*NO* Comic Bakery 'Lunar Bakery'

[djpretzel]

Remix URL:

Contact Info

ReMixer name: Larsec

Real name: Lars Erhardt Christensen

Email address: Larsec@mail.dk

Website: http://larsec.net

Forum userid: 4104 (Larsec)

ReMix Info

Game ReMixed: Comic Bakery

Game info:

Original Composer: Martin Galway

Copyright: Imagine

Year: 1986

System: Commodore 64 (Title screen shot: )

Original soundtrack:

Description:

I have actually had the beat itself lying around for a couple of years now. During a project on rythm I was doing at school a few moths ago I brought the beat in and added the bass. After fiddling with some chord progression I realized I had made the chord progression exactly like Comic Bakery, so what could I do?

I had been planning to use Nina's voice for a while and this seemed like a good tune to do it. I had her just ad lib the intro, improvising in an e-minor scale for about 5 minutes and then picking out the best bits and pieces, fitting them together.

The somewhat abrupt first transistion is meant as contrast to the soft intro, making people go, "Wow, what's going on?". Nina sings in a norse/celtic style that I thought fit the mix perfectly; soft voice work on top of a semi-crazy beat'n'bassline. I really like the contrast and I think it worked out quite well, although not everyone agrees with me

The last part, the metal one, was something I had been working on for a medley of Galway C64 tunes. After listening to it with Nina we came up with a few ideas and decided to add it with vocals as well. Again, it is meant as yet another "What the...?!?" thing; a contrast to the earlier part. "If you don't like the smell get out of the bakery" is the danish version of the "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" proverb. If you can't stand the metal

turn off the song... Yeah, I know it's kinda stretching it. It's all good, though

The whole track was done in Reason 2.5 (Although Reason 3.0 was used for the mastering, all the sequencing was done in 2.5). The vocals were recorded in Soundforge 6.0... and that's about it...

[analoq]

ok! i remember this from OCR idol.

no doubt some would find the contrast between the vocalist and the background music to be awkward, at least at first.

i dig the chant-like vox over the blippy techno beat, though i think the transition to it after the introductory solo should've been smoother.

vocals sound very natural,

they're not overprocessed or autotuned into quantizational headaches.

the singer is quite adept as well.

i think the biggest problem is the pacing,

sections go on for too long without something to break up the monotony or give forward momentum

on the overall, there's enough creativity here for me.

yes

[Liontamer]

http://exotica.fix.no/tunes/archive/C64Music/Galway_Martin/Comic_Bakery.sid - Subtune 1/14

Covered this one for VGF in early May:

Liontamer]Larsec f/Nina Luna - Comic Bakery "Lunar Bakery" [R:K:O #2666]

Lars has been someone I've been hoping to see posted at OC ReMix for a while. Frankly the only formality involved in getting there is Lars actually submitting some of his material. Those of you following the shamelessly but proudly stolen concept that is the OCR Idol contest may have heard an earlier cut of this track in Round 1. Here Larsec is joined by the breathy vocals on Nina Luna who definitely adds a nice touch to the synth rock take on the classic Comic Bakery theme by Martin Galway. The second half takes an unexpected turn as the tempo increases. The execution is nothing that can't be done better by actual live instrumentation, but the effort and arrangement are definitely admirable. It's always good seeing one of the top names in the C64 scene stopping by to showcase his works-in-progress around these parts. Swing by Remix.Kwed.Org to experience the now-completed version.

Good freestyle stuff from Nina for the intro for the first minute. Kind of thrown off by the key change with the music coming in at :49, but I gotta run with it like Lars alluded to.

I like most of what's in place, as the first half was awesome for me. The blips and beeps were hot hot. But this could be stronger after 3:26, which was really lacking to me. The vocals are awesome (the whole way through), but the music/instrumentation isn't very energetic there.

When talking to Lars over my issues, I mentioned that, and he said he finds the instrumentation "sexy, dirty and funky. :)" I like the approach, but the delivery is flat and volume of the music is low. At that point, the instrumentation suffers from being all low-end and no high-end. The drums there sounded very static and the synth electric guitar didn't sound very strong or realistic. Really needs more bite/power to it.

The arrangement is stylish and intelligent, and I think the first half was well-handled. I'd just like to see the instrumentation from 3:26 revamped badly. Nonetheless, this might be able to pass as is, so best of luck Lars!

