Mega Man: The Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet 2011

[SuperiorX]

Hopefully everybody in the world decides to vote on the round 3 mixes today, cause we're still at less than half of what we had for round 1 and just over a third of the votes for round 2

[Rexy]

I've gone and voted. Will keep badgering my teammates to vote too

[Magellanic]

Seriously amazing mixes across the board. I just voted and found it so difficult.

[Phonetic Hero]

I voted; I'm short on time, but I still want to review at least my top 3

Sheepy Sleepy Electricity Shleepers - I'm not normally much for the ambient, atmospheric musix, and it IS a long one, but this really kept me interested throughout. The melodies were utilized and expanded upon appropriately, and the chords are still interesting, and there's enough movement in the back with teh arpeggios and stuff to keep the thing moving. Ultimately, the attention to detail is what sold it for me; Ecto's use of small glitches/gating and filtering for transitions kept me wondering what was going to come next. Great work, very enjoyable. (Also, the piercing synths don't bother me atm because my headphones and computer speakers blow ass, and unless I'm mistaken, I DID hear a better mixed version earlier in the week )

Riding the Avalanche - Fucking. LOVE. Orchestrations. Most of the time, when people do an (incorrect) orchestral mix, they just transcribe an electronic mix to an orchestral ensemble, which sounds like poopass. You've done a GREAT job of keeping the orchestral feel, very complex and interpretive, as it should be. I'm jealous of your means to do orchestral pieces, because I love the style but lack the sample power and recording know-how to execute it well. So to sum it up, NICE work keeping the orchestral feel while integrating the sources. Dig it!!

Sting Operation - Hot damn if I wasn't snapping along to this thing by the second listen through. Normally I'm not much for synth brass either, but you incorporated it really, really well. It felt like a Super Nintendo synth, and I'm a total sucker for ANYTHING Super Nintendo. The drums are particularly sexy. Feels like some hot, dirty 90's hip hop. Saweeeet!

Time for drumline, pH out!

[Helios42]

Alright, finally time for my reviews! As I begin this, I have my vote narrowed down to 5, and I'm hoping that by typing this out I'll come to the 3 I'll vote for!

So, to begin

Sting Operation - I knew from the moment I listened to this one, which was first, that it would be a contender. Catchy start, loved 0:17-0:35, just in general boded very well.

I loved 'Smooth as Honey' in Back in Blue as a really creative mix, but I expressed to a close friend that I was really longing for something that fleshed out the theme itself, instrumentally, more. (Just as a side note, this doesn't mean lyric-less, it just means that I wanted some general cover on the main theme with instruments, lyrics can go over that: see The Megas) Anyways, long story short, this fulfilled that longing, and we've still got one or more songs from Hylian Lemon left

Uh, anyways, back to actual reviewing of the song.. There was some nice dramatic wily 5 in there with the trumpet. Loved it, especially with the faint Hornet man in the background, perfect mixing. 1:36 - 1:54 was just AMAZING. Just what I was waiting for. AND THE HORNS FOR HORNET MAN!!! SO GOOD. And to top it off, the breakdown at the end was well done, that part might be the cincher in how I vote. I think it's a testimate to everyone's skill that this is still just a contender for my vote, however.

Air Man in G String - I thought this started with a good buildup leading to air man entering at just the right moment. 1:13 - 1:24 had some great liberties and combination of themes. I would have liked to see more moments like this overall (There were two or three more, but overall could have been more prevalent). Overall there were a lot of slow paced areas, which proved interesting. However, sometime during 1:40 - 2:20 I lose track of the sources, and so I think some of the technical skill demonstrated there is lost on me. I felt the best touch on the Wily 5 source was from 3:19 on, which made it feel not as prevalent as the Air Man. The ending, however, was another one of those great moments of mixing of both sources. This is indeed a good song, but I felt like it wasn't quite as strong of an entry as the 5 songs I ended up viewing as the top in this round.

