*NO* Resident Evil 2 'A New Horizon'

[DragonAvenger]

Hello, OCR!

We've never actually attempted dubstep (with a straight face) before, but there's a first time for everything. Personally I was a little hesitant since dubstep is met with a lot of resistance on the interwebs, but if you never try you'll never know what might have happened. And that's how this mix started!

Details:

Your ReMixer name: Digital Element a.k.a. DigiE.

Your real names: Maurice Willems & Sanjay Sampatsing.

Your email address:

Your User ID: 2761

Additional details:

Name of game(s) arranged: Resident Evil 2 (PSX).

Remix Name: A New Horizon.

Name of individual song(s) arranged: Secure Place (Save Room Theme).

-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPVrizQOma4

Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.

The idea was basically to go nuts, and have fun with a genre we haven't really touched at all (But love. We've seen Skrillex live, and since then our love for the genre basically exploded). We were looking for a melodic touch to it as well, and the melancholic vibe the RE2 Save Room gives off perfectly fit the direction we were looking for. Aside from that, it's a really cool song and we've got a lot of fond memories playing the game.

It's been pretty awesome putting this together. After listening to the genre for so long, it's refreshing to actually take a jab at it ourselves properly. We hope it was a success!

Hopefully you guys enjoy it! <3

PS: We're not sure how lenient the bar for the used vocal clips is (The speech is from Albert Wesker in Resident Evil 5, and "You're all going to die down here" is Red Queen from the movie), just know that we can easily remove it and replace it ambient effects to fill the void.

Regards,

DigiE.

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Edited August 23, 2013 by Liontamer
closed decision

[Vig]

Woah I can't tell if your filter fade in is waaay waaay too long or if this is the mix....turns out to be a little of each. The hat in the intro is way louder than anything else, which is really not...in line with what is appropriate. So much so that the drop (which is really good, though missing sub) seems comparatively quiet. The drop has to be loud. You also need to do more sidechaining on both the kick and snare.

I think the arrangement is very creative and cool. The second drop is very slick, but again lacks impact. You've got to watch the volume level over the track. The transition to the post-drop is also extremely awkward and seems poorly thought-out.

awesome start. nice drops.

NO

[Liontamer]

The soundscape lacked high-end clarity, and I felt that the overall levels were too loud (though I could live with them). That said, there were clear moments where the lack of clarity hurt the writing, for example the closing section of 5:56-6:37, the piano writing seems to be muddying with the trance synths, and then the rain SFX at 6:10. It's not horrible, but some further EQ of the parts to reduce the mud and get this brighter would make the textures sound much better, IMO.

The voice samples (:41 & 1:48) were too loud and sounded very stapled on top of the soundscape; they're OK, but I'd pull them back some.

The music portion was 6:42-long, so I needed at least 201 seconds of overt usage of the "Secure Place" theme to pass this on arrangement:

:21.5-:28, :34.5-:41, 1:01.5-1:05, 1:14-1:18, 1:21.5-1:32, 1:34.75-1:39, 1:41.5-2:00, 3:03.5-3:34, 3:36.5-3:55, 3:56.5-4:01.5, 4:03-4:15, 4:16.5-4:19, 4:36.5-4:38.75, 4:43.25-4:46.25 = 128.5 seconds or just under 32%

The source tune also has some supporting string writing that could be adapted here, but I couldn't ID it anywhere in here. If I'm right that what I hear is all of what's there from the source, then this needs a LOT more RE2 theme usage in here to have a chance at passing. Either use the 'Secure Place" melody or backing string writing more, or consider integrating another RE2 theme in here, just so that the arrangement of the actual video game music stays dominant within the track, per the standards here.

In any case, Vig had some crits about the way the piece was structured, and a lack of intensity. I wasn't bothered by any of that and thought everything turned out fine on that level. It's not as if his advice was invalid, but it shouldn't be anything holding this piece from passing.

I could pass it without production tweaks, but I'd always want a version with better mixing, if that makes sense. Do consider Vig's production critiques, as well as reducing the volume of the voice clips a touch and seeing if the soundscape can gain a bit more clarity. Y'all have had to tweak some tracks like Sonic 3 "Breaking the Ice" and Corpse Party "Heavenly Horrors," so hopefully this is just another one of those cases where some time away from the track along with the critiques help you better realize this great work here.

That said (and please correct me if I'm wrong), you need more RE2 source tune usage in here, no matter how good the track ends up sounding production-wise. Awesome work so far, you guys. You guys always bring the creativity, and I'd absolutely want to see this posted in some form.

NO (resubmit)

[DragonAvenger]

Yeah, definitely some great sections where there is great use of the source, and then there are sections that seem completely unrelated. Listening through without time-stamping I think the first half stays more connected to the source than the second half, and that's where things feel like they go off-course for too long.

In terms of the production, I do think the highs are lacking a bit, but clarity with a dubstep mix is definitely difficult to do. I'd definitely like to hear you work on that, as well as bringing out a little more in the lows to get that dubstep rumble out a touch more. Bringing down the overall volume will probably give you more wiggle room for both of those things. Good luck!

NO (resubmit)