*NO* Super Mario Bros. 'The Rise of King Koopa'

[djpretzel]

Contact Info

- New remixer handle: Cubed777

- real name: Adam G. Prack III

- e-mail: Cubed777@gmail.com

ReMix Info

- Super Mario Bros.

- Castle theme

Comments:

This song was created entirely with free samples and soundfonts using Fruityloops 3.56 and the bare minimum of recording hardware. A while back, someone on the requests board asked for this theme to be remixed and I thought it would be interesting enough material. Much to my dismay, the original source is only 3 measures long--which is a major challenge to work with and keep things interesting--but I believe i've made the most of those 3 measures without straying too far from the original.

[Sam Ascher-Weiss]

OCR Hosted Nsf - Track 4

Wow.... I'm speechless! There are legions of great ideas in this song, and not one of them poorly executed as far as I can tell. You used the bass line from the original and converted it into a melody with a full blown chord progression to back it up. And a fascinating chord progression at that. I was completely floored by the all of a sudden acceleration guided helpfully by the upward pitch bending chords which indicate increased excitement on there own so they fit in perfectly with the change in tempo.

After the DnB action, a beautiful piano brass and choir gathering takes place growing slowly into some borderline corny yet perfectly suited herioc chords. This happy feeling is not meant to last and quickly segues into a not so optimistic sounding final note cluster. There is never a dull moment in this remix yet the excitement is not constant or tiring. There is a tradeoff between interesting melodic ideas and then sections that are more rhythmic in nature with an extra spicy overlap every now and again like at 2:14. So much fun to listen to!

YeS

[zircon]

I have to disagree with Shnabubula here. I think while some ideas are good, the execution leaves a bit to be desired. I know the mixer is using mostly free samples, but I think they could have been treated better in a lot of cases. For instance, the horns are sort of washed out and get overridden by other instruments - making use of compression and EQ to bring certain song elements into the foreground would be a good idea. The percussion that comes in at 2:47 is just plodding and uninteresting. It's so far back in the mix that it's almost like an added afterthought, plus it's very mechanical. Generally all of the orchestral instruments simply lack brightness or life to them. Use automation, velocity changes, and EQ to remedy this - it's tough, but it IS possible even with free samples.

At times I feel like the notes and harmonies aren't quite right, or they just don't fit in. Like some of the chord changes towards the very end don't have anything to do with the original and just seem to be added in there, as if they were part of a piece that was just spliced with the source. Adding original material is fine but part of the challenge of making a good rearrangement is making that original material fit in with what was present in the source. Simply adding over a minute of original stuff with no connection isn't the way to go. Basically, I thought while the arrangement and structure for the first half of the mix were solid, after that it went downhill with unrelated and lackluster material. Perhaps shortening the whole thing and tightening your ideas would help.

As for other issues, I had some trouble particularly in the section with the drum n' bass (DrillnBass) stuff. Lots of weird chord changes, brass/string stabs, and synthwork. It struck me as sloppy because I thought it was building up to something, a less sparse section perhaps, but it just dropped out into the orchestral segment of the mix that continues to the end of the mix and doesn't have much of a relation to anything else.

Basically, I think this needs more work overall - arrangement, structure, and execution. Nothing is really BAD, but the whole package is still below our current standards.

NO

[zykO]

i really like this one, a lot.

yeah the soundfonts are gnarly at points, i have to agree with zircon but they really don't take too much from this... but you should definetly consider automating a lot of your sample treatments because you can do quite a bit with cheap samples.

this is highly interpretive, actually. even the original sections are playing off of source ideas.

i don't like the song structure (it should not have ended the way it did, i believe... the whole dynamic of the piece seems faulty) but i cannot base my judgement on a personal preference. i think the arrangement is sufficient in interpreting the source so in that regard, its good. but just for you own know, you sort of "busted" your climax a bit early and as a result leave the audience kinda hanging later on...

just a thought....

the samples(string especially) are campy but its perfect and consistent with your stylistic musings

good work. you get a yes from me

YES

[Harmony]

Aside from the wishy-washy last minute or so, the arrangement ideas in this mix are definitely serviceable. The use of the theme from 0:31-1:08 is awesome and I love the subtle phat bass hits that fill out the low end. The original material from 1:23-1:44 is vaguely reminiscent of the theme, which is cool, and we are then launched into the drum n’ bass section (1:44-2:36), which features some decent arrangement of the source as well. I’ll buy the arrangement of the theme with the altered chord progression from 2:47-3:10, but after that I’m having a hard time picking out the theme and I fear that Zircon is correct in making out this last section to have little connection to the theme.