NO (resubmit)

[zykO]

the idea is fantastic.

for the first minute, maybe and then its just the same beat repeating

the intro is fantastic because its ethereal and its reminiscent of great gig in the sky. nina's freestyle ad lib is awesome but after a couple minutes of this, it had to be varied up a bit more than it was; the break hardly helped.

the main drawback of the piece is the pacing as analoq mentioned. the structure of the song is very jarring... that final metal section doesn't sit well with the whole song. for on, its not very well produced. the lead guitar is neat and i like the modulation but its clearly not a real guitar. that whole section is not particularly credible. and her vocal parts are great but the mixing of all these elements is very lacking. the drums in that section are very frail and overpowered completely by the middle section of the soundfield... leaving no discernable groove, really. the vocals are far too loud in that section... and the reverb near 4:20 is tooo wettt.

in fact, only the first part of the piece, and only for about the first couple of times through the phrase, keeps it interesting.

definetly has its moments and all in all is an entertaining track but it needs some reworking - please consider revisiting this track and resubmitting it.

for now, NO

[GrayLightning]

I heard this several weeks ago and I feel exactly with what zyko said. To me this brings up the age-old policy debates we've had, especially this year. What do you do when you get ify material with either amazing singing or amazing rap? Certainly vocals are an integral part of pieces of this nature and they should serve as positives or important elements that can aid the mix. But do we give too much credit to such mixes? If every average mix had stellar vocals (singing or rap) would that push them above our bar? These are some of the questions we have to grapple with.

With that context perspective out of the way, I'm borderline on this mix. I think zyko hit the nail on the head "the idea is fantastic.

for the first minute, maybe and then its just the same beat repeating." The vocals are of course incredible. Good drumwork throughtout, but I think the piece generally is pretty simplistic. There's this groove going on and not much else for most of the mix. Though a bit jarring, I actually enjoyed the metal section. Sure the guitars aren't super fancy, but I think they're passable.

I'd like the first half to be addressed in terms of adding more elements, making it less repetitive and the second half's section tweaked in terms of the concept.

Having listened/voted on several of Larsec's stuff I've noticed some inconsistencies. Sometimes this guy is capable of amazing work, sometimes it's just weaksauce. But more towards this context, I think sometimes he tends to focus too much on the vocals while leaving the supporting elements of the mix for dead. Though in this case, I think this is probably the best I've heard of him in trying to bridge the two. But, I'd still like less dependence on just the great vocals you have at your disposal.

The vocalist, I should note again, if I haven't prior, is amazing. She really does make this mix. This is tough. The more I listen to this over the last few weeks, the more I'm tempted to borderline YES, but I can't in good conscience. Not yet anyway. I'm going with my gut with a NO.

[Harmony]

Beautiful vocals at the onset of things. Sadly when the supporting instruments arrive at 0:49, I can’t help but feel underwhelmed at the sparse beat and synth guitar. To take some of the edge off, it might be nice to hear a more distant vocal entrance that builds to the incorporation of the synth elements. All-in-all the groove in the first section isn’t bad but its lack of variety is something that needs to be addressed. I love the vocals on lead through 3:24. There’s a tantalizingly light reverb over the otherwise clean recording that helps fill in some of the supporting sounds' shortcomings. I wish that the vocals were mixed a little quieter however as they obscure the rest of the instruments at points (2:00-2:09, 2:20, ...)

From a creative standpoint I’ve got no problems with the level of interpretation as I hear great arrangement ideas throughout. However I think significant compositional problems exist in the repetitiveness of 0:49-3:24, the lackluster transition at 3:24 and repeated repetitiveness in the supporting instruments from 4:00-end. I especially can’t let the 2+ minute run of the unvaried beat from the first section slide. I like the industrial sounds but the groove isn’t engaging enough to hold things down as long as it attempts to. The metal section was a lot more dynamic with drum fills galore, sultry lyrics, guitar solos and a pretty decent sounding rhythm guitar rounding things out. The power chords get pretty stale though with a very repetitive pattern from 4:00-5:12 and the drums are really too weak to help out.

I think a well developed first half would eliminate the need for the metal section altogether but as is, both sections need to be fleshed out and polished off a little more before I can pass this. More variety on the beat through 3:24, better tie between the two sections, and more variety in the guitar/drums during the last minute and you’re good to go.

NO (Please Resubmit)