djpretzel Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 ReMixer name: Andrew Rothman real name: Andrew Rothman email address: music@arothman.com website: www.arothman.com userid: arothman Name of game: Unreal Name of individual song: Hub 5 Name of remix: The Trench (Revisited) DOWNLOAD: Additional information about game if it has not yet been added to the site, including composer, system, etc. Unreal, © 1998 Epic Megagames Inc. - original soundtrack by Straylight (Alexander Brandon, Michiel Van Den Bos, Andrew Sega, others). Mac/PC. Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc. I loved this track from the moment I first got my butt wasted by the Titans, Gasbags and Skaarj troops in "The Trench" and would sometimes play the level just to hear the music. I always wanted to do some sort of cover or remix of it, and when I upgraded to Reason 3.0, I felt it was a good project to flex the new muscles. I completed this track over a weekend, constantly listening back to my CD of the original tracker file and comparing. Once I'd made a relatively exact copy of the original song, I proceeded to mix and tweak, adding guitar sounds and an ending (the original loops indefinitely). I'm pretty pleased with the results... hope you are too! Drew www.arothman.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 Don't have the source, but the vibe certainly conjures up images of FPS games where you have to kill a bunch of your friends and you bitch about your network connection lagging and the other players cheating all day. Don't like the name of the mix because submissions with names like this tend to imply that there's not much interpretation of the original. In any case, I'mma have to fly without the source here. The groove is certainly alright, so you're doing a decent job of biasing me. The sounds are fairly default-ish, but are used moderately well. However, the texture is very thin and doesn't fill up the space very much, so you should do something to thicken up the soundfield. The pizzicato strings at 2:13 sounded WAY too synthetic and exposed, and the same went for the vox arriving at 2:23 with some very robotic note-to-note movements there. The groove retread itself at 2:42 with the vox, some light SFX and some synth guitar (boooo) on top. It's hard to find an example of synth guitar done well. Hang in the ReMixing forum and research how to achieve a more realistic sound for synth guitar. Decent fade-out ending; nothing wrong there to me. Wish I had the original to compare to (i.e. gimme gimme, other judges), but making the call without it, I'd say work towards a fuller texture by thickening up and or replacing some of the synths, and fix up some of the more minor details pointed out above. Right now, the track just kinda plods along with its groove and isn't too interesting, so anything you can do beyond 2:42 to not retread the opening so much would be helpful in preventing things from becoming monotonous. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wingless Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 Oh unreal... how I have endorsed thy franchise from late '97 to the tournament years well unto the next-gen! Sadly, I've loved Unreal for so long, I can hardly remember what the source toon sounded like. Let's assume, but for a moment, that there are no issues in carbon-copying and that there is a delightful balance between artist additions and source foundation. There's some nice EQ work between the drums and melodic instruments. The grove is certainly listenable and foot-tappable. But I'm with Larry in that there are parts that feel either too hollow, or too repetative. I'm especially concerned with the second half, which is a verbatim repeat of the first half. This is that part where you should, as Puff Daddy sez, rock the vote. The second half is in dire need of variation or development or evolution or something. This is essentially, it's a 2 minute song, times two. And a fade out ending? You die, Joe. NO More development More variation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmony Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Well wingless, don’t worry about remembering the source because Andrew here has recreated it here for us quite nicely. Please check the submission guidelines before submitting next time Andrew. If this was a midi I’d say midi rip, if I was being nice I’d say great cover, if I wasn’t a noob judge I’d say no override…but I’ll leave that to the veterans. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Don't like the name of the mix because submissions with names like this tend to imply that there's not much interpretation of the original. /listens to Unreal - Fifth (Hub5), courtesy of Harmony I knew it. For real, bro, READ THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Submission Instructions & Standards]In terms of arrangement - how close or distant ReMixes should be to the original - the general rule is that the ReMix should be YOURS. We don't just mean that you were involved in its creation, but that it is different enough from the original so as to readily illustrate the contributions, modifications, and enhancements you have made. In other words, don't just take the original and drop a few drum loops on top. Also, don't simply take a MIDI file and assign new instruments to the parts, or add reverb, and expect that to pass as 'yours'. When we say 'ReMix', we actually mean something closer to 're-arrangement', if that helps clarify. If you listen to most of the pieces on the site and compare them to the originals, you should get an idea of what a ReMix is. WE DON"T WANT UR MIDI RIPS N SHIT. THIS SOUNDS X-ZACTLY LIEK THE ORIGINAL! NO Override, BOY-EE ----------------------------------------------------- From: arothmanTo: Liontamer Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 4:59 pm Subject: FYI - judge review mistake Just a note regarding your reviews of my "Unreal - The Trench" remix... the original track was a screamtracker file, so there was no midi for me to work from... I reproduced that whole thing by ear. That being said, I was intending to get as close as possible to the original and then build on top, so I can see why it was rejected on grounds of lack of originality. Thanks for listening anyway! LT: Glad you understood the reasoning for the NO Override. "MIDI rip" isn't used as a literal term in some cases, as it doesn't really matter what the original sound format was. It could be an IT, a MIDI, an NSF, an SPC, a WAV, anything. In short, if you transcribe the original note-for-note with the same timing, instrumentation, etc., you might as well be copying it outright, as it achieves the same result. Hope to see something more interpretive from you down the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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