Palpable Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 tl;dr - palp OCRemix Song Submission: Notes: First, this is our DoD submission for the month of September, so if by some strange chance this gets put on the judge’s queue please do not formally announce who did the song. Actually, it might just be best that, if it gets to that point, to wait until after that DoD month is over. Also, please leave in the links to both the high-quality and OCR standard version of the song if this doesn’t pass. Thanks! Song name: Fossil’s Oasis Contact Information: Your ReMixer name – LuIzA & Level 99 Your real name - Luiza Carvalho and Stephen Bortz Your email address – lu_carvalho177@hotmail.com & level99remixteam@gmail.com Your website – uhh, what’s a “web-site”? Huh?! What’s an “in-ter-net”? Your userid – 6052 & 13318 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged – Star Fox Adventures Name of individual song(s) arranged – Early Thorntail Hollow Day/Night As of this submission, it looks as though there are no other Star Fox Adventures remixes, so I’ll include kind of information there games include in OCR game profiles: Game name: Star Fox Adventures Published 2002 by Nintendo, Developed by Rare, for the Nintendo Gamecube Composer: David Wise Songs can also be found on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7he9YgTX5AY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZdFxfiQRCI Comments on the song: Note to the judges/inbox reader: I will not be offended if you tl;dr any of this, but I'd rather be over-wordy than under-detailed. Oh, where to begin…well, first, David Wise’s soundtracks usually get a lot of love, but one in particular has been overlooked for a while: Star Fox Adventures. The almost-Zelda-type game Rare put out on the Gamecube in 2002 has a great soundtrack that is currently being under-represented on OCR. Step in LuIzA and Level 99 to take a shot at it with rock guitars in tow! LuIzA approached me about a month ago talking about DoD, a competition I have attended the MAGFest listening parties for but never entered, asking for my opinion on songs she selected to do for that month’s theme (Rare month): either a combination of Forest Frenzy from DKC and Forest Interlude from DKC 2, or Thorntail Hollow Day/Night from Star Fox Adventures. Well, I picked the combination, and a day later she said “Nah, I think more can be done with Thorntail, wanna do DoD with me with month?” The next three weeks were an intense back-and-forth of ideas and composition, and the result is an almost-six-minute-long acousto-electric rock piece that switches back and forth between styles and embellishments. I’ll start with the song breakdown. Our arrangement, while including a few all-original sections, is primarily based off of the common melodic progression present in both the Day and Night versions of Early Thorntail: 0:00–0:35 - Four Acoustic guitars begin by playing the main progression and melody in a slight interpretive style, still maintaining clear relation to the source 0:35–1:14 – Cue rock guitars to come in with drums and bass, with acoustic backing playing part-melody, all following the Thorntail Hollow Night chord progression. 1:14–1:40 – Verse 1, just like 0:00-0:35, a direct main progression and melodic lead with slight interpretive styling, only…well, it’s rock. 1:40–1:53 – Hammond distorted organ on left as the main progression is let out and resolved before the switch… 1:53–2:18 – More acoustic guitars, tambourine, shakers, darburka, and a bunch of other stuff come in for an acoustic breakdown of the melody, much more rhythm-focused than the intro guitars. Distorted guitars usher back the return of rockage. 2:18–3:10 – SOLO GUITARS!!! First half is LuIzA on rhythm and Level 99 on leads, second half is switched where Level 99 takes on the rhythms and LuIzA cuts loose. Rhythm guitars following main progression. 3:10–3:42 – Verse 2. Added effect guitars and the rhythm guitar (which turns into two guitars right near the end of it) again follows main progression, rhythm-modified a little more. This rounds out again for another dip into less aggressive musical waters… 3:42–4:21 – Synth break. This was modeled to sound a lot more like the original Thorntail Night track, but added drums, guitar, and an overall-varying of sounds is presented. There’s some added backing noise that you may notice that has been added to sound like an Arwing landing, though it isn’t intrusive but very, very subtle. The choir increases in volume as the progression reaches resolution here again, and again it switches right after it does. 4:21–4:49 – Original section. This is an original section that was jammed out when the song reached a point that we didn’t know where to take it. The main progression needed a little rest, otherwise the song would have started to feel more repetitive. Two rhythms and four leads, each with their own effect, gives a breath of fresh air before plunging back into the depths of… 4:49 – 5:14 – The original rhythm rock guitars cue. Still following the main Thorntail progression, but this time with some more drum syncopation and a little more wankery. 5:14 – 5:55 – Even more acoustics play the last 1/3 of the progression twice over with some original melody on top before slowing down and ending the song. The rock guitars were divided between the two. LuIzA also did the bass, the drum-sequencing, the darburka, the heavy FX guitars, and all mixing and mastering. Level 99 handled the majority of the acoustic work, all the synths, the shaker and tambourine, and came up with the original section and melody in the outro, while LuIzA came up with the intro riff. This was an absolute blast to collaborate on, and you can hear it in the song with how much fun we had doing different things guitar-wise and writing-wise (no pun intended, Mr. Wise). Star Fox Adventures received its much-needed loving; I hope more people take a look at the soundtrack too. Just a small note: this was a song LuIzA mentioned she wanted to do something with before even getting into remixing, so this is sort-of a milestone in her remixing life. I’m glad I could be a part of it, and I hope you all enjoy the result of this collab. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early Thorntail Hollow (Night), Early Thorntail Hollow (Day) Very nice rock collab that shows off the benefits of cooperation. The acoustic bookends give a good contrast to the rawk proceedings, like an appetizer and an after dinner mint. There's also a cool synth-y section that sounds more like Early Thorntail Night. Combined with some different-styled leads in the solo section, this mix really lets them highlight their strengths. Only concern I'm seeing is the source usage, though I'm personally cool there. Here's what I would count straight-up: 0:13-0:40 0:55-1:05 (arpeggio from Early Thorntail Night buried in there) 1:20-2:23 3:15-4:25 4:55-5:07 (arpeggio from Early Thorntail Night buried in there) That's 49.9%, there might even be something I missed. Almost the rest of the song plays off the chords, the second part of which is a unique enough progression, which puts it well over in my mind. Rock over London, rock on Chicago. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I like the back and forth between rock and acoustic elements; it keeps things fresh and dynamic throughout. Arrangement is great as well; there are some really great rockin' takes on the source balanced out by the lighter sections. I particularly like the folksy bit at 2:01. I don't think the source usage is an issue here; everything gels nicely together based on chords and melodic lines. Great job. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Production was pretty solid on this one, nice clear acoustic passages, and well-thought-out rock. Good panning, and some punch. Over the bar in this aspect. Arrangement is also interesting and cool, starts out nice, and then hits a solid groove , with some great panning and effect-laden guitars. Breakdowns and transitions were all great, and the solo section was sufficiently rocking. Everything felt cohesive and cool, and the sounds and production style all complimented each other. No surprise this track placed so well in DoD. A great collab, with your natural styles complimenting each other very well, and a lovely mix. yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 The lead electric is a bit muffled. Doesn't cut through very well. The snare could be wetter, as could the acoustic guitars. These are really my only significant complaints. The performances are pretty good, the arrangement is great, and the mixing is solid. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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