Unto Dust - I loved the start. Such a great testemant to the source. Moreover, there was some great overlap with Wily 5, making that empty and lonely start feel fuller while maintaining the tone of the piece (empy and lonely ). 0:43 - 0:56 was really just what I've been waiting to hear from a Dust Man remix ('Let there be light' goes in a fairly liberal direction. Loved it, but I'm also glad to hear some very recognizeable source in this one!!!) 0:56-1:07 especially! The slow section from 1:40-2:08 was really well done and elaborated on the tone. This section succeeds well because it has a really strong followup. The twangs from 2:10 - 2:22 really helped in this regard! Overall, I think the ending needs a little work and overall, there could be a little more polish on the overall piece. But these were certainly not things to deduct from the overall enjoyability, which was high.

Running With Scissors - Powerful start! The drums were well done. 1:05 - 1:30 had some great layering. The transition right ast 1:28 really moved the piece in an interesting direction, despite being fairly abrupt. There was good mixing of the themes, overall, especially at 2:10 - 2:33, which I felt was a sort of culmination of that new direction. Then we get some epic cut man to truely conclude the piece proper. If this piece were to be improved, I would say the focus should be on smoother transitions between tempos. Transitions between songs were spot on, but there was some pretty heavy alternating between slow and fast.

Power Outage - I thought the background music was fairly good, which is important, because in a lot of lyrical pieces this falls by the wayside. It was lacking sometimes, but not below the level of 'good'. However, it's not very cohesive, which I think affected the piece. The lyrics were a little unpolished in areas, and in others they were overly dramatic. On the more positive side, I thought the reverb effect was creative, and it led to an especially cool lyrical piece at 1:59-2:04 ("Onward to the final stage,

Get equipped with righteous rage.") Though with that kind of robotic effect, it's important to keep the lyrics clear!

Overall, I think cohesiveness was the main area of struggle in this piece. It starts off well, but lacks focus in its direction. Akamojo Belmont is a excellent example to learn from to improve, and I definitely enjoyed this piece.

Tripping Through - Great starting soundscape at 0:12 - 0:27. Felt like a very 'tornado man' feel, but led to Wily 5. I always like that kind of thing. A very faint tornado man provided a great background for the first half, to good effect.

1:50 - 2:01 was very quiet, and didn't feel like a very creative transition, though fitting. Since it was the only transition, I think that effects the overall feel of creativity on this piece. However, 2:36-3:29 is a good touch on tornado man. I think if this had been followed up with an integration of the two themes, it would have made the piece really shine. As it is, I think it falls below 'outstanding', which is where some of the other pieces were this round. It's good, but it's missing some creative depth.

Topsy Turvy - I liked the start, it gave an interesting feel to top man. There was some great creativity with Wily 5 going on, as well as some good mixing. Top man source lent an especially lively feel to Wily 5, as seen most specifically in their mixing from 1:33 - 1:56. Quite a good piece. This was probably intentional, but there was some static in places (Such as at the beginning), and I thought that could be improved on a little. Not necessarily removed, but a little less prevalent, and I think it'd be good. As has been mentioned, the ending is a touch lacking.

Riding the Avalanche - Woah, this was good stuff!!! Great soundscape. 0:29 - 0:42 was some great mixing. 0:42 - 0:50 was creative and a great transition. 1:00 - 1:09 was probably the most creative chill man start, and used in a really interesting way. There was great instrumentation. I really wanted to vote for this one. It had great energy, great mixing, and overall felt really good.

However, I think it was ousted on the production front. Not in the sense that it was bad in this piece at all! However, I think this piece could be improved by having some more happening in the background for during the transitions. I realize that this is hard, really hard. Given the week you had, I am really impressed, and that is probably why it was fairly short (another thing that could be improved upon). I think that's probably why orchistrations aren't used a whole lot in these competitions. It takes longer to make a comparable product. Although, I'd argue, if you get to that level of production, the orchistration gets at a higher level of creativity, technical skill, ability to have awesome transitions, and overall enjoyability. In that sense, if you can pull of a high-production orchistrated piece, then it's REALLY good. High risk, given the week constraint, high return. 'Riding the Avalance' comes so close to this. I'd absolutely love to see a longer piece. The length, I think, would mostly come from expansion of what is already there and polishing the transitions and cohesiveness, instead of adding in a whole bunch of new things. That, with some more instruments in there for more overlap, would lead to a smoother piece, which, in turn, would let the epic creativity already there shine. This one's got a ton of potential, but for where it is right now, there were better pieces this round.