Portions of the arrangement are questionable for sure but compositional and sound quality issues tip the scales against this mix. The percussion is horribly weak during the DnB section. It gets smothered by the brass in many points, the hi-hat at 1:51 stands out as annoying rather than driving and the kick and snare are so similar in EQ that they blend together rather than providing a sharp thumping rhythm. This wouldn’t be so much of a problem except that OCR has seen stylistically better versions of the same theme. The drum n’ bass section is also conspicuously lacking a bass during much of it, leaving it feeling very hollow.

Sounds like the left channel is clipping at 1:24...I could be wrong.

I agree that more can be done with the samples but they are ok as-is in my book. This mix has plenty of things to enjoy about it but I think it needs some more polish to really live up to its potential. Improve the arrangement value of the last section, fatten and fill out the DnB section, and a YES from me will be a lot easier to justify.

NO (Please Resubmit)

[Liontamer]

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/smb1.zip - Track 4 ("Castle BGM")

I wanna firstly stress that the arrangement is great overall. There were some really great ideas going on here. But the execution and proudction is below the bar compared to any material we've accepted in the past 2 years, and this shouldn't be getting any YESs, it should be getting all NO-resubmit. I'd urge the YESs to reconsider their votes on the grounds of the production alone, which is way below bar.

The mix is overly quiet, which wouldn't in and of itself be a problem, but the volume disparity at any time between the lead instrumentation and the supporting instrumentation is too much. Make the supporting instrumentation sound more prominent instead of ridiculously far away.

The brass right at the intro sounds alright but needs a louder, richer sound. The beats coming in at :53 have some worthwhile patterns involved but sound flat and mechanical. That's because you made those too loud and exposed them. More brass at 1:09 sounds flat and muted. Same problem with the strings at 1:25. Everything here the whole way through sounds thin and weak rather than full.

I liked the arrangement more and more as I listened to it. Some of the transitions were undeveloped, but I feel like they worked regardless. The vox at 2:47 was a very nice touch as well. The ending here at 3:56 was a poor resolution to the piece,like zyko said. Sounds like you ran of of ideas. Other than that, I had no huge qualms with some of the original section, because I feel as if the source material was used substantially.

You really have some good ideas with the way you're combining/layering your elements, but they're hurt on account of this very subpar production. All of the higher frequencies are absent here, resulting in the track sounding dull. Only reading zircon and Harmony's votes just, I see we had a lot of the same issues regarding the production. You need to take their advice and fix it up, Adam. Watch some of the clashing chords that were pointed out as well, please. Good work so far, but it's not even close to done yet. Use the ReMixing & Works/WIP forums to your advantage. It could pass with significant work.

NO (resubmit)

[GrayLightning]

The arrangement is certainly very creative. But I too had a hard time picking out the theme, which is understandable given the source material you had to work with, ie. what little of it. In some sense it reminds me of the lockdown 2 situation with the earthbound mix. Since you have so little to work with it's kind of obvious that most arrangers would only be able to mix this kind of source fairly liberally. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt not only in this context, but just in general. I still thought there was an overall present connection.

I thought the samples were definitely well above passable, but you still can find better stuff here and there for some of the instruments for free. My main gripe is the production. There's nothing special in the production. There's a very bland reverb gloss throughout, there's balance problems too. I don't think it's a major issue as Liontamer thinks though.

I'd like to see some more work and cleaning up of some of the issues I cited and what others have cited before this passes. This isn't there at all yet and deserves some more work.

PS. Your trumpet sequencing is fantastic.

