Malcos Posted December 24, 2004 Share Posted December 24, 2004 Ok guys, it's me singing! The lyrics to this were written by 'Vega the Matador', a fan of mine (oh how I blush ). Anyways, let me know what you think, and don't forget the yeses. Now I know I don't sing as well as DJP, but gimme a chance lol. I better get on with judging now, a lot to get thru here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/sf2.rsn - "Sagat Stage" (sf2-21.spc) The overall vibe here was excellent. Malc did a nice job on the harmonization for the vocals. Considering I've never heard Stephen sing before this one, I was envisioning having to say something like "Hey, this isn't TOO bad," so I was pleseantly surprised. It certainly doesn't sound like the talents of a someone merely signing for the first time. I liked how subtle inflections were used for the vocals from verse to verse so that delivery wasn't always the same. Good job by Vega the Matador on providing interesting lyrics where the cadence changed up a little bit. Aside from some light reverb, no other aids such as auto-tuning were used, so Stephen's vocals were au natural. Good shit. This was some relaxed hip-hop material. I could have went for some meatier bass activity, but I'm all about the "one more time fo da bass" so that's just some personal bias. The samples used for the beats were fairly simple, but excellently sequenced, filling the frequency range nicely, along with the belltones playing the Sagat theme melody and subtle scratch effects way in the back. Good separation of sounds; everything was sounding nice and clean. I thought portions of the final break sections felt empty just resting on the distorted synth (3:12-3:17 & 3:22-3:27), and that Malc could made his vocals sound a little bit airy-er, since they were a little dry and basically unprocessed. Minor stuff in the big picture. Upon the first listen, the song seems rather dry on account of the beats, but over time the feel is better. The arrangement was excellent, the lyrics, both content & performance, were well done, and the production was crisp. Excellent work bringing more hip-hop stuff to the community. If y'all out there are interested in more hip-hop, R&B, and rap material like this, check out DCT's newly formed music collective & label, Urbanizm Music, featuring Malcos along with other prominent members of the game music remix community like fellow judge zyko, Dale North, Mythril Nazgul, Joshua Morse, and Disposer, along with other quality names like Skrybe and Tony Montana. "Throw Me a Tiger Uppercut" would certainly make a great fit there as well, but it'll be good to see another track like this hit OC and further fill out the underrepresented urban genres. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny B Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 First off, i'm not going to critique the vocals too heavily, as I am myself not too great in that area myself. Overall, they seemed.... uninspired and dry. Not bad, but my socks are most definately still on. Then we get to the arrangement. It's exceedingly simplistic. I understand that hiphop often benefits from a pleasant simplicity, but this is excessive. It's got some decent atmospheric effects, and a generally smooth groovin' vibe, but it feels very weak. The percussion has no punch whatsoever. I expect to be bopped, rocked, and hippity-hopped with these kind of tracks. The bassy-electro synth is interesting enough, but it stagnates quickly. There is no effort to filter, envelope, distort - anything. It's a static preset that gets old quick. There is little to talk about when it comes to transitions here as well, it's just intro - synth - synth with drums - vox - repeat, basically. The vocals can't save this one. Make it interesting with some kind of synthwork or a more solid rhythm section. Until then, NO -D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 I think the vocals here were solid, but (and I hesitate to say this) could have used some additional processing to be made more interesting. I certainly don't have any major problem with them as they are now, and they don't take away from the mix at all, but combined with the relative simplicity of the rest of the mix, some vocal treats might have helped. The production IS great, though - really nice balance between the different parts, great equalization, good synthwork, solid percussion. I have to disagree with Dan's request for punchier drums - I think they fit the laid-back vibe of the song well, and have a warm, tight sound to them. I would think that additional compression or layering on the snare/bass drum, for instance, would contrast poorly with the other parts of the mix. I don't have a nice speaker + subwoofer system right now, but on these headphones, I'm hearing a pretty good bass presence. A good, unobtrusive bass sound to accompany a groove is tricky to find + sequence, so I think Malcos did a good job with the bass here. It's particularly effective when combined with the distorted synth, which is a particularly rich sound that really doesn't need any more processing/automation. The subtle pads and bells are used well, too. Normally I'm a big advocate of layering, automation, and a big variety of sounds, but I think the mix really works with the selection of sounds it has in its current state. Getting back to the arrangement: after listening to the original a few times, there's no doubt in my mind that this mix is above the bar in that area. The original is pretty sparse and repetitive, and not at all like this mix stylistically - I think there's plenty of rearrangement, variation, and unique interpretation here. Overall, while additional vocal processing (or maybe even more harmonies) wouldn't hurt, this mix is above the bar. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted January 11, 2005 Share Posted January 11, 2005 That buzzy synth gets annoying for after while. I didn't like it at all. However, the chiller elements like vibes and rhodes are really nice. I the percussion is great; snappy yet unobtrusive. Good stuff there. Vocals; I wish they were better. This is no Ken song, I'll say that much; but then again, what is? I'd rather not think about realizing my Sagat. Nice interpretation, but that synth is poop. I'm gonna go with NO (borderline) on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Coma Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 I agree, that lead synth is very overused and becomes tiring, which is a problem because the listener is supposed to focus on it playing melody. The singing is okay, but could have been clearer and more enunciated. I like the bell/vibe rhythm, nice and chill. When the synth comes in for the first time while the rhythm starts the song off, the juxtaposition creates a nice texture, but the effect wears off soon as the synth goes on and on with zero alteration, and the rhythm itself cheapens. It really does ruin a lot of the song, for instance: the neat break at 3:08. Something fresh, but there's that synth again to deaden it. And why do the vocals fade out at 3:46 before the music does? They cut back in while they've already begun to fade-out; sounds terrible. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 okay. the vocals. let me say i think you have a good voice. certainly better than mine. but there are some aspects of the vocal part that dont work so well. it sounds like oftentimes you will just slightly miss the pitch, and on the longer notes you start the note off and then adjust the pitch as you hold it. the intonation is a persistent issue. it sometimes sounds like you are singing below your range, and it sounds strained. the last vocal problem is that the backup vocals are usually a bit too prominent and busy. they sound right up front with the lead, and it is sometimes overpowering. the backup vox also often sings some harmonies that seem...forced or unneccessary. these problems alone arent huge, but they make the vocals sound a bit amateurish. the instrumentation is pretty good, but it has a few problems. that saw synth can get grating, especially at sections like 2:35, which i find to be horribly aggrivating, all the way through 3:10. very little musical value here. apart from that, the drums are pretty constant thru the whole song; i would have liekd to hear some dynamic change in the quieter sections. it's a good idea and a decent mix, but there are some problems that need fixage. plz resubmit. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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