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Mega Man: The Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet 2011


DarkeSword
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Great Scott, this is exactly how I've been feeling. It's like people look to the voting thread to see who they should vote for. Certainly, Gario's piece is frackin' awesome (and the sources were VERY well interpreted), but the rest is pretty much style preference, since the production quality was about the same for a lot of the big names, and I felt that for the most part, there wasn't a whole lot of interpretation this round...

You know that's one of the problems I had with this round that I talked about on my comments for the remixes. If I had to remix this round, I would've focused on doing something new with the Wily theme, but what I heard from most was either something I've heard before or just the track without any changes. I know it's an overremixed song but there's ALWAYS new stuff to come up with. That was kind of disappointing.

Just my two cents on that.

About the voting yeah my team was kind of affected by this system because we ended up in the middle-to-top tiers. I don't really care much about winning or losing but more about giving you guys a decent remix but I do understand those people who want the competition to feel fairer for them because hey, it's a competition after all.

So while I agree the current system is hurting a few teams in the long run I don't care if the system stays.

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I would also like to add this: when did the compo become about winning rather than making cool music? It's not like there's a grand prize waiting for us at the end - it's merely set up so that everyone has something to shoot for (and therefore tries their best at it, producing better music overall).

I fully endorse this statement.

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Guys, you seriously gotta stop being so dismissive on this. It's not that we only care about winning, it's that it's a lot more motivating to do your best and improve when 9 out of 12 mixes won't end up as a tie.

And again, we've been pretty civil about it. Please don't exaggerate the discussion as if it's some sort of poo flinging frenzy.

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There's the writeups for a reason, even though they may state things that we may disagree with. So even if the current system stays, if you want feedback for ways to improve then look there; no matter what situation is taken, voting systems are not entirely reliable.

Seriously, everyone here needs to sit down with a nice cup of tea and watch

:)(lol shameless plug)
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Seriously, everyone here needs to sit down with a nice cup of tea and watch
:)(lol shameless plug)

Rexy, you do realize that you shamelessly plugged Nutritious' video and not your own correct? :razz:

EDIT: Ooops, and I just realized you made the video, lol. Nice job, it's well done.

EDIT EDIT: @1:37. WHY DID YOU NOT PICK UP THE EXTRA LIFE?!?!

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I want to know why people are getting their panties in a knot over a competition that doesn't have any prize other than bragging rights. I'm having a blast--and I'm only here to sharpen my ReMixing skills. Just participate, have fun, and enjoy the music!

My guess? The winning team gets to send a representative to take on Dr. Wily (Darkesword) and remix against some Wily Machine/Capsule/Castle theme of Darke's favorite. The winner would get the chance to go hand to hand against Darkesword himself.

That's what I would like to see happen. Whether it does or not, who knows.

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And I don't play games with level scaling. I like to improve and eventually be better than my enemies in the game, so I play games with rules that lead to the funnest experience. If this compo is a game, we should definitely go for the fairest rules in order to have the most fun.

You heard the man... THIS COMPO IS NOW AKIN TO STARCRAFT

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My guess? The winning team gets to send a representative to take on Dr. Wily (Darkesword) and remix against some Wily Machine/Capsule/Castle theme of Darke's favorite. The winner would get the chance to go hand to hand against Darkesword himself.

That's what I would like to see happen. Whether it does or not, who knows.

That would actually be super-cool. The winning team gets to do a collab mix against Darkesword where Darke picks the Wily stage and the mix would include that source plus one (or two or three?) of the Robot Master themes from the winning team. The voters then vote on the two mixes to see if the Robot Masters would triumph in their fight for everlasting peace or if the evil Dr. Wily continues to rule the world. Darke make it happen!

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My Reviews!

Gario - Attracted to Power (Magnet Man in Wily Castle 2-1):

I really enjoyed this remix. It was a great remix of two famous themes done with creativity and flair, and considering the amount of times I've heard both done, I commend you on a job well done. The way themes were used seemed balanced enough to me.

