*NO* Solstice 'Tribe of Shadax'

[djpretzel]

Hi,

My name is Matt Knights and my remixer name is Knightro.

Here's the link to my rimix. It's track 2 from Solstice (NES). I call it "Tribe of Shadax". It's my first remix so I'm looking for advice more than anything.

Here is the nsf file link too.

Thanks.

[Israfel]

Despite how much I sucked at it, I always liked Solstice and was interested in doing a mix of it myself.

I actually rather like the subdued nature of this mix, but there is very little expansion on the original theme; and the piece in general is more repetitive than there's really any reason for it to be.

Plus, you *really* can't have audio glitches like the one at :27.

This is pretty close to getting a yes from me, but I'd need more development of the theme (and fix the glitch, of course).

NO

[Liontamer]

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/solstice.zip - Track 2

Heh. Tim Follin is so damn good. You have to get to :22 of the source tune to get the connection.

I liked the ethnic drumloops more than I should have. Certainly hope you made those on your own, but who knows. Yeah, Izz is right, you can't sub stuff with terrible sounding audio glitches like :27.

The freestyle-ish stuff from 1:57-2:17 sounded way too jerky and inhuman. The synthetic texture COULD have worked, and Israfel would certainly be familiar with making things like this work, but for this section the composition simply sounded too unwieldy. Actually, those light wind instruments there could have been louder and a bit less dry throughout the whole track. The ending was a bit abrupt also, so look into slowing it down or having it trail off for a longer period of time.

But in any case, the arrangement wasn't interpretive enough compared to the source. Sounded like a good upgrade of how Follin may have wanted the original to sound, but you've got to rearrange things more thoroughly, bro. Pretty cool and not a cover/upgrade the whole way through, but this needs to be more personalized through more new composition ideas. I'mma keep it.

NO (rework/resubmit)

[Harmony]

Hey, “Knightro” is the University of Central Florida mascot. GO Knights!

I’m loving the hand percussion. It’s certainly a glue that holds the sparse elements of this mix together. In addition we have the full bodied and very expressive lead wind instrument carrying things along. It sounds like some of the supporting instruments are lacking real depth however. The clicks at 0:16 are dry and sound pretty flat. Same with the left panned flute(?) at 0:48 and the cymbals at 1:28. Some additional reverb on each of those would help.

From the beginning I’m hearing some background ambient FX/pads that could be made a little more present. Don’t kill the minimalist feel but I think a little more volume on them would make for a more cohesive piece.

2:00-2:20 would have been a lot cooler if it wasn’t straight from the source. This is a good first effort Matt but I think you’re riding on the strength of your samples and the coolness of the original a little too much. Throw in more of your own arrangement ideas and really make this remix yours.

Good stuff though. In the future I’d head to the Remixing and WIP forums for advice instead of going through the whole submission process to get it. You’ve already shown a lot of musical coolness with this piece so tweak your arrangement skills and come on back real soon.

NO (Resubmit)

[GrayLightning]

Basic percussion and basic lead for the most part. This needs more supporting elements and instrumentation. At least stick in a pad there playing the chords. I also would like to see more expansion on the arrangement side, and on the concept side. Neat stuff, particularly nice woodwind sequencing, but it needs a lot more in my book. NO