djpretzel Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 - Contact Info - ReMixer Name: XsToRmEr1 Real Name: Brian Smith E-Mail: XsToRmEr1@charter.net Website: www.xanga.com/xstormer1 www.xstormer1 (Coming soon) UserID: 30775 - Remix Info - Game ReMixed: Donkey Kong Country 2 Song: The Forest of Brambles Extra Info: (None) Comments: The first time I played the Brambles level on DK2, I fell in love with the song that played in the background. It was soft but energetic, something I cannot fully describe. Lately, I've been learning how to use Reason, and I stumbled upon an old recording of the song. Immediately, I knew that I needed to remix it. I had so many ideas running through my head. After a month and a half of procrastinating and working on it here and there, I finally finished it. It isn't quite what I had in mind (what does anyway?), but the feedback that I got from it was surprising. I'm hoping I can receive the same from OCReMix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/dkq.rsn - "Stickerbush Symphony" (dkq-17.spc) Decent idea for the spooky-ish intro; melody comes in shortly after at :21. Pretty straightforward usage; track's sizing up to be pretty simple and inoffensive right now. Some FL-ish gated synth came in at 1:01 and aside from the genre adaptation, the melody's being clung to like so many monkeys in the trees. The instrumentation is pretty basic. It's complementary to the melody but doesn't seem to really gel with it. The energy level is decidedly low, IMO. Some breakbeat loops came in at 1:57, but didn't seem to fit the overall idea here, though I'm giving them a chance. Finally, some significant reinterpretation from 2:36-3:21, before going back to one more iteration of the source to close. I think the track sounds decent, but the interpretation plays it too safe and the sounds are flat. If you're gonna go for a breakbeat mix, you gotta spice it up. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 First off, the synths you use are fantastic. really rich sounds. The atmosphere created is very enjoyable. The problem with this mix, as Larry Oil says, is that the arrangement is rather conservative. there's really nothing new going on aside from the beat, and the structure follows the original very closely. you've got a great atmosphere and instrumentation, use that to your advantage and build off it, making the mix more complex and original. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted November 5, 2005 Share Posted November 5, 2005 Intro kind of threw me off with the simple "effected" crash sample.. but when the melody came in it started to get better. It seems to me that there might be a little too much reverb here, and the mixing is slightly off.. the strings overpower the soft melody instrument in the background. I have to agree with Vig that the synths used here are pretty cool. Good job on the bass, especially - it "moves" in a lot of ways. The percussion is relatively fitting as well, though my personal taste is for something a little "lighter" in this case rather than fast-n-furious sliced dnb breaks. Again, it sounds like the melody instrument is being drowned out with by the other parts. Look into refining that and maybe doing some creative EQing to bring it out. That aside, the production values were strong and I had no problems. My main complaint is the same as my fellow judges; the arrangement sticks too close to the original. I heard some cool ideas, but they really didn't get fleshed out at all. More variation, more expansion of the original, just more rearrangement overall is needed. The ending was weak as well. Work on this and resubmit. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayLightning Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 Wonderful atmosphere and instrumentation, yes. Unfortunately there's not much arrangement going on here. You have to mix it up, change up the structures, or expand the harmonic or melodic content. Make the mix your own, add your own flava to it. Synths are indeed pretty tite though. On the production side of things, everything is nice, except the breaks, they sound rather thin and flat in my view. A bit too loopish as well. Interesting stuff, and well put together and for that you deserve the compliment. However, bringing new ideas, rearrangement is what the game's all about at OCR. Work on that aspect more next time. Weak ending to boot. Keep it up. I believe this is the first mix I've heard from you and I'm interested in hearing more. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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