Electric Sleep - Put me with the crowd who misread this as "electric sheep" . I also misread Hylian lemon's as "String Operation" and was all like "strings huh? Not sure how that relates to hornets... oh wait :P" Luckily, I figured it out on both of those after the first listen.

That aside, I liked the soundscape to this one. There was an interesting shift at 0:46 - 0:48 that I liked. It was pretty interesting in the middle, and I especially like 2:29 - 3:02. The piece is aptly named, giving the overall feel. However, I really struggled hearing the elec man in this. I know it's there, but like a dream I just can't remember I can never quite catch it. I think, overall, this is at about an equal level to Willrocks. It's pretty great, but just under the 5 I'm deciding on.

Solidity

Parts of this reminded me of Ice Cream Nachos and just overall Chill man. I wonder why . No, but seriously, those are good styles in here. Theres a great beat starting at 2:32, and that I think was some of the best done with the Wily 5 source. Good cover of both themes, there are sections I can recognize easily, which, I just want to say, really adds to the enjoyability of a piece to me. I love the source tunes of Mega man, so it's never a bad idea to at least touch on something fairly easily relatable to the source. This is done quite well here, without ever being even close to bland. I loved the direction you then went with Crystal man from 2:46 - 3:25, it combines with that beat you developed from the Wily 5 source for all sorts of epic. Very smooth transitions, again aided by that cohesive beat you've got. 3:55 - 4:45 developes a really cool, cumulative, and source-integrated ending. Definitely something I'm going to vote for, just have to decide on the placing.

Hngh, alright, so voting. The 5 it comes down to for me are Sting Operation, Solidity, Unto Dust, Running With Scissors, and Topsy Turvy. I think, given the level of the other 4, I would put Topsy Turvy at the 5th place for that slight production improvement I think could be made and the ending (Still a really good song ) Then, oh man, I have to figure out 2 things. Whether I want to put Sting Operation or Solidity in first, the other being in second. And, whether I put Unto Dust or Running With Scissors in that 3rd place...

Alright, so that decision between 1st and 2nd is proving a little rough for me. I think the instrumentation did it for me in Sting Operation, though. I may change my mind later today, but I think mixing of themes and instrumentation makes Hylian Lemon pull into 1st just by a hair. That puts Solidity in 2nd, because those two were the two I liked the most.

Then it comes down to 3rd. prophetik and Nekofrog both have solid entries, that I think could both be improved slightly. However, I think the areas Running With Scissors struggled in; internal tempo transitions, was something Unto Dust did really well. Where Unto Dust could be improved most doesn't really harm the piece. The ending is just not very substantial, but it's not sudden or bad either. I think between the two, Unto Dust comes out ahead for me.

[Flexstyle]

Topsy Turvy - . . . This was probably intentional, but there was some static in places (Such as at the beginning), and I thought that could be improved on a little. Not necessarily removed, but a little less prevalent, and I think it'd be good.

What, precisely, do you mean by static? I'm not hearing anything that resembles static to me on any systems I've listened on. There are some white noise sweeps that I used heavily during the piece, but those are exactly where they should be. Just curious.

[Rozovian]

I'll make my vote reasoning public again. Partly because it makes it more clear for me to type rather than just listen, remember, and go with my gut. I'll just space out and think about something else half the time if I don't write stuff down while listening. Random order, lessee what we get first...

Riding the Avalanche

My source. Not vote for you. Seriously, it's a cool, underrepresented source, and you've done some cool stuff with it. The orchestra is a bit lacking in expression and feels too close or something. Too dry, or too much of a disparity between dry and wet sounds? Hard to pinpoint what it is, but something about your brass hits seem plastic. Maybe they should have had more percussive punctuation. Solo trumpet sounds more real than most, tho. Some harmonic migraine in the first 40 seconds aside, it's a nice arrangement.

Tripping Through

The rhythm of the intro is difficult to get a clear grip of, tho once the bass drum comes in, it's a no-brainer. There's some weird harmony in here, seems like a fairly conservative take and an original unts base combined without much regard for key. Hard transition between sources, and still some harmonic weirdness from time to time.

Sting Operation

Really loud finger snaps... layered with softer claps or something? Whut? The lead is quite brassy, but something about it doesn't sound right to me. I'm biased against the hiphop-y style anyway, so I'm not gonna try to rationalize it. Successfully latin-esque, but a few too many Gerudo Valley remixes has dulled my appreciation for that style. Sounds a bit forcedly loud, too.

