*NO* Mega Man X3 'The Leidenfrost Effect'

[OceansAndrew]

Song name: The Leidenfrost Effect

Contact Information:

Your ReMixer name – Level 99, Hemophiliac

Your real name - Stevo Bortz, Chris Roman

Your email address – level99remixteam@gmail.com

Your website – derpa derp

Your userid – 13318, 4862

Submission Information

Name of game(s) arranged – Mega Man X3

Name of individual song(s) arranged – Blizzard Buffalo (http://ocremix.org/chip/6289 should be in there)

Composer: Kinuyo Yamashita

(Game already in OCR database)

YARR THIS BE A NOTE: Part of Maverick Rising project, do not post until after project is released if track is accepted.

Comments on the song:

Submitting this on behalf of myself and Hemophiliac. This was originally going to be my only contribution to the MR project, and I found myself banging my head against a wall for how to make it different enough from the source besides just changing it to acoustic guitar. The song, with Chris's help on arrangement and strings, ended up becoming this mellow acoustic-driven track. Hard to describe but the style should be familiar with anyone who's listened to mellow rock. The orchestration adds a lot of support to the lead guitar parts, and thanks to long Skype sessions in fundamental music theory, Chris helped me write some alternative melodies that fit in the same vein as the source. This track was a huge challenge for me after finding the style because I am naturally musically opposed to the kinds of notes the strings initially played. They grew on me as I began to understand more how the chords and notes interplayed. A great learning experience and massive thanks to Chris for helping contribute to the track.

Song is titled after the scientific phenomenon of the same name. The song juxtaposes the cold feelings of the lead and hand chimes with the warmth of the strings, the acoustic guitar, and the bass.

Source usage:

0:09-0:50 Regular source

0:50-1:30 Modified source lead, still same progression

1:30-2:00 Original section

2:00-2:29 Original section with modified source lead parts as solo

2:30-3:10 Return to Regular source

Total length: 203 seconds

Total source (roughly): 130 seconds

Percent source: 64%

~Stevo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL3m1izjzHY

[DragonAvenger]

I thought about this one for a while. I'm not sure exactly if I can place it, but something just feels...off. Some of it is the string writing. It's not blatantly wrong notes or anything, but some of it just feels like weird note choices that don't fit or lead the melodies effectively. 1:30 really sticks out to me as an example of this. I think the same can be said for the bells at times, though it's not as often an issue.

Production overall is pretty good, although the strings sound a bit too mechanical for my tastes.

I think this one needs another look-over, sorry dude.

NO (resubmit)

[OceansAndrew]

The harmonic color of this one is all over the place - the guitar is saying one thing, and the strings are often saying another. It's pretty much only in the passing tones, and it's interesting as an exercise, but it is confusing the message and statement of the song itself. Some parts the strings sound great and really contribute, and other parts, they sound like they are playing a different song.

Production was decent, though the leads could have been pushed forward a touch.

It's not bad by any means, but I think another look at the passing tones of some of the strings would do the track good.

No, please resubmit

[Vig]

Easily one of the best songs off the soundtrack. I'm loving the atmosphere, the soundscape is very rich.

AH no!! Right at :53 the string writing gets really wonky. It sounds like you were trying to use some dissonant tension, but since you use the string in a melodic line and the "dissonant" notes have no intuitive approach or departure, the tension is not established and it just sounds bad. Bad string writing continues until the 2 minute mark. Again at 2:27 2:36.

Beyond those most egregious offenses, the strings are just generally poorly written. lots of doubling, not a lot of good linewriting.

Sorry, but the strings are clearly a dealbreaker.

NO

Please resubmit because everything else about the mix is really cool.

[Liontamer]

Starts off pretty badass, with great interplay between the guitar and glassy lead. Kind of a strange choice to have sleigh bells in there and then... whoa. The strings at :53 sounded incredibly mechanical, too quiet, and completely off-key. Jeez... what happened?!?

From 1:30-2:00, the string writing was very aimless. Yeah, that's pretty much the problem the whole way through, and I'm not sure why Chris wrote it this way. Finally at 2:44 when the string started doubling the melody with some grace notes thrown in, it worked a lot better. But as is, the strings killed this dead.

Quirky as they are, I can live with the sleigh bells; they're an interesting touch. A common mistake we make on the panel is softening legit criticism with "a bit" or "a little," and I do it too. I thought Deia was WAY too forgiving for saying the strings were "a bit mechanical" when she should have said "very mechanical".

I thought OA was spot on, and I don't know shit about theory like Vig does, but I know F'ed up part-writing when I hear it. I'm in agreement, the arrangement generally sounds solid. If the string had worked, it could have pulled off a really cool James Bond/spy vibe. But the strings need to be totally re-written to work with the rest of the track. Better string articulations and more presence. Sorry to lay it on you like that, Chris, but you should be capable of getting this back on track with some more focused writing that would really making everything click. DEFINITELY resub this, this is too good to leave it as is and not realize its potential.

NO (resubmit)

[Palpable]

Closing this out.