Chimpazilla Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 (edited) previous decision Contact Information Your ReMixer name: MrNESBit Your real name: C. Daniel Your email address: Your website: http://www.soundcloud.com/mrnesbit Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: 54103 (waiting for mod approval at the time of this email) Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Command and Conquer (PC, 1995) Name of arrangement: Mechanized Name of individual song(s) arranged: Mechanical Man Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site): NA Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-nNchLkej0 Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc. This is an arrangement of "Mechanical Man" from the first Command and Conquer game. I had submitted this to OCR years ago (see link below) and although it came close to passing the judges panel, most of the judges were concerned about an issue with the bass. I was unaware of this at the time of submitting due to the basic sound system I had back then. Recently I decided to clean this up and the track now has a much better production quality than the original submission. So, I'm resubmitting it. Here is the original panel thread: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4525 ------------------------------------------ Edited August 4, 2015 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 Nine year necrobump, wow. Well obviously I never heard the original version. Interesting intro, slow burn, cool but I'm not sure how much source is there. When the drums hit at 0:54, it's a cool groove but the kick sounds thin and meatless. Perfectly horrible crash hit at 1:12. Very generic saw beginning at 1:26 (personal pet peeve against generic saws, sorry) and again at 1:53 and again at 2:27. The track seems to not have been mastered, as the levels stay at or below -3db most of the time. Best part of the track for me starts at 2:12 where there are some really creative sounds used, but briefly. Ending is quite abrupt. I hate to say it but I think the OCR standards have gone up quite a bit since 2006 and this track isn't making the grade in a number of regards. I can see from the previous vote that there was an issue with the bass, and that seems to have been corrected because I don't hear any issues with the bass, but there are lots of other issues holding this one back for me. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clem Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Definitely not much source here. Production quality is paper thin. Percussion busts some cool grooves/transitions, and your synths and ambiances are cool, but everything sounds consistently flat. Simply put: levels could be boosted a lot across the board (helps to do a/b comparison with pro mixes). I like the sounds your using, very retro throwback vibe, but very little source connection and weak production make this a NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Yeah, pretty quiet off the bat here. I hear the allusion to the Original you've got in the intro section. Gonna stopwatch just to check things out: :00-:06 original :07-09 interval from OST :10 - :13 original :14-:17 interval :18 - :20 original :21 - :23 interval :24 - :27 original :28 - :30 interval :31 - : original (bass sounds like it's supposed to be a variation on OST bass, but it's too much off a stretch IMO) :42 - 54 OST melody synth in full :55 - 1:25 original (same issue with connection to OST bass mentioned above) 1:26 - 1:39 OST melody synth 1:40 - 1:53 original 1:54 - 2:07 OST melody synth 2:08 - original 2:27 - 2:41 OST melody synth 2:42 - 2:45 original Total source 69 seconds out of 165 or 41.8%. It's a bit obscure, but I'm counting each time you start the interval phrase from the OST melody synth. As mentioned, the bass feels too disconnected from the original bass to feel like it's referencing Mechanical Man. That said, when the source melodies are referenced, they're done in a very straightforward manner without much in the way of personalization. As others pointed out, overall levels are low and the soundfield isn't really filled out sufficiently. Transitions could be worked out further as well to bridge various sections, as right now it feels a bit stop/start with a lot of elements. Sorry to feel like such a downer on this vote, but as you mentioned, this is a 9 year old mix and the standards have definitely risen since that point in time. I do think it's really cool that you're revisiting old material here and hope that you continue working on your craft. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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