*NO* Super Metroid 'Prime (v13/Brinstar Overdone Mix)'

[Liontamer]

Remixer Name: MeteoXavier

Real Name:

Email: MeteoX9999@aol.com

Website: myspace.com/zillyzygote

Submission Information

Name of Game(s) arranged: Super Metroid, Metroid Prime

Name of Individual Song: Brinstar 1 (lack of a better title), and a small melody from Chozo Ruins of Metroid Prime

My Own Comments:

Some of you know me personally by now, so maybe you can appreciate the story that will serve as my opening comments. For a couple years now, I've been trying desperately to recapture the overall sound of the Metroid Prime games. I've been grossly fascinated by its sound structure and some of the individual instruments, and for two years I've tried and failed repeatedly to capture anything that sounds remotely like it.

So imagine the irony I experience as I learned, today, that I've been secretly sitting on the same fucking instruments Kenji Yamamoto used in ALL three games the whole fucking time.

So I spent today, April 16th, and in almost record time, this mix came about. Very few obstacles. It was amazing. I had the wild idea of using this newfound tool to sonically imagine what the most well-tread yet surprisingly overlooked song in Metroid's catalog (everyone remixes Brinstar 1, yet I've never heard it in the Primes) would sound like in Phendrana or Tallon.

As with my last mix, I made this with specific ideas in mind and in trying to replicate a highly respected J-Composer (Kenji)'s sound. I tried to keep the very, very freeform, eccentric, productionally sparse sound and sterile feel that occupies much of the Prime OSTs. I wanted this to sound like background music and genuinely confuse listeners as to whether or not Kenji made it or not.

Frankly, I'd like to see someone take a Metroid Prime gameplay video and use this song instead for effect, but I'm jumping way ahead, and coming off Pretentious.

Thank you again for this opportunity.

P.S.

Also, v13 is the z3ta preset file I've overlooked for years that contains the pad and sine lead that Metroid Prime uses.

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Seems like there may have been some other Prime theme cameos in there, but what I heard was substantial enough that I didn't need to investigate.

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=sm - "Brinstar Overgrown with Vegetation Area" (sm-19.spc)

Metroid Prime & Fusion Original Soundtracks -

Not to be condescending, but I don't think anyone with a good set of ears would confuse this for Kenji Yamamoto the second that boring, flimsy, cruise-controlled clap groove came in at :25. You're gonna have to do more with that so it doesn't just sound thrown on top. The sequencing also felt a bit too rigid; stuff like the vox in particular sounded awkward, though it wasn't horrible.

From 2:56-on, though there were some new part combinations, I felt like the arrangement ideas were basically rehashing. The flat dynamic curve dragged things down, as what's in place right now isn't engaging enough. Not a bad base, but underdeveloped; needs some work though.

NO (resubmit)

EDIT (9/3): Replying to progressive complaining about my vote being non-constructive, as well as unfair toward the track, I thought the additional comments should be added here.

Hahaha! There's no "no clap" rule, that's just absurd. And I've heard Metroid Prime; the vox sequencing there sounds better than what was in the past sub. Plus, the timing of several other parts sounded unrealistic and slightly awkward, so it was a broader issue. As I mentioned, it didn't sound awful, but the rigid timing was noticeable.

As far as the clap, that was cited first not because it was the biggest problem, but because that was the first issue I heard in the track chronologically (hence the timestamp). As far as the clap being a non-starter, it's about the tone & position of the instrument as well as the part-writing, which both needed work. That's not just me saying it, that's all the NOs saying it.

So to sum up AGAIN for Meteo (and I don't understand why he's feeling butthurt; don't, just shake it off and see what you can do further with the track):

1. The clap groove was too simplistically written and also didn't mesh with the rest of the soundscape. "B.A.M.F. (Radio Edit)", for example, was a recent instance where a prominent clap was used nicely, and the percussion patterns were more varied and interesting, thereby lending more energy & direction to the piece. If you want a much more downbeat example, OverCoat's "Path-ology" shows a straightforward pattern, but one with off-beats that's not as plain as the one in this sub.

2. The sequencing wasn't terrible, but could use some fine tuning. I'd see what you could come up with.

3. We have a lot of songs with less pronounced yet discernible curves, so there's no hate on the general mood you're trying to establish. However, the dynamic curve here was too flat, and the arrangement ideas dragged a bit through the melodic repetition without significant development. You need to add some more dynamic contrast.

[big giant circles]

Not bad, but Larry's right to be so blunt about the clap. It's pretty noobish, you can do better than that man! Also, why is it panned left? That's not a good place for it, snare/claps should generally always be panned center.

Otherwise, I didn't think this was a bad mix. The portamento square/sine/saw waves throughout are naturally very Metroid-esque. I personally didn't mind the vox. The mix seemed pretty flat overall. I'd recommend spending more time EQing particular channels, cutting and boosting the right frequencies so they don't all fight over the same space. Seems like this mix stays a little too much in the mid-low end of the spectrum. I felt like the mid-highs could have been beefier especially.

I don't really have any qualms over the arrangement. I don't require any sort of groundbreaking opus, I'd say this is good enough. I'd just work on the execution, mostly. And don't be so dull with your drums. Choose a different clap/snare sound, and find a fatter kick. Maybe try out some sidechaining to give it some more Oomph/power.

RESUBMIT

[Palpable]

Very good idea to overlay the two themes. I thought the arrangement was very pretty at times. It's a little flat though, and while some of that comes down to the production, but I thought this was at odds about what it wanted to be. The clap groove was sparse and minimal, but the rest of the production suggested something denser. I would probably replace that clap groove with something heavier and less repetitive, because it didn't work for me. And please center it too. Sequencing on the lead and piano could stand to be less rigid.

I thought there were whole sections of frequency missing from this. Needed more lows, needed more mid-highs. Kick could have been fatter to fill those lower frequencies (and might want to tone down the reverb on it, that just muds things up).

Yeah, we sort of ripped you a new one here, but the basic arrangement is quite nice. Don't forget that. If you can get over the hurdles with this, this could be something great.

NO (resubmit)