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Mega Man: The Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet 2011

DarkeSword

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AkumajoBelmont Apprentice

AkumajoBelmont

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I'm really happy with the way mine turned out. Though, I'm hanging to get back to expanding it and really fleshing it out for submission... Its not quite add polished or full sounding as I would have liked, but given the time period given to complete it, I'm uber-happy with it so far.

Can't wait to listen to the rest when I get home from work :)

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ectogemia Newbie

ectogemia

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More stream of consciousness critiques from me as I listen. "Enjoy"

Hornet of Legend -- Hory shet, I love Celtic music. I mean, it's all really the same song varied ever so slightly each performance by the level of the performers' intoxication, but that's not the point. The point is that the arrangement here is brilliant, and the flurry of notes of constantly interesting and evolving. It was extremely simple in terms of production, but being that it was pseudo-acoustic, I'm sure that was the point. Loved it, start to finish :D

Blast Counter -- NICE soundscape in the beginning. Super-meaty. Just the way I like it. Uh-oh, did I hear some slightly shrill highs. Better turn off the mu... no, wait; I'll keep listening. Wasn't a big fan of the saw lead & its lack of modulation. The dub-step was a bit phoned in, it seems, just a little vanilla for my taste. The Wily at 2:35 was excellent. Everything came together with that snare fill leading into that segment, and this is where the track really took off. Overall, the sound design was excellent, but the whole package just didn't grab me.

Dr. Wiwwy, Polarized -- Sweet synth to kick it off. Just the right amount of resonance. The Magnet Man source in the beginning was a little odd-sounding, but I suppose that can't be helped when the source is so happy-go-lucky and the remix... isn't. The arrangement was fantastic. Both sources were loud and clear and well implemented. 2:02 kicked my ass. Excellent work. 2 chiptunes in a row? Care to make it 3? :nicework: The galloping hat at the end was a little exposed and dry. Very enjoyable listen!

Proud Warrior of a Forgotten Kingdom -- The track seems a little empty, and it sounds like a symphony of robots. Quite fitting, but no thanks. That being said, the harmonic structure is absolutely gorgeous. Even though it really sounded like a corny MIDI, I still liked what I heard. With a some more production polish, you sound like you could write some killer tracks.

Bring The Heat -- Just like the last mix, the harmonies were quite interesting (albeit somewhat less so in this case), but the humanization and production elements just weren't in place.

Tower Power Boogie -- I'm assuming this was sequenced, and if that's the case, I'd say it's a little "over-humanized" if you know what I mean. Rather than hesitations or anticipations, there are at times what feel like outright timing errors. 1:28 onward kicks ass except for the final little run which sounds pretty sloppy and probably would have benefited from not being a straight pentatonic run

Shining Groove -- Kickass percussion to begin with. The snare isn't jiving with me for some reason. I think I just don't like the sample, but that's personal preference, no fault of yours. The filler improv around 1:22ish really didn't impress me, sorry :/ I didn't enjoy it at all, and it really didn't serve any purpose but to fill time. Something also bugged me about the harmonic progression at 2:34 (and at other times); it just didn't seem quite right, but I'm not a chord ace quite yet, so take that with a grain of salt. Otherwise, the arrangement was awesome. The Wily theme was the real star, and it carried the entire mix along quite well. The final bass performance was much more fitting for the mix and helped bring it to a close. Sound design was also a big positive throughout.

The Fall -- This sounds quite a bit like "Title of Your First Remix" 2.0, and while both this and the last were absolutely fantastic pieces of music, despite the fact I don't much like vocals in my music, I really would have liked to have seen more variation. The backup vocals around 2:23 were VERY cool. Loved that processing. Super-tight production and arrangement.

Robot Lounge -- The drums seemed a bit sterile. The snare especially could have used a little more width and compression. It sounds waaaay far back in the mix. The arrangement was excellent, and the sound design choices fit the genre perfectly. Perhaps the guitar could have used juuuust a bit more attention on the processing to really make it lounge-y, but I'd say it was 90% of the way there. Not much else to say. Great work!

