djpretzel Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Need a comparison against the original, but this seemed solid to me... - djp Remixer name / real name: Patrick Burns preferred email address: Arkenstone21@aol.com song is attatched hey, cut me some slack here... I'm 16. I don't have any webspace! song name: Raindance in the Ruins game: Donkey Kong Land platform: GameBoy developer: Rare ltd. composer(s): Graeme Norgate, Dave Wise GBS file: www.zophar.net/gbs/dkland.zip (I ain't telling you which track... you're just gonna have to listen to the whole damn thing!) I discovered OCR last summer when I was trying to get the low-down on some of my favorite game composers. I was in the middle of a big project: I had my TV hooked up to my stereo trying to record some of my favorite NES songs. Imagine my surprise when I found many of those songs here at OCR remixed in high quality... sweetness. I had, for some stupid reason, thought I was alone in my obsession; I was in the middle of doing a Kirby's Adventure remix on my Roland KR-7 which I thought was pretty clever. So yeah, I got schooled. I pushed myself a little and transformed that sucker into something worthwhile. Christmas came along and Santa delivered. In exchange for a summer of keeping our (rather hilly) yard mowed and in lieu of a weekly allowance, I received Logic Express and a G5 iMac w/ a GB of RAM. Time to get down to BUSINESS, people! And so, after hundreds (yes... hundreds) of hours of work learning Logic and making tons of little demos, here is my first complete project on a computer sequencer. This is the underwater ruins theme from Donkey Kong Land. I'm really sorry about the levels overall of this mix. There is just a lot going on here, and it's difficult for a greenhorn sound master-er such as myself to get it all smoothed out. If it weren't for those pesky snares, then I could have squeezed another decibel or two out... but, alas. There are some places were the snares push the levels up to a decibel above the clip level, so low tolerance speakers might not be the way to go here. Btw, please test this on some capable woofers; the bass and the kick really bleed here. If any of these mastering problems are the only thing keeping this from being posted, I'd be more than willing to mess around with it a little more. Enjoy! btw, y'all... check out the entire DKL soundtrack. Unlike the rest of the series, the first Donkey Kong Land wasn't simply a rehash of it's SNES counterpart. It was a completely different game with a 90% original soundtrack. I have never been able to find out who composed which pieces, but, regardless, Norgate and Wise are two very accomplished composers. If you're reading this, SnappleMan, I know you'd be interested in track 4. Harmony edit ---- The remixer asked me to add the following to his submission e-mail. Here it is, agian.There were just some issues I wanted to sort out. I eliminated all the clipping (very minor, but still there) and got the levels up to an accpetable level. Also, I think I finally got those bass levels right. There are a few changes here and there, but it's mostly the same. No free plugins or samples were used; this is 100% Logic Express out-of-the-box and my Takamine nylon string. ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmony Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 source: http://www.zophar.net/gbs/dkland.zip (track 6) This track has been on my playlist since it debuted in the WIP forum and if you hurry you can still catch my longer reviews of the mix there. The short version is that we have utter slickness here indeed. The samples are amazingly clean (I’m in rainstick heaven), the reverb/delay and processing in general is crystalline, the mixing is wonderfully balanced and the groove is infectious. I love that the phat bassline is highlighted by the brief break into original material at 1:45. I’m somewhat disappointed that the bass alone drops back for it’s solo crescendo at 2:36 though. It leaves the other elements without a floor since they don’t similarly scale themselves back. The arrangement is certainly questionable since the composition is absolutely identical to the source in some sections. During those sections though, I feel that the alterations in the melody and it’s timing, in addition to the beautiful additive goodies such as pads and percussive FX, provide a good amount of variation from the source. Couple that with the sprinkling of original material (1:47-2:02, 3:25-3:37) as well as the decent variety of leads, and the arrangement is a go in my book. Great work Patrick. It really sounds like that practice with Logic has paid off. Keep working at it. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmony Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Voting is resumed. Patrick has submitted a revised version which is linked in the original post. My vote is pending a review of this new submission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 Big fan of the source tune since I heard it used in PxFury's "Flash Flooded" over at VGMix ("ur a shitty judg, fgt!"). Pretty defaulty lead going on here. The bass kick was pretty decent. The source melody came in at :41, and I'm not really feeling this empty, monophonic approach. The texture was pretty dry and the very light pads I heard in the background could be brought out to fill up the space instead of allowing the snappier drums (starting at :57) to sound so dry & exposed as well. Nice simple guitar breakdown at 1:46 with the reverb; I'd love to hear