OceansAndrew Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Blue Magic Damon Campbell Submission Information Donkey Kong Country 2 Bramble Blast, Hot Head Bop (just a small snippet) Original Song: http://youtu.be/73n7HTcmb5g Comments: I know I've remixed theses two songs before in "The Delay," but I've decided to give it another try in a different style. This particular remix was actually an old project called "The Bramble Factory," that I scrapped a few months before I even made The Delay. Back then, it was meant to be more of an industrial, percussion mix, but I didn't like how things were going with it. Basically, everything sounded horrible. I decided that I wanted to redo the whole thing and focus more on the Hot Head Bop theme (my favorite), and that's kinda how I ended up making The Delay. After receiving a few comments about some EQing mistakes that I've made on some of my older projects, I decided that I want to understand EQing and mastering, which is one of my weaknesses. I've been getting advice from my dad and other musical websites to help , and I'm starting to feel a little bit more confident. So, I decided to dig up that old song and test what I have learned so far. Influenced mainly by Radiowar's remix that he did for the DKC3 album, I decided to remake my old "Bramble Factory" mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 On the plus side, I really think you nailed down your EQing with this mix in a way that you haven't quite been able to achieve before. Everything sounds very rich and full, especially the piano tone, which I feel has always been too bright in your previous mixes. Overall, this has a really pleasant production sound to it and I hope you keep this up in future submissions! As for the arrangement itself, I'm still somewhat of the opinion that this is still a bit too underdeveloped as an arrangement and a soundscape. The instruments aren't entirely too generic, and the arrangement does have some flourishes and bits of original writing that really give this mix some personality, but overall this feels very simplistic to me, and shows its age as an arrangement even with the modern upgrade you've given it. I think some pervasive ambiance/pads throughout the mix would be a great first step in filling this out a bit more. The reverse effect you used on the synth in the intro is a strong point that's definitely a step in the right direction, as are the sections where the piano is soloing over the source. These moments are probably where the mix clicks most for me and sounds the most complete and personalized. I think if you could bring the rest of the mix up to this level of creative arrangement and sound design, I think this would be a great addition to OCR's library. Right now, the arrangement just feels too sparse and conservative, and the sound choices too simple. NO (resubmit!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 I agree on some level that the arrangement and sound scape sounds a bit simple, and the scooped strings fill out some harmonic places, but could stand to have a little more meat on them to fill out the back of the song. The leads feel really exposed for a lot of the track, especially with the frugal use of bass. There are some solid transitions, and the little Hot Head Bop cameo was welcome and smoothly integrated. The glitchy transitions were cool as well, and for the most part, some additional harmonic interest is what this track needs, I feel. It's close but not quite there. No, please resubmit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Hrm... tricky one. It's hard to point out individual things that aren't working, but looking at it holistically it doesn't feel there. Very little happening in the bass. That piano sound is bizarre, sounds like it's right under my noise. Back off on the compression, the mids and volume on that thing. Some of those synths are very plain and woofy. A lot of instruments sound that way actually. Be careful with those mids, and probably worth cutting a bit of that range out of your reverbs. The arrangement additions do tend to meander at times. I'm not a fan of the glitches personally, the second one especially just sounds a bit gimmicky. I'm also finding my ears just want me to stop listening, which is usually a sign of over-compression resulting in leading-edge distortions and listener fatigue. Definitely some promise in there but the execution isn't there. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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