Wily's Bubble Bath -- Shit gets me amped. The phasing square chords in the beginning could use a little more beef. Not sure why I didn't pick up on that during my first couple of listens. Drums could have used a little variation, but fuck it, it's a dance song. THE DRUMS WERE FINE. The lead modulation starting at 2:42 is 100% certified sweet as hell. The ensuing solo is equally sweet but so unfortunately short... yet, it was the perfect length. Outro has pretty sparkles! If I could vote for you, it'd go in my top 3 for sure :D

Planes, Trains, and Auto'n'Beat -- That name was incredibly arduous to type. Thanks. The intro sweep was properly rezzed & EQ'd. Took you long enough :P Excellent percussion work with interesting syncopations. The snare scratches (2:08 and another one soon after and another reverse one after that) were all a little dry and exposed. The glitching was suitably trippy and awesome. This whole remix sounds like it belongs in Deus Ex, and that's a hell of a compliment as far as I'm concerned. The arrangement was tight and interesting, and the sound design, as I implied, had a distinct sort of cyber-punk/industrial/hip-hop feel to it, and the fusion worked excellently.

Combustive Implosion -- The name is X-TREME. The saw around 0:22 was a little weak. It's sounding pretty thin. The transition at 1:25 was super slick, and the ensuing chiptune bells were gorgeous. Sweet groove at about 1:56, too! The sub bass is ridiculously strong soon after, perhaps too strong for such a chill section, but once the filtered bass layers with it, it doesn't feel so exposed, and it all actually balances quite nicely. The transition at 3:04 just kind of didn't exist, and the remix just kind of ends. I'm assuming you ran out of time once you got to this section. Otherwise, I enjoyed it on the whole, but the last half was definitely stronger.

Hornet of Legend, Planes, Trains, and Auto'n'Beat, and Dr. Wiwwy, Polarized stood at to me as the clear top 3. Because Hylian Lemon said PISS OFF ELECTRONIC MUSIC and branched off and did his own thing that the Irish have done for hundreds of years, and did it so well using electronic samples, I have to give him 1st. Once again, I really can't even pick between Gario's and Phonetic Hero's because I thought their merits were too disparate. COIN TOSS. HEAD GET. Phonetic Hero takes 2nd. Amphibious's effort gets a close 4th. The only reason it didn't make the list is because while I really enjoy lounge music, I consider it to be a "safe" genre in that it has a fairly simple formula and structure. The mixes I considered the top 3 were all idiomatic enough to sound like OCR-type music: stuff you just don't hear anywhere else.

1st = Hornet of Legend

2nd = Planes, Trains, and Auto'n'Beat

3rd = Dr. Wiwwy, Polarized

edit: I realized I wrote "there" instead of "their," and it bothered me so much that I had to edit my post to fix it. I'm just that kind of person.

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Gario Collaborator

Gario

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Oh come on man, at least make something up so I don't feel like such an ass for stealing 2nd :P

Oh my God, Phonetic Hero, you stole my second.

You bastard.

The Magnet Man source in the beginning was a little odd-sounding...

Yeah, I put in the melody in it's normal Major key, yet set the harmonies in minor (at least for the very first few bars - the melody is adjusted afterwards). I thought the effect was cool, and judging by your vote, you did too.

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ectogemia Newbie

ectogemia

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Yeah, I put in the melody in it's normal Major key, yet set the harmonies in minor (at least for the very first few bars - the melody is adjusted afterwards). I thought the effect was cool, and judging by your vote, you did too.

Never said I didn't like it :P certainly is odd, though. My vote should be an indicator of how much I liked the quirkiness of the remix --> a lot.

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orlouge82 Apprentice

orlouge82

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Hornet of Legend - Hylian Lemon never fails to impress with his ability to make a remix that sounds like it could be straight out off of a Legend of Zelda game's soundtrack, even though the source tunes are nothing like a Zelda song (see round 2 of GRMRB 2011/song title: "Save a Horse (Ride a Transformer)"). Anyhow, this is a fantastically executed song, and I have no technical complaints about it. It didn't make my top three purely because there were other songs that I preferred the styles of more, but if recent voting trends are any indication, this song will do very well this round.

