*NO* Mass Effect 2 'Intrepid'

[Liontamer]

morning, strangers. hope all is well.

at magfest, i heard josh whelchel talk about the indie music cancer drive. i thought it sounded pretty awesome, so i asked if i could be a part of it. he thought it was an excellent idea - so, i wrote a piece to go on the two-disc effort. i had literally just finished playing mass effect (i started this remix on the 2nd of february), and the main theme, which is particularly prevalent throughout the last stage of the game, really struck me as being an incredibly epic and awesome concept even though it was so simple. i knew i had to remix it.

one of the things my work with novo interactive (an independant XBLA game studio) has taught me is to look beyond the box when it comes to what genres i'm comfortable working in. i have gotten into a groove lately, producing tracks with heavy ethnic influences that are mostly classical, with electronic and jazz influences - and i wanted to break that groove and try something way beyond my comfort zone.

i've never worked with a beatslicer before, and so i said to myself, "self, let's do some slicing and experiment with some different ideas". i had a two-bar drumloop stuck in my head, so i wrote it down, slowed it way down, and started playing with pitch-shifting and stuttering effects. i used several gated and rhythmic pads from omnisphere's extensive library, a nice bass from the same company's trilogy VST, a few FL synths, and a 2mb soundfont of a trumpet i had found a while back on hammersound...and a really awesome piece came out of it. so, seven channels plus omnisphere (where i had eight patches on the internal mixer).

the song is based on the main theme heard throughout the ME2 soundtrack. it comes around most notably in "The End Run" and "Suicide Mission", but it also appears in "The Normandy Reborn" (altered), "The Lazarus Project" (right at the beginning, then in various forms throughout), and a few others. these are all available on youtube - i won't link them, because i can't guarantee that they'll be there when you'll be judging due to takedown notices and that kind of stuff. if you need them, i can give you the mp3s, but i'm sure BGC can supply them if need be.

you'll notice that there are two versions of my song there. i realize that my primary submission (the one titled simply intrepid) is a liberal take at best of the theme, using only the melody and some rhythmic elements to tie it to ME2. so, i created a "v2" that uses the exact melody and chord structure of the theme as it appears in "The End Run". the form is exactly the same, since the chord structures between my arranged version and the original are very similer (Cm Eb Bb G7 in v1 vs. Cm Ab Bb Fm7 in the original). the main reason i changed it is because i just didn't like the sound of the Fm7 leading to the Cm every time. sounded a bit boring. the G7 - and the B natural that it brings into the piece - allows for more creative voice leading throughout the instruments. i'd ask that you judge the first version, and if it is too liberal (i think it works, but then i've studied the score a lot more than everyone except for BGC on the panel) then look at the second one as my 'revision'. i asked shariq about this in IRC an hour ago, and he said that it was ok. regardless of which version is accepted, i'd like the title of the track to simply be "intrepid".

the reason i'm submitting both at the same time is that i'm hoping that one of these versions might be released when the interview that you're doing with the composers of ME2 is released, similar to the Christopher Tin interview, or the Deus Ex remix thing that BGC was involved in. i just didn't want there to be miscommunication regarding the status of a redo, if need be.

ok, longest sub email i've ever written is over. thanks for listening, guys. let me know if there's anything i can do to assist in this.

submission information

your remixer name: the prophet (think we can get that changed in the remix artist realm as well, now that my forum name's been changed? thanks!)

real name: bradley burr

email address: bradley.burr@gmail.com

website: http://prophet.escariot.net

userid number: 8761 (that changed recently, i used to be higher than 12k, i think)

name of game arranged: Mass Effect 2 (aka Jesus: The Sequel)

name of individual songs arranged: "The End Run"

additional information about game: all on the site already

link to OST: you'll have to go through youtube, for reasons listed above

own comments: see above

BRAD

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[The Orichalcon]

I had a big conversation about this piece with Jimmy and Larry on IRC. There seems to be a bit of confusion over v1 and v2. To clarify, I listened to v2.

The majority of the mix seems to be based on a particular phrase from the original file, which is from 1:55 in the Youtube link. I'm ok with one particular part of a source tune being used and embellished upon to constitute an entire mix, so long as it's done well.

There's plenty of work done on that particular phrase in this remix. There are new elements and older elements being brought in and dropped out through the mix. Constantly played around with. The beatslicing is great. If it's a single loop through the entire mix chopped up, I never got bored with it. You've done a great job slicing and making the beat and percussion interesting.

The quality of the mix is superb. You've kept the dramatic feel of the source and made it sound a bit more futuristic electronic, which is what Omnisphere seems to be good at doing.

That being said, I feel you're pushing that particular phrase too far in extending the mix to 6 minutes. I would've liked to have seen a switchup at some point. There is a downperiod at 3:00 in, but it's just a calmer section of what is essentially the same phrase. A change in key, a different phrase. Something else to keep the interest of the listener up before switching back to that epic phrasing you've used in the latter half of the mix.

