*NO* Kirby Super Star 'Metarush'

[djpretzel]

Mixer name: DJBren

Real name: Brendan Bennett

Original material: "Metaknight" and "Halfmoon"

Remix title: "Metarush"

comment on the mix: I always thought that the battle against Metaknight was one of the most epic battles in Popstar, so this is a fast paced, high energy mix, designed to capture the suspense of the battle. I hope you all enjoy it.

[Liontamer]

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/kss.rsn - "Battle with MetaKnight" (kss-45.spc) & "Taking Over the Halberd" (kss-43.spc)

Synth guitar stuff typically doesn't sound good. Very plain-jane choice of sounds the whole way through. Production was alright. Plain-sounding drum sample arrived at :32. Not much in the way of processing or effects to create any unique sounds here.

Orchestral stabs joining in at :57 were tacky. I've only heard them actually work in the GoldenEye soundtrack, and in the source tune here, they weren't so loud.

Finally some melody at 1:10. Bring it in sooner than that; the buildup was too long for a 3:12 mix. The lead synth guitar for the melody was lame as hell; the note-to-note movements were so robotic and unrealistic; every note was at the same intensity and duration. More of the same feel and flow at 1:55, though there was some freestyling and so forth.

The arrangement on the Battle with MetaKnight melody was decent I suppose. I liked the delayed whatever-that-doohicky-was on support at :56. Dunno what "Halfmoon" is since neither the Zophar's or Alpha-ii packs had a track with that name, so check that stuff more thoroughly next time.

Anyway, time to take your sounds to the next level. I know everyone has to start somewhere, but this stuff ain't ever cutting it. Hate to bleh on the effort, Brendan, but you gotta get a lot more creative with your synth stuff. Hit the ReMixing forum and research how you can do more with the sounds at your disposal. Everything now just sounds so generic and plain. Change the tempo and flow here at some point as well to create some dynamic contrast throughout the 3:12.

NO

[zircon]

I'm very familiar with the original tune, and I have to say, it's a difficult choice due to its speed and riff-based composition. However, I'm not hearing much of the original in this arrangement. For instance, the 'guitar' solo in the original appears to be completely left out, and that probably comprises most of the melodic material of the tune - the rest is just chord progressions. "Halfmoon", which I assume is "Taking over the Halbred" isn't really present either - the notes and rhythms don't seem correct, but it's somewhat recognizable.

Production needs a lot of work. The drum pattern is just completely weak and unenergetic. There's no groove to it - it sounds like you're going to pull out some enormous beats or catchy grooves, but that never happens. You might want to upgrade your drum samples and work on sequencing a more interesting pattern - also, don't be afraid to throw effects on the drum parts. Distortion, reverb, and overdrive, all used tastefully, can really bring a snare or bass drum to life (don't overdo it though). The guitar is also pretty weak. You might consider using just a synth lead rather than this fairly low-quality sampled guitar, or layer the guitar with a new synth. A lot of the harmony sounds, such as the gated synths and the arpeggio synth, are also pretty lame. At least give them some high-end EQ to make them interesting.. but I think it would be better if you went to www.kvr-vst.com and picked up some new synths/presets from there.

Getting back to the arrangement, I think it too needs work. I'm not really hearing enough source, and the progressions seem to have been ignored. There's also not much of a structure; the mix doesn't exactly go anywhere. Try to have some sort of buildup.. bring in a synth solo. Use synth automation. Bring in new drum patterns. Anything to breathe some life into the mix.

Keep at it.

NO

[Harmony]

The mastering is done relatively well here. This mix has a nice full sound to it that can elude a lot of first-time mixers. Production in general is pretty plain though as has already been said. With a track whose melody changes very little like this, a lot more engaging processing is required to keep things interesting. The bg synth with the cut/res sweep that starts at about 0:22 and returns later on is good example of type of thing that a lot of the other elements need to give them some depth. The source tune “Battle with the MetaKnight” has some interesting panning/FX to inspire you, so take a closer listen then open up the FX bag-o-tricks and go wild…tastefully wild of course.

Good idea layering the synth guitar with other synths but I think Zircon is right that it might be good to swap that lead guitar for something else. Expressively, the guitar is pretty flat and a lot of processing would be required to spice it up.

The kicks are dreadfully weak when they are exposed at 2:21. For a section like that where a solid low foundation is what you’re after either up the low EQ on them, add an effect that will thicken them up (reverb for example) or simply bring up the volume.

I hear the two sources but I don’t think that they are arranged particularly well. I feel like I’m missing the best parts of each source like the really cool lead synth from “Battle with MetaKnight” and the break down of “Taking Over the Halberd” which if included (in a more complete form than is already done) would introduce a more interesting chord structure in your mix and kill some of the monotony.

Not bad but a good amount of tweaking and arrangement still needs to be done to make this track shine. Keep working at it.

NO

[GrayLightning]

There's some nice, catchy things going on here, but it doesn't amount to much. This whole mix to me, sounds like it was built on several loops that just keeps repeating, waiting for something new and bigger to happen, and that never came. This guitar sounds horrible, I agree with Zircon, that this would be better off as a synth lead rather than what it is.

Consider getting free synths like Synth 1 or SuperWaveP8. They sound much better than what I've heard here.

You've showcased some nice skills, but there's more work remaining to be done. This sounds like a framework waiting for more concepts, instruments and polish. Keep at it. There's potential...but as is, this is incomplete/unfulfilled and a NO.