Running with Scissors

Kick and snare sound really artificial. Cymbals hissy and indistinct, not to mention being ducked under harder sounds doesn't sound pleasant. Guitars are doing well, tho. Rocking arrangement, nice outro.

Electric Sleep

Starts off soft and hints at being too loud once the instrumentation starts appearing. Ouch synth, what piercing highs you have. Nice backing rhythm. 5 minutes of trying to not hurt my ears? Well, no. Stopped it at 2:00. I like my ears. Pity, I like the arrangement so far, and aside from cutting into my ears the synths sounded pretty cool.

unto dust

Cymbals and hard loudness isn't a great combination. I keep being bothered by how the highs disappear under the guitars. Guitars have a lot of lows, too, the production could have been smoother with a little softer lows. Towards the end, my ears get a little worried, and that bass is quiite loud. Arrangement went by in the background while the production kept sticking out.

Topsy Turvy

My source. Grr. Probably the most successful loud production in the round. Seemed a bit short on Wily material, tho it was intertwined with the Top Man source at times, probably making it more difficult to spot.

Solidity

I really need to mix my intros and ostinatos better. My stereo hihat idea was stupid. Half my leads are terrible. The whole thing could stand to be a bit softer, and the sidechaining could stand to be... less. Should be softer during the kick-less parts. Some minor clashing aside, I like my arrangement. I like the retro trance-y sound too, mixed with more modern/way retro synth leads and the square bass. I like it. But it's mine. Can't vote.

Power Outage

Rhythm problems.

That bothers me more than the vocals... which I don't really care for much. Vocoder and a really glitchy raw sounding synth. Doesn't quite work with the organic vocals and rhythm and stuff so far. I'm surprisingly indifferent about the vocals. I mean, they're not the best, they're not produced the best, and it's not the best combination of two types of vocals.

Air Man in a G String

Team Willrock's first track without any backing artists. Not my favorite kind of hats, but at least they don't bounce in and out of existence. Backing arps remind me of the music to some old snes tennis game I had as a kid. Seems focused on Air Man. It's got Willrock's usual modal changes to melodies, and a key change, and solos. So yeah.

Team Willrock in a G String and FlexyFurby get votes. Who else... C7. Least offensive? FlexStyle gets 1st, Will 2nd, C7 3rd. Much easier than last week.

[ectogemia]

Electric Sleep

Starts off soft and hints at being too loud once the instrumentation starts appearing. Ouch synth, what piercing highs you have. Nice backing rhythm. 5 minutes of trying to not hurt my ears? Well, no. Stopped it at 2:00. I like my ears. Pity, I like the arrangement so far, and aside from cutting into my ears the synths sounded pretty cool.

I actually find that to be a little offensive... yes, there was a mixing issue on the highs, I understand, but if it was "too loud" why didn't you just turn it down a little? It's a pity you stopped at 2:00 because that mixing issue is only present in that section and the final section of the mix. The middle half is well-mixed in my opinion and has 100% different instrumentation. I'd appreciate it if you listened to that section at least and let me know what you thought about it. I can't really improve if everyone were to critique only 30% of each of my mixes, can I?

I say this because I respect the opinions of musicians who are better than myself, and I was hoping to hear something a little more substantive than that from you.

[Brandon Strader]

Haha yeah, I turned all the mixes off cause they were giving me tinnitus. Then I realized I had the volume on maximum.

[Rozovian]

I actually find that to be a little offensive... yes, there was a mixing issue on the highs, I understand, but if it was "too loud" why didn't you just turn it down a little? It's a pity you stopped at 2:00 because that mixing issue is only present in that section and the final section of the mix. The middle half is well-mixed in my opinion and has 100% different instrumentation. I'd appreciate it if you listened to that section at least and let me know what you thought about it. I can't really improve if everyone were to critique only 30% of each of my mixes, can I?

I say this because I respect the opinions of musicians who are better than myself, and I was hoping to hear something a little more substantive than that from you.

On one hand you're right, and I apologize. On the other, not only is it a blatant problem that I'm not the first to point out, but you'll remember to watch out for it now.