The Production was nice and clean, but there was some issues with a slightly thin soundscape overall, and some rather iffy samples at a few points. However I do understand that many of these samples were intentionally low-fi so I'm happy to give you the benefit of the doubt. There was also some pops at some minor sections... be sure to keep an eye out for stuff like that.

As far as this track goes, I found it just on the border of being very enjoyable, thanks to the quirky arrangement style, and the clean if not slightly flawed production. Nice job!

AkumajoBelmont - Far From Home (Cold Man in Wily Castle 2-1)

Oh man, this is awesome. I'm really digging the feel of this mix, 80's is my fav decade of music as anyone should have figured out by now, so I'm pretty biased in favour of this stuff. The Arrangement I felt while it did the job seemed slightly lazy to me in some ways... using vocals was a great idea and I give you props, but I felt this dragged on doing pretty much the same thing throughout. Considering the structure of this was basically split into two halfs - Cold man and Wily - the samey feel I get throughout probably isn't a good thing. The Production however is a brighter subject! No issues here, I found it perfect for the style. Everything fit together perfectly, the samples were nice and full, the vocal performance was great... Full marks! Enjoyability was pretty high for me as well, thanks to the 80's feel and the lush soundscape, but because it dragged on a little too long for my tastes, I won't be replaying this over and over in my itunes. However, this is still good enough to hit my top 3 so don't think I be hating! Def a keeper and an awesome job man!

Mr. L - Glacial Age (Frost Man in Wily Castle 2-1)

Woah, this is messed up :P In a good way don't worry. It sounds like wily and frost man are stuck in an alternate Icy Universe, all alone, with nothing but ice around them.

The arrangement is an interesting one. I'll admit that i'm not totally up to speed with frost mans theme, but other than the intro, this sounds like the majority of it is wily. However, the variation on the themes is pretty creative, in someways seems random and improvisational. Very unique arrangement idea for sure that deserves some credit. The production is also interesting. Nothing sounds horrible but nothing sounds drop dead gorgeous either... maybe that was your intention, as it gives this track a very specific feel to it. It feels very minimal overall, again, intentional? This is a bizzare mix and honestly, i'm not sure how to go about critiquing it... its very ambient and the piano needs some EQing to fit in the soundscape better... I feel you could have really gone mad with some crazy effects and had alot of fun with textures... something to try next time maybe? :D My only other critique for you is that you have quite a few dissonant sections in your track, which didn't quite work out for me.

As far as enjoyability goes, this sort of music isn't really my thing so I probably won't be keeping it, sorry! However, credit were credit is due for a unique sounding mix which seems to have been a successful attempt at getting a specific feel. This is mood music and pretty good mood music at that. Well Done Mr. L!

Chernabogue - Glitch in the System (Crash Man in Wily Castle 2-1):

Cool drum intro man, really digged that percussion, also, lol at the voice samples, I actually thought they were used well here. Pretty funny stuff.

The Arrangement was a little iffy, it seemed like there was a slight bias to crash man, not that there is anything wrong with that but I would have liked to see some more wily myself. There wasn't too much variation, things stuck relatively close to the source but there was a neat groove and some cool little sections in here (like the intro and outro)

The Production was ok, things were slightly muddy overall, there was minor compression, generic sounding samples, and at the wily section, things got a little thin overall. All small things but they added up.

Crash man was handed well overall, but wily... what happened there? at 1:43 onwards the bass just starts to do its own thing, and ends up clashing with wilys theme quite badly... something tells me there is an intentional reason behind this but I just couldn't get into that part of the track. The Outro was ace tho, I wish you'd have carried on there.

Overall, not a terrible mix but not the best of the bunch. Well done Chernabogue!

Neblix - Light Your Way (Flash Man in Wily Castle 2-1):

I have to say, Neblix has been one of the people to really look out for in these compos thanks to his continued development of his style. More Electronic goodness from Neblix, but things start off more mellow in the intro, which was a big plus overall... some pretty neat sequencing going on there.

The arrangement wasn't bad at all... the sources are used evenly and there was some cool personalizations on the themes. The structure was awesome... all good stuff.

