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Mega Man: The Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet 2011

DarkeSword

By DarkeSword,
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Phonetic Hero Newbie

Phonetic Hero

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Double Doctors lost two ranks in my top ten because of the wily laugh.... So sad. The rest of the song is fantastic though :) Sorry Main Finger.

I thought the Wily laugh was hilarious! And loved the rest of the song. I may have even memorized the beat pattern and laughed along with it a couple times... but probably not, that'd be weird

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shadow24 Newbie

shadow24

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if you don't like dr. wily's laugh being used in a wily remix competition why are you even here what does your life even mean

Dude, I don't remember that voice in any of the original NES games. I enjoy most of the music everyone creates here a lot. I think even WillRock said it was borderline annoying in his own words in his review. I'm sure you wouldn't tell him that his life has lost all meaning lol. It's just that I think the song would've benefited more without that sound clip. Only my opinion and I respect that everyone else may not agree with it.

BTW: Can you use that picture I made, do I need to improve upon it, or does anyone even care about. Just asking

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Nabeel Ansari Newbie

Nabeel Ansari

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Dude, I don't remember that voice in any of the original NES games. I enjoy most of the music everyone creates here a lot. I think even WillRock said it was borderline annoying in his own words in his review. I'm sure you wouldn't tell him that his life has lost all meaning lol. It's just that I think the song would've benefited more without that sound clip. Only my opinion and I respect that everyone else may not agree with it.

He's joking. :whatevaa:

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shadow24 Newbie

shadow24

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Dubious Brother - aww man I'm digging wily's theme in here. Another mix that broke my heart not to put it in the top 3 but that goes to show just how solid all these tracks were this round. There was an awesome arrangement going on here, and the production was fine... it has quirks but nothing that detracts from the music.

I thought the use of the sample was cool, but it did borderline annoying for me, can't understand why tho... sorry ben, I know you dig that sample! :P

At least I'm not the only one who felt the same way lol

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shadow24 Newbie

shadow24

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But... that's not even the same mix...

Laugh = Double Doctors

Chipmunk = Dubious Brother

.............

My bad your right. I actually like the snake man voice in Ben's song :)

PS: Looking forward to some Akumajo goodness :)

Double Doctors - Main Finger put together some class remixes last time, and he's carrying on the trend here. Overall a solid piece of work, and for the most part this was awesome stuff. Pretty decent production, and the arrangement was cool, but it has to be said, I thought doubling gemini man's theme was a cool idea that didn't work out so well at the tempo it was... it felt rushed and unnatural. Also, I can't say I liked the use of the sample... it made me think a little too much of some shitty youtube poop videos for my liking.

Good mix

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Main Finger Newbie

Main Finger

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Unless you want your team to throw away free points, get your team members who haven't voted yet to do so.

Here's the thing... I'm pretty sure Nekofrog is still out of the country or whatever. I can't seem to get a hold of him at all. And aside from the whole voting thing, his turn to mix starts this Saturday. Cold Steel might be boned :(

I thought the Wily laugh was hilarious! And loved the rest of the song. I may have even memorized the beat pattern and laughed along with it a couple times... but probably not, that'd be weird

Do I smell a music video?

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Xarnax42 Newbie

Xarnax42

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Will vote later today. I'm finally getting my picks set in stone :)

Yeah, this is ridiculously difficult. I think I got mine figured out. Really, really great work from everyone. Thanks for taking the time to BLOW MY MIND.

(Also, to the Round 2-ers: I don't care how high the bar was set, these next mixes had better collectively be at least 0.595% better, because that's how much more time you had.)

Here we go!

She's a Squirter - Brandon Strader - There are a lot of great things going on here. I really dig the sound choices, and the glitching and FX fit perfectly, although I wish some lines came through with a little more clarity. Production's just a little bit muddy throughout. I really like that synth arp under Splash Woman's theme, maybe because it has an aquatic feel to it. The arrangement is solid; nothing too flashy, and the energy didn't quite carry me through to the end, but the transitions are seamless. An excellent departure from 'Lady in the Water'. Kudos on showing diversity with flair.

