djpretzel Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Nice soloin', that's for sure... -djp Diddy Kong Racing---Etheric Dragsters Remixer Name: Ichitootah Real Name: Collin Meredith Email: Ichitootah@gmail.com Website: www.ichitootah.com (currently not functioning, though) Name of Game Remixed: Diddy Kong Racing (N64) Name of Song Remixed: Haunted Woods Original Composer: Dave Wise Link to Original Song: (It's kind of loud, so be ready) ReMix URL: or alternatively,: Some of you judges may have heard my work, I've participated in many contests around the site, such as P/ORC and RMRB. I've never really submitted anything, though I've been around for a while. I decided it was finally time to at least try; even if I don't pass, I'll know some more about where the bar is. Anyway, about the mix, I started it a while ago by request, and I think on the whole it's a pretty decent song. I used some electric piano, chromatica, acoustic piano, faux acoustic piano, some random orchestral stuff, and some beepy chiptuney synths for the intro. There's little repetition, and I've tried to keep it interesting the whole way through. I found that the source was a somewhat challenging tune to work with, as it is very complicated and has many parts, but I endeavored to include most, if not all of them. Hope you guys like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Thanks for providing the source tune, Collin. I can definitely say this sub was much better than the source tune, which I just hated. Too frantic and cutesy, but I imagine it works well for the game. In any case, good ideas hear in terms of simply slowing the tempo down for this remix. It allows the melody to be appreciated more. Can't articulate the issues as well as I'd like to, but I think zircon would be able to break this down the best. The arrangement is alright. Potentially a bit repetitive, but not hugely. The problems are much more with what sounds you've been using and how they're being put together. Not feeling the intro here. The lead really doesn't combine well with the strings backing it up, but :19 has some better stuff with a piano. The piano has some nice effects on it, but the beats are too loud and don't sound like they're in the same place. We get some Rhodes-like freestyling at :38 that's fairly stylish. Just continuing to listen but it just seems like the sounds don't really combine well or mesh together. The accordian/piano combo at 2:38 is probably the best combination out of everything you had, and the strings weren't bad, but other samples involved sounded very low-quality. Nice piano & Rhodes ending, for sure. See what you can do to spruce this up. Genuinely glad to see you submit some material, Collin. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Ascher-Weiss Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 The drum triplet fills brought in that extra needed energy whenever it was lacking. Unfortunately, few other instruments were able to have the same effect which meant the song relied strongly on the drums for it's drive. Other big contributers were the delayed instrument playing the melody sometimes and the soloist. As far as the instrumental combinations I think the problem comes from you using an unconventional ensemble but giving them all isolated roles. When you put instruments together that don't gell naturally, you need to go that extra-mile to get them to sound like a family. Having instruments trade positions frequently is an easy short cut. The piano can play the melody for 4 bars while the accordian backs it up, and then they can switch, with extra care given to making sure that both parts have a smooth transition into their new occupations. More concrete teamwork is the key to getting atypical instrumental combinations to work. ALSO, try making sure that everything sounds good without drums before adding them. Percussion is a convenient mask for relative emptiness and lack of interaction between instruments. If you limit your use of percussion, then you'll be forced to further develope the other aspects of your arranging. 2:34 had some decent attempts in this arena especially when the piano starts playing the repeated downward pattern. n0 PS: GREAT TREATMENT OF THE SOURCE BY THE WAY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Orichalcon Posted September 18, 2005 Share Posted September 18, 2005 Let's start off with something of interest... Collin? I don't know what name I pictured for you, Ichi, but Collin wasn't it. Anyway, Larry hates the original, I love the original. It's cutesy, but it pays homage to a classic horror piano piece whose name I cannot remember right now. Either way it's cutesy but still has those horror elements, which I used to, and still do love. Let's go for the mix now. This is definately the Ichitootah style we've all come to know through PRC and ORC. The compressed and reverberated leads, along with the groovy swing time beats are all too recogniseable. The sound you have going here is quite cool, however it's sounding a little empty and reverb-heavy, as most of your pieces tend to do. The sequencing on the piano is creative, keeping both the source and the "horror" theme in mind. The reverb gives it a "Crystal" sound (if that makes any sense.) Either way it's a good thing. The accordion, piano and string section from 2:38 is nice. I'm not fond of the effects over the accordion, they attract away from the romantic dry sound of the instrument, and don't really add anything in this situation. However the sound is pretty good in this section as it seems to come together smoothly. The ending to the piece with the piano and rhodes is smooth and beautiful, and brings in that classic horror theme I mentioned earlier. I don't think this will end up passing, however I think there's enough here in terms of arrangement and quality for this to have a place on OCR, and it deserves at least one yes. Could use a little work, but as it is I'm happy with the sound we have here. So this is a YES from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analoq Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 well that's certainly the brightest piano i've heard today. i like this, it takes a catchy original and executes some clever ideas with it. the sounds are unwieldy, though. drum beat is tight but everything else sounds amateurish. distinctive, yes, but amateurish. i would like to see more attention to sound processing and sequencing. very nice ep* soloing, though. no *doesn't sound like a rhodes to me. more like a DX7 or other FM-synthesis based electric piano. the more you know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 I listened the entire original while looking at analoq's sig. It is strangely fitting. I like the electric piano-ish instrument you're using. It has a nice sound, and it's pretty well sequenced too. Nice percussion too; very chill, heavy stuff. The arrangement is pretty awesome; lots of cool, inventive ideas with some good solos. One problem I have is that there's a ton of reverb on this track; it's cool for some leads and the percussion, but some of the stuff like the bass should have a tighter, more focused sound. The balance between instruments isn't terrible, but it could be better. I think this piece just needs an extra push on the production end. NO! resubmit please, for awesome arrangement's sake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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