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Mega Man: The Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet 2011


DarkeSword
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Ok, this goes out to Xarnax42:

lots of really nice things

....just....wow. I always appreciate when people take the time to give this kind of feedback. (I know, I'm totally unique like that. :<) Especially awesome coming from the mind behind the song that's been stuck in my head for the last week. (Those "OH"s are mmmmdgaggfsakhdfadk!)

I'm not sure what your other stuff sounds like
No surprise there. Aside from the last GRMRB and a handful of 2-hour compos, there's no "other stuff" to speak of. I can be a bit scatter-brained, but the competitive aspect (not to mention having a deadline) works wonders for my focus. Definitely still a beginner, so I'm well-prepared to take crits on production.
You have a great voice too... I'd love to hear it with a little more crispness next time! :D
Thanks! This was the first time I've tried to incorporate vocals into a track, and I have a profound new appreciation for people who can get them to sit just right in a mix. I hoped for more crispness myself, but I had to move on, and never had time to get back to it. I was rather surprised that just a slightly brighter tone or small nuances in phrasing would affect the overall effect of the piece so much. I ended up spending quite a bit of time with that. (Not to mention that trying to come up with lyrics that don't suck when you're crunched for time is not such a great idea.) That said, it's unlikely I'll be attempting another vocal entry in this compo. :???:
I've listened to it a fair few times over since I downloaded
Back at ya. :nicework:
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Prophecy's stuff sure sounds a lot different than the song I most remember him for, Chekan Winter.
Believe it or not, that's actually my most common style, just not one I think I've used much on OCR. I was planning on doing something else, something much more ambitious, but I ran into a wall and couldn't finish it. So at about 4am Saturday morning, I finally accepted that I couldn't finish my original idea and started over with a new arrangement. Because of time constraints, I decided to go with something easy and comfortable for me.

Anyways, this week I'll be trying something ambitious again but I'll have a backup plan just in case. I'll be representing The Concrete Men.

FYI guys, Mr. X's Stage is probably my #1 most favorite Mega Man song ever, so I'm really hoping you guys bring your A Game.

Any genre preference? =)

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Just thought I'd let everybody know, since Emunator decided to take the low road and become a judge (:D)...

I'll be replacing him to fill the empty spot for the Hard Men (hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe)

When I heard The Hard Men needed a Bubble Man replacement you were the first person that came to mind. Good luck TGH! I'm looking forward to hearing more of your stuff!

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All I have to say right now is...

heck i don't know

Anyways, I use the intro version of Live 8, and its been working great for me so far, and now that I'm finally starting to figure out production and wanting to push my music farther, Ableton pops up and says that I can only have 12 audio effects per live set.

:banghead:

This effectively means that I can't produce my track nearly as much as I want. I've tried VSTs, but Ableton is miserable at recognizing them (any assistance in that is appreciated btw).

Which sucks, because I was really liking my track at that point. I felt like it was the best I had made yet.

So three options lay ahead, either I buy the full version of Live (~$300-350, I think), buy FL Studio ($100) or deal with it and make a less produced piece.

My preference would be upgrading, but I don't know if I have the money. I could do FL, but that would require me to familarize myself with a completely new workstation, and the less production... that's the most likely, but I don't want to disappoint everyone... again...

So that's my situation, I might just have to make a giant freeform guitar mix on Friday... heck if I know.

HERES TO GOOD MUSIC :P

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Review time!

