Liontamer Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 (edited) Game: The Grinch Source: Lake Whoville Composer Unknown, Sega Dreamcast (Konami 2000) Title: Whovian Waltz Source: This was one of the few Dreamcast games I owned as a kid, along with Centipede and Sonic Adventure. These were all fun games that I really enjoyed. The Grinch in particular was an awesome game for a kid back then, I'm sure it didn't stand the test of time (neither did Sonic Adventure) but what game really does by today's standards? It was amazing then, that's all that matters to me. This song... Let's just say that the entirety of it was written on the road with plenty of time to sink into it, and a fittingly bleak atmosphere. After it was written, I recorded and finished it at home over an 8 hour stretch of time instead of sleeping between shifts (and the day before MAGFest 11). It has that "live band" feel I do too much, and has a very Anathema-esque ending imo. Lots of cool whistling, lots of fun soloing, spooky theramin at 3:03 and a beautiful and enjoyable mellotron (which is essential to every good OC ReMix) at 3:24. It's a nice little dark rock tune, hope you enjoy it. ----------------------------------------------------------- Edited April 14, 2014 by djpretzel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted August 1, 2013 Author Share Posted August 1, 2013 The source usage and arrangement were more than fine, but the balance among the parts wasn't. 1:18-2:44 & 2:52-3:25 were large areas where the leads don't actually take the lead and the levels among the various parts being so even made the whole thing sound too scattershot. It's a lot like how Sonic Colors "Gone" was going off the rails some. I wouldn't have a fit if this passed as is, it was somewhat close; but it's enough of an issue where I can't sign off on it until some adjustments are made to clean this up and give it more focus. It can be done without compromising the dark nature of the piece. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 We discussed this a little today, Brandon, and I am curious if this track is from somewhere other than the game itself. Unfortunately it's very difficult to actually find movie on youtube so I wasn't able to sift through and see if it is or isn't, so I am going to assume that I am just hearing something similar that is reminding me of something. Aside from that, I found this to be a fun submission to listen to. The style fits very well to the melody, and the details on the different parts is good. I agree with Larry that some of the parts weren't balanced super well, but I don't think they are enough of a detractor in the whole to bring this below the bar. Very curious to see what others think on the issue, so good luck to you. YES (conditional on source being solely from the game) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 I also feel like I've heard the source before in something, and I haven't seen the Grinch. Let's assume for now it is ok, I checked out a few songs from the Grinch movie soundtrack and the style is completely different. I suspect it is similar to an existing song from something else entirely, but haven't been able to figure out what it's reminding me of. I thought this was a pretty solid arrangement and nothing was a big problem here. The timing got a little off, as Brandon's subs have before, but that was it. The collection of instruments was well-chosen and fit nicely around the acoustic guitar from the original. The song would be perfect to hear in a show Pushing Daisies or something. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Nice track here, Brandon. Performance is pretty loose, which is kinda the norm for Brandon's tracks. It doesn't really detract stylistically from the song, IMO. I agree mixing could be cleaned up a bit. There were several sections that were quite busy, which would benefit from some levels adjustment and/or eq cutting. Still, overall, the execution is there. The arrangement is well thought out and directionally, the track always drives forward to the proceeding section without ever feeling like it's plodding. Really liking this, well done. YES PS, I swear I listened to this source a while back, perhaps in IRC for Larry or something. It reminds me of the song "Once Upon A December" from the movie Anastasia, especially in the way it resolves the phrasing. No idea if that's at all related to what you guys have in mind, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Sounds like Blast Hornet from MMX3. This is really good. Nice approach to the song, organ really adds a lot here. Feels organic. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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