OCR03089 - *YES* Super Final Match Tennis & Sonic the Hedgehog (XB360) '5 Minutes of Glory'

[Chimpazilla]

ReMixers: Ivan Hakštok, jnWake, Wild_Cat, XPRTNovice

Name of game(s) arranged: Super Final Match Tennis, Sonic The Hedgehog 2006

Name of arrangement: 5 Minutes of Glory

Composers: Takamitsu Kajikawa (Super Final Match Tennis), Tomoya Ohtani, Mariko Nanba, Hideaki Kobayashi, Taihei Sato, Takahito Eguchi, Seirou Okamoto, Jun Senoue (Sonic 2006)

Link to the original soundtracks:

Super Final Match Tennis - Ending:

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 - Wave Ocean Inlet:

I made this song for the MAGFest XII edition of Dwelling of Duels, and it ended up placing 14th out of 35 entries. I found the source theme by going through random youtube vgm playlists and I knew that I had to cover it because it's the most "Hakstok" song ever! After I started working on the arrangement, I added a part from a Sonic 2006 song because it had similar chords and fit nicely in the mix. Since this was a MAGFest DoD, I decided to go all out so I recruited several people to perform live instruments. The initial arrangement was done in less than 3 days, so that gave me lots of time to find people, and three brave ones answered the call!

Here's the lineup:

Ivan Hakštok - mixing, guitars, drum sequencing, piano sequencing, backing synths

Wake: lead synths, organ, piano editing

Wild_Cat: bass

XPRTNovice: saxophone

I consider this song my best work so far, but you know, I can't be very objective so I'll let Mr. Andreas sum it up for you with excerpts from the DoD listening party log:

[01:10] <snappleman> I like that snare

[01:13] <snappleman> clapping

[01:14] <snappleman> sounds so fucking awesome in mono

[01:14] <snappleman> that's the test for all the mixes

[01:14] <snappleman> 3/6, good mix, high energy

I hope he won't be mad because I used his quotes without permission.

Now, here's the source breakdown:

0:00 - 0:43 = original intro

0:43 - 0:54 = chords based on A section (0:07 - 0:20) of the SFMT source

0:54 - 1:41 = pretty much a cover of the SFMT source

1:41 - 2:08 = guitar solo, chords based on the A section of the SFMT source

2:08 - 2:30 = section C (1:10 - 1:30) of the Sonic 2006 source

2:30 - 2:54 = organ solo with the same chords as the previous part

2:54 - 3:06 = B section (0:20 - 0:32) of the SFMT source with some additional synth wankery

3:06 - 3:29 = the "chorus" section of the SFMT source (0:32 - 0:56)

3:29 - 4:15 = another guitar solo over the chords from the SFMT source

4:15 - 5:02 = chorus section of the SFMT source

5:12 - 5:33 = some outro wankery over the chords from the chorus section of the SFMT source

Thanks again to Wake, Wild_Cat and XPRTNovice for contributing to my track and making it 10x more awesome!

[DarkeSword]

Man I love these tracks that just commit so hard to being happy and upbeat. Really loving this one all around. AWESOME performances, especially the guitar solos. Clapping actually sounds a little strange, but I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. Saxophone stuff makes it feel like something from the early 90s, in really good, nostalgic way.

Awesome stuff. YES

[Emunator]

Oh my. This entire mix is such a triumphant tidal wave of 90's-era nostalgia, I had to listen to this a few times through just to get the excitement out of my system before I tackled this with a critical ear. Like your previous Xenogears submission, there's an unbridled positive aura radiating from this arrangement that puts a HUGE smile on my face.

Fortunately, this track holds up under scrutiny from a technical standpoint, as well. Your drums, guitar tone, all of the synth patches, and live performances are extremely well-selected and produced with the kind of shimmering polish you'd expect from this genre. The live bass kicks ass - you could have easily gotten away with using a sampled bass but Wild_Cat's contribution makes this sound all the better. Joe's contribution is a really wonderful wildcard that just totally clicks for me, stylistically. All of the little details make this even more enjoyable on repeat listens.

There's a few minor nits I have to pick, but they're super minor. I'm actually not a fan of the synth riff from :18 - :35; the performance and writing/articulation feels clunky and I actually think it's a shame to start the track off with what I feel is the weakest component overall. Fortunately the synth writing is much smoother for the rest of the remix so I'm not going to dwell on it too much.

Also, I can't tell whether this is due to the mixing or the actual performance, but I wish Joe's saxophone had a slightly sharper tone that cut through the mix better and gave it more energy. It seems most noticeable the first time it enters at 1:55, and seems less of an issue when it comes up later in the mix. Maybe another judge can help articulate what I'm getting at (or confirm that I'm crazy!) but again, it's practically a non-issue for me in the grand scheme of things.

This is very clearly a YES for me, wonderful effort to all involved

YES

[Liontamer]

I wasn't counting most of the soloing over chords as any source usage, because the chords were oversimplifications of the source rather than taken directly from it, as far as I could tell, so I gave the track less credit than the breakdown. I could be missing something more obvious, but it didn't matter in the end, since my first pass at a breakdown came up with enough overt source usage to have the VGM dominant in the arrangement. The track was 5:34 long, so I needed at least 167 seconds of VGM used during the arrangement for the VGM to be dominant:

:12.25-:14.5, :18-:19.5, :48.5-:50, :55.5-1:41.5, 2:08.5-2:27, 2:43.5-2:53.5, 2:55-3:02.75, 3:06.75-3:32.75, 4:05-4:37, 4:39.75-5:01.75, 5:18.75-5:20.25 = 169 seconds or 50.59% overt source usage

Getting that out for the way, I also liked the cheesy energy here, and this was indeed a lot of fun! Just had to sanity check the source usage, but otherwise and easy call and a fun take on some obscure Super Famicom hotness. Nice work, guys!

YES

[OceansAndrew]

Great work from all involved; I think compressing joe a bit more and bringing him up would help him in the mix, as hearing him a bit better is all i'm really looking for in this mix.

Great mood, nice performances, and a good mix of obscure tracks make this a winner in my book.

Nice work!

Yes