Blast Counter - As someone else has already mentioned, the soundscape at the beginning is well-executed and fits the intro. Again, overall, I have no complaints about the song, but it didn't stand out to me as much as other songs this round did. Also, my perceptions of Napalm Man remixes may be a little biased since the zenith of all Napalm Man remixes for me is WillRock's Walking Weapons Unit from GRMRB 2011 (which also is probably my favorite WillRock song altogether). In any event, no complaints, like most of the rest of the songs this round.

Dr. Wiwwy, Polarized - Loved the sound of Magnet Man's theme all skewed - like it was run through a magnet. Yet another song of this round that I don't have any complaints about. This one could have easily made my top 3, and it's one of the songs that made me wish - for the first time in this compo - that I could do a top 5 or 6. Great work.

Proud Warrior of a Forgotten Kingdom - Great stuff here. Two things. First, it feels a little skinny, which could be remedied by running through the WIP forums. Second, it's too short, but that's simple enough to fix with more time to draw out the arrangement. The great ideas are there, you just need to develop them more. Nice job.

Bring the Heat - I think I remember you saying that this song is incomplete, which is too bad because I really liked where it was going. Same suggestions as above though: make it a bit longer, and fatten it up a bit, and you'll have yourself a great finished product. If you choose to finish this song, I would definitely look forward to the end result.

Tower Power Boogie - I know you were busy this week, and it's too bad that you couldn't spend more time on this mix, because it has a really unique style that I would have been very interested to hear as a finish product. Maybe you can finish it up when you get some time later one? Very creative approach here.

Shining Groove - Great soundscape. I actually felt like the song was "shining" when I was listening to it. Like Gario's, this one could have easily made my top 3, and it's one of the songs that made me want to put a top 5 or 6 instead of a top 3. Just great work. Loved the solo from 1:17-2:08 (AMT, I presume?). Definitely one of your better works to date, Neblix. Very nice job.

The Fall - Standard disclaimer: I don't really like VG remixes with lyrics, as I've said repeatedly in the past. That said, the song was well executed and arranged, and the only complaint that I have would be echoing what Ecto said earlier about it sounding "like 'Title of Your First Remix' 2.0." Still, no one can complain about how well done the song is.:nicework:

Robot Lounge - Hot damn, this is great. This manages to be relaxing and chill while still maintaining my attention. Great treatment of Shadow Man's theme, which I typically find to be somewhat one dimensional. Awesome trumpet solo, C7. Anything more I say about this song would just be more heaps of praise, so I'll just sum up by saying excellent work, this gets my #2 spot.

Wily's Bubble Bath - TGH returns and steals the #1 spot. I listened to all of these remixes for hours yesterday without paying attention to the artist, and the first few times this one came on, I had to check the song title and artist because it was so good that I wanted to make a note of it. Love this song, and I'm impressed that you were still able to find a unique way to treat Bubble Man's theme after doing four remixes of it for GRMRB 2011. Nice soloing, too. Excellent work!

Planes, Trains, and Auto 'n' Beat - It's funny, when I was listening to the songs yesterday without listening to the artists, as mentioned above, I thought this was Neblix's entry the first couple of plays because it resembles his style quite a bit (and that's not a bad thing). This is one of the many other songs this round that I don't have any complaints about but didn't make my my top 3 because it didn't stand out as much as some of the others to me. But it would have made a top 5 or 6 list. Great work!

Combustive Implosion - I swear one of the things that made this round so hard to vote on was the return of Jakesnke17 and TGH. This song beat out several other excellent mixes to snag the #3 spot, and even though electronic genres seem to be well-enough represented in this competition, this song still strikes me as unique and dissimilar from other electronic ones I've heard so far in the compo. Also, congrats on actually producing something meaningful from Grenade Man's theme. Great to see you back!

Well, that's all of them. A phenomenal crop this week.

Good luck to the mixers of next week trying to top them.

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SuperiorX Newbie

SuperiorX

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Track impressions for this week! This was a really high quality and eclectic batch of mixes this round. I am thoroughly impressed, great job everyone!

Hornet of Legend: Wow, score some originality points here! I love the instrumentation variety here. Nice piano, flute, glockenspiel (I think?). This does sound awfully Zelda-esque but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Nice job mixing up styles for us!

