*NO* EarthBound 'rake dat snake'

[djpretzel]

name - po!

game - Earthbound

track - battle01

this is a differently mastered version than the Mustin mastered version that appears on Bound Together

this one has a warmer, more analogish sound which is how i originally intended it

[Liontamer]

http://snesmusic.org/spcsets/mo2.rsn - "Battle Against a Weird Opponent" (mo2-029.spc)

Played the Bound Together version on VGF68 and was feeling the groove bias. Indeed, the BT version as mastered by Mustin felt drier, so it was good hearing this version as Posu's intended vision for the mix.

Nice intro up until :10. Arrangement of the melody was pretty straightforward, supplemented with a lot of good stuff going on with the bassline and string synth. Compared to the original, the role of the bassline here was greatly expanded upon. :46 has a synth solo section backed up by the source tune, and continued beyond 1:04 as the chorus joined the synth solo up until 1:37. Another solo full of wah guitar at 1:46, joined by some light blips y bloops at 2:06 and the wahs following the melody at 2:12 which was pretty subtle.

Though I heard a couple different patterns, the beats were pretty basic and repetitive which was the main thing holding this back. I liked everything else going on, but wish the claps weren't on cruise control as it makes the foundation of the track (and by extension the whole piece) seem lazy and underdeveloped. If you're willing to spice that up with a bit more activity/variation, this would be an easy pass to me. I really like the way the rest of the arrangement was handled, and could understand this picking up some YESs, so good luck with the rest of the vote!

NO (borderline)

[analoq]

i can see where larry is coming from.

some drums fills or acoustic percussion over the beat would make this more interesting.

as is, it's enough for this to work.

po has taken the original and made it a vehicle for his soloing.

he's done this mostly by redefining the harmonies to jazzier approximations.

while most of the soloing is good there were times i was waiting for a head.

this is mighty laid-back so one can't really expect any climaxes or prolonged harmonic tension,

but if one is familiar with po's style, then they won't be expecting such anyways.

yes

[The Orichalcon]

I'm getting some strange clipping sounds through the track at times. It's very subtle but I think it's there. I'll try to ignore it for now. The quality of the track beyond that is fine.

Given the relatively dysfunctional sound of the original, the way po has made this into a more harmonic and jazzy sounding piece is a blessing. The beat is repetative, it doesn't change noticeably all the way through, no breaks or fills, which I think could have added to the transition between sections.

My main problem is that this sounds very minimalistic, which isn't bad in itself, I just think more could have been done beyond what's done here. The backing is same right the way through up to the end and we don't even get a prominent end to the piece, it just stops.

It's definately laid back, and it's done well. But I think with some extra complexity added to those drums, the piece would stand out better. I'm going to go with Larry on this one and push for that extra feel to the mix.

NO (Borderline)

Edit: Also, could some of the other judges with better equipment tell me if they notice that clipping/crackling at the beginning of the track?

[analoq]

i hear the crackling through most of the track.

if i had to guess i'd say he ran some of the drum parts through izotope vinyl or some other plugin in an attempt to get the "warmer, more analogish sound" he was trying for.

i say we just ask him about it.

and i say we delegate that task to gray.

[Liontamer]

i hear the crackling through most of the track.

if i had to guess i'd say he ran some of the drum parts through izotope vinyl or some other plugin in an attempt to get the "warmer, more analogish sound" he was trying for.

i say we just ask him about it.

and i say we delegate that task to gray.

Oh yeah, I already talked with TO about that myself. Personally, I thought that was fine. It's just there to add a quasi lo-fi feel, although I think it sounded a bit too sharp/clear in those respects. Ah well.

[analoq]

ohok!!~

[GrayLightning]

I got in touch with po! and he said

theres a bit of noise in it on purpose, record crackle type noises

per the information contained in his email.

That clarifies that.

[DarkeSword]

I lament the brevity of this arrangement. It really feels unfinished. A longer track would have been much more welcome. The ending just sort of trails off too.

The bassline is excellent though, and the overall texture is smooth as silk. Soloing rocks. Nice work there.

Gonna have to NO this though; it sounds unfinished; needs to be longer with a more definitive ending.

[zircon]

Cool grooves; same type of refined, polished bass+drumlines that I think we've come to expect from po!. The harmony and comping is sparse, which is par for the course in terms of this style.. but given the length of the arrangement I think it kind of hurts the mix. The changeups in the second half are cool, for sure. Overall production strikes me as good though I'm personally just not a fan of the whole vinyl-on-everything thing. I think BD + snares need substance and definition. But really, that's not a big deal. I think my main problem here would be the same as my fellow judges.. too brief, needs some sort of stronger resolution, etc.

A little more refinement and this would get a yes.

NO