Don't Make Me Cut You - halc - Man, Blade Man's theme is just weird. One of the more unique master themes both in composition and sound design. I'm glad I looked at again before I reviewed, because the harsh sound design was bothering me a little. After a few listens, I actually have more issues than I expected. The Blade Man usage was rather limited and repetitive, and the transitions were unexpectedly awkward -- esp. the one at 1:13. I do really like the synth solos, both the melodic line, and the rhythm and synths supporting it -- really well-arranged, high-energy stuff. Lots of little ornaments that could easily be missed or mistaken as incidental hold the piece together. Polished, with lots of attention to detail. Just wished for a little more with the arrangement.

Totally Rad Winter - Sir_NutS - Lush soundscape and really crisp production. What could be an overdose of synthy goodness is impressively balanced. Static velocity kept a couple lines from being as powerful as they could have been. The themes play off each other really nicely. Percussion is mostly subtle...maybe too subtle at times, although it comes up nicely when it's exposed near the end of the track. Fun track.

Double Doctors - Main Finger - Hands down, the most conventional track of the lot, but playing it safe isn't going to get you anywhere, is it? Oh, wait. Seriously, I love all the change-ups and curveballs. This piece has tons of energy, and the way that's carried from the kick to the samples to the meter to the lead to the breakdown to adding layers...it never stops building, and it never gives what I expect. A solid percussion line and the choral usage ties it all together. The laugh sample was hysterical the first time....afterward, maybe a little grating, but well-implemented. Production's just a tad iffy in places. About a minute in, I'm losing some of the bass. Some of the wider synths need to be EQ'd so they don't muddy each other. I really, really, really wanted to vote for this one. It's my 3b, without a doubt. You're GRMRB tracks show this was no fluke. I'm sure I'll get the chance to make for it soon.

The Knight Who Says ROCK - Lidawg - I took Knight Man my last stroll around a compo, and I'm happy to see him return. And wearing a much better suit of armor. It can be a tough source, and I wish you'd done more with the second half of that tune. That said, what's here is a solid piece of work. Arrangement-wise, a bit heavy on the Wily, and the transitions are a little forced, mostly at the very beginning and very end. I really like the layered guitar, and the tone is nice. Percussion support is mostly solid, with the exception of the snare/hi hat combo during the solo. I really enjoyed this. First track I've heard from you, and I'm looking forward to more.

Burn the Castle - AMT - This is a really impressive arrangement. Lots of segments with something to unite each one to the next, and more synth layers than I can count playing off each other and the leads without falling apart. The guitar tone is gritty (too much so for me, but 'no accounting for taste' and all that jazz), and could probably stand to come forward just a little. (Actually, it's perfect at first, but it starts to get buried further in.) Driving percussion, competent bass, and some perfectly-placed breaks and rebuilds (I love the way the way my face gets melted at 1:19) earn this my third place vote.

The Last of the Clan - Jason Covenant - I always appreciate an approach that breaks expectations. Eclectic chillout/ambient definitely fits the bill. I have no problem with the vocal intro, and it had the right atmosphere effects on it, but I also wouldn't really miss it if it weren't there. The arrangement flows beautifully, although it doesn't seem to develop much. The sound choices work for me, but the leads (the voiceover, too) are mixed a little too loud for me to just settle in. Great vibe, and really original approach.

Two Minds without a Single Thought - zerothemaster - I really like how you take a slow build to the voice sample, and the sound really fills out from there. Unfortunately, the space is so empty for the first minute or so to the point that build loses a lot of its effect. I didn't understand the choices of samples. :/ There are a ton of great ideas throughout, lots of variations interpreting and expanding the sources -- the big issue is that it's too many ideas, and not a lot to tie them together. The guitar line from the first couple seconds shows up throughout, but seems thrown around too recklessly to get the job done. Clearly, the most ambitious effort of the round. On your next mix, you'll probably want to shoot for a much shorter track to give you time to really focus on nailing the arrangement, and then tweaking your production. I know both Amphibious and C7 have a very strong musical sense. Get them a WIP very early in the week, and if they're feedback isn't brutal, call them out on it. Keep up the enthusiasm, and you can compete with the big dogs.