Blast Counter: I love the intro atmosphere. It sounds like a missile launch counter going down (which is why the song is probably titled Blast Counter :razz:), but it does a good job setting the style of the song. Napalm Man's theme is so damn catchy too (I keep thinking of all the great Napalm Man mixes Main Finger made in the GRMRB). Cool little effects going on at the 1:30 area, and I love the 'call and reply' between the Wily theme and Napalm theme. But, wait, what is this... NO WILLROCK SOLO? 8-O 'Team Willrock Solos' doesn't have a Willrock solo? WHATEVER WILL WE DO?!?!?!?! Haha, anyway, I think the Nutritious solo at the end is just fine! If there weren't so many other damn good tracks this round this would've made it into my top 3.

Dr. Wiwwy Polarized: Holy sound design batman! The intro synth is absolutely delicious Gario! I love the blending of the two themes, particularly the Magnet Man shenanigans at 1:10. The entire soundscape just fits perfectly. Great sound design, production, everything. Yeah you just created one of my favorite mixes of the compo easily. This will be in my top 3 somewhere.

Proud Warrior of a Forgotten Kingdom: I do love piano solos. It sounds like you didn't have to finish this one up tho. The soundscape is pretty empty, even after the other instruments come in. It would be cool to see this fleshed out with some orchestral elements, or toned back to just being a piano solo. I think either direction would have some promise.

Bring the Heat: Oh, more piano... and more unfinished remixes :( The violin is a nice touch though. This sounds very similar to Geoffio's track right before this, which is kind of ironic cause they are back-to-back in the playlist. Maybe you guys should just combine your songs. Either way, this shows some promise too, it would've been nice to here it fleshed out and the soundscape filled out.

Tower Power Boogie: Lol nice. Xarnax42 must be getting tired after 3 weeks of straight mixing. This reminds me of the old timey music you'd here in a silent film or as an interlude. In fact, in this playlist I think it does that great. It's a fun little interlude piece between the first and second half of the mixes. I like how things start to get derailed at the end (timing issues, etc.), it feels like that was purposeful and not by accident. I like it.

Shining Groove: Nice bass work dude (AMT?). The drums sound muddy (particularly the snare could be snappier). The track does seem to meander a lot in the middle too. I like the overall sound of the song though, some of the sweeping synth choices are cool. It feels like a very quick 3:44.

The Fall: Oooh more Akumajo. Cool isolated vocal intro (nice layering effects too!). I love the driving groove here. Very very catchy. Fun instrumental breakdown section in the middle too. Really not much to complain about here, I really enjoyed this song!

Robot Lounge: Ooooh yeeeeeah. Sexy stuff here. Shadow Man sounds perfect in this style. You nailed the 'lounge' sound perfect here. Great bass & piano. I love the little syncopations in the melody too. Very groovy stuff. Then the trumpet comes in to keep things interesting. I'm a sucker for the trumpet. That sealed the deal for me here. Nice performance C7! Again, nothing to complain about here. This is definitely one of my favorite mixes of the compo.

Wily's Bubble Bath: Thename brings up a gross visual of a hairy old man in a bathtub. But I'll forgive you cause this song is so groovy. The Hard Men lucked out that TGH could step in for Emu! Your mixes never fail to impress sir. I love the chill vibe coming from the piano and the introduction of the synth fits in with the style perfectly (nice sound design). Bubble Man's theme sounds fresh in this mix (even after hearing numerous other Bubble mixes from you). Nice!

Planes, Trains, & Auto 'n' Beat: Damn hell that name is hard to type. I shall forever call it PT&AnB. Charge Man in a minor key really makes the theme sound a lot darker and not happy go luckily like it normally does. I love how it fits in here with the Wily theme. Cool sound design, nice orchestral elements, and cool glitchy effects throughout. Nice piano too! Great job Pete!

Combustive Implosion: It is nice to see that another Skull Man does indeed exist! This song has a really cool atmosphere to it. Cool bass & piano throughout. It makes me think of like a stealth game or something... like a robot master is sneaking into Wily's castle or something I guess 8). It feels like it ends kind of awkwardly though, like you weren't sure if you were finished or not. Either way, I dig it. I wish I had more votes cause this barely missed the cut.

