Palpable Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) Contact Information Your ReMixer name: Mizztery Your real name: Bradley Mizzi Your email address: Your website: www.soundcloud.com/bradleymizzi Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: Not on your forums Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Paper Mario Name of arrangement: Rawkin with the King of the Koopas Name of individual song(s) arranged: Angry Bowser; Siege on Bowser's Castle; Rawk Hawk; Bowser, King of the Koopas Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site): All info is on the SoundCloud Link Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site) Angry Bowser: Siege on Bowser's Castle: Rawk Hawk: Bowser, King of the Koopas: Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc: I was bored? Edited January 27, 2014 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexstyle Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Sweet merciful mother of pearl--Vinnie, drop a warning for long songs? Ahem. Anyways. Let's tackle this monstrosity! Right off the bat I've got some key issues: - Drums - Quantization - Mixing - Pauses/Transitions/Arrangement Let's tackle these one by one. 1. Drums: The kit you're using has very very little in the way of dynamics. What I mean by that is that no matter how hard you play the sample, it's still the same static sample--no variation at all. There are a ton of great drum kits out there that allow you a much more realistic sound without breaking the bank. That's assuming these were sequenced--and if they were played on a drum machine or electric kit, you might want to consider sequencing drums instead, as you'll probably get a lot more options that way. 2. Quantization: I'm noticing that basically everything that isn't a guitar or bass guitar is heavily quantized, meaning all the notes are rigidly snapped to exact timing. That's not what we need to have in a rock song, and in fact, it tends to clash with the other "natural" sounds of the guitars. No human can play precisely on beat for every single beat, so give it a bit of loosening up! Don't make every snare hit on exactly every other quarter note, and don't make the organ hit perfect sixteenth notes. Give it some soul! 3. Mixing: Just a couple issues I'd prefer to point out here. I'm feeling like some of the guitars may be a bit imbalanced--the lead guitar is a bit too quiet, and I'm feeling like everything just a bit dull on that end. Not enough sheen to the sound. A bit of EQ love might help your case there. That goes for both the lead and the rhythm guitars. Also, ya gotta bring the guitars (all of them) up in the mix to compete with the drums, which are definitely the loudest instrument right now. The drums: the hat is way too loud, even for the way it's currently mixed, during parts of the song (starts at 0:30). Definitely need to get that toned down if the drums were to be redone. 4. Arrangement, etc: So, correct me if I'm wrong here, judges, but this seems a bit medley- and cover-esque. I'm not sensing a lot of actual original arrangement here. Usually we need some more original interpretation besides just instrument changes and a solo on top. I'm hearing a pause between sections (e.g. source tune switches), and not a lot to really tie anything together. The thing tends to drag just a bit as well, without a lot of variation in drum patterns during many sections--I found myself just waiting for the section to end so I could hear something new a few times. I know you're working with four sources, but you might be better off shaving entire minutes of this song off in order to make it less tedious to listen to. Compress some sections, maybe even consider losing a couple source tunes and focusing your efforts on one specific or two specific source tunes. Finally, a fadeout ending? Gotta give me something better than that after you've thrown seven and a half minutes at me--surely you can do it! Yeah, definitely a lot of issues here, and I didn't cover everything. I dig the guitar chops, and this wasn't a bad listen, but you may want to take this to the workshop forums after giving it another whirl. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Guitar playing is pretty solid overall, some minor shredding and some more emotional phrasing mixed in. Mixing is pretty off in the first section, with the snare and lead guitars sounding really muffled. The organ and shaker/hats fit into the space ok, but it makes a lot of the leads sound cheap and tiny. The second section is mixed differently with a more open lead tone that has some highend, this sounds better from a mixing standpoint. The rhythm sound and the bass wasn't really gelling for me here, though, with the rhythm sounding a bit too distant. The arrangement sounded like source mixed with a lot of soloing, and not much interpretation of the theme itself. If I am missing something obvious, other judges hit me up. Overall I think the mixing is my biggest concern, as you definitely know how to play guitar, and the arrangement itself could stand to be a bit more streamlined and personalized with the source itself. I think there is some good stuff going on here, but it needs polish. No, please resubmit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Wow, long song, lots of sources. Ok so the guitar playing is indeed quite good, but yeah, all mixed differently. The lead guitar sounds quiet, distant and thinly mixed, while the backing guitars sound muffled with too much lows and just a touch of mud too. The backing guitars might sound better if the lead guitar had more beef to it, and with a beefier kick too. The organ is a bit loud and piercing when it comes in. The bass is sort of indistinct. Everything sounds like it was recorded in different rooms with no cohesion. There is some weird panning on some of your percussion, I hear a very loud hat panned hard right at one point, and a very loud shaker panned hard left a bit later on, very unnatural. Kick has almost no oomph to it, snare is snappy enough but lacks highs, and wow it's loud. Flexstyle's writeup really nailed it. Yes there's some very quantized and tedious writing (simple quarter and eighth notes and lots of whole notes too) for quite a large chunk of this mix, even the cool bits of solo on top don't make up for this. As for it being a medley, yeah maybe (wow that's a lot of stuff to sort through without a source breakdown), it sounds fairly cohesive to me, even if the transitions aren't great. I do agree with Flexstyle that it would be better if the sources were pared down to maybe just two, and the remix shortened to really give attention to those two sources with some nice interpretation. A real ending would also be a great addition, fadeouts are usually a bit anticlimactic (and the render cuts off even before the end of the fadeout). But the mixing is honestly the biggest issue I hear in this mix. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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