Super Mario Land 2- Wario's Castle

[mickomoo]

This is really a wip... I know it has huge timing issues towards the middle which is why I'm starting over again, also I'm planning on changing the drum pattern up a bit. But I mostly wanted to see how the transition to the actual song worked, first and foremost. Second, how do the instruments sound? Lastly, any ideas on what I can do with the bassline, in the song it's just one note, but it's not giving me a lot of flexibility, you think it'd be possible to make a totally new bassline? I don't even know would would compliment the melody.

for those of you unfamiliar with the source

Edit: I uploaded the newer recording, but the bassline is missing from the main part of the song

[mickomoo]

made changes to the song again. I have the same concerns though, I'm still mostly concerned with the tone of the instruments and the transition to the main song

[Guifrog]

Oh boy, I really wanna make my debut at using something from the sticky topics... I'm excited \@/ Let's go!

ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION

[X] Too liberal - not enough connections to the source (too much original writing)

PRODUCTION

[X] Low-quality samples (especially not liking that trumpet)

[X] Generic/cliche sound choices (really, that trumpet's weird! Timpani's pretty dull, too)

PERFORMANCE

[X] Timing not tight enough (strings sound lost during the track)

STRUCTURE

[X] Lacks coherence overall (no "flow". Strings seem to play something, but they just don't resolve. After some time, I thought the song was all about that running snare, and that change-up in the middle makes me think that the track lacks a direction)

[X] Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough. Snare, trumpet, strings and timpani definitely need more articulations)

[X] Too repetitive (overall, the track needs some more variation in its structure. And that timpani on the ending plays too much, with a robotic sequencing, it just gets boring)

Well, those are my thoughts on it. It was fun

But still, I think this is a very cool interpretation. I love that haunting pace, and there's some elements in your track that I dig - CRASH! TISH! BOOM! -. I like your organ, and that choir just needs to articulate.

Keep it up!

[mickomoo]

Oh boy, I really wanna make my debut at using something from the sticky topics... I'm excited \@/ Let's go!

Well, those are my thoughts on it. It was fun

Aww, lol you used OC standards I'm such a noob though lol. If you want though, I did finish this.

ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION

[X] Too liberal - not enough connections to the source (too much original writing)

Yeah I know, the intro was pretty long and stuff... if I complete the rest of the song and it was close to the original would it still have too much original writing? I used the chords from the chord progression to write the intro. In the original recording it was much shorter though.

PRODUCTION

[X] Low-quality samples (especially not liking that trumpet)

[X] Generic/cliche sound choices (really, that trumpet's weird! Timpani's pretty dull, too)

Yeah idk what to do about this, the trumpet especially. A lot of these samples are from Komplete 6, yeah and idk if I can mix well enough to bring out the best of these sounds. But what do you mean by generic though?

PERFORMANCE

[X] Timing not tight enough (strings sound lost during the track)

STRUCTURE

[X] Lacks coherence overall (no "flow". Strings seem to play something, but they just don't resolve. After some time, I thought the song was all about that running snare, and that change-up in the middle makes me think that the track lacks a direction)

[X] Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough. Snare, trumpet, strings and timpani definitely need more articulations)

[X] Too repetitive (overall, the track needs some more variation in its structure. And that timpani on the ending plays too much, with a robotic sequencing, it just gets boring)

The strings in the intro were kind of an afterthought, and the intro itself does meander onwards. I'm thinking of reducing it to 30 seconds. As for the snare, the percussion transition didn't work well?

But still, I think this is a very cool interpretation. I love that haunting pace, and there's some elements in your track that I dig - CRASH! TISH! BOOM! -. I like your organ, and that choir just needs to articulate.

Keep it up!

The choir needs to articulate? Like it needs more air?

[Guifrog]

if I complete the rest of the song and it was close to the original would it still have too much original writing? I used the chords from the chord progression to write the intro. In the original recording it was much shorter though.

That doesn't sound like the original chord progression. If you're based on it, there's a very loose connection with the source, and I wouldn't recognize it at all. You need to reference the source if you're writing something on the song, just don't make it too source-conservative or too liberal.

But what do you mean by generic though?

They're too MIDI and in every note they sound the same. That's also what I mean by "choir articulations", by the way, but I guess it happens with it due to that exhaustively played chord progression ;P

As for the snare, the percussion transition didn't work well?

It did, I like that part. During the rest of the song, though, I think you could also have some velocity changes on the snare in a few parts, so it at least could vary its sound a lil'. What I mean is, the track has two distinct parts - one is calmer and the other, louder, and they don't blend well enough for me. In order to balance things more, you could probably have a shorter intro or something.

[mickomoo]

changed the intro and made a bit more progress on the song

[DjjD]

Oh snap, another "Wario's Castle" remix...schweetness.

Alright, let's see what we got here.

In the beginning, it seems like the strings should have less "attack"...they should be more...flowing. As for the snare in the intro (and that continues throughout the whole song), I'd recommend turning down the volume just a bit.

As for the remix itself, about halfway through I start to hear the original source a bit better, and it's a bit better flowing, but I would recommend either adding a new set of drums, or just create a variation of what you are already working with.

Overall, the intro needs a better inclusion of the theme, just to keep the listener interested. But I like the work presented here, obviously this theme is one of my favorites and I think with a little more work this could be great. Definitely has potential.

[mickomoo]

Overall, the intro needs a better inclusion of the theme, just to keep the listener interested. But I like the work presented here, obviously this theme is one of my favorites and I think with a little more work this could be great. Definitely has potential.

Yeah I'm having trouble. I wanted a distinct intro, but the source doesn't have much to work with. I've been playing the cords of the first few notes but other than that, I really don't have any ideas except simply literally sticking to the song, which seemed too boring.

[DjjD]

Yeah I'm having trouble. I wanted a distinct intro, but the source doesn't have much to work with. I've been playing the cords of the first few notes but other than that, I really don't have any ideas except simply literally sticking to the song, which seemed too boring.

Well, it's definitely not an easy source to work with, there's so little to the original, that...it ultimately comes down to..."How can this be improved by way of arrangement...or texture of sounds?"

At first it kinda appears easy, since the source is simple. Anyway, keep postin' updates dude, and I'll definitely help out anyway I can.