NO

[analoq]

i was feeling a no when this one started, but by the end it had narrowly moved into yes territory.

not the best example of using free samples to great effect, but certainly decent.

in a larger view, this is kind of the thing that makes OCR so entertaining.

taking a very well known piece of game music and transmogrifying it into something wild.

listen to this one side-by-side with PriZm's remix of the same thing

it makes you go "Dude, this scene rules."

well, at least it makes me say that.

yes

[The wingless]

sftu Analoque, u r jst a n00b on this scene. I r third on this servr. lolz

The first thing that caught my eye was the kid's forewarning that he made this song with free samples, fruityloops, popcicle sticks, elbow macaroni and glitter glue. So I listened to this with a sympathetic and some would caution forgiving ear.

And I am in complete accord with Shane's statement. Tons of good ideas. WILD good ideas. DARING good ideas. Were that we had more Wright Brothers in OCR.

And yet I can feel a tickle of hypocracy coming over me, as I just NO'd a perfectly awesome Doom mix for not having enough source material in it. I would argue this has virtually the same amount of original in it, at least as far as this highly-attuned Negroid ear can detect.

Nonetheless, I am not paid to be consistent. Merely true to my thoughts and feelings.

YES

[DarkeSword]

The production on this really stinks. Sounds fuzzy and muffled.

Not a bad arrangement, considering the source material; not bad at all. LOTS of creative interpretation, which is exactly what we look for at OCR. Your concept is pretty solid.

The problem here is the execution; like I said, it sounds muffled. You need to separate your instruments a bit more and bring out some high-end, please. I feel like I'm listening to this piece run through a low-pass filter (okay, so that's an exaggeration, but you get the idea).

There are some dead spots in the arrangement where there's drums + lead and nothing else; you lose momentum there. Maybe that's intentional? I think at least some kind of bassline would help with that. Unlike Gray, I don't think your trumpet sequencing is fantastic; it's a bit stale, in my opinion. You could do with a better sample, I think; something thicker, with more presence.

I would like to see this arrangement posted to OCR eventually; you have a lot of great ideas. Just polish up the execution, and you'll be good to go.

NO (please resubmit!)

[Vig]

The production aint hot. some the leads dont cut through...too much reverb. there are lots of transitions, but the many ideas introduced don't develop significantly. it's got compositional ADD. This comes across as chaotic, but not in a particularly good way. There's really just not enough forthought in the arrangement to make this type of capricious strucuture work.

NO

[The Orichalcon]

On an interesting note, the way this mix starts off sounds very similar to e1m3 from doom, and the way it ends sounds very similar to the ghost tower music from pokemon blue/red.

Onto the actual mix. While there are some very clever ideas, the mix sounds very erratic and dysfunctional to me. The beats don't really flow with the piece at all, they sound like they're pasted over the top and the only thing they have in common with the mix is the same tempo. The ideas of the mix get a little more interesting and pleasing to hear toward the end of the with the piano and strings ending it.

The actual quality of the sounds used in the mix are a big issue. The brass samples used to bring in the mix sound all right, as do the little synthy things playing the memorable theme from the source. Things start getting questionable from about 0:52. The drums sound very basic and dysfunctional, this isn't a major issue but they could certainly be mastered a little more coherently with the mix. I'm getting clipping from 1:10 - 1:25. The string section that comes in after that is pretty good, but then as the pasted-on drums come in at 1:45 the mix starts soundy real sloppy and random, the string jabs in this section do sound very default FL, and the brass sample that comes in at 2:14 suffers from this problem as well. The synth used to transition between this section and the next one at 2:40 works rather well. The section beyond 2:40 is nice, it sounds well mastered, apart from the very blunt kick and clap sound in the background. The piano and strings/brass go well together, the haunting voices in the background work well, and the powerful finish with the strings is very nice.

Now, the use of the source in the piece is apparent to me. It's different enough that it's not immediately recogniseable, especially in the sloppier areas around the middle of the mix, but the way the mix is started, and up until 1:25, this is all reinterpretation of the source. The piano and string/brass at the end of the piece is also playing the basic melody from the source with some clever reinterpretation there.

Where this mix falls short is clearly in the production department. As nice as it is to try and prove that you don't need expensive equipment and soundfonts to make a good mix, free soundfonts and samples can often be your downfall. While this mix utilises some of the samples rather well, there are enough glaring problems in here that I would recommend scrapping the mantra and trying to find some better samples.

NO