The production had some minor muddiness overall but it packed a punch for sure and all the samples were good. It feels like its slightly unfinished and unpolished to me but its a fair effort on the production side of things.

I for one really dig this overall - awesome dynamic range between the different sections and it all fits in well. One of the highlights of the round imo, well done Neblix!

Geoffio - Mr. X was Wily the WHOLE TIME (Tomahawk Man in Wily Castle 2-1):

I have to say, this mix started out fairly promising. But there is one thing that kills this mix and its the dissonance. Intentional or not, it just didn't do it for me, and really affected my voting for this track overall. The production wasn't terrible, things were a bit muddy, and the samples were a bit iffy (mainly that guitar) but its not terrible. The main issue with this mix for me was the dissonance - fix that and it would have really improved this mix on my ranking of the 12 tracks. Keep at it Geoffio! :D

Phonetic Hero - No Ticket! (Charge Man in Wily Castle 2-1)

There is alot to like here! Good energy levels for sure, I dig it.

I wasn't too keen on the arrangement... the sources were both used evenly from what I can tell, and there was some cool variations going on, but alot of this seemed to have a dissonant flavour which I wasn't quite digging.

The production was ok, but it was slightly overcompressed, as well as muddy. The sound design wasn't low, but the sounds were a little generic I felt. I've heard much worse.

However, the energy and overall feel on this won me over - I found myself tapping my foot. Its not without its flaws but its a pretty neat mix overall... Well done!

Rexy - The Root of All Things (Plant Man in Wily Castle 2-1):

I've been a fan of Rexy's music pretty much since the beginning of my time at OCR, so I've been looking forward to her contributions here! Does she deliver? Yes yes yes! The style is a sort of cool fusion of rock and ethnic, and it works very well. The arrangement itself is pretty creative... I was having some trouble picking out plant man but what I heard was great arrangement wise.

Production wasn't bad... I'd heard from some people that there was mixing issues or something, I dunno, it feels like its lacking some bass frequencies that would help ground this thing better and the drums felt a little buried but production didn't seem so bad to me. There was some cool synths throughout that I digged, but I found myself getting slightly put off at times by slight timing issues, which were few, but notable enough for me to hear.

As for the track itself... I dig it. Something about it didn't grab me in comparison with one or two other tracks but it got my foot tapping for sure.

Rexy, you're awesome and carry on doing what you do because you do it well!

Amphibious - Shadows of Wily (Shadow Man in Wily Castle 2-1):

Now then! I wasn't expecting something with this much energy but DAYM this delivers in a big way for me. I'm a sucker for good rock music and this is good rock music. The arrangement for me is one of the strongest in the compo so far, I really digged the way that shadow man and wily were fused together in the intro, thats how it should be done kids! Arrangement didn't reach the heights of the intro quite after the fact, but there was some really cool harmonies in the guitars and cool chord changes to keep me interested. I do wish it was a little longer tho!

The production came off as slightly, but overall this was pretty good production wise... good samples (that drum kit sounds midish tho! :P) awesome guitar tone, and the soundscape was nice and full.

Out of all the mixes, this was my fav. I just really digged the arrangement and the feel too much I guess. I have no hesitation to call this my 1st place mix! Awesome work Amphibious, I want moar!

Emunator - whatever.jpg (Bubble Man in Wily Castle 2-1):

Emunator has been a interesting musician in the sense than he started critiquing music before arranging. Since he started tho, he's put out some really nice piano improvs, and he continues the trend here.

As far as the arrangement goes, i'm not hearing much bubble man. I'm hearing alot of wily, and its arranged well considering the structure seems improvised, but bubble man i'm not getting here :(

Production is fine, its solo piano, but the sample is great and its mixed well and sounds gorgeous.

Personally, slow improv piano isn't really my thing so this didn't quite get in my top 3 but you get props for your treatment of wily, even if I couldn't hear any bubble man.

