Chimpazilla Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 ContactRemixer name: RoBKTAReal name: Roberto BazzoniWebsite (Facebook Page): https://www.facebook.com/robktamusicUserID: 53459Submission DetailsGame Arranged: Rockman & Forte (Megaman & Bass)Arrangement name: Monsieur MegaSong Arranged: Robot Museum (Opening Stage)Additional Information: system SNES, release date1998, soundtrack composer Toshihiko HoriyamaOriginal song: Comments: Well here we go to my very first submission to OCR.I started composing this remix as a tune for my 25th birthday and I worked on it since March to finish it and refine it. I wanted to clash various elements and try something weird: you get DMX drum machines from the 80s, Fender Rhodes pianos but also "space futuristic sounding" synths and old console sounds. Too many inspirations came in while composing this, can't count'em all, but I worked on it in a way I could experiment different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Hats in the intro are very loud right away! Super nice groove established though, I love the EP and the panning accents. Bass could be a bit louder. When the melody drops at 1:01, the lead is a little underwhelming. Claps are very dry. Overall, the track is pretty dry. The drums sound somewhat autopilot as time goes on, and the drums aren't balanced the best (hats too loud, kick and snare way too quiet and dull, all too dry). The arrangement certainly has enough source and is very groovy! Lots of fun details and creative soloing throughout. My production crits aren't enough to hold this back. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Smoove Rhodes and funky beats to open things up. Nothing explicitly pertaining to the source until 1:01, since it was just the simplified chord progression in a few brief places within :17-:54. Didn't love 1:01's lead on the first listen; it was grating, IMO, but it's not bad, and you get quickly used to it. Whether I thought it fully worked or not, it arguably should have been a little louder/more upfront in the soundscape, but was OK in how it was placed. From what I could identify, this was fairly liberal in the treatment of the source tune, mostly because the intro was 1 minute long without explicitly using the source. That said, this at least squeaked by with the source tune usage being dominant. For a 3:40-long piece, I needed to hear the source tune referred to for at least 110 seconds for the source usage to be dominant in the arrangement. 1:01-2:11.5, 2:48-2:54.25, 2:56.25-3:01.75, 3:04-3:32 = 110.25 seconds or 50.1% overt source usage. Chimpa said it was clearly dominant, but there could be some sections I'm not recognizing. In any case, Roberto employed excellent subtle dynamic shifts, strong comping sections and came up with a very creative, funky spin on the Robot Museum theme. Nice work, and welcome aboard! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Could be intentional, but the initial hit sounds a bit distorted. Not sure if it's due to levels or just an effect you've added. I was a little hesitant in the beginning as I was on the fence as to if the various elements were meshing well enough together. I'm still not 100% on it, but it did seem to come together more cohesively as the track progressed. Definitely an interesting style. I agree with Kris on the loud hi hats and dry general soundscape. The dryness probably contributes to my "meshing" point above. Larry hit the nail on the head with his lead crits, though like him, it still does the job for me. The more I listen to this one, the more it's growing on me. Liking the subtle elements that keep popping in and out as time goes on. Good interplay between parts in the intro. Minor point, but it felt like it was getting a bit repetative around the 3 minute mark, despite the relatively short overall track length. Thanks to Larry for the source breakdown. That first minute almost kills the track in that regard given that it's only 3:32 long. Wouldn't hurt to try to incorporate a bit more in the intro for future mixes. What is there is a solid mix of strong connection and personalization. All in all, it's groovy and I like it. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) Some nice funkiness in this track, which you can always count on from RoBKTA mixes. Straight up your arrangement is quite strong, and induces foot tapping pretty quickly, with a fitting groovy bassline. However I do have some gripes, largely on the production side of things. Firstly, that main lead hitting after 1:00 sounds very thin and non-attention seeking, and it is also very quiet compared to the other mix elements, to the point where it is overwhelmed quickly when other parts come in. Your kick and snare are nice and fat, but sound very bottom heavy and could do with some higher frequencies to brighten them up. I know you're going for an old meets new retro vibe with this track, but they can still have high end and retain that feel. The mix does sound fairly same-ish the whole way though, but has enough changes to keep interest. I will however say that your drums are incredibly loopy at times, particularly the high hat pattern - I would love to see this varied a bit if this goes to resub. The rhodes also seems to clash a bit with your bass when it hits the lower notes, some opposing EQ notches would sort this out. To me the lack of volume/body in the lead, the lack of high end in the drums, and the loopy hats detract from what is otherwise a strong remix. I may be on my own here, but I would like to see these fixed up via a quick resub before release. IMO this would make for a more enjoyable track. NO (borderline) Edited March 22, 2015 by Jivemaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Overall, I'm a huge fan of this style, it sounds like you're channeling your inner-Joshua Morse in a lot of ways. Excellent rhythmic variation that breathes new life into the slower, simpler groove of the original source. Your chords are killer, really slick work there. I'm not going to mince over the source usage in this track - it was a risky choice to go over a minute before introducing any of the material from the original track, but once you get to the meat of your mix, the source is present quite a bit and at the end of the day, this certainly feels like a proper remix, regardless of whether it checks out based on stopwatch. Can't say I was a huge fan of some of the stylistic choices on this mix. The lead synths across the board were underwhelming and lacking in life compared to how exciting the bassline and chords were... I would have preferred to hear something with more vibrato and expression to match what you've done with the rest of the track, since the lead writing itself is very spirited, but your patches don't really asjustice to it. The drum style was pretty nice, I liked the groove but the loudly-mixed hi-hats felt like a bit of a faux-pas. Not a huge deal. I think this is a track that you could theoretically revisit 2 years down the road with additional experience under your belt, and be able to make some significant improvements on, but after several listens, it's clear that what you got right, you got really right, and that's enough to overshadow some of the stylistic choices that fell a bit flat. Good work dude, keep sending more stuff our way YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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