It's not just a volume problem, it's a spectral problem. There's a specific frequency (and possibly its overtones) that's cutting through everything else and hurting my ears. Gario and SuperiorX also brought up the issue. Lowering my listening volume isn't really a good solution anyway, as compared to the other tracks, it's not too loud - it's just too shrill. Besides, the problem would persist until I mute it.

Besides, it's a competition, not the wip board. I might relisten later. I won't change my votes, tho. The problem is a big enough issue to put the track - as a whole - in the bottom half of the round (granted, you've got some tough competition), no matter the arrangement and instrumentation after that point.

[Nabeel Ansari]

What Rozo's trying to say is that the piercing frequencies hurts the enjoyability of listening to the track.

[ectogemia]

On one hand you're right, and I apologize. On the other, not only is it a blatant problem that I'm not the first to point out, but you'll remember to watch out for it now.

It's not just a volume problem, it's a spectral problem. There's a specific frequency (and possibly its overtones) that's cutting through everything else and hurting my ears. Gario and SuperiorX also brought up the issue. Lowering my listening volume isn't really a good solution anyway, as compared to the other tracks, it's not too loud - it's just too shrill. Besides, the problem would persist until I mute it.

Besides, it's a competition, not the wip board. I might relisten later. I won't change my votes, tho. The problem is a big enough issue to put the track - as a whole - in the bottom half of the round (granted, you've got some tough competition), no matter the arrangement and instrumentation after that point.

Nononono, I wasn't asking you to change your vote, nor was I intending to single you out as it's already been made apparent by others that the highs are shrill. I felt short-changed is all.

[Nabeel Ansari]

Nononono, I wasn't asking you to change your vote, nor was I intending to single you out as it's already been made apparent by others that the highs are shrill. I felt short-changed is all.

While I disapprove of his not listening to the whole thing before voting, I understand where he's coming from. Listening to the whole thing won't change the fact that the problem still exists.

[Brandon Strader]

Most of the songs have some kind of issue. You can't just not listen to any of them.

[Nabeel Ansari]

You can't

Unless you can.

[ectogemia]

While I disapprove of his not listening to the whole thing before voting, I understand where he's coming from. Listening to the whole thing won't change the fact that the problem still exists.

I never said it would change anything. I realize there is a mixing issue, one I had fixed in my final project file for the track, a project file that mysteriously disappeared & forced me to submit the most recent version I had, a not-so-well produced one. I recognize that the mixing issue is preventing me from getting more votes, and that's ok with me. I'll fix the problems again, put it on the wip forum, and get further feedback.

Most of the songs have some kind of issue. You can't just not listen to any of them.

Yes. To all of that. Hence why I felt short-changed.

Ehhh, looks like another ecto comment is blowing out of proportion! YAY! I'm not upset with anyone, I was just kinda throwing it out there that despite the insufficiencies of any given track, each should be listened to in its entirety to keep things fair. That's all -- nothing accusatory or whiny was intended.

[AMT]

Mix submitted.

BRING IT

[Zerothemaster]

Just want to say thanks to Amphibious and C7 for helping on this. I doubt I would have anything decent without them

Well, I'll find out later, at least. Once they do their parts

[Phonetic Hero]

Ehhh, looks like another ecto comment is blowing out of proportion!

Ecto you're a fucking DICK andihateyou

Love,

Pete

[ectogemia]

Sting Operation -- The snaps about 20 seconds in were very loud and distracting. The synth brass was sequenced very well, and it gave the piece an awesome sort of dire "desperado" feel. The constant retexturing was awesome and verrrry well done.

Air Man in a G String -- I'm a huge sucker for shred guitar being that I was a budding shredder myself before the first two years of college ate my free time. The guitar work was gorgeous and mixed fantastically. I enjoyed the liberal interpretation of the source tunes, and... yeah! Not a lot to complain about. I suppose the intro percussion felt a little out of time in some way?

unto dust -- Hm, so there's how I should mix those screeching synths of mine The superb sound design stands out to me immediately, as does the constant retexturing. The chugging guitar riff around 1:00 could use a little mixing attention.

Running With Scissors -- You had me at speed metal. I'll have to agree with whoever else said that this seems like a mash-up of a lot of good ideas. There's not a lot of cohesion between the sections, but the mixing and performance are both badass. This could be an epic metal anthem if you expanded each section and added elements to cohere them better.

