djpretzel Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 (edited) WUBS!! -djp Contact Information Name: Wolf Oath Real Names: Brandynn & Elizabeth "Libby" Boyles Email: Website: None User ID: 54618 Submission Information Game(s) Arranged: Super Mario World Name of Arrangement: Falling Floors Name of Individual song(s) arranged: Sub Castle BGM Additional Information: None Link to Original Soundtrack: Already Hosted Personal Comments: Brandynn: Sub Castle BGM was always one of my favorite tracks from Super Mario World. After happening upon OC Remix several years back, I had wanted to try my hand at ReMixing video game music. My wife and I both love music and VGM is no lesser a medium! That being said, Sub Castle BGM and Super Mario World are not my absolute favorite musical piece and game, respectively (my wife hasn't even played the game), but this merely seemed an easy vision to be our first toe in the water with OC Remix. It should also be noted that this is our first and only attempt thus far to make dub step. We are not partial to any one particular genre but we do have favorites, someone just happened to suggest to me that I should try a dub step track, so here goes - multiple birds with one stone...hopefully! Edited January 12, 2016 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 The track doesn't seem to be officially overcompressed (looking closely at the waveform), but it *sounds* overcompressed. It is definitely a wave sausage with no dynamics, everything playing at top volume. I'm finding the synths simple, and the wubs are simple too which is a letdown. The drums are simple, repetitive and mixed very quietly. I can barely hear the kick, but I hear the sidechaining, and it feels awkward, the pumping only adds to the overcompressed feel. The backing synths are making a huge wall of sound with no letup so the melody has no breathing room. The writing is repetitive as heck. The mixing is mushing every frequency together, the leads and pads are all playing in the same frequency range. I hate to sound this negative but the track ends up sounding like a very loud wall of frequency mush. The track cuts off in mid-note with no resolution at the end and certainly no reverb tail. I like this concept but the execution has a long way to go. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Gonna basically echo Kris here. The RMS levels of this track are super high and every element is audibly fighting for space. You can hear the various parts ducking each other with the compressors working in overdrive. To start things off, pull everything back down to more reasonable levels and see if you can get a better balance. Pull back the master compression as well - there's no need to try to get to this sound level IMO. It makes it hard to really crit the production effectively with how squashed things are currently, but the synths/samples used here are sounding a bit on the basic/vanilla end. Getting some more nuanced and interesting sounds here would definitely be a plus. Overall, try not to be discouraged. The WIP forum would be a great resource to get immediate help getting the big production issues fixed in the short-term as well as refining your craft. Good luck to you. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Wow, those opening synths have a very out-of-the box quality to 'em; I kind of feel like I'm listening to the Altered Beast soundtrack from the Genesis, though that's neither here nor there. That said, I did like the vox padding starting at 1:06, which added a good eerie quality to the piece; the effects on it slurred the otherwise-rigid articulations, which effectively covered up that potential issue. Anyway, at :44, I was expecting the textures to get more sophisticated, but Chimpa was correct that the wubs and lead writing sounded too basic. At that point, the track stays in the same gear for the rest of the way, and then gradually reduces for the finish starting at 3:19; everything's too samey and re-treading for much too long, so you need to develop and evolve the arrangement and dynamic contrast of the piece. IMO, this is a quality start. I'm not a production guy, so I can't give detailed advice on that level, but Chimpa and Nutritious have it right that the overall levels being so loud creates a crowding/cramped feeling, even though there's actually not TOO much going on in terms of the writing. As far as the arrangement, it has some creative interpretation, and I'd argue it's too liberal and needs to directly reference the source tune theme more; while the original writing you're using fits nicely with the "Sub Castle BGM," be careful that the VGM dominates the arrangement. Also, once you hit the verse at :44 and go through a few loops, you've heard everything there is to be had, and the track's overly long and underdeveloped. Also, watch for the ending cutting off as well, that's a small detail a lot of folks overlook. Definitely don't be discouraged, Brandynn and Elizabeth. Creatively, this is a lot more creative and promising than many first subs we get. I hope we hear more submissions from you, and that you stick around the community and get feedback & advice from folks in the Workshop forums. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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