Nice work Emu! :P

Obtuse - Smooth Heat (Heat Man in Wily Castle 2-1):

This one started quick! :P It ALMOST doesn't have an intro I fear but I can let that slide I guess :P

I really digged the drums here, a really nice rhythm you've got going on.

The arrangement was ok... it felt rather conservative, not too much variation but you got both sources in there evenly as far as I can tell.

Production was pretty decent... the samples were ok, it sounded clean... not bad stuff at all. The soundscape was thin overall however, and one or two of the sounds seemed a little over processed.

The track is alot of fun but I felt ultimately it dragged slightly. Not a bad effort by any means, keep it up Obtuse!

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Gario - Attracted to Power (Magnet Man in Wily Castle 2-1):

I really enjoyed this remix. It was a great remix of two famous themes done with creativity and flair, and considering the amount of times I've heard both done, I commend you on a job well done. The way themes were used seemed balanced enough to me.

The Production was nice and clean, but there was some issues with a slightly thin soundscape overall, and some rather iffy samples at a few points. However I do understand that many of these samples were intentionally low-fi so I'm happy to give you the benefit of the doubt. There was also some pops at some minor sections... be sure to keep an eye out for stuff like that.

As far as this track goes, I found it just on the border of being very enjoyable, thanks to the quirky arrangement style, and the clean if not slightly flawed production. Nice job!

Yeah, I know the production isn't the greatest on it + the thin soundscape issues. It was a timecrunch issue, so I couldn't get all of the issues addressed at the time. I think I'll fix it and share with the WIP boards sometime, though. Thanks for clarifying that for me.

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Thanks everyone for the great feedback and for your kind words!

On one hand, I'm really happy that my soundscape idea, at least, seems to have worked out so well. On the other hand... well, I'm saddened that I've turned Frost Man's theme into such a theme. :cry: I was hoping to go for 'mystic' instead of 'dark and lonely'. :(

I don't want to clutter the thread with too many thank you posts from me, so I'll just say it here: I really appreciate the feedback you guys have given me and will give me in the future; you have my thanks. I'll do my best to implement your suggestions... though it may take a time or two more before I 'get it'. :P

EDIT: I do indeed plan to do that in the future, Phonetic Hero. :) Probably after this competition and when I finish my Exhibition Match against Flash Man.

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Thanks everyone for the great feedback and for your kind words!

On one hand, I'm really happy that my soundscape idea, at least, seems to have worked out so well. On the other hand... well, I'm saddened that I've turned Frost Man's theme into such a theme. :cry: I was hoping to go for 'mystic' instead of 'dark and lonely'. :(

I don't want to clutter the thread with too many thank you posts from me, so I'll just say it here: I really appreciate the feedback you guys have given me and will give me in the future; you have my thanks. I'll do my best to implement your suggestions... though it may take a time or two more before I 'get it'. :P

They've been mentioned before, but hit up the WIP forums if you want more feedback!! The people are great and you'll learn a ton

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Alright, so now I'm gonna review tracks just to do it!

Round 1

The Squirter - as I mentioned before, a nice chip hybrid track. The song shows a little bit of getting cluttered - it loses clarity at several points in the song. The bit sound that drags a bit after some beats could use some work, it bothers me a bit. The synth lead needs to sound stronger - when it comes in at about 2:29, it comes off as weak and never really takes control. I needs to stand out more. The overall balance of the instruments shows some weakness at points but that was probably the most notable. The arrangement could be longer but what's there is pretty solid, and it's pretty well done as a whole. With those production tweaks, I think this song is a keeper.

Don't Make Me Cut You - halc worked some magic on this track. Production is stellar, and arrangement keeps progressing the song to higher levels. A lot of people should take cues from what halc and co did here, there is pretty much no fat in the song. I do wish the wubs were a little stronger and WillRock's part was brought further forward, but otherwise there is little I really can fault here as this is incredible.

Totally Rad Winter - I liked this track quite a bit too. It just had the unfortunate positioning right behind halc's crazy entry. My main complaint here is that it sounds a bit thin to me, although it can be said that it is just right in that respect. It is meant as a laid back track for the background and does that well. I wish it was developed further (as I do with most songs), but the foundation is pretty solid.

