Liontamer Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 I got an email a couple of weeks ago telling me my submission got a 404 error and told me to contact the judges. I had it linked to the DoD site and by the time it got around to judging time, they had taken all the songs down. I have it hosted on my own space now Game: Metroid Name: Interstellar Remixerz: Koelsch1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny B Posted April 4, 2005 Share Posted April 4, 2005 I don't know where to start on this one. Maybe it's my groove bias, but random crazy sax shit to me should actually fit in somehow. Also with the lack of any substantial backing underneath it, or appreciable rhythm, I can't see any reason to pass this. This is too weird to be interesting even. I can't even think of any constructive criticism. Sorry dude. NO -D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted April 4, 2005 Author Share Posted April 4, 2005 http://www.zophar.net/nsf/metroid.zip - Tracks 9 ("Tourian"), 8 ("Item Acquisition Fanfare") & 5 ("Kraid") Heh. Well, I'll tell ya, that's certainly interesting material. I'd get my comments from The Shizz for this decision, but the Minibosses forum got pruned. Basically what it amounts to is that the arrangement is just too out there. Not too much discernible Metroid in the sax work, though the keyboard & piano thankfully use the source material more overtly. Basically looking for more thematic connection to the source tune, rather than basically going off on your own thing for most of the 3 1/2 minutes. The intro handled "Tourian," and at least for the first 32 seconds I felt Koelsch managed to apply his style to some genuine rearranging of the source. Throughout the rest of the 2:26 of the arrangement dedicated to Tourian though, the sax on lead didn't do anything but freestyle with occasional bursts of the Item music (1:01/1:30). After all that, we also got some usage of Kraid with the sax even following the piano from 2:54 until basically the end, then some more freestyle work that squeaked as it ended abruptly. One thing I was particularly disappointed with was the production being so weak. If the sax performance was more coherent and derived from the source material, this might have more of a shot as something unique given solid production, even with such a relatively sparse soundscape. Yet everything sounds too distant. Bring some level of polish to the sounds. I know you're capable of promising execution on production with a piece like "Blind Eternity" in terms of production, and I thought your remix of some of Trance-Canada's original material in "Serenade in Sweet Blue" was the nicest production yet on one of your predominantly live pieces. Step up the quality here so things sound as crisp, then work some post-production effort on making things sound moody, troubled and so forth. I'm not gonna complain much about the sax performance. If someone else wants to offer specific criticisms, they're more than welcome to. I dunno what type of sax he's using personally. Maybe run the piece by Mustin & The OneUps and see if any of the members have comments as well. I thought the sax sounded alright given the context, as it seemed to fit your concept of the track in generally sounding thin, nervous & shaky. So going full circle, what I was more concerned with was your performance mostly featuring freeform work instead of overt variations of the source material. Not to sound constricting, especially because I clearly see that the piano & keyboard were handling things on arrangement, but we also need more of that connection on the lead as well. Get the arrangement ideas into a more overtly interpretive route, even if that means modifying your performance to some degree, and work on the production. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Alright, I'll say it. Koelsh knows little to nothing about phrasing. He and others try to pass it off as his style, calling it "abstract" or "free jazz." i'm familiar with free jazz. Ornette Coleman comes to mind, being a saxophonist. and let me tell you, free jazz !=lack of phrasing. I think it's fairly easy to hear the difference. free arrangement and lack of key or structure is very different from this, which is koelsh having finger spasms more or less completely at random. This should have recieved the form letter. NO Koelsh, you need to start practicing more and start thinking about phrases while you play. I dont know if you think you are a strong "avant-garde" saxophonist, but this isnt a strong avant garde performance, it's just lousy playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wingless Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 I'm in the same boat as the Longhair, but I'm going to temper his critique by being Paula to his Simon. I really like the avante-gardeiness of it all. I really do. I'm just wierd like that. And yet, I am not so weird as to understand that virtually 95% of the OCR fanbase would find this passing an incomprehensible phenomina [sic]. I myself have no problem passing it, aside from this little "phrasing" problem Vigi brought up. While you have an obvious structure with the piano, the sax is freewheeling all over the place. Alright, I get that. But too much of that gravity-less movement gets irritating, which is where the phrasing comes in. You can be as scrambly as you wanna be, just so long as you root that randomness in something the ear can percieve. Hence, the phrasing. Phrasing is what's going to make this a purposeful abstraction, rather than a knot of sound. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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