Super Metroid - Norfair

[theartinme]

https://soundcloud.com/theartinme/the-fires-of-zebes

[Trev]

Hey There -

 

Super Metroid's one of my all-time favorite games, so I couldn't resist replying!

 

Good work overall, and this is certainly an overlooked tune. It's good to hear someone do it. I like the super-clean electric guitar when it comes in, and feel it brings. Great performance on that.

 

The choir though gets pretty old, and fast. You've got to take it out occasionally, put way more DSP on it, change the line up more often, have another instrument take over, or vary it in some other way. There's tons you can do, so go crazy with it (in the future I guess).

 

The whole track is very very very clean/dry, which doesn't exactly scream 'dim fiery cavern in which Samus is probably sweating bullets and suffering heat damage'. But it's a refreshing direction. it just needs more variation overall.

 

Hope this is helpful!

 

Trev

[Rozovian]

I remember your tracks from a while back. This feels like an improvement since then, more deliberate, more cohesive.

 

Consider space. The first instruments are very dry and exposed. Some subtle (or even not-so-subtle) reverb would. The guitar, about a minute in, has plenty of reverb, as does the snare. They might need a bit less. Experiment with how much reverb you give each element. If you're concerned about processing power, just make a reverb bus, and duck it under your foreground elements.

 

Around 2:20, there's some noticeable compression issues. I don't think the track needs to be this loud, but if you want it this loud, see if you can find a better way to raise the loudness. Consider and experiment with limiters, multiband compressors, harmonic distortion, and EQ.

 

Performance, of the guitar especially, is a bit lackluster. I'm not buying it as a live instrument, but I'm okay with its level of fakeness. More human, performance-y qualities would help it be a bit more expressive, which it could use, being a lead and all.

 

I like the arrangement. It could be tighter, transition better between parts (eg the 0:57 transition comes with no forewarning, no "punctuation", it just happens; 1:16 is much better simply from increasing intensity rather than reducing it), but it's a pretty cool take on the source. Most remixes of anything Norfair are thick, dark, and aggressive. This is more minimal, clean, even a bit groovy. It's far from perfect, but it's enjoyable.