Double Doctors - chippiness seems to be a common theme for this round. Main Finger does a solid job here, and my main complaint as usual is it needs to be longer. The middle section also feels like it drags on a bit and could be slimmed down somewhat for a stronger flow like found in halc's track. This entry probably had the best possibility of doing something crazy with how it's built compared to the field.

The Knight who says ROCK! - I'm surprised it took this many entries to get to one that featured guitars. The recording sounds like it could be more crisp. The guitars (rhythm & lead) sound too distant and need to be up front with the arrangement. The playing also is a bit plain and could've been a lot tighter - I know Lidawg can do better! Flow is key! The arrangement needed more to it, it felt too short and a bit uninteresting, especially with the lack of power. This has potential, but it can also be slimmed down at places and extended elsewhere.

Burn the Castle - Another guitar centric entry! Something sounds off with the guitars here too. The lead sounds like it's not crisp and also could use more frills. It can be tightened up as well - the same problems plague this track as Lidawg's, to a lesser degree, although around 1:30 the guitar sounds like it's buried & the song gets muddy. I probably should've gave this track my third place vote upon reviewing & re-listening (I did the other vote quickly due to fatigue admittedly). I don't like how the synth that takes the lead sometimes is mixed in the track. The track ends on a sort of bleh note as well, which could be due to time constraints - of course I would've liked to see it longer since this song also teases of possibilities unfulfilled.

The Last of the Clan - Prophecy's stuff sure sounds a lot different than the song I most remember him for, Chekan Winter. It also reminds me a lot of Iron Maiden's song The Clansman due to the title. That aside, the song really does what it sets out to do pretty well, although I'd like to hear that choral sample more dominant when it enters the song to help create a more hallowed atmosphere. This song could also be longer as well to help impose that atmosphere of being the last & alone in a vast world - this song probably requires it some of the most due to its design.

Two Minds Without a Single Thought - Well, a good effort by Zerothemaster. For usefulness, I'll detail some thoughts. Those drums need some work, most notably the snare. Perhaps play with some things like boosting the bass on them? Admittedly I'm not the best at that type of stuff so ask someone else around what can be done. They aren't too bad all things considered. More instrumentation could be used to help fill out the sound. The song is thin for the most part, so more instrumentation could help give a fuller sound and give more tools for you to take the song however you want. The synth that's used in the background for ambience sounds too rigid, as well as some of the other instrumentation. Alter the velocity & intensity that the notes are struck to humanize them, unless you want a rigid sound. I mentioned the timing of the beats before - take a listen to how it is offbeat so you can train yourself to identify this. I don't remember the other responses, but as I said, definitely use the Workshop forum - people can give you a lot more advice there.

Good job for completing a rough song though! You've taken further steps than I have so I commend you for that. Just keep a positive attitude of self-improvement and don't worry about results - those will follow as you improve. Remember, even mixers like zircon started off noobish. It's the journey that counts.

Dubious Brother - Chthonic (I will always know you by that name!) pulls off a nice mix here. Listening to this again, I remember why it was a tough choice for my voting. It feels a little on the short side to my liking, but otherwise very solid.

Under Construction - Didn't Brandon and Doug name their song this? Also the source to this Protodome song is named Under Construction amusingly enough (thank you OCR search functions!). The song has a pretty good groove to it, and I like how it's constructed. The production is on the weak side, in some respects. That mid-low end synth needs some more bass to it. The lead synth also could use some snazz to it. The instrumentation, especially that piano, needs more humanization.

Round 2

The Root of All Things - The arrangement is pretty good, and is probably my second favorite so far, a bit behind halc's. That flute/synth lead needed a bit of work I think. It needed some more humanization, with a bit more bass & forcefulness on the initial note and some more flourish. It needs to be brought out more too. The drums seem to get buried some in the song. I noticed they definitely sound good, and just need tweaking - I saw Rexy mention that they are Addictive Drums, which are the ones that Sixto uses to good effect. He is probably a good person to go to for tweaking them to your liking. The song is pretty strong overall though, and was a pretty easy first place for me since I was looking for arrangement with a good enough baseline of production.

