Retro [Man-Mind Mix]

[BlackOpsProject]

So I've been a member of OCRemix for years now and the first submission I sent in was a pretty unanimous "No" [probably for good reason]. I don't even remember what I was trying to remix anymore. Anyhoo, this is my first submission in about a decade I think. It's a remix of Retro from the N64 version of Rush 2049. I'm kinda curious to what people think of it, considering it's the first remix of any Rush game on here.

www.soundcloud.com/drinkeekrow/retro-man-mind-mix

[No Escape]

Okay let's see what we got here. The intro has some major issues. The swell effect on the leads was not smooth. They would begin swelling and then suddenly jump in volume. The lead setting sounded distorted (not in a good way), but I like the body of it. The use of panning and wind downs/ups was pretty decently implemented, though it may have been overdone a bit. One place where those effects worked well is at 1:20. At 2:15, distortion (I'm now sure the effect is intentional), again did not sound good. It sounds like overcompression and clipping. I'm noticed some nice ornamental stuff in the background, like dj scratching, and it fits pretty well. The drum arrangement is well done, and has enough change and variation to sound interesting throughout, and the patches didn't offend me at all. The crazy hard panning at 2:13 (on my DAW it's called stereo field rotate) was over the top and felt distracting rather than entertaining, though you might be fine if you just decrease the pan ratio so it stays closer to center. I like the actual arrangement itself, and I have few complaints about pitch or timing. Also, the decreasing low pass filter for the outro was a good idea, but I think it needs to be a little quicker and the whole track should be fading with it. I just realized that I keep listening to this track, so I guess you're doing something right All and all, it's a decent track that needs some work, but not a ton of work. Mostly patch changing and effects usage. Keep working at it, and sure it will get to where it needs to be.

[BlackOpsProject]

Hey, thanks for the critique! To be honest, the intro thing was kind of an afterthought. After reading your post, it is kinda starting to sound a little tacked on. The distortion effects did actually consist of a LOT of compression, and I can see why you would think it sounds a little over the top. Maybe I will do some tweaking on it soon.

Anyway, all I really used to make this was a sample I ripped from the Rush 2049 soundtrack on the N64, and a drumloop [and a lot of fx plug-ins]. The lead really isn't a plug-in patch at all, it's just a heavily processed and chopped up sample.

[BlackOpsProject]

Unfortunately, I submitted this track to the judges panel before I posted to the forums.

What would be your opinion on the chances of acceptance?

[hewhoisiam]

Uh, 50%? I would guess you get knocked for the intro and general flow of this stopping and starting. They might also nail you for the beginning (see below) as a love it or hate it thing. (children of the monkey machine had a Metroid track I didn't understand at all get accepted. First comment on the track was by OA. 'You'll either love this or hate it') I've only actually read a few of the J's decisions. So I don't actually know.

I says that because I'm not good enough to actually know something like that. The way I figure it, you want the least number of people to have objections to bits of a track to have the best chances. If you do something one way, and someone says it'd be better some other way. Could be opinion, or person C may have an answer than both like better.

[BlackOpsProject]

Fair enough. That's kind of what I was expecting to see. Lol!

I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

[hewhoisiam]

Good luck! Right after I wrote that, I went over to look at the judges decisions... Gotta say... I need to figure out how the text thing works with NOs and YESs over there. It's funny to me to see a comment full of praise, then NO

I assume it's the amount of no or yes on the scale of 7? I should really do some research... It is inspiring though that for something as varied as music, all the judges seem to have differences of opinion about the same weaknesses. Ima go read a few more prolly. Meybe gleam some incite for my stuff, you know... in 2014 after I've had a few more years to touch up my skillage.

[BlackOpsProject]

Lol! yeah a giant NO is a bit ambiguous but I suppose that keeps people from misinterpreting decisions. [or something]