I'm still happy with it to pass. It's up to the other judges whether or not it's gone too far with repetition. YES

[OceansAndrew]

Wow this one takes awhile to get moving. You'd be better served cutting the first 47 seconds off completely, IMO. I mean, the sounds used are pretty good, but when the drums (which are great) aren't going, it was pretty dull and tended to drag. The lack of vibrato on the trumpet was a bit off-setting too, especially for something that was legato the entire time.

I am really trying to get into this one, and there are parts where it is working super well (1:20 comes to mind), but there's a ton of fat that could be trimmed here.

My suggestions would be to make the drums hit harder or do something to mix up the different levels so there is a more defined dynamic curve. Because everything is pretty much legato or super verbed with some drums that come in sometimes. This has some great ideas, and some great sounds, but there needs to be more substance to the style, and that just needs some additional work to writing in some more exciting transitions, maybe some parts where instead of a bunch of different parts going at once, but some unison stuff to punctuate things, and a more concise telling of it all. Sorry bro, but I don't think it's quite there. :-(

no, please resubmit

[anosou]

Well, I'll get right on it then. My biggest issue is that this remix could've been over around 4 minutes in. The repetition is a big issue in an otherwise very good arrangement. It's nice that you found a beatslicer (they're fun) but it's not enough to carry the track variation-wise. There's some clever development but like I said, overall this could've been about two minutes shorter.

On the plus side though production is good, sounds are interesting and the small theme is handled pretty well. Some additional variation, especially the theme in a different setting, would help though. Thought the trumpets sounded pretty good all things considered though I wish another instrument would carry the track from time to time. The entire track is kind of dragging because there's a lack of variety in both melody, backing and dynamics. This track definitely does a lot of things well but I find myself getting extremely worn out around the 3-minute mark every time I listen..

More variation (dynamic, melodic and in "sound") would really help this. Right now it's balancing the border but the length and lack of variation makes it fall on the NO side of it, sorry man.

NO(resubmit)

[DragonAvenger]

Mostly going to be repeating Andrew and Mattias here. I like the beats you have going on, and there are some fantastic parts arrangement-wise, but there's a lot going on here that feels excessive, repetitive, or isn't really helping the development of the piece. If you trim this down, I think the entire mix will be more effective, and emotive. Changing the lead will help too. I love trumpet (and I'm biased), but open up your lead options to keep our ears busy. Typical choice would be a violin, which would sound good in this context. Cello might be good to, to get something in the lower range.

The trumpet sample is decent, which is hard to do with brass, but OA's right that the lack of vibrato is hurting it. I'd also like to see if you can get a more open sound out of it, right now it feels very closed.

I think you can get the balance just right in V3. NO (resubmit)

[Palpable]

I loved the intro to this, thought the buildup was excellent and I love the haunting and unusual combination of instruments. Don't listen to OA, he's just weird. I can see why Lee passed this because there's a lot of positive to this track. Unfortunately, I have to agree with the others that this started to wear around the 3:00 mark and doesn't have enough ideas to carry it for 6 minutes. This is one of those songs where I literally might say YES if the last 2-3 minutes were chopped off. This is your best production yet (though there's still a couple tweaks you could make - vibrato on the trumpet, more low-end), and the colorful arrangement concept is solid. With a shorter second half, or alternatively, one with more detail, this would be a pass.

NO (resubmit)

[Liontamer]

I dunno why everyone was being so nice to that brass sample, pointing out the flaw, but saying it wasn't a big deal. It sounded downright brutal compared to everything else, and was extremely fake-sounding, exposed, shrill and repetitive. It just blared out on top of the track and didn't even sound like it was in the same soundscape as the rest of the instrumentation. It dragged this down to NO.

Get rid of it, it just cheapens the track. If you can program strings well, go for some emotive, resonant single and layered strings with instead. It's a suggestion.

I can see where the others were coming from regarding the track dragging; it could stand to be shortened. But as long as the lead was fixed/replaced with something that fit the track, I'd pass this in a heartbeat. I can understand this being more a piece that served as something to kick back to that subtly evolves for a long time. However, it DID drag some because the melody was basically cut-and-pasted ad nauseum with that awful brass work, same volume every time. The lead got boring and repetitive even though there was so much great stuff and ear candy happening behind it.

The drum programming and subtle mutations going on were great to listen to. I also loved the original countermelody on piano (first used at :47), which fit seamlessly with the source arrangement, even if it was drowned down too much during some sections. You may want to consider making it more audible throughout the track.

Arrangement-wise, this was some good usage of the source with a constant presence. Just swap the brass lead for something good, and work with any other crits from the Js that you think you can use, and send this on back. Don't think you need to blow up what's here, Brad; the overall arrangement is solid. This just needs tweaks to push it over the bar, and we definitely want to post this.

NO (refine/resubmit)