Wily's Inferno - Ahh Nutritious, of course going with the big orchestra to start. It felt a bit rigid though in its execution. I think it might be the strings that bother me here in that they are used in a fairly plain manner with the quick notes played. WillRock's portion doesn't seem to be mixed optimally IMO. It seems a bit too far in the background compared to where it needs to be, especially for a part that takes such command. The arrangement needed more in the second half to keep listeners enthused! It starts with such energy, but it doesn't seem to keep things moving at a high level is my problem here. That latter half could be trimmed quite a bit and developed further.

Attracted to Power - Gario doesn't fail to deliver with the arrangement here. I definitely see improvements between this song and his GMRB entries production-wise. I do wish the song developed further, especially with how it ended. It seems like a tease for something greater. The choral sample needs to dominate more, as the song had great potential for giving me shivers with a sacred feel. It's a very nice entry that probably should've gotten my 3rd place vote to be honest - my head wasn't straight yesterday thanks to the disaster that is Illinois football. Production isn't perfect here, although I can't place my finger on the other aspects. It definitely has a lot more clarity than previous compos by Shariq though.

Mr. X was Wily the WHOLE TIME - This has a nice start to it that...is kinda ruined by the entry of the guitars. They sound rough and way too far in the background & muddy. I think for this particular arrangement, the song would've benefited by foregoing the guitars and going with a waltz or something befitting ballroom dancing. The guitars make this a bit of a mess with the mixing, and weren't used in a strong enough way to really justify them. The arrangement could've used more variety from its large reliance on the Wily Stage 1 coverish section.

Smooth Heat - That synth in the beginning with the Wily melody bothers me. Perhaps toss a bit of reverb and make it a bit wet? The discreteness needs tinkering with. The transition to Heat Man works nicely, but that synth certainly needed some more work. The background instrumentation is muddy - it needed some working with as well. The energy of the synth contrasts a lot with the fairly mundane background instrumentation. The arrangement could've used some more variety as well - a lot of it could have been cut and accomplished its feel in about half the time. Cut the fat!

Glacial Age - This is largely a piano piece, with a bit of ambience from background instrumentation. I feel like the mixing isn't quite there to give it the cold atmosphere that Mr. L was clearly going for. I find this the most curious of the arrangements, since Wily Stage 1 isn't as prominent as how everyone else used it, and thus most interesting in that respect. This one probably should've gotten more attention from me than I originally gave it, I do think it's up there.

Light Your Way - The first thing I notice is that AMT's guitar sounds a lot better in this entry. I think it would've been better served to bring the lead guitar further to the front though, it sounds a little drowned. I do wish the song is longer though - it ends when it should be taking off.

Far From Home - I love AkumajoBelmont's mixes with the vocals, and this one is no exception. It also doesn't rely so heavily on Wily Stage 1 thankfully (besides he did a great mix of it already). I probably should have listened to this more, it really does feel fuller than most of the entries.

Shadows of Wily - The guitars sound rough here, and needs to be mixed better. What's here is pretty damn solid arrangement-wise, it just needs to be longer. The drums seem to be saturated with bass - try dialing it back a little, and bringing the drums forward overall.

whatever.jpg - Whatever!

No Ticket! - The way the panning is done messes with my head. Not a fan of that shifting panning early on. The song felt like it was constantly in transition though, nothing to make it stand out with how it's arranged.

Glitch in the System - There's some weird areas where how the instruments mesh doesn't sound right (one area I noticed was towards the end). The song doesn't really do much with creating something that keeps my interest, especially with those strong themes. Wasn't a huge fan to be honest.

I'm pretty sure I missed spotting some things, but this should cover a lot of the issues I felt tracks had, and I hope the mixers find this useful if it applies to them! Lastly, thanks to everyone who participated for bringing the music! Sorry about sounding sour earlier. I needed to do more this weekend.

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