DKC2 - Lockjaw's Saga WIP

[CC Ricers]

I chose this track because I find it seldom remixed, and also wanted to keep the sense of danger you usually don't get from underwater level music. What style it is, well it's kind of cross-genre. This mix contains elements of drum & bass, dubstep, and a bit of hip hop.

The breakdown from 0:44 to 1:03 is pretty bare, that needs the most work for now. I plan to add additional effects or ambiance to fill it out.

Remix: http://soundcloud.com/cc-ricers/lockjaws-saga-wip

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdUNrVzT97s

[hewhoisiam]

I'm giving a disclaimer on this one too: I'm binging the reviews in the WIP thread, things with the work-in-progress tag in front of them, it's late, and my sanity is waning. All are opinions, sanity not guaranteed, or likely. Some things may be off. Some words may be dyslexically spelled backwards and there may be things in the post that are just plain off. The better the thing I'm listening to is, the more likely I'll come up with something off the wall to complain about. Worst case scenario if it's really good and I have nothing to say about it, I'll just start making stuff up. 'I want some more schmeere in your somoflange, then it'll be epic...' That being said, lets get going.

I love the DKC series music, lots of fun.

Certainly a unique take on the source. I listened to the mix first, and it took me a while for it to kick in 'oh yeah, I know that source.'

Anyway. This feels to me like its sorta everywhere, it could do with some development where the theme is used. The original is sorta like that though. And I have mixed feelings on this issue because I REALLY like the sounds and approach you've got... Very neat techno/DnB build ups and stuff, but then where it gets to where it should be like 'HERE IS THEME' that bit is there and gone in the blink of an eye. At 2:23 length though, you've got some leeway to expand.

The very arp sorta synth you have in the into works well where it is. But I picture a fuller sound at places like 1:45. Not sure how a fuller/less echo'd sound would mesh with the very quick, jerky DnB feel though. It's a comment that looks good, but I'd have to hear it to actually know.

Might as well let the echo at the very end of the song die down all the way, it feels cut off as is, though that's prolly cause it's a WIP.

That there actually pretty well covers the mix. It's so different that it's going in and out of the theme, in and out of trick times, suddenly stopping the theme in favor of neat sounds and effects then back. Though the more I listen to it, the more it seems to be the theme, then where there were pauses in the original and it looped or transitioned, your mix filled that space with DnB effects. Now, that sounds bad, and it's really not. Or I don't mean it to be. What I mean is that you've mostly expanded transition and effects and I'm used to hearing theme expanded. It's by no means bad. I just maintain that for my taste, I'd like to hear the theme bits repeated more and balanced out length wise to add to the melody as well as the transitions.

ARGH! MY IDEAS ARE HARD TO MAKE INTO WORDS! head.pain.cross-eyed.ideas.blarg.eat.samoflange.

Hope that helps and isn't TOO confusing.

[CC Ricers]

I understood your comments, heiswhoiam. Yeah, it does tend to be a bit all over the place right? It usually happens to my mixes early on in the production process, before they condense towards the finish. I tend to throw a couple small ideas and eliminate some of them as I go along.

At 1:45 you think it could sound fuller? Well that's what I'm getting at least, but here I actually thought this was one of the main parts of the mix, and haven't really planned to add anything else to it.

The main harmony (in the source starting at :32) does get underplayed but like you said I still have a ways to go to incorporate it further. I actually placed some of it in 1:24 to 1:34 but with an altered rhythm. Perhaps I should also extend the section at 1:34 to a couple more bars?

All the effects are also one of those things where I'm just throwing ideas and still testing out what might make the cut and what wouldn't. They'll start to sound more cohesive once I fill out the first break and intro.

Thanks for the insight, it's been very helpful.

[hewhoisiam]

@1:45 fuller might not have been what I meant. Hows about extended the idea here and really nailing what you want in the melody. The sound itself is good, just underrepresented there. That's the 'HERE IS SOURCE' reference that I was talking about. By fuller, I also mean that the heavy echo lead that you used is the same as earlier. That's fine, I just picture that for the main theme in this 'something' needs to really stand out. Be that a new instrument there, or just some extension/soloing/whatever. I think about it the way you'd write a story: You've got the main idea down, when you make the 2nd, and 3rd drafts, you go back and add details, better descriptions, add context, that sort of thing. There isn't anything wrong with it now, just sorta 'should be more' which can also be should be more clear.

@1:34 That harmony is a nice touch here. I'd like to hear it extended at least a bit. At :32 it's very subtle, so you could actually extend it in both places. Since we're talking about making things even, I'm thinking if you extend the ideas at 1:45, you'd naturally extend the harmony that comes before it by about the same amount. It just seems like to me when I get working on something, if it's an 8 bar idea, or a 12 bar idea, or whatever, transitions and new/next ideas pop up the same length, or half or double. Something that fits pretty evenly always seems to sound right. You can do like a bajillion things with it in these places after you have it the length you want it. Play with filters and stuff, pull harmonies forward and push them back with automations and stuff. Making these longer'll give you a good base to work from methinks. At least in terms of having the audience's attention to be able to follow the changes and effects. Establish first, then tweak. Of course, that's just how I think about it and it doesn't always work as my stuff tends to end up conservative and dead ended but for this, it might help. Or might not, I dunno

Also, these are mostly my opinions, which are, of course, never wrong and above contestation! I always hesitate when I give this much/this specific advice because there really isn't a right answer, only lots of opinion. If I turn on my radio one more time and hear Nickelback, I'm going to puke... but there's a reason that they're millionaire rock stars... I just blame people for having horrible taste in flavor of the week rock =)

[PrototypeRaptor]

Alright, I took a listen - this is really quite awesome, barring a few production issues.

Your main problem is filling out the soundscape - or at least compensating by using heavy limiting/compression/distortion.

see: beginning to 1:11, 0:47-1:11 especially

Once all the elements are there, the track comes together well, but until then it's just, well, boring.

Add some countermelodies, or, even better, some cut-up sfx ala noisia.

How much longer are you planning on extending this?

[Rozovian]

With technical pointers and timestamped stuff already dealt with, I'll just chime in with my main issue: the progression is a bit awkward. I know I do meandering tracks but this seems like a medley of interesting ideas but not cohesive enough. This remix is an example of a multi-style idea medley that has a progression that makes sense and is more cohesive overall. See what you can learn from it.