Harmony use those effects. Again, I like the gist of what I'm hearing there, and I hear all the little effects thrown in there to accentuate things, but the soundfield is still pretty empty. Same thing with the acoustic guitar at 2:18 tackling the melody again. There's basically just the bass kicks and that drum pattern repeating over and over again, with the pads not contributing much to fill out the space. The arrangement from 2:36-2:48 kind of meandered around for the sake of being structured different from the source tune, but it wasn't very cohesive. The final section with that same melodic lead sound at 2:54 was somewhat boring. Still the same dry texture and the same sounds; need those to be changed/altered a bit so that the sounds don't overstay their welcome. I just never ended up quite liking the lead, but if this track had more texture, I might not have had that problem. Good last bunch of notes at 3:24 though heading towards the close. Liked the rain SFX to close things as well; I'm kind of suprised you didn't try to incorporate that more substantially in the arrangement, again just a possible idea to help fill out the soundfield more and give the mix some body. Overall, the arrangement played around with the rhythms of the source melody, but was generally too conservative. Experiement with some other intepretations if possible, not just with original guitar breaks sandwiched in here, but altering the melody itself in others ways. Anyway, not bad, but the main issue is to add some meat to the bones and fill out the track further. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayLightning Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 I love the rainmaker percussion sounds. This reminds me of a lot of new age music, I wonder if your arkenstone handle was an accident? But the problem here is the lack of instrumentation. You have a nice chill and pleasant listening atmosphere going on. But I think there's a very distinct lack of instrumentation and thus thin sound going on through the mix. The synth bells are particularly bright in my opinion. The mix in general could do with more reverb and delays. The change up in the middle section with guitar was great, I'd like to see you incorporate more of that in a resubmission, possibly more or throughout the latter parts of the mix. I too would like to hear a little more expansion in the harmonic/melodic sections as well as some more restructuring of the concept. Secondarily I think this is in sore need of pads to sit between the lead, bass and drums percussion. A good framework, but I'd like to hear some more substance included. This is a lot better than the first version you sent us. I think you can rework this some more and resubmit something of much higher quality. Please keep at it, you show promise. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Ascher-Weiss Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 The ONLY problem I have with this mix is the emptiness that lasts for too long. At first when your delayed lead is playing the intro from the original and then the melody, having it at the forefront accompanied solely by quiet ambient chords and a bass line that's right in the pocket with the drums gives the mix a unique sort of clarity. On occasion another synth will play a backup singer echoing role like at 1:00. That plus the effects and subtle variation in the percussive instruments allow the mix to retain it's clarity without feeling too minimal. This all stays charming until 1:29 when you bring in the second part of the source. Luckily you swoop in by 1:45 and change things. No complaints about that section. Each time after the guitar plays it's motif everything almost freezes so you get a start and stop sensation like compositional pop-and-lock. 2:03 - 2:18 again felt too empty. The mellow guitar action after that is just fine as is. When you bring your original lead back at 2:37, you had the right idea when you took out the high hats and snares. Fading them back in was an interesting choice that I think payed off. At 3:10 we're back to the section from 1:29. The ending is cool with me. This is tremendously easy to fix. There are only three sections that are in serious need of attention. 1:29 Here you can add a harmony part to join your lead which might take a bit of fancy foot work thanks to the delay. Instead of a harmony part you could have some ambient upper octave arpegiations [up or down, that's your choice] that spell out the chords. 2:03 This one's easy. You can have a slow moving melody in a gentle pad [think string-esque] that can be carried along by the figure that you've already got going. I say this because it sounds like an accompinament part.... only it isn't accompaniying anything. 