Flexstyle Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Link: ReMixers: KingTiger & Flexstyle, under group alias Desert Catz #selfpanel Super Cartography Bros track Sorry in advance for the crazy multi-source dealio. Michael's notes: This one was a TON of fun to do. Like Corey mentions, he put together a really neat smorgasbord of source tunes into a fairly cohesive track, but it needed to hit the metaphorical gym and lose weight and get gnarlier. So, I added a Le Castle Vania-esque set of drums, guitars and bass, trimmed the arrangement down, and this is what came out! I'm super proud of it and I know Corey is too. Corey's notes: When we started the project, Michael asked me to make a list of map themes from Mario games, and somehow I completely neglected the Game Boy games. The only games on that platform that would really have maps are Super Mario Bros. 2: 6 Golden Coins, WarioLand, and WarioLand 3. Unfortunately, it was kind of late in the process to add more sources to the list of potential claims. Since I’m a bit of a Wario fan, I had to remedy my regrettable mistake (I even forgot his Wii game, WarioLand: Shake It, which happens to have a pretty cool map theme), and I decided to take a stab at a Wario source. Since I love to bite off more than I can chew, I decided to arrange *every single* WarioLand map theme into one song. So um yeah, I’m pretty proud of this arrangement and how I was able to integrate each source so well. (But writing that source breakdown was a *&$%#!) After giving it my best shot, Michael took over, cleaned up some of the production and arrangement to make it more club-friendly, and just basically beefed it the hell up. I am super proud of this song, it hits hard just like Michael and I wanted it to, and it just freaking rawks. SOURCE BREAKDOWN: Kitchen Island (World Map) - main melody during 1:05 - 1:34 & 2:31 - 3:01 Rice Beach - background EP during 3:01 - 3:01; Also, the agogo bells you hear throughout the song are meant to mimic the percussive bits at the beginning of this source Mt. Teapot - main melody during 0:36 - 1:05 & 3:38 - 4:06; also the crazy vibrato insanity is meant to mimic the same effect the music has in almost every Wario game when Wario gets hurt or flattened or turned into a zombie or etc. etc. (basically any of his “transformations) Sherbet Land - arpeggiated notes during 0:06 - 0:34 & 4:07 - 4:36 (the intro & outro) Stove Canyon - the riff at the beginning & end & at 3:30 S.S. Teacup - arpeggiated notes during 0:36 - 1:05 & 3:38 - 4:07 (accompanying the Mt. Teapot melody) Parsley Woods - the background percussive chords during 1:34 - 2:03 & 4:07 - 4:35 Syrup Castle - 1/2 note synth notes during 0:06 - 0:34 & 4:07 - 4:35 (the intro & outro), also during 1:48 - 3:01 with the bass Course Selected - the little 5-note blips that occur periodically during the intro and outro - 0:13, 0:27, 4:13, & 4:27; also after every other set of 4 measures during 0:36 - 1:05 & 3:38 - 4:07 (the Mt. Teapot sections) Life Lost Life Lost - - every other set of 4 measures during 0:36 - 1:05 & 3:38 - 4:07 (basically alternating with Level Selected in the Mt. Teapot sections) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 TEN SOURCES? AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME F' DAT. LIKE SERIOUSLY. No way am I going to go through that many sources and check the little bit of timestamp description (source timestamps? remix timestamps?) written underneath each one of these Youtube videos. Not gonna do it. Na Ga Da. Just nah. Now, if you want to write this out into a proper source breakdown list, in one paragraph, with nice timestamps for both the remix AND the sources, I may check into it. Or not. This almost makes me think we should have a limit on the number of sources used in a track. Not quite, but close. Mike, I have to assume there is enough source here. Please confirm. Badass track. YES (assuming source use) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexstyle Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 I promise it's stupidly loaded with source. If this is in fact too many sources for an OCR track, might as well be me that we start drawing that line on, since I won't be offended like other potential submitters could be, haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Umm yeah. I take quite a bit of time checking out sources for tracks, and I've never heard this soundtrack before so checking for sources would take me long hours. Please be more sensible next time o_0 Other than that, this is ok. I thought the song relied way too much for too long on the sidechained underlying rhythm. Some variation there would've kept me more interested, the track has good moments but the rhythm can get old. The production is clear and well above our bar so I think this gets a pass. But I would like to hear others' opinion on the repetitiveness of the base rhythm.YES (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMonz Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Holy cow, the sources! I'll try to come back to double check this later for good measure, but for now I'll assume there's enough source material. I have nothing to say about the production, sounds impeccable. I agree with Mike that the arrangement does get repetitive. I think it's a valid crit, but I also think there are enough fills/breaks/flourishes to make up for that. Easy pass from me. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Nice dirty intro. First up I enjoy all the little synth bits, small percussive dings, synth modulation and other effects, etc, these are a nice touch, and they are absolutely noticed. I love when this attention to detail is given to a mix and I encourage more remixers to add these little subtleties to their mixes. Production is solid on most points - for a fairly minimal track predominantly relying on percussion, bass, lead - you guys have done well in filling the stereo field. Now there are some sticking points for me here which I'm sure others wont agree with, but I feel are big enough to be worth mentioning. On a minor note, the synth bass which the track relies upon here in the main drop sections is quite overpowering in contrast to some of the other elements (especially when combined with the trancy synth and strings you've got going on) which began to drown out things like the snare and backing synths in places like 2:00 and 2:36. A small reduction in volume of this would've been enough to give space for the other parts without having to compete. The major point of contention for me was the continuous side-chaining which while reinforcing the hard 4/4 rhythm and invoking the body to dance, also made things feel very similar sounding as the song progressed. While 10 sources are mentioned, by the midway point because of the same synths, the same rhythm and the same energy, the arrangement didn't feel like it was progressing somewhere new across its play time. This almost constant level of energy throughout was made more apparent in the absence of a major breakdown. I did appreciate 1:35 and 3:03 but with the rhythm remaining it didn't feel like we were having much of a rest in these sections, especially with the other parts starting up again so soon. Had something a bit more substantial been done here (eg: a complete change in rhythm, completely different sound) it would have swayed me easily to a resounding yes. The backing breaks were a great touch but again, absorbed by the side-chaining. This is a quality production guys, no question. Tons of great work has gone into this (especially with combining so many sources) and I do see this passing, but I found the side-chained rhythm overused (with the genre fully considered) and started to make things sound very samish which detracted enough from the piece for me to bring it up as a concern, perhaps for consideration in future mixes. Ultimately, this mix feels dance floor ready for sure, but due to the above issues, a hair short of a pass IMO. NO (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I had no problem with the sidechain usage. The melody changed, the drums changed, at times even the sidechain changed (though rarely). I was in its spell from beginning to end with no thoughts of it being too repetitive. Despite ten quoted sources, I didn't hear an overwhelming amount of source, because a lot of liberties were taken. The primary sources seem to be Kitchen Island and Mt, Teapot (melody), and Syrup Castle (chords). A lot of the arpeggios I wouldn't count because too much was changed but there was enough source usage between the three I listed. I expect Flex to have great productions by this point and he delivered here. Corey's arrangement is a little all-over-the-place, but fun enough. Together it adds up to a pass. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts