*NO* Treasure Conflix 'HOMMAGE A NAKANO'

[djpretzel]

The title of this mix [HOMMAGE A NAKANO] comes from the fact that I know ABSOLUTELY nothing about the game. However, I do know alot about Junya Nakano. He often likes to take one musical idea and develop it very gradually throughout the course of a song. This ReMix is of the "shop" theme from Treasure Conflix. The original is really about 15 seconds long, however Nakano himself would have been able to stretch it out considerably had he wanted to, so that's what I have attempted to do. I tried to incorporate his style of repitition with gradual developement.

[Liontamer]

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/tcx.rsn - "Shop" (tcx-07.spc)

Considering I listened to the source tune after this, I was really surprised by how much of the original's offbeat nature and vibe were present here. Would have never expected the source tune itself to sound the way it did, yet it also makes me appreciate the ideas within this one a lot more. The very beginning comes off very dry, but there were excellently used sounds here and you'll enjoy when things pick up via a new melody (:13) and countermelody (:25) placed on top of the arranged source tune, along with some additional effects at :35.

The source tune is very short, but this used it well as the foundation of the piece. The first 1:30 is all about the subtle, gradual addition of one element after the other; in that way, the structure moved away from being too repetitive. I wouldn't have minded hearing a break in that pattern around the 45-second point that would have quickly led right back to the opening pattern, but I nonetheless like the understated buildup all the way until 1:30. While fairly low-key and subtle in the presentation, this also carries the fullness I felt was lacking in "Hunter's Community Chest", so this is a lot more where I feel tracks like this need to be in order to make the most of them. Nice work here, Sambubula.

Just as I said that, I got the switchup at 1:32 to whatever the hell this harp-style stuff is; it's great. Someone else identify whatever the hell this is. Combined with the melody, it's both haphazard and beautiful in any case, and the way the arranged melody returned at 1:50 was very well executed. Though this isn't the densest remix, this section represented very good building and progression from such sparse beginnings.

I felt the ending material (2:51-end) should have been a lot stronger as a resolution and was the low point here; it probably could have been lopped off in order to fashion an ending in the style of the previous section. Ah well. If you're a fan of very crazy perc work and effects, you'll be down. I'd be interested in seeing what a collab with The Wingless, Israfel or zykO could produce.

This was more along the lines of what I was waiting for from Sam's stuff since I heard "Red Spiders." Offbeat, moist and flavorful, but with the crunchy stuff too, much like the cornerpiece from a pan of brownies. Yeah, that made no sense. [/Wingless] All things considered, yet another mix, yet another reason to join Sam's eclectic-lovin' fanbase.

YES

[DarkeSword]

Wow. Not everyone's cup of tea, I'll tell you that. This is very experimental stuff. I wasn't so sure when it started out—seemed really dry—but after a minute or so it really started to develop into something sonically interesting. Nice texture going on with all of the pure electronic stuff. Drum filtering is crazy.

Pretty avant guarde stuff. I like it.

YES

[The wingless]

This song pisses me off for the simple reason that many people are just "not going to get it" and as such, they are going to be instantly turned off, and wont bother to hear all the really fascinating things happening in tandem with other fascinating things. So yes, this song enrages me simply because it will never be fully appreciated by the CounterStriking Ohh Emm Ehf Ghee people of the world.

I weep for you, sir. I weep, and give you a YES

[GrayLightning]

Ok, perhaps outside israfel, no one on the panel appreciates avant garde more than I, however, I can't agree with the other judges on this one.

It's hard to critique the structure, form and arrangement of this kind of genre because really there aren't that many rules one can adhere to. But for me the result and execution of it just doesn't work.

I think the arrangement is certainly unique, but I don't feel the arrangement really works or is as interesting as his other works; and the execution, production, mixing, and mastering are well below what I've come to expect from Shnabubula or from the standard for that matter.

I do like the drum and percussive work. Drumwork is very good all around and has interesting mix processing.