Power Outage -- Again, I'm not a huge fan of vocals, but your performance was good considering you didn't autotune. There was a general sense of dryness as far as the synths went. The section around 1:40 and after was very disjointed (again, the dryness) but I heard a ton of potential in it. If you connected all the ideas in the section with a little processing and some more attention to how each part is related, it would be pretty damn sweet. The ending petered off a bit. Like Neko's mix, this one had a lot of good ideas, but it didn't give each one enough time to develop it fully.

Tripping Through -- I'm just now getting into trance a bit, and man, do I love it. This is no exception. Superb mixing and pulse from the get-go. The pulse lead was a bit corny, but that's just personal preference, never did much like those. The more spacious lead that comes in soon after that is excellent. I though I heard some weird harmony around 1:30, but maybe I'm just crazy. Beginning around 2:00, I thought the mix started to lose direction and cohesion a little. The lead around 3:05 got VERY quiet. Overall, this was very well written and interesting minus the bit around 2:00, but the themes were kept completely separate.

Topsy Turvy -- Would it be weird if I told you I wanted to kill you and eat your heart to gain your sound design prowess? Don't answer that. The arrangement was excellent, the soundscape got me fucking AMPED, the bass was bowel-movement-inducing, the transitions kicked my ass. Screw the haters. I liked the ending. First place.

Riding The Avalanche -- Orchestral music is another genre I'm starting to crack in to a bit. This is a good reason why I should keep exploring it Obviously, the length is an issue, but what you have is excellent -- dramatic and very well composed. The harmonies in the last 30 or so seconds were totally badass.

Electric Sleep -- was ok

Solidity -- The drop at 1:04 was sweet. I thought the detuned saw patch was a bit corny, but WHOA, the part around 1:30 was gorgeous, and once you filtered those saws, they sounded very nice. Some of the notes around 2:25 just kind of sounded wrong (artistic license, I know, but they didn't sit well with me). The transition into the more overtly Crystal Man section was well done, and although that section was extremely conservative, the great instrument choices kept it fresh. It led into the Wily theme quite naturally, too. I thought that some of the transitions lacked punch. Hooray for you for making a long remix, too. I always prefer more music to less.

Topsy-Turvy = 1st place vote without a doubt.

Air Man in a G String, Solidity, and Sting Operation are tough to choose between for 2nd or 3rd...

I have to give it to the sweet guitar performance and mixing for 2nd: Air Man in a G String

Solidity is a bit more tailored to my musical preferences these days, so I'll give that 3rd over Sting Operation, but I just want Hylian Lemon to know that it was the hardest decision I've ever made in my life... ever... in my life.

Ecto you're a fucking DICK andihateyou

Love,

Pete

Pete you're a fucking Ecto andihateyou

Love,

DICK

[MindWanderer]

I'm not upset with anyone, I was just kinda throwing it out there that despite the insufficiencies of any given track, each should be listened to in its entirety to keep things fair.

I agree in general, and I listened to every submission myself, even those I had made my mind up on in the first minute, but I think physical pain should be an exception. I listened to Solidity less than I did the other mixes this week because it was giving me a headache, and if there had been four or five of those shrieks in Wily's Inferno, I might not have finished listening to it (which would have been a shame). Acute sensitivity to high pitches, or loud bass for that matter, is a real thing.

[ectogemia]

Acute sensitivity to high pitches, or loud bass for that matter, is a real thing.

I suppose it is. I just listened to my remix again, and although the highs are a bit shrill, I really only think they're a bit shrill. Not even close to anything that would make me turn off the music, and I listen to music at a fairly high volume. Perhaps its just a difference in perceptual intensity. Nonetheless, if several others are hearing something I'm not, it's probably an issue worth correcting.

[SuperiorX]

Ecto I see your reviews here, but I don't believe you actually put your votes in the social group...

[ectogemia]

Ecto I see your reviews here, but I don't believe you actually put your votes in the social group...

Ready? Magic trick. Check again.

That'll be $20 for the mind-fuck, babe.

[SuperiorX]

Ready? Magic trick. Check again.

That'll be $20 for the mind-fuck, babe.

Whaaaaa? Time stamps don't lie bitch my post was at 9:57 and your votes at 10:03.