*NO* Live A Live 'Italomania'

[Chimpazilla]

Hello guys, Sir_NutS here with another remix.

I guess the remix's title ruins the surprise, but this is a remix of Live-A-Live's "Megalomania" theme, done in Italo Disco Style. (think Laserdance, Proxyion, Hypnosis, etc.)

I've been very good friends with Ryan Hussey (F4T4L) for quite a lot of time now (maybe a decade?.. hmm)  and we both share a passion: 80's style electronic music.  He also loves Live-A-Live, he says it's his favorite RPG soundtrack.  I've never played the game, despite everyone giving it such high praise.

Anyways, we were talking about the game, and he told me  he wanted a remix of this theme, but couldn't think of a style that would fit it.  I instantly thought it would be perfect for Italo Disco as soon as I heard it.  I heard those synth brass stabs and catchy melodies that the genre is known for in this theme, it just needed expanding upon.  He agreed and so I went on to remix it.

For this remix, I went outside of my comfort zone when it comes to music-making, and decided to make the whole track in reaper, using free vsts.  I needed the vst emulations of legendary hardware like the prophet 5, the juno 106, etc, (vstis like tal-u-no, synth1, gtg 44 S, gtg jp-7 among others)  to make this track as authentic as possible.  It was a bit of a pain but I managed to complete the track and in the end I think it was worth it because as a result I obtained the most authentic Italo Disco song I've made to date, but also has a slightly modern sound to it too. 

As far as arrangement goes, I expanded upon the original while keeping the base motifs around.  There's not a lot to say in this regard, as it wasn't a complicated arrangement to remix.  I tried to expand upon it introducing new melodies and also variations of the originals, as well as keeping the beat fresh by varying the rhythm at key places.  There's a lot of call-and-response in this genre so I also introduced that aspect.  There was a bit of improvisation on my part with some of the "solos", which went fairly smoothly and just needed a bit of quantization.  After a few takes I had all the material I needed.  I think I was very inspired for this one.

And well, I won't bore you guys anymore with this.  The links to the remix and original tracks are below, enjoy!

Edited October 1, 2015 by Liontamer
closed decision

[Chimpazilla]

Wow this sounds great right away.  Very cool disco feel achieved, I'm not familiar with Italo Disco but I'll take your word for it!  I love the vocoded "Live-A-Live" bits.

 

There are some balance issues, I'm finding some of the percussion mixed rather quietly (other than the kick which is beefy!).  I can barely hear the fun brass stabs.  The leads are thin and quiet.    

 

My biggest issue with this track is that it sounds very repetitive.  There are some areas of copy pasta, 2:27-2:44 is identical to 0:20-0:35 for example.  The same backing pattern/timbre plays throughout, and there isn't much variation in the timbres used.  Starting at 1:28, there are some notes that I'm not sure are working in the key signature of the track.  Even with all these crits, I'm still leaning toward yes but honestly I can see this getting some NOs based on repetitiveness in writing/soundscape and I may change my vote too after I see other votes.

 

edit 9/30/15:  Listening again.  The repetitiveness doesn't bother me as much this time because it fits the style, but those disharmonic notes are bugging me.  The other judges have also given some very good advice.  Please fix and resub, thank you!

 

NO (resubmit)

[DragonAvenger]

Definitely has that disco feel to it, and I think you did a great job achieving the groove you we're looking for. The original definitely translates well here!

My two main issues with the track are the same as Kris's, though I think they are enough that I'd like you to polish this one a little more. The repetitiveness is the biggest thing. Aside from the parts that come back very similar or the same as before, you have the section from 1:25-2:29 that uses the same motif without much change too it. I feel like this section in particular is going on for too long. With that is the notes at 1:28 and 1:30 that aren't fitting into the key signature and are repeated throughout this section.

Someone else is likely to mention is the synth lead at 2:43. I like the sound choice in theory but I feel like it is too weak in the track and there is a loss of energy. Maybe some doubling with something else or some layering will help.

The vocoded part at 3:16 is also out of key, and the section after that is a pretty long wind-down. I think that section can also be shortened, as it feels like it loses direction before the fade out finally hits.

Definitely on the right track here, but it's not ready yet to me.

No (resubmit)

[DarkeSword]

I was prepared to YES this on genre alone because you know that I love this kind of music, but I've got to agree with Deia's crits. I really love like 95% of what's going on here, but those off-key note choices are taking me out of the piece; too distracting, and not something you'd hear in this kind of music (which I feel doesn't venture outside the diatonic, ever).

 

Needs some harmonic fixes. Otherwise it's golden.

 

NO resub

[Jivemaster]

Great sounds as always Mike, giving the original a nice 80's feel. I don't have any major production crits with this one. I would have liked to hear some more variation in the source tune throughout the mix, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. Ultimately I think Deia has done a solid job in outlining the major issues you face with this track - some notes are a little ill fitting and stand out across the mix. IMO it would be too sad to let this through without some note tweaks to bring your riffing into alignment.

 

NO (borderline)