So I know I'm going to vote for "Robot Lounge", "Wily's Bubble Bath", and "Dr. Wiwwy Polarized", but I'm not quite sure the order. I'll let the mixes settle over the week and decide. Either way, great job everyone. I pretty much really enjoyed every mix this week!

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Jamphibious Newbie

Jamphibious

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I just downloaded the mixes this round and I've only listened to one so far... but I just want to say ROBOT LOUNGE OMG! This is kinda the style I've been going for with my mixes and you guys nailed it. I love the live trumpet from C7 too. Great great great job guys :grin:
Haha, I second that. Damn Amph, you weren't kidding when you said you were feeling smooth

Thanks a lot guys! I'm really glad you liked it. C7 nailed the trumpet part despite the terrible key signature :<

Wow, pretty sweet job, Amph! Haha I must say, that trumpet solo sounded pretty nice in there. Really great work, man! I look forward to hearing the rest of the mixes when I get home and gettin' started on mine!

PS: Please try to give me fewer than 5 sharps in my key next time :-P

Thanks sir. I will certainly keep that in mind next time, haha, but you did great.

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Bahamut Newbie

Bahamut

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Time for my Round 3 comments!

Hylian Lemon - Hornet of Legend

The overall design reminds me of Tales of Phantasia's soundtrack. The song appears to be built pretty well, although that background instrument gets a bit in the repetitive side with how long it plays throughout, but thankfully it is placed in a good place. Pretty solid effort I feel.

Nutritious - Blast Counter

I'll be honest - this song didn't really pique my interest too much. The build seems solid for the most part, but it feels a bit on the disjoint side with the different angles the song goes at.

Gario - Dr. Wiwwy, Polarized

Interesting mix, relies heavily on an interpretive take on Magnet Man. It kept energetic, although in a bit more of a snazzy way. Solid overall as far as I can tell.

Geoffio - Proud Warrior of a Forgotten Kingdom

This song seems unfinished :( . The piano performance is a bit mechanical sounding at times.

Obtuse - Bring the Heat

The song sounds on the thin side - it needs more instrumentation.

Xarnax42 - Tower Power Boogie

The mic placement needs some improvement here - the recording sounds quite cheap, although it is reminiscent of old western flicks.

Neblix feat. AMT - Shining Groove

Looks like Neblix went and gave it a lot of effort.

AkumajoBelmont - The Fall

Akumajo sure loves those vocals - they have a certain charm to them. Something about the arrangement doesn't feel that great to me here - perhaps it's incomplete?

Amphibious feat. C7 - Robot Lounge

Chill mix - did someone say Robot Museum? That lead synth to start sounds a little on the dry side.

TheGuitahHeroe - Wily's Bubble Bath

The mix is hard for me to get a gauge on - it didn't hold my interest that strongly. The balance with the instruments could have been worked on some I feel.

Phonetic Hero - Planes, Trains, and Auto 'n' Beat

Weak ending :( .

Jakesnke17 - Combustive Implosion

Thanks everyone for your mixes! Sorry for the lame comments...I'm kinda too tired to really focus enough atm.

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Xarnax42 Newbie

Xarnax42

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Xarnax42 - Tower Power Boogie

The mic placement needs some improvement here - the recording sounds quite cheap, although it is reminiscent of old western flicks.

This was actually a processed sample, and that's exactly the feeling I was going for, so thanks!

With regard to your entire post (and most of your write-ups, really -- see quote below):

Lol dude, Bahamut commented on it... he hates it.

Just like everything in this compo. It are SUX :D

EDIT: And everyone should just put a bunch of fucking smilies after everything they post so nobody gets offended :D:):P:) :) :):D D:

I think it's really important to remember that this isn't the WIP forums, and I guarantee every mixer here would love to hear what you (this is to anyone sharing their reviews) enjoyed about their mix. I have no problem with constructive criticism, especially when you need to justify your votes, but the point of a review is to share the good and the bad, not to explain what needs to be fixed to pass the panel.

Of course, I'd rather have a harsh review than none at all, and I really appreciate you taking the time to do a write-up every week (I wish I'd had the time to do the same...)

:-D:)!!:-D:)!!:-D:dstrbd:

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