Liontamer Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 The file: ReMixer name: ekikoo Name of game(s) arranged: TMNT 2 - The Arcade Game Name of individual song(s) arranged: -Burning Building -Freeway -Technodrome -Sewers (nes) -Boss music -Krang -Shredder Additional information about the game: Composer: Keizou Nakamura System: NES, Arcade Link to the original soundtrack: Own comments: First I decided to make guitar based versions from some of the songs heard in the NES game TMNT2. After hearing what the game sounds like on arcade platform I took some elements from there too. The only problem with these compositions is the short lenght and the endless looping, which gave me the idea to string them up into a medley-ish form. Recording and mixing was done with Cubase SX2, synths use free VST instruments like Synth1, Organized Trio and some General MIDI-based sounds. I recorded guitars with Boss GT-8's S/PDIF-connection. It's pretty hard to get state-of-the-art sounds with my gear, but I tried my best since I'm new to mixing. I'm pretty pleased with the playing, there are some crunchy grooves in there but the lead parts could have used more vibrato. ------------------------------------------------------------- I FTPed the arcade soundtrack versions of the sources, so check that out as well if you'd like. As mentioned in the sub letter, the version of the game being mixed is the NES version, and the Sewers theme is exclusive to the NES version. http://akumunsf.good-evil.net/T/Teenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles%202%20-%20The%20Arcade%20Game.nsf - Tracks 109 (Burning Building) [:01-:52], 114 (Freeway) [:52-2:12], 117 (Technodrome) [2:12-3:01], 111 (Sewers) [3:01-3:43], 96 (Boss) [3:43-4:12], 99 (Krang) [4:12-4:50] & 97 (Shredder) [4:50-6:03], 106 [6:06-6:18] The performance was a little too loose, but that negative would have been offset by deeper textures. As is, the bassline, cymbals, and occasional countermelodies had no presence, so the lead sounded really lonely and made the overall treatment of the themes feel too stripped down, IMO. The drums alone didn't adequately flesh out the background, leaving the soundfield relatively sparse and empty. Pad it out with something. The drum writing had some decent fills, but generally was too plain and basic during the verses. Spice it up more and take it to another level. Arrangement-wise, some pretty straightforward rock adaptations pieced together with little-to-no transitions. The lack of cohesive transitions from source to source prevented this from having a great flow. Some areas seemed fine (:52, 3:43, 6:03), some changes were too jarring (2:12, 4:50), and some weren't terrible but weren't great (3:01, 4:12). Fun stuff, and performed fairly well, but didn't apply much interpretation or development to any of the themes beyond the genre adaptation. After "Freeway", 1:40-1:57 had some soloing over the top of the backing writing of that source, before going back into the chorus, but there weren't any other major moments like that. You can apply the criticisms here to this piece or future submissions, but for a medley like this to pass, the themes need to be interpreted more substantively, they need to be cohesively pieced together, the mixing needs to not marginalize your supporting instruments, and the soundscape needs to sound fuller. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zykO Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 haha COWABUNGA! raw. that's about the best way to describe this track. smart idea and actually that is the most badass aspect of this. the drums are way too loud in the mix, that's for sure. don't pan your lead guitar so far right if you're going to have such an empty soundfield. there's like a big gaping hole between the guitar that is hanging out in my right ear and the drums. the arrangement on the other hand lacks too much. they are fairly straightforward and the transitions are barely even there. the problem with medley's a lot of the time is that when all strung together, there is very little coherence. this happens here and when coupled with the terrible mixing, it grows grating. that said, i don't mean to say that your track lacks in EVERYTHING. your playing is great. not enough passion in your playing, as evident by the lack of any vibrato or any embellishment... this is just like an arcade soundchip haha. you have to vary up some of the things you're doing on the guitar itself. the energy is there in that sort of ghetto garage sort of way and you certainly know how to write rockin bits of music but you have to do something about the mixing and the arrangement in general. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Great genre adaptation, but I didn't think it did enough to distinguish itself from the original otherwise. I did hear some new parts but they were buried in the mix and the leads and snare were the only parts I could really hear. Unfortunately, the leads were unchanged for most of the song. No hating on the song itself, which I thought was very well performed, but OCR is generally looking for something more interpretative, like the soloing section you added to Freeway. If the new parts you added were brought out more, it would also help this sound more interpretative (thought you might still need to do more with it). Larry also pointed out that a few transitions could stand to be smoother, and I agree with him. If you're willing, I'd love to see you retool this a little more for OCR standards. If not, I'd also love to see new material from you in the future. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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