3:10 This section is almost identical to 1:29 so you have the same options, however in a piece this sparse you want to try and avoid unnecessary redundancy so your best bet would be to either add another layer on top of whatever you choose to do at 1:29 or just do something different. I still think either arpeggiations or harmonizing with the melody are your best bets [hey look those two words are anagrams of eachother]. Yeah... I say this a lot but I want to make it clear that these suggestions are just A FEW possiblities and I'm sure there are millions of others ways to go about making these sections fuller. All I did was choose the ones that I think would be the easiest to pull off while not straying from the overall atmosphere of the mix. This one is VERY close, so please just throw on those finishing touches and send it on back. n0 (Borderline/Resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zykO Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 this definetly got my attention right off the bat. the unusual rain effect is neat because it is not organic and automatically catches my attention the groove is simple and nice and the arrangement is chill - the pads help it out. but i think your lead instrument as it is almost too offensive which is a pity cuz the rest of the arrangement is fairly solid. i like the mellow guitar solo you bring around,... nice touch. all in all, a fairly relaxing remix this is one of those times i do not think adding "meat" to the mix would improve it; its perfect the way it is. that lead instrument is the only thing that bothers me. i love the mood and the chillness of it. i can fall asleep to this for nights on end. i'm goin with my gut on this one. you're good. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmony Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 I've reviewed the latest version and I'll be sticking with a YES. I appreciate the concerns that are being raised about the sparse nature of much of the mix. I certainly consider the suggestions that have been made to thicken this mix up, especially Gray's mention of more reverb and delay, appropriate. As is however, I think the subtle pads and FX adequately hold this mix together for just under 4 mins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 Well.. from what I know of it, using Logic well is a challenge. It's one way to get a lot of grey hair very fast. But it seems like you've at least mastered the fundamentals here - fine execution and production, good variety of instruments and synths, strong presentation overall. This sort of reminds me of LastUnicron's Alisia Dragoon mix, "Halls of Abandonment". Atmospheric with relatively subdued sounds with a chill groove. But I think that mix is more repetitive than this one - here, you integrate melodic variations and lots of cool subtle stuff like soft choir-y pads, reverbed shakers, groove variations, and sound effects. I really enjoyed the mood of this. As far as arrangement , structure, and density are concerned, I think this is on the border. This isn't a massive reinterpretation of the original - it's like a really big upgrade and enhancement. However what differentiates this from a cover is that it also has some good original material that suits the mood and builds on the sound and composition of the original. The structure might not be ultra dense, but there's a fair amount of stuff going on here, and I feel like it does go somewhere - just not in the same direction that a driving rock mix or techno piece might. It's creative and enjoyable new age chill. Good job. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 The lead sounds good, but there's hardly anything there to support it. I'm getting a real feeling of emptiness from this mix and its really hurting it. Some comping chords, arpeggios, or pads to fill out the midrange is what this mix really needs. I would like to hear more interpretation in the melody as well; more than successive eighth notes. The percussive beat is nice, but the lead screams for some rhythmic variation. The acoustic guitar is fantastic but underutilized. More acoustic guitar would be great in this piece. The production is really nice. Everything has a clean sound and sits well. Nothing really clashes, so kudos for that. I want to see a resubmit on this piece; right now it's bordering on really awesome; give it the extra push. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analoq Posted September 6, 2005 Share Posted September 6, 2005 i love logic (express). and i really like this remix. i really want to pass it. but deep inside i agree with darkesword -- this just needs an extra push. good groove, nice clear instruments, development is almost there. less emptiness, more goodstuffs. sam gives good advice for this. resubmit resubmit resubmit no (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Orichalcon Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 Nice clear water-sound effects at the start of the mix. The first rounded synth that comes in is clear too. The beat is reminiscent of Michael Jackson's "Why You Wanna Trip On Me." The majority of this mix is very clear, it's a chillout style mix, however it stays open most of the way through. The pads are very quiet and kept to the back of the mix, filtered down to stay low. The bassline is great. The beats are all right, some parts are kind of dry and drab, but the majority of it is more than acceptable as a chillout beat. The arrangement of the mix could have much more to it though. While it's all right the way it is, it could go much further to bring out the power behind the mix. Building up the pads/strings section and the beat around sections such as 1:29-1:45 would give the shift up necessary to give the mix some extra oomph while still keeping with the overall flow and chillout sound of the mix. The guitar is a nice touch after the 2 minute mark. I'm in agreement with DarkeSword that there should be more of that, rather than relying on that lead so much. I'm with the majority here that there is more potential behind this remix. There's room for more and I think once you've worked on it a bit more, you'll have a really enjoyable mix here. NO for now. Please resubmit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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