*NO* Donkey Kong 64 'Sultan's Pride (Dance of Dubai)'

[DragonAvenger]

Name: Trevor Burch

ReMixer Name: Vibratissimo

email: vibratissimo@gmail.com

userID#: 26877

Game: Donkey Kong 64

Song Mixed: Angry Aztec

Hello again,

I've sat on this for quite a while now; I believe that I finished this mix soon before the evaluation of my last work (DKR) was posted...back in November or something O.o

Although I did somehow end up choosing another Dave Wise track that dabbles in Middle Eastern styles, my new submission, entitled "Sultan's Pride (Dance of Dubai)," is styled much differently and is chock-full of some killer source material and variety, including some subtle-but-effective mixed meter and an outro that was DEFINITELY NOT inspired by Tunak Tunak Tun

I hope that you all will enjoy it!

Musically,

Trevor aka Vibratissimo

----------------------------------------

What I like about this arrangement is that it expands on the original while still keeping that "Aztec" feel. The structure has a few changes, but the melodies themselves aren't too different from the original. What really helps this track are all the little additions that really fill out the soundscape and pull everything together. The transitions work very well, and my favorite part is the mixed meter section right at the end.

The sounds aren't the greatest, especially the strings, but I think they are treated well and used so that there aren't many exposed weaknesses. There were a few sections that felt just a bit crowded, but not to a point where it was a real distraction.

Overall I think this gets the job done. YES

[OceansAndrew]

I think one thing this mix does really well is trims the arrangement fat in a very intelligent manner. The original has a lot of extended quasi-ambient sections that work perfectly in the context of the game, but as a stand alone song aren't as effective.

Taking the most melodic and compelling parts of the original and linking them together with a bunch of bananas, er, bunch of good personalization and expansion is a sure fire win in my book. My only real complaint is the semi-abrupt ending. I think a stronger flourish would have been more appropriate to the arrangement.

The percussion layers were great and kept the beat driving while taying interesting, and the mix of synths and samples was pretty good. The balance was a little muddy in some of the busier sections, but nothing killing the feel of the mix. Everything was still clean and audible. The strings were slightly weaker, but used as a background element, they were good enough, and that's the context so it's cool with me.

Nice stuff, I dig it.

Yes

[Palpable]

Love the intro, that's a great way to get the listener amped up for a song. Unfortunately, past that, I wasn't quite as enamored with this song as my fellow judges. 0:26-1:00 was pretty neat if not that different from the original, but 1:01-1:28 was a weak section with the strings sounding fake and the lead not standing out much. The remaining sections had some cool ideas, though the compression cramped them down and dulled their impact. This was especially a problem in the last section of the song, the buildup there wasn't felt. You might need some EQ clean-up, probably in the pads. I also think the beat could have been tweaked, both the kick and snare are pretty dull without much high-end. I can picture a snare with more bite to it really bringing out the energy in this track. Finally, one small issue - the transition at 1:55 wasn't that great. It kind of came out of nowhere.

Overall, the ideas are stronger than the execution but there are some issues on both ends. Nothing here is major, but a few minor issues in conjunction make me want to push for a resubmit. This has a good chance of getting my vote with even some of those things fixed, and who knows - with two YESes so far, you may get the go ahead anyway.

NO (resubmit)

[CHz]

Like Palp, I feel like some of the production choices are making this a bit flatter than it could be. The compression particularly hurts the builds at 1:00-1:46 and 3:14-3:50, making them less impactful than they could be. The drums are also pretty punchless, which is fairly noticeable in that final segment starting at 3:14. There's a bit of crowding in the really busy parts, but it's not too bad and the leads are pronounced enough.

The writing is generally pretty good. It starts off pretty close to the original for the first minute, but after that the melody goes though a lot of twists and turns. The production issues combine to be a bit too much, though. Solid work so far.

NO (resubmit)

[DarkeSword]

I played this game quite a bit when I was younger, and I was quite fond of this source tune.

Intro was great but you lost me at :28ish, when that fakey mechanical sitar comes it. Coupled with big sustained pads and very weak percussion, the whole thing feels very lethargic.

The variation in this piece is pretty nice though, but I think that the production issues mentioned by other judges are hurting it.

You should look into some better samples and balance them better. 2:50 especially feels a bit crowded.

Cool piece, I'd like to see some revisions.

NO, resub

[Vig]

I dig the low end..the pads, etc. I also think the arrangement is pretty cool, although at times it could use additional punch and energy to emphasize some of your interesting rhythmic ideas. In particuar, the snare could use a lot more presence. However, this track is pretty good as it is.

YES

[Fishy]

Extremely promising start, but I must agree with my nay-saying comrades; the production here is lacking somewhat. I feel that with some punchier drums and more aggressive mixing this could go from aight to awesome. I guess it works as it is, but to me it sounds like you could make take this up a few levels and not doing so would be a darn shame.

The main offenders are that string break after a minute and the drums in general. Flimsy thin kick, needs a phat ass thumper to keep this going. Layer in some more layers of percussion over the top of it. You can be a lot bolder with this mix, and I think it will pay off. It could be brighter and it's needs more bass like the one during the intro. Also you can totally do better then ending.

I'd really want to hear this when it's taken up a notch.

NO, but plz resub

[Liontamer]

The opening sounds seemed pretty cool. The melody at :26 had some embellishments, though it was disappointingly close to the original in both the melody and overall tone. Coupled with the pad-like countermelodic writing also sounding pretty straightforward, it really looked like there needed to be more melodic interpretation.

The strings at 1:00 could have been exposed worse, but at the same time, they definitely did NOT sound great. Refining the articulations a bit would be helpful.

Production-wise, the part-writing, particularly during the verses, was a bit too basic and simplistic. The other Js criticizing the drum writing were correct.

That said, despite a bit of a persistent muddiness to the overall soundscape, the instrumentation generally sounded good and you had a full texture.

I definitely don't want to come off as too negative on this song, because this is better than maybe 85% of any NOs. While the potential is there, the part-writing needed to be a bit more progressive and varied, and the melodic interpretation also needed to go beyond what was there, especiall with instrumentation that had a pretty similar sound to the original.

Once you're able to fully realize the potential of this piece and get a bit more sophisticated with the writing and interpretive with the arrangement, you already had the production and sound balance in a pretty solid state.

Even if you don't keep at it on this mix, Trevor, I'm eagerly looking forward to future stuff from you and hope you continue to learn. The potential is definitely there.

NO (resubmit)