Palpable Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Remixer name: Tepid Real Name: Philip Schwan Email Address: phswan@gmail.com Website: www.myspace.com/bluesatellitemusic (electronic original music) www.myspace.com/allezband (college band's myspace) http://www.youtube.com/user/elijosvids (videos of my band, Allez!) User ID: 9600 Name of game arranged: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Name of individual song arranged: Gerudo Valley Comments: Well, it's been a while since I've submitting anything to this website, and frankly I feel bad about it. The past year or so I have been busy with college, and I was working on composing for my college band, and some original electronic stuff. In that period of time my style changed completely from balladic acoustic/organic stuff, to electronic. This remix is in the style of dirty electro, inspired by French, Norwegian and Japanese electro artists such as J.U.S.T.I.C.E, Royksopp and capsule. I felt the site would enjoy something in this style, as I have not many remixes in this style, and it is a popular emerging genre in electronic music (alongside new wave). I had fun experimenting with crunchy clap samples, sidechaining, MIDI gating, and spatializing with stereo plug ins. Also, I have continued to play guitar in college, and was happy to add a guitar solo to the mix. I'm a little more confident with my guitar playing and tone in general. Anyway, I hope you like the remix. The source is pretty clear, and it's nothing like I've ever done before for OCReMix. Thanks and enjoy, Phil --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.zophar.net/download_file/12209 - 68 "Gerudo Valley" Great to see you sending us more stuff, Phil. Love the style and the title of this mix, and that sweet-ass guitar solo is the icing on the cake. The mix is a little rough, but it gets better as it goes along and sounds great in spite of the roughness (hell, Daft Punk did the same). I really enjoyed it. Now then. Something I did notice while listening is that it goes pretty far off the rails. I took the time to break down the parts where I heard source: 0:44-1:23 1:43-1:57 2:02-2:15 2:59-3:18 There are also some sections in there that modify the chords of the song slightly. Counting those sections puts this well over 50%, not counting them puts this close to 40%, which is too low for any mix IMO. I'm a little torn about whether to count them. It's a basic progression, certainly not the only song in the world that uses it, and Tepid has modified it some. I'm leaning NO because before the Gerudo melody came in, I don't think I would have been able to discern this as a Gerudo mix unless I was told. That's pretty much my litmus test for whether to count chords. What I'd love is for someone to swoop in and point out some obvious source I am missing. The one to do so would be my knight in shining armor. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 I gotta disagree, That bass groove spells out the chords strongly, and even though I only played the game myself for a few hours, and don't think I even heard this song in-game at all, I would have guessed that it was the Gerudo theme immediately, just from hearing other remixes on this site. No other tracks come to mind at all. The only thing that makes it potentially questionable is a longish intro and a (awesome) guitar solo. The rest is almost all completely source with the exception of a few slightly altered ends of phrases. Completely acceptable, IMO. Production is definitely dirty, but it's a very faithful genre recreation, and everything is audible. I dig it. yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Ha, I love titles like this. Also, is that my clap/snare sound you're using?! This is a pretty solid interpretation of French House with electro elements; having heard Tepid's progress over the years I'm impressed with how he's improved and branched out in genre. This is one he's particularly good at - the deep chords, unique addition of electric guitar, PHAT beats and gated synths are all awesome. That being said, there are a couple production faults nagging me. The synth leads are washed out with too much reverb and the bass seems way too loud. I would like to see these things tweaked before we post this. Arrangement is absolutely fine IMO. Very creative interpretation compared to the more straightforward takes on Gerude we usually hear. My only complaint here is the lack of an ending. C'mon, man! At least do some kind of final chord. YES (conditional) - please decrease the reverb on the synth leads a bit, decrease the FM8 volume slightly, and, preferably, come up with a bit more of an ending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Well, I think apart from the intro this is fairly discernibly gerudo valley once it gets going, though the solo seemed a little irrelevant (still nice though). Bit of a lame ending as andy said. I'm gonna disagree with him on the conditional vote though, didn't really have much problem with the sounds/reverb levels. They're more of a choice then a fault to me, and not particularly hurting its chances as it is. Otherwise its well put together with some nice automation and loving that clap/snare combo. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 I'm gonna disagree with him on the conditional vote though, didn't really have much problem with the sounds/reverb levels. They're more of a choice then a fault to me, and not particularly hurting its chances as it is. Otherwise its well put together with some nice automation and loving that clap/snare combo. Just noting that I agree with this. I definitely thought the reverb levels were intentional for a washed out sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Hah. Awesome. Very Sebastian Tellier. Only thing I'm not crazy about is the guitar in the mix. Could use some big delay, an maybe some more low mids. However, this thing is solid the way it is. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Nice contextualizing with the name! Anyway, the backing is fresh, you do some nice but simple variation on the lead and overall the track is grooving. I am however torn about source usage. I don't think the chords are identifiable enough and there are no other hints to the source in the chord-only sections. Bass doesn't copy anything I heard in the source, no connection to any rhythm and the chords are altered. The production was definitely hot imo. I thought the bass level and reverbed leads worked. Definitely solid. However I will have to hold off my vote for a while, if anyone care to point out WHY they thought source usage was okay and give examples or similar, I'm all ears. EDIT: So, after getting lectured I'm gonna go ahead and settle for a YES. I still think the chords aren't easily identifiable but when it's this close I'll go with the flow. Groovy mix in any case. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 WHY they thought source usage was okay and give examples or similar, I'm all ears. That bass groove spells out the chords strongly, and even though I only played the game myself for a few hours, and don't think I even heard this song in-game at all, I would have guessed that it was the Gerudo theme immediately, just from hearing other remixes on this site. No other tracks come to mind at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 That bass groove spells out the chords strongly, and even though I only played the game myself for a few hours, and don't think I even heard this song in-game at all, I would have guessed that it was the Gerudo theme immediately, just from hearing other remixes on this site. No other tracks come to mind at all. Yeah, except you know.. it doesn't? He's altering the chords and the bass is going beyond the original chords too. Listen to the source one more time. Now, I know you weren't around the Hot Pink of Blues shenanigans but I know we've rejected remixes less liberal than this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 I agree with Anso, though I have to admit, I wouldn't object too strongly if this passed because I think it sounds awesome. But I would like to make sure people do hear dominant Gerudo in this. The original song is four chords (IIRC, I don't have my headphones atm). His progression alone is more than four, and he altered some chords. And I don't think the bass spells out that last chord very well, though the backing pad does. I'm cool with people going YES on this if they hear enough Gerudo. I didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 If you want to stopwatch; 0:06 - 0:25: Chords from the original. Yes some of them are altered but in terms of theory they're the same fundamental chords. 0:25 - 0:44: Same as 0:06-0:25 with added bass. 0:44 - 1:23: Chords + source melody.. obvious. 1:23 - 1:32: Original stuff similar to source chords 1:33 - 1:42: Chords 1:43 - 2:21: Melody + variations 2:21 - 2:58: Solo over chords. 2:59 - 3:22: Ending w/ melody. Total is 202 seconds. Explicit source usage (melody only) is 39 + 38 + 23 = 100 seconds, which is barely under 50%. However, I've always thought that if an original has a distinctive chord progression, using just the chords does constitute arrangement. That's how I voted on Hot Pink. I'm pretty sure Monstrous Turtles doesn't even have 50% source usage if you don't count any of my chord usage. If this were a case where the mix is like 20% melody and 80% original/chords I would lean the other way, but it's already practically 50/50 with the melody alone, and I feel like the chord variations are extremely creative and interpretive given the distinctiveness of the original progression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Dang, look at me actually one of the LAST to vote on this. Nice work, dudes. YES (conditional) - please decrease the reverb on the synth leads a bit, decrease the FM8 volume slightly, and, preferably, come up with a bit more of an ending. That's kind of a tall order for a COND vote, isn't it? Seems like more of a NO, RESUB kind of vote. I don't mind the reverb at all. I did think the FM8 volume was a little loud, and it probably seems worse just because it's such a hard, dry preset, but I didn't mind it personally enough to require a fix. I do agree that the ending is pretty... weak. It just sort of stops, kind of like you just got tired of working on it But whatever, I think it's a great arrangement with solid enough production, and it has a nice vibe to it. I'm a bit puzzled by the HOLD vote though... I thought it was really easily identifiable and had Gerudo Valley written all over it. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Actually, Tepid already gave me an updated version that addressed my complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Groovy. In that case yeah, it sounds awesome. Ending is still kind of bleh, but wuteva. Really cool track otherwise! So you're a solid YES now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I'm a bit puzzled by the HOLD vote though... Eat poop I still think the chords are an iffy connection because even though they might be built on the same fundamental chords they're a bit too altered in my ears. However with zircon's breakdown and how close it is I've settled for a YES. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I'm just saying it sounds obvious to me is all Also, I'm on a poop diet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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