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The Darkest Depths of Subcon- SMB2 Final Boss Theme and Underworld Theme Remix


Mr. Gamma
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Well, first things first. That's the same YT link 2 times.

For a second ever mix, this isn't bad. But it could use some work in the freqs. The bass is lacking in the bass part. Esp. in the areas where you bring it up an octave or two. There is a nice rich bass drum sound to make up for it, but it won't be enough on its own. Gonna need help there.

The transition from one source to another is pretty obvious, it could use some help to really integrate the ideas together, rather than just switch gears.

So's that I'm not all negative, the atmosphere of this is done very well, somewhere between eerie and suspenseful. Especially at the 'break'.

There are places in this that are 'just strings' that sound a bit thin to me, help em out with a supporting sound IMHO.

Seems to hug the original MIDI pretty heavy, other than using 2 sources, you might consider tweaking the arrangement. Order, instrumentation, length, lots of things can be done pretty simply to make this pop in a few places.

It could also be that I'm only listening to the one source that's kinda repetitive. Though you get massive props for changing it up how you did. It's still pretty interesting, even if repetitive.

Hope that helps.

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There are some good things going on here, as well as some not so good things.

The Good:

I think the overall style is a pretty sweet take on these tunes. It's an interesting mesh of the two melodies, but I think it works well.

The use of percussion and percussive effects is one of the parts of this mix that really stand out to me. It's driving and liberal in diversity; this isn't just a standard drum kit with a 4 on the floor beat. I think you can sell these sounds even more if you change it up more in the busy parts, but it's quite good as is, IMO.

The transition to the "bridge" at 1:54 is a nice change of pace. It gives the mix time to breath and recouperate from being so busy. I think you can really make this something spectacular, especially before diving into the final refrain. It just sort of happens rather than building up or dropping off. Use this part of the song to surprise the listener with something new, and then drop the bottom out and hit that last tag real heavy to top it off.

The Bad:

The instrument sounds are mixed. My issue is mainly with the strings and bass. The strings sound fairly generic and have a slow attack delay on them. This is especially noticable at 1:18 when you introduce the second strain melody. This instrument just doesn't work well on the moving parts. I think your mix could really benefit from a new sound here. Maybe something gritty and choppy to change things up. Maybe a gritty and bright synth? The bass is flat throughout the song, with little to make it more than a background arpeggio. You may consider spicing it up some. You can work in some really cool filter effects, bass stutters, wah wahs, or a combination of several effects. I think something like this would really help get a lot more mileage out of that bass line, but the best way to achieve that is to switch up the writing every so often. There's plenty of room in this mix to make it jive with more than just a constantly running bass.

The writing is pretty good initially, but it gets a little boring later. I think it's mainly because the bass line becomes such a drag on everything else.

The end of this mix just sounds messy at 2:31 on to the end. It's not that it can't work, but there is so much dissonance and note collision that it's difficult to listen to. Maybe some more creative changes to either melody will make this spot mesh better. I'd suggest really kicking this part up a notch if you're going to end the mix in this manner. If you can make this combination of dueling melodies a convincing climax, it can top off the mix and achieve what I think you're looking for.

Other Thoughts:

This mix is on the fence I think. There's a lot to do to make it OCR quality, but it's also not a bad start at all. I think this has some serious potential and I'd like to hear more.

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