DragonAvenger Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Hi there, Here's the information you've asked for on the Submit page! Contact Information ReMixer Name: Manji Real Name: Christopher Mole Email: Website: http://www.northernoak.co.uk Userid: 16265 Submission Information Name of game: Metroid Prime Name of arrangement: Prime Directive Name of songs arranged: Menu Select Comments: Oh boy, this has taken a while. The original idea actually came from a repeat playthrough of Metroid Prime, about a month or so before the 'Samus's Lonesome Waltz' ReMix, which also adapts this song, was posted- I finished writing my take on the song, then got a sudden cold sweat when I checked the site in case somebody else had beaten me to the punch. Thankfully the ideas were different enough that I decided to soldier on with it- DJ Pretzel may remember an earnest English bloke chatting away at him about British prog rock after the OCRemix Panel at PAX Prime 2011, where I bemoaned my inability to get off my backside and actually complete this ReMix. Armed this week with more computer memory and a significant chunk of time off work, and having laid out the groundwork (the bass, drums and synth bits) previously, I decided to bite the bullet and actually record the guitar parts. The mix was put together in Ableton Live- the drums, bass and synths are all virtual instruments, the distorted guitars are recorded using my beloved EMG-loaded Epiphone Les Paul (named 'Epiphany') through a Line 6 Toneport UX8. I've done a little bit of polishing and repeated takes, but for the most part the guitars are fresh out of the oven- the goal is for quite a rough and ready metal sound (in the vein of Metroid Metal), which I think it achieves. As a last little note, I absolutely adore the Metroid Prime soundtrack, and it's a large reason behind my enduring love for the game- it was always subdued at some points, driving and terrifying at others, and it meshed perfectly with the exploratory nature of the game itself. Although I generally blacked out in abject horror whenever a Metroid latched onto my face, so I have no idea what the music during that sounded like... Thanks very much! ------------ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Haven't done a good ole'-fashioned source breakdown in a while, let's see how this one does... It seems to flip between overt source usage and original writing for long periods of time so I'm interested in hearing if it hits that coveted 50% mark... :11 - 1:53 [102 seconds] 2:53 - 2:58 [5 seconds] 3:03 - 3:10 [7 seconds] 3:58 - 4:15 (chords) [17 seconds] 131 seconds source / 262 seconds = exactly 50.00% source usage Granted my breakdowns aren't as meticulous as the ones Larry usually comes up with, but I feel confident in saying that, from a timestamp perspective, this is as borderline as it gets. However, for me, I feel like the distribution of source usage in this track is very lopsided towards the first half of the track, where things are pretty conservative overall, then there's only flickers of the Menu Theme to be heard from 1:53 onwards. When it comes down to a borderline call like this, that's the sort of thing that tips the scales. It felt like the source was an afterthought for the latter half of the remix. Not bashing on your original writing in any way though, it's very solid and fits perfectly with the mood of the original, but to me it's just not working as a ReMix. You've got some excellent performances, sound design, and production going on here, there's no question that if the arrangement were reworked in a way that reprised the Prime menu theme more frequently in the latter half, it would be a pass in my book. As it stands though, I'm not sold. Would love to see this one come back our way, regardless of the similarities to another already-posted mix. This one can certainly stand on its own merit. NO (resub!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Sorry but source usage isn't the only problem here. The drums are fairly anemic, both in terms of writing and sound, and the mixing overall isn't that strong. There's a lot of conflict in the low-end, and the leads are pretty low. In the section at 1:54, you can hear some distortion because of all the overlapping frequencies. You definitely have talent, and the guitar performances are pretty good, but I think you'll need to improve your mixing a bit more before this would make it to the front page. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 I'm going to have to agree with both Emu and Vinnie here. The source usage when present is pretty straightforward, and while there is definitely a good style adaption going on, the straightforwardness of some parts compared to the lack of source in others is really separating the track a bit too much. Combined with Vinnie's crits about the drums and the low end being muddy, I just don't think this one is where it needs to be at this point. I hope you fix it up and send it back to us, as there's some good stuff and you have some talent to get it done. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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