some inspiration.

Extended the song, adding another source tune. Ideally I would have used the battle theme for the other hunter in MP3, to complete the set, but unfortuantely that theme sucks imo.

So I used this one from MP1 instead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV0OKOa5WiA

Its a new part of the song so its probably a little rough.

[HoboKa]

What your remix is lacking Vid, is that oomph that battle songs have. It sounds more neutral than what the melodies suggest, thus it kinda throws us off lol. I think what you gotta do is find instruments that have punchier attacks and compress them a bit to make them fatter. Also, a more heavy beat (but not a muddy nor overwhelming one) would really help with the feel of this track. Moreover, the choir-chords sound a little bit wussy, maybe layering them with another instrument or switching them with a dark vox sample would help give this track a tougher spine.

Progression wise, it feels fine to me, but I could be horrendously wrong >_<

Otherwise, it's a real good start keep at it Viddyboy

[Vidilian]

Thanks... but don't ever call me Viddyboy again, lol. Seriously.

Update:

I pumped up the bass on my speaker which let me see that it was actually the bass that was causing crackle. So I've sorted that out and it seems ok with my speakers. The "crackle" thats still around now are purely distortion effects which may or may not be a good addition.

I've got a vox that has a punchier attack with a lot of compression/distortion backing up the choir (more dist/comp on the chior aswell) during the Gandrayda part. This is an experiment that I'm not too sure about. I really want to keep the choir too stay true to the original and cause I think its perfect for the theme.

Pumped up the lower freq on the drums too the max and used a slightly different distortion on them that is more or less the same except it gives a slight delay to it.

I shortened the song during the MP1 part aswell.

[HoboKa]

Thanks... but don't ever call me Viddyboy again, lol. Seriously.

Update:

I pumped up the bass on my speaker which let me see that it was actually the bass that was causing crackle. So I've sorted that out and it seems ok with my speakers. The "crackle" thats still around now are purely distortion effects which may or may not be a good addition.

I've got a vox that has a punchier attack with a lot of compression/distortion backing up the choir (more dist/comp on the chior aswell) during the Gandrayda part. This is an experiment that I'm not too sure about. I really want to keep the choir too stay true to the original and cause I think its perfect for the theme.

Pumped up the lower freq on the drums too the max and used a slightly different distortion on them that is more or less the same except it gives a slight delay to it.

I shortened the song during the MP1 part aswell.

Okay...but where's your update???? link meeeee Viddygirl

[Rozovian]

Bass is a bit too powerful. Drop it a few dB, I think it's clipping. Either that, or my subpar headphones can't handle it. They also don't seem to play the full strength of bass frequencies (as concluded from the J's comments on my recently judged submission). In other word, turn down that bass a bit.

The MP series' music has never been as good as Super Metroid's, and the sound they've employed makes a lot of it sound the same. That's my opinion. That's also one of the reasons I can't easily identify source in your remix.

Still, I recognized more this time. Not counting the one from MP1, which I'm far more familiar with, perhaps because it's so much more memorable.

Bass, exposed instruments... That's the crits. You've got some really interesting soundscaping here, and it feels so much more balanced than the last one, at least from what I can read in my last post. Good stuff.

EDIT: Hm, I suppose this is for one version back, then., btw, please take the time to answer the questions in this post.

[Vidilian]

Thanks. I answered those questions as well as I could. Btw, the link in the first post is always the updated version (although there may be times where it isn't... I don't always check).

Update: Made the strings cleaner by adjusting harmonic content and brightness. Added brightness fades to the drums for some variety. I'll figure out something with the bass later. Nothing I've tried improves the issues that much. I may need to just changed the sample for the bass.

Added a small cameo of this tune from MP2 in the intro, I think it works:

I'm starting to think that the only way too some of the rough edges in this is, is too get a new sound card (I record this from a keyboard in case people wonder why that would help). I've looked around the boards and apparently soundblasters (what I've got) aren't too good for recording.

[Rozovian]

Shame on you, updating your track in the middle of my wip run.

Anyway, the choir melody in the beginning doesn't fit in. Melody strings don't feel as complex as the lead. In fact, most of the time, the strings feel a bit underprocessed. If you can route their volume to an lfo via an envelope (or the other way around) to give them a tremolo during long sustained notes, you'd have improved them a bit already.

This, imo, is your biggest problem: sounds don't fit together. Conceptually, there's no problem with them, but the execution leaves some of them underdeveloped.

Also, check your melodies. There were a few places where verbatim melody might be getting in your way. Change 'em. Not gonna dig up specific times, you're the last item on today's wip run list.

Please take the time to answer the questions in this post.

[Vidilian]

I'm pretty sure I answered those questions already.

Update: Got a recording device that works via the USB instead of the sound card. Improved quality of recording so I was able to use a costum EQ that used to absolutely rape the recording when I was using the sound card.

Also other smaller changes.

http://vspaine.googlepages.com/Gandrayda.mp3

[Spakku]

Whenever it gets up in volume the sound gets distorted. Especially the bass. I'd pinpoint the spot where it's worst but it's decided to run in a browser window instead of WinAmp without my consent.

[Rozovian]

You probably answered them, yeah. I've lost track. it's all saved there, so it's not like I have to remember.

The first thing I notice is how the first instrument is both dry and upfront. Some reverb would be nice there, I think the choir could benefit from a little touch of reverb as well.

One of the drums is either clipping, or it's otherwise noisy... or it's a synth bass. Doesn't sound that good, tho. The drums don't really feel like the have the punch they could have. Your kick, whatever you're using for a kick, needs more punch, and if that's the noisy one, it needs less of the other low frequencies. (kick punch is usually found in the 80-150Hz range)

The "electric guitar" sounds terrible. Takes alot of tweaking and processing weirdness to get a fake guitar to sound like a real one, so you're better off using a more synthetic sound.'

Tweaks, fixes, etc. It's only getting better.