  • Sting Operation: Interesting style, sort of electronica jazz. I like my synth to be more peppy, but I think this could have been awesome if done with real or well-sampled jazz sax, bass, and brass. I've only heard Lemon's super-synthy style, so I'm not sure if that would be in his comfort zone, but I'd like to see him try. Back on topic, this is a catchy arrangement, good production, good use of both sources and original content, so I don't have anything to criticize on technical grounds; it's just low on personal preference for me.
  • Air Man in a G-String: Classic WillRock goodness, reminded me very much of Mountain of Dreams (which is my favorite piece of his, BTW). I can overlook that it's a little repetitive. The big problem is that the Wily theme use is very subtle, and not much of it is used, just the intro and the first phrase. It's a pleasant song but with such a huge Air:Wily ratio I can't see myself voting for it.
  • unto dust: This is really hard for me to evaluate semi-objectively, because I love Dust Man's theme. But the two themes aren't blended together very well, they mainly just alternate; they play together at the end, but it feels forced. At the same time, the bass line is pretty repetitive. I'm also not crazy about the instrumentation choices; I can't get into these whiny whistle noises. I have high hopes for prophetik's upcoming rounds, but I'm not loving this one as much as I'd hoped (which he'd warned us might be the case).
  • Running With Scissors: This is more the style I like (much like The Very End), but the bass is overwhelming, not just in terms of auditory balance but in style--it feels like the bass was written first and the melody shoehorned into it (sometimes with some dissonance). The switch to Cut Man at 1:28 is a bit jarring--it very much feels like two songs stuck end-to-end. Hard to avoid given how different these two sources are, but there it is. Also, the Wily part is a bit repetitive. Sidenote: the transition sounds a lot like the final stage of Contra at first, which makes it slightly weird.
  • Power Outage: Poor samples and bad timing plague this piece immediately following the opening. The balance is also a problem--the melody is often buried under the percussion as well as the harmony. It doesn't help that the melody is meandering, directionless, and often doesn't match the singing. On my first couple of listens, it sounded like the singing wasn't very good either, but I eventually figured out that it's just being accompanied badly, and that the style (operatic tenor) is a total mismatch with... whatever type of music that's supposed to be. Taken in isolation, the only thing wrong with the singing is that his range is very narrow--you can hear him straining to hit both high and low notes. Oh, and robot voices, yuck in general.
  • Tripping Through: Ah, Tornado Man, I learned to love you after the first GRMRB. The piece opens with a stellar cover of the Wily theme, spoiled only by some dissonance, especially bad at 1:41. Then a long break (essentially 45 seconds), and Tornado Man comes in for the remaining 55 seconds. Again, it's done well, only tiny bits of dissonance, but A) it's short, especially compared to the lengthy build-up, B) like the Wily part, it's arranged very little, and C) there's absolutely zero integration of the two themes. I'm guessing both are due to the time constraint, but them's the breaks.
  • Topsy Turvy: Once again a solid arrangement, solidly produced, but even after several listens I can't hear Wily's theme at all. At least you can pick it up in Will's if you listen for it. Here, I got nothin'. That's a deal-breaker.
  • Riding the Avalanche: Contemporary classical, huh? With some bits that sound more like a movie soundtrack than a concert piece. Very hard to evaluate, because this is perhaps my least favorite genre, but the more traditional parts are excellent--well arranged, well-orchestrated, well-produced. Probably the most technically perfect submission, even if I don't care for the style.
  • Electric Sleep: Slow trance is another style I could do without, but it's done well here. But once again, one theme is hard to pick out, this time Elec Man. I have to be listening for it specifically, and even then I can only hear four notes except for during the last little snippet. If I can't tell that it's supposed to be Elec Man and not "Faithfully" by Journey, it doesn't count in my mind.
  • Solidity: The bass literally gave me a headache by the fourth listen, but I understand that's a style now. Great integration of the themes, but it does get very repetitive, especially with that driving bass. I'd love for you to give this particular combination of themes another shot with a different style and arrangement; there's some great ideas that just get hammered into oblivion.

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Review time!

  • Electric Sleep: But once again, one theme is hard to pick out, this time Elec Man. I have to be listening for it specifically, and even then I can only hear four notes except for during the last little snippet. If I can't tell that it's supposed to be Elec Man and not "Faithfully" by Journey, it doesn't count in my mind.

Elec Man's theme is basically two things: 1) 4 notes; 2) "Faithfully" by Journey. I used every single note of the Elec Man lead source (even the mythical notes beyond the 4 Du-nu-nu-nu that will never cease playing in my mind). The piano riff that closes out the remix is the source turnaround bridge thing right before it loops. Nothing I do -- nothing -- will make it sound like anything but that Journey song. Apparently not even making it into ambient trance or orchestral music.

At least you can appreciate that I didn't make a trance song in which the main motif was those 4 notes... I'd like to think I'm a lot more creative and a little less annoying than that.

I appreciate the thorough write-ups and all, but like... could you be a little less of an ass? Maybe it's not intentional, but it kinda seems like you've hated everything we've done thus far in the competition. Like really, really hated the shit out of it and for perplexing reasons.

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I think it's important to remember that there's more to a song than just its main melody. And when you remix something, you won't necessarily use the parts that are the most memorable.

This. Exactly. Plus, the song might not be in the same key, or at the same tempo, or (heck) even in the same time signature. Doesn't make it any less of a valid remix.

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Would you like a source breakdown? Half the song is Wily.
I would, actually. I really tried to catch it, but after 4 listens I couldn't.
Elec Man's theme is basically two things: 1) 4 notes; 2) "Faithfully" by Journey. I used every single note of the Elec Man lead source (even the mythical notes beyond the 4 Du-nu-nu-nu that will never cease playing in my mind).
Those four notes are Faithfully, but they're only half of Elec Man. As with Flexstyle's piece, I listened for the rest of it several times and couldn't hear it. And I would like to know what I should be listening for and when.
I appreciate the thorough write-ups and all, but like... could you be a little less of an ass? Maybe it's not intentional, but it kinda seems like you've hated everything we've done thus far in the competition. Like really, really hated the shit out of it and for perplexing reasons.
Sorry about that, and I'll make an effort. But the truth is that I liked what came out of the two GRMRB's a lot better than what I've heard so far here. If my reasons are perplexing, maybe it's because I'm not a remixer (or, at least, not a half-decent one). I can tell a really bad sample, but not a mediocre one from a great one. I prefer a solid cover to a strange but well-excecuted experiment. A few notes of dissonance or harsh noises take a lot out of my enjoyment of a whole piece. So I don't appreciate the challenges so much, only the result.
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If what he wants is something that's more coverish then it's well within his right to vote accordingly. It's a competition with a public voting system, there's no right or wrong way to vote.

That being said, MindWanderer, if you post a public review on something and scrutinize people for subjective details that they may not agree with (what you consider too little source is one such detail... though surprisingly I agreed with your review on my track on that point) expect people to respond defensively. Remixers take reviews quite seriously, so when they hear something that doesn't ring right with them they will respond accordingly.

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