OceansAndrew Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Remixer name: Rexy (real name: Beverley Wooff) OCRemix user ID: 7528 Remix info:- Remix title: "Synthesize This!" Games covered: Mega Man 1 / Mega Man 6 Songs covered: Wily's Tower Stage 1/2 (MM1), End Credits (MM1 - Cameo), Plant Man's Stage (MM6) --- Greetings, all! I have come here to submit my second attempt at arranging Plant Man, and the last one to be finished for the Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet 2011. And let's see if I can pass a non-piano non-collab arrangement for 2012 Still feeling keen to experient with Plant Man's potential flamboyant nature, the direction I felt for Round 8 of the gauntlet - in which contestants were expected to fuse it with Mega Man 1's Wily Tower 1 - was to just go out and be silly with it. Both this and "Red Chamomile" were inspired by a conversation with teammate Brandon Strader about how to best approach the arrangements, in which at one point he felt that listeners would rather listen to 'covers that are the opposite of straight' (parenthesizing for political correctness); the first thing that came to mind for me though when I read that statement was the disco boom in the 70s (why my mind was stuck in the 70s for this phase of the compo, I have no idea!) and the musical storm of the Village People. So here's my attempt in fusing the two sources together with everything I researched about the genre, though it's not a pure genre adaptation. I even attempted to squeeze in an NES part in there (which worked wonders as a good secondary melody), more ridiculous cameos (Ectogemia apparently thought the MM1 ending cameo was Earthbound when he first heard it!) and just generally being tongue-in-cheek! It also has quite a huge instrument roster - my most complex setup at the time. It even got to the point that I had to export some of them individually (especially my brass section and the wah guitar) to compensate physical memory, but all in all I'm glad it managed to turn out wonderfully for the competition's purpose. DragonAvenger even provided some writing tips and stated ideas to fine-tweak the arrangement prior to the competition, and Jason Covenant also provided me some pointers on equalisation which also marked a huge impression; and during the voting phase itself I felt happy with the unanimous love from all three of the Concrete Men as well as the harshest remix critic I know, SnappleMan I can say I feel really positive about this track; it's one that has marked a huge turning point for me as a producer and with all the techniques I learnt from it, the experience will be transferred well onto other projects. We'll see which ones in later subs, but for now, I hope this is taken into consideration, and thanks again DarkeSword for running the compo! Peace out, -Rexy- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 I love the feel on this one, has a 70's swagger that I really am groovin' on. The drums feel really good, the brass is cute, and the synth and chip additions were a lot of fun. Overall it's a really fresh-feeling track, with a lot of creative arrangement additions. The opening really brought me back to the 70's, even though I wasn't born yet. This is definitely a step up in production for you, as it sounds a lot fuller than usual, and the only real sample issue I have is some of the brass gets a bit fake on the attacks. Since it's as accents for most of the piece it doesn't really bother me much, and the well-modulated synths take the lead. The drum fills were a highlight for me, and the chiptune breakdown was cheeky but fit in well. The ending was a bit unexpected, but worked in bridging the styles together enough that I was ok with the shift. The brass attacks are weak at times but the rest makes up for it. Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Mega Man 6 - Plant Man Mega Man 1 - Dr. Wily Mega Man 1 - Ending It's a shame the brass is weak, especially exposed like that in the opening. When more elements came into play, however, the brass issues were mitigated. The basic snare pattern plodded briefly during the emptier sections, but it was nothing major, as the percussion generally drove this along nicely and added a great deal of energy. The 8-bit stuff sounded like it needed some high-end brightness, but was otherwise excellent. The soundscape was a little muddy, so I wouldn't mind a touch up there, but it was full and separated enough overall where things sounded pretty solid. But, like OA said, in the big picture, this is clearly on point. Awesome fusion of the themes and the brief 8-bit "Yakkety Sax" had me crack up. Fucking AWESOME! Great fusion of the two themes, with loads of readily apparent creative interpretation and personalization. Be careful, y'all, Beverly's becoming a more well-rounded musician with solid sequencing, creative backing instrumentation and strong execution like this. Totally not what I'm used to from her in terms of genres, but this is lots of fun. Her stuff's on the way to gettin' deadly, this is nice. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halc Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 the brass was definitely pretty darn weak, and opening with them fully exposed kinda puts a sour taste in the mouth right off the bat, however aside from that and the other instruments being somewhat simplistic, this was pretty well produced, and has a ton of charm. really solid work here, and I'm definitely happy to see you expanding more into producer territory. keep up the good work! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Yeah, I remember hearing this during the competition and also being initially put off by the weak brass at the beginning. However, once they integrate with everything else, it pretty much becomes a non-issue for me. Mixing wasn't perfect (it sounded like the drums could've blended a bit better with the rest of the elements, spacing wise), but pretty darn good with how many elements you've incorporated here. Arrangement is spot-on, as usual with Rexy. And her production has caught up quite a bit with it. Great job Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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