djpretzel Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 K, I finished the song. Sincerely, Jason "Prophecy" Miller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 http://snesmusic.org/spcsets/mo2.rsn - "Boy Meets Girl (Twoson)" (mo2-046.spc) More EarfBound! Also played this one on VGF68 as part of the Bound Together package. I think Jason did a good job here filling in for djp's track on short notice after he withdrew, but this could still use some more work to realize all of its potential. The volume is too loud, IMO, but Beatdrop has done similar levels before and I've been told that's fine, so...that's...fine. I love the sampled percussion opening here. We're just gonna call that a xylo for convenience. The beats coming in at :14 also carry that phattyness. Twoson melody at :28 is a bit less in the forefront than I'd want, but it's certainly there. Makes the track feel carried by the beatwork and not Twoson, but it's a different sound balance and I can run with that provided the arrangement is there on the other levels. The beats switched a little bit at :58 to some more ethnic/organic sounding drums, but the xylo pattern still stuck around. Could use some variation there to keep things interesting at the foundation of the track. Outside of the xylo base, there's noticeable variation going on in the instrumentation, though some of the melody sections are pretty barren nonetheless. For example, the Twoson melody at 2:25 is really simplistic until 2:53. Plus, the material from 2:53 onward just retreads itself with another light instrument added on top. Same xylo and drum patterns chuggin' along, same SFX repeating a few too many times. You really gotta switch these patterns up more often. If I passed this in its current form, it would pass from groove bias only. Dynamically, this didn't really go anywhere, leaving things bland. The arrangement concept is good, but aside from very minor variations, the feel is the same the whole way through and the otherwise cool arrangement goes on cruise control and eventually drags out. I think there's a solid base so far, and I realize it was made under a tight, practically unreasonable deadline, so I don't wanna sound like I'm hating on this track. Work on it further to create more dynamics and spice it up with some additional arrangement ideas to keep things interesting and developing, rather than overly repetitive. Right now, this is a 2-minute mix in a 4-minute body. NO (refine/resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Orichalcon Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 On my first listen through this, I could instantly tell this wasn't up to the level of the majority of your other mixes, Prophecy. This sounds like a rush job to me. The beats are repetative and, while groovy, don't change or really show an interest level beyond the high quality sound. The instruments used sound particularly bland compared to what we're used to hearing from you. You usually set up a very enjoyable soundscape of sounds and instruments in your mixes that makes them very catchy and enjoyable to listen to, but in this case it's just repetative. As the mix progresses, I'm expecting some nice heavy and crunchy (but clear) synths to come in, as your usual style tends to suggest would happen, but instead it just repeats the same basic koto-string sound, with the flute and monotonous bassline plodding away. I'd take this one back and really rework it some more to bring out those great synthetic sounds that you normally get out of your mixes. This would stand as a good basis for a mix, but it has a lot of room for improvement. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 Production is really good I liked the melodic percussion in this piece; you do a good job of utilizing it without making it sound plinky. Other sounds are a bit bland though, particularly the koto mixed with the gated synth lead. My main issue is the percussion; throughout the entire piece it sounds like the song is building up towards something, but never gets there. The percussion is always in this waiting-to-break-out state. The song is also pretty repetitive, but I think there's some variation that saves it from being terribly monotonous (not literally monotonous ; you know what I mean). Anyway, not a bad piece, but I think it could use more in the sound choices and the overall arrangement. NO (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Great production values. No surprise there. The groove is nice too, as is the overall mastering. However, I think the problem as noted by my fellow judges would be the structure. There's clearly some rearrangement, but there is no changeup in the overall soundscape or the dynamics. There are no breaks to speak of, no climaxes or buildsup.. it's static throughout. It sounds less like a standalone piece and more like a background track. Cool for what it is, but I think you can do better, and unfortunately as is I don't think this quite passes our bar. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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