DragonAvenger Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 (edited) ReMixer: Pyro Paper Planes Real Name: Christopher Foss Email Address: http://www.pyropaperplanes.com User ID: 25144 Link: Game: Metroid Fusion Title: Slipstream Artist: Pyro Paper Planes Origin: Vs. Serris Cameo: Sector 4 (AQA) Composers: Minako Hamano, Akira Fujiwara System: Nintendo Game Boy Advance Album: Harmony of a Hunter: 101% Run (http://www.shinesparkers.net/harmonyofahunter/download/) Track Comments: If there's a particular genre of music that I have a soft spot for, it's trance. One artist in particular, bLiNd, was a huge inspiration to this track (I've always loved Jade Catacombs and G-Storm). So, when it came to arranging a track that's out of my style, I decided to take on Samus vs. Serris, which is a fast-paced track of itself. It's somewhat uncommon to hear the music of Metroid in a trance style. I really wanted to intertwine the atmospheric soundscape of the Metroid series with a contrasting genre. Admittedly, this was a very challenging track for me to mix. Slipstream also marks my first foray into trance. To replicate the incredibly complex line, I slowed down the original source tune by 50%, and picked out every individual note that was played. The piece is layered with a wide variety of Omnisphere patches. Their textures and instruments are incredibly organic, and the pallet of sounds were perfectly suited for Slipstream. During the breakdown, I decided to cameo Sector 4 AQA, an ominous track that plays throughout the environment that the monster Serris resides in. Slipstream was a very fun piece to work on. The fact that the source track is only 47 seconds long gave me a lot of creative freedom and difficulty. The track was a great exercise on buildups and playing on the anticipations of the listener, while keeping a consistent overall energy that the genre requires. Whether Slipstream will live up to the expectations of trance enthusiasts remains to be seen, but I like to think that the amalgamation of ambience and trance has resulted in a unique and enjoyable piece. ---------------------- Edited December 20, 2013 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 Love that you picked a source that otherwise isn't all that catchy. The transition into trance for the source is pretty clean, and I think overall you did a good job with it. I'd say overall the piece works really well, though I feel like there isn't a lot of low-end presence that is cutting the effect. I think it doesn't effect my decision overall, and that this is above the bar, but definitely something to consider in the future. I'd love a more production-educated judge to throw down some solid advice for you, hopefully that comes to pass! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 This isn't bad, but what happened to the bassline? A pumping track like this needs something in the low-range to support what's happening up top. The whole thing ends up sounding thin. Needs a strong bassline. The track goes a bit long, I feel, which is such a weird thing to say about a trance piece. The energy levels on this feel so static; you've got one short little bit where the percussion drops out, but that lasts all of 30 seconds and then we're just back into it. I don't feel like there's enough push and pull in this arrangement. It just relentlessly plods forward. A good start, but needs work, IMO. Definitely needs a bassline, some more highs and lows in the arrangement, etc. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I really enjoy the treatment and synths used here, but i agree that the lack of a low end is hurting the track overall; crank that bass and sidechain it with the kick so we can feel it! I think the beat itself was too repetitive as well, and could have kept the same loop if there was something beyond just simple subdivision in it. The beat was layered, but the layered bits were so basic that it almost didn't matter. You need to have some surprises in there, even if you hypothetically just copypaste the beat from measure 1 to the end. I think the arrangement needs a little more juice as well. THe song feels like it plateaus and then just coasts. There are some breaks and builds, but there isn't really anything that is exciting me. There are some nice moments, but they are spread very thin, and while it actually is pretty close to the bar, it comes up short for me. No, please resubmit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 (edited) I really kinda love this. It's a bit of a tricky source that really does call out for a trance interpretation. I like this arrangement a lot. I can definitely hear the bLiNd inspiration here. I do agree with OA that a few little surprises would have been nice, in between the melody writing. I also agree that some deeply sidechained bass would really make this. (I'm on headphones, gonna withhold vote until I can blast this on my monitors and check out the bass better) Ok, on my monitors now... kick sounds loud and punchy... but I have to agree about the bass, it really needs to be more present... louder and sidechained please, this song will be so wicked cool. Please do this soon. NO (resubmit) Edited December 18, 2013 by Chimpazilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Definitely in that camp needing mixing revisions. The opening groove before :27 was flimsy and generic-sounding; that specific clap almost never fills out a track well, but at least it wasn't always exposed. The synths at 2:04 were also pretty vanilla, but I'll live. I liked the overall energy of the arrangement, but I did agree with the others that felt more dynamic contrast and variation was needed in the core patterns and overall energy. I think the beat itself was too repetitive as well, and could have kept the same loop if there was something beyond just simple subdivision in it. The beat was layered, but the layered bits were so basic that it almost didn't matter. I'm so co-signing on this. I could even live without the bass being addressed as well if those two things OA mentioned got corrected. You really gotta spice things up and give some more rhythmic variation and creativity with these patterns, as well as a bit more sophisticated sound. There just needs to be more substance there, it doesn't matter too greatly how you specifically go about it. To me though, another offender was that the track lacked a lot of high-end clarity; I dunno why, but there's no spacey, purposeful-sounding feel to it, it just sounds like a lossy encoding. I'd live as long as the other issues were addressed (making the beat patterns more varied or complex, putting some meat on the sounds), but don't forget to take another listen to this and see if you agree about the soundscape sounding a bit too lo-fi compared to other songs. The arrangement's in fairly good shape, Christopher; now you just need to tighten some things up so that its potential is fully realized. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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