djpretzel Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 Contact Info Remixer Name - Dj Riott Real Name - David Marriott Email address - david_dude_22@hotmail.com My website - http://www.acidplanet.com/dj_riott User ID - 9677 ReMix Info Name of Game Remixed - River City Ransom Individual Song - RCR Main Theme Original Soundtrack - http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/nes/rcr-main.mid I was not originally familiar with this game at all, until 'Brine' contacted me and requested I remix the main theme. River City Ransom has been given a small amount of coverage, with none of it to its 'Main Theme'. For the fans of RCR, this theme is what they know and love. It is a very catchy tune, but almost not suiting for the game... That is why I decided to go with a 'Street Thrash' style, to better represent what the game was about. (Beating up random dudes I guess). The theme was originally in 6/8, so I decided to see what I could do, by transposing it into 4/4. When doing this, I realized I could add my own style and rhythm to the theme, and it turned out surprisingly well. The original track is pretty lengthy, so it wasn't hard to find source material to cover. I picked and chose what parts of the theme to orchestrate in, and I tried my best to run them together yet still have my own style. The 'Main Theme' of RCR has 7 segments (not including the chorus), and I have chosen to use 5 of these segments, and, to use 'Segment One' as the new chorus. --- The genre of my piece definitely changes throughout, but I feel it is for the best, and it really engages the listener. I relied on searing synths, warped EQ, and distortions to give me the feel I wanted, which includes the spots of dirtiness and resonance here and there. Without further adieu, I give you, 'River City Revolution' (sorry for the angelfire) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 http://www.zophar.net/nsf/riverc~1.zip - Track 2 Wanted to love this one, cuz many of the arrangement ideas are hot, and I liked the time signature change. The distorted synth on the intro may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I was feelin' it. At :23 things picked up, and I was just getting too much volume and clashing among the sounds during the loudest parts. At :55 when the melody finally came in, everything was just too loud and grating. Pull back the volume; it doesn't have to get that loud at all. The voice clips starting at 1:34 were REALLY tacky, mostly because the timing on them didn't really synch up that nicely with the music, though I liked how you used that last clip at 1:49. THAT was a very stylish idea as a transition into the next section. 1:51 was just TOO LOUD. TOO LOUD, bro. These levels are nasty and just make your sounds too grating and abrasive. The section starting at 2:22 was fairly uninteresting, but I liked some of the arrangement ideas at 2:38 (even if the percussion up until 3:06 could have packed more punch). The distorted guitar synth entering in at 3:09 was a terrible sample and sounded very muddy. Whenever that sample was in play, the atmosphere sounded a bit muffled. We got guitar action until around 3:56, though I felt that section didn't work too well. Getting to the 4-minute mark, the track was really dragging out too long. Not a new problem, but pretty much everything after 4:12 was too loud and all of the sounds cluttered together. Cut the fat off this or at least refine some of the more aimless-sounding sections (e.g. 1:31-1:50, 3:09-3:57). You've got some really hot shit in here on the arrangement side for some of these parts though. For example, from :39-:54, that buildup was really creative and fairly well executed. Lots of potential here, and I realize the style is purposefully dirty, but the mixing was too sloppy and the composition dragged on. Looking forward to zircon & analoq's takes on this. Definitely don't give up on this one, David, as I really think it has a shot with some more attention on the arrangement and production, and pulling back the volume so that it doesn't break my ears during the busier parts. I feel like it needs a significant amount of work to get it where it needs to be, but that more work on it could nonetheless turn this around. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Quick note - the artist said that this is a revision of his remix of the same theme. Having heard both (the original is on VGmix under the name david dude 22), I think the original remix is way better, and there are a lot less issues there. Dunno what you guys want to do about this: want me to ask the mixer whether he wants us to judge that version? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmony Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 I think the VGMix version is the better mix but the differences between the two come down to remixer preference. The mix that we have has a lot more attention paid to production, FX and variation. Although these are offset by some of the issues that Larry mentioned I don't feel that this mix is significantly weaker than the VGmix version, especially since the composition of the two is pretty similar. I say judge what we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Ascher-Weiss Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 That's Five Minutes right there and I'd say atleast two and a half of them were well worth listening to but there is way too much water in this lemonade son! 0:00-0:40 Bottled Water 0:40-1:15 Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice and sugar 1:15-1:59 Tap Water 2:00-2:05 Gourmet Dj Scratch Artificial Sweetener 2:06-2:21 Flavored Mineral Water 2:22-3:00 Rhythmically Varied Interestingly developed Lemony Sugar 3:00-3:33 Repetitive Water Scooped out of a Toilet Bowl 3:34-END Lemon and Lime compositional power. Except for the bottled water used to warm up your audience I don't see the need for the rest of these flat portions of the mix. There is some really tight stuff happening in the good sections. Bassline and drum interaction, grating yet well used sounds, and the ocassional departure from Bminor. Ultimately I'm with Liontamer in that I really really wanted to give this a yes but those water section are so stagnant and undeveloped. It feels like this song was a collaboration between a good ReMixer and his narcoleptic twin. That's Right I SAID IT! NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayLightning Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 This sounds chaotic in my view. The mix is flooded with crunch, brittle and for me distortion that dominated throughout wasn't pleasant. The main focus of the mix is the drumwork and it just sounds really dirty, not in a good way. The distorted lead is, ugly. I did really like the beats and rhythm, those were well sequenced. I liked the 4:00-4:52 section the most. Overall, the aural properties of this and the mix collectively just don't sound all that pleasant. Above average certainly, but I don't hear anything standout here in terms of arrangement or production, coupled this with the production problems I cited - I can only give it a NO at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djpretzel Posted June 27, 2005 Author Share Posted June 27, 2005 Perhaps a little too abrasive, and repetitive to some extent as well. You can thrash without piercing so much, or at least, I feel like I've heard people do so. While the genre is supposed to be chaotic and aggressive, I think the energy being channeled here is actually hurt more than it is helped by the scratchy EQing. Closing out with 4th NO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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