As far as the entire mix, overall, the production, sound quality though is average through and through in my book, and the effects processing is kind of bland as well.

I really can't find any reason for a YES so my vote is

NO

[Vig]

The sound quality is lots better than hunter's community chest, that's for sure. however, the arrangement isnt nearly as inspired. It's repetitive, the ideas arent terribly interesting. I think what made Community Chest so interesting was that all the chaos seamlessly transitioned back to order; that mix had a great quality of resolution to it's ideas.

this one has no such resolution. this song clearly didnt take as much planning as the former. There's no yang to the yin in this song. the chaos serves no real purpose, and it doesnt go anywhere.

just not as impressive or inspired as Community Chest. for something so unusual to work, it needs to have some kind of direction or point.

NO

[Digital Coma]

Source material isn't much. Shnabulba has embellished upon it with his usual bag of tricks, but the arrangement as a whole feels unfinished and unresolved, as most evident with the final (C?) section when the song starts blowing in the wind somewhere in an undirected tangent and trips and falls its way into a dull ending.

Individual compositonal spots such as the synth bass, glissando harmonies, and drumwork shine, but are featured for only a short time in an already short mix. 'Hunter's Community Chest' was a superior developed and cohesive work in the same artistic vein.

NO

[zircon]

I'm not feeling good about this mix, for a number of reasons. First, let me say that I have nothing against avante garde music and have dabbled in the genre quite a bit myself. However, I think there are some major problems here that can't be overlooked, despite the fact that I very much appreciate when remixers think out of the box and make more experimental music. The source tune is extraordinarily sparse, with maybe.. 15 seconds of material total and a bare progression. Turning that into 3:20 of music is going to be very hard and require lots of original work. I think that Shnabubula's effort is commendable. I can detect the original through all of the layers, and the mix works with the simple melody and progression well. My problem with the arrangement is its structure. I believe our standards call for a more defined concept - not just lots of synth patches, harmony lines, breakbeat-style percussion, and original material rolled together in no particular order.

To build on what I'm saying about the structure, I suppose I should bring up Hunter's Community Chest. In that mix, though the source was better, there was a more solid structure. The arrangement took a slew of esoteric sounds and combined the original material with variations and improv to create a very creative interpretation of the original. There was progression which involved changing sounds and parts of the original melody, but also layering and chaos at appropriate times. Getting back to this mix, though, I just can't see much of a concept at all. You could cut up this mix into 8 different parts and rearrange them and essentially no one would notice. There's some hint of buildup in the middle of song, which was promising, but that turned into more chaos and a whirlwind of synths and all-over-the-place drums at about 2:28, not returning to melodic ideas. All things considered, I firmly believe this mix pushed the boundaries of acceptable arrangement a little too far.

The sounds themselves, outside of the drums, are exceedingly plain and boring - most of the synth patches appear to be quite simplistic, not only in programming but also in lack of interesting sequencing/automation. I think that when you're working with a synth-laden arrangement, it's important to make sure that the sounds have some depth to them. Things you might consider: throwing in some filter sweeps, bitrate/samplerate reductions, resonance drops/increases, rapidfire mono slides, or even pulse width/pitch modulation. Because the arrangement itself doesn't really contain any exciting ideas (mostly the fault of the source tune), it's vital to make up for that by ensuring your melodic sounds are lively and dynamic. In this mix, I'm hearing a wide variety of melodic and harmonic sounds, but because they are all so basic, they don't do much to keep my attention.

The drumwork here is by far the most interesting part, but I think it's overly spastic and chaotic in nature and never really falls back into a groove. It forms a bridge to the ending, which is abrupt and without resolve. Don't get me wrong: I can't get enough of crazy panning/filtering/phasing (etc) on drums, and I think McVaffe, Rellik, and tefnek, among others, really get that down well. The key difference between their drumwork and the drumwork here, though, is that some sort of underlying groove, pattern, or rhythm exists to keep the piece on track. I want to emphasize this, because it ties back to the earlier problem I have with the structure of the mix. Going nuts with your drums is a fine idea, but when it's practically what you're relying on to progress the mix, it has to be used more sparingly. I would encourage creating some more 'grounded' drum patterns and using those as the foundation for the breakbeat/processed drumlines.

There are some cool ideas in this mix, and it is very clear to me that the mixer has a lot of technical knowhow. Nonetheless, the problems here are large enough to merit a NO vote from me.

[zykO]

don't know where to start with this one. i agree that this is going to need a lot more to YES it because it isn't by any means an easy arrangement to qualify.

let me echo gray, zircon and israfel concerning the avant garde - i am highly compatible with this sort of art and on first listen, i was amazed by the drum writing and the tricked out rhythms throughout the track. the filtering on the break beats and the panning on the drums is stellar. it was surprising how much of the offwall, erratic nature of the track was present in the original but what impresses me most is how this still takes it so much further and does not get overwhelmed by the original's loopyness in being fresh, courageous and impressive.

the panning is entertaining as shit. i love pieces that consistently test your ears and keeps you interested in the full soundfield all the time.

as far as it's arrangement, i don't think "You could cut up this mix into 8 different parts and rearrange them and essentially no one would notice". in the end, we can only qualify what we consider to be the structure especially when confronted by a piece like this does not appear to be structured.

having said that, my most defined criticism of this piece is, and ultimately what will factor in my decision, are of the synths; they just don't sound good. though there is a great spectrum of tones in the mix, there is a certain abrasive nature to them that makes it hard to listen to

eh. its an awesome work and not everybody is going to like it. perhaps too experimental but i won't take a YES away because its unlikely that a lot of the site's visitors will like it.

[Israfel]

Wow- I've been mentioned three times in this thread and I haven't even voted yet.

First of all, I do feel that the work is too short and would have benefitted greatly from having more time to develop. The layering of ideas that you have for the first 1:30 is very nicely done, and had you continued layering and then gradually removing the layers until the end of the piece I feel the form would have been much more satisfying. As it is, the work feels torn between process music and a more sectional approach with neither idea being seen through to completion. The ending is quite weak as well, but this likely a result of the confused and underdeveloped form more than anything else.

Everything else seems quite strong to me, but in this current state the work feels too incomplete to pass.

a reluctant NO

[Malcos]

Wha this sounds wicked! I like the way that the original has been used here. I'm digging that B section like crazy.

I would give this a yes but for only thing, and that is that this seems like it should flow, but it doesn't - suddenly the flow is changed. It works from A to B, but then when C comes in it's just too much of a change.

Oh Israfel just said the same thing.

As it is, the work feels torn between process music and a more sectional approach with neither idea being seen through to completion.

I think if refined, this would make a really good addition to the site.

NO

(please resubmit)

As for not many people getting it, well that's their problem. I just love experimental stuff like this.

[Liontamer]

For any interested parties, Sam sent me the following message for the panel.

Hey, I just want to thank all the judges for the feedback and stuff on HOMMAGE A NAKANO.

Unfortunately I do not have the time to refine/resubmit. I felt I should tell you guys that so that you understand I am not snubbing you by not resubmitting, It's just I honestly don't have that option.

Basically I've been spending all my time practicing [i was really slacking off for a while there]. I mention this in the submission e-mail for my final song {final for a while not forever... just until I finish the stuff I'm working on at the moment : Chopin Op. 10 and 25. It should take me about six months.... if I'm lucky}.

I agree with most of the criticisms that were made and I'd honestly like to use them to make the song better ..... but I just don't have the time.

Anyway thanks again for your input everybody and also to Liontamer for giving me the heads up about the situation. Until next time Seacrest Out!!

Thanks to Sam for being courteous with the results of the judging. Maybe he'll have a chance to post the mix over at VGMix in the near future so others can enjoy it, as well as possibly revisit it way down the line.

In the meantime, we haven't officially received Shna's next submission yet, but it'll be on the way to the panel in the near future, so you haven't heard the last of him!