Dubious Brothers - Benjamin Briggs - How can you NOT use that clip? It seemed a little out of place until I heard it say "Snake Man". I am a sucker for chiptunes, and your production's always been solid. This one gets a little grittier than your usual fare, but not distractingly so. In terms of sound design, I dig the keyboard with the 9bit percussion. The varyingly subtle and not-so-subtle pitch bending is delicious. Arrangement is extremely unified, but almost always developing. Objectively, this is probably the most complete track of the round. Pristine production and fluid arrangement get this train my second place vote.

Under Construction - SuperiorX - After a brief scare of a too-minimal piano solo, this dives into some funky genre-defying goodness. It's playful, and you obviously had a lot of arranging this, and I'm having a lot of fun listening. Your synths could use quite a bit of filter/velocity/LFO attention, but the way you handle the melodies makes up for it -- passing the lead between instruments, straight rhythm to swing and back. The percussion gets stagnates a bit right before the ending. A lot of well-executed ornaments are the icing on the cake. In terms of enjoyability, this was my favorite after one listen through all the entries, and remains there after several more. Despite the production flaws, arrangement and dat swang thang earn this ditty my top vote. Seriously. Lovin' it.

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Helios42 Newbie

Helios42

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Well, I meant to get to a more full review of sorts to the ones I didn't vote for, which were all good. Since I don't have the time for that, I'll just mention a couple outstanding things.

Zerothemaster - I thought you had a good dichotomy of chip and string, but I think it needed some bass to tie it together. The pacing could have been a lot faster, and of course some of the more technical parts others have mentioned. You have a good start though.

Secondly, there were a lot of voice samples this time. I'm usually not big on voice samples, but they can be pretty great sometimes. Some of the metroid mixes on OCR do some especially cool stuff with mother brain and various AI voice samples, as an example of where it works well. I personally think that voice samples work best with one short appearance, unless they really add substantial information. Lyrics, if done well, can be really powerful throughout a remix, because they carry so much more information in language. However, voice samples are usually quite unsubstantial; usually a sentence repeated and taken out of context. For example "Snake Man's on my trail". Why is he doing so. How close is he? What's he going to do? How do both sides feel about this? We don't get much of a picture of this, so we're esentially left with how it sounds (whereas lyrics include meaning, language's most powerful tool)

Mostly, what voice samples bring to the table is how they sound. If one happens to be especially melodious, then it can bring a cool atmosphere to a piece and maybe even be repeated throughout. Unfortunatly, I'd have to say that a distorted wily laugh is not especially sonorous, and a little grating on the ears. I think this was most prevalent in Two Minds Without a Single Thought. Double Doctors has an interesting take on it, and isn't repeated. For the most part, I don't mind that one, but it's a little long lasting for how chaotic it is. Though it sets up the tone for the rest, so in that sense, it was useful.

It's hard to say where I fall for the voice sample use in Dubious Brothers. To begin with, I'm not a huge fan of chipmunkified stuff, so that's probably where most of my hesitation is coming from. It's catchy, and repeating it does give rise to an overall sense of being 'chased' throughout the piece. But I'd say it gets repeated a little much for how stark it is (being chipmunckified makes it stand out).

I'm probably coming off a bit harsh. I like a good voice sample when integrated well. I don't think the voice samples in this round were bad at all, but to me, they didn't really add a whole lot for how distracting they were. I'd put them at about neutral; they don't have that perfect click of "Now that was fitting" that I look forward to when hearing a song, but I can see why they're in there, specifically Main Finger's and Briggs' use of them.

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