Liontamer Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 (edited) ReMixer Names: AngelCityOutlaw, Furilas IRL Names: Chris, Mac Name of Game Arranged: DuckTales NES Song Arranged: Transylvania Arrangement Name: House On Haunted Bill Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UuHesrJROw ReMix: After watching many hours of Scooby Doo and playing DuckTales, I decided to remix the Transyvlania theme from the latter in a goofy, retro style remix inspired by horror punk bands like Misfits, 50s - 60s rock and especially classic, spooky cartoons. Mixing these genres into a cauldron of unspecified bubbling green liquid and reciting incantations from the Necronomicon summoned Furilas, who brought forth the bass. When asked to comment, Furilas had this to say: "This was a new genre for me, and probably will be for many. For extra immersiveness, I paid top dollar - around $13 - for a looping spooky background to scroll behind me while I played, and for a small dog to ruin many perfectly good takes with its awful lines." Oh yeah, I also provided an MP3 of the mix should it be deemed worthy! ------------------------------ Edited March 3, 2016 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 Something about the drums' tone doesn't work here; they're actually too loud & upfront, yet too dry. Also, the background feels somewhat empty despite the volume of everything going on. Another judge would have to explain that better, but you need more padding here, but the chippy synth line at :36, organ at :47, and strings at 1:16 helped when they were in play. On more of a nitpick, nearly anytime the bowed strings were used, they sounded pretty robotic. Chimpazilla would rightly call out the cut-and-paste nature of the verses (:04-:23 vs. :54-1:13) & choruses (:36-:53 vs. 1:26-1:43), which was lazy. It's not inherently bad to repeat things, but not doing the cut-and-paste would allow some subtle dynamic contrast; be sure to vary those brief sections up somehow. As is, it felt very repetitive because the overall energy level stayed so flat for over half the length of the piece. I liked both the changeup at 1:58 and the move back to rock at 2:17, but that was too little too late in the grand scheme of things. The arrangement itself was definitely well in the right direction in terms of the interpretation. The performance and sequencing could do with more energy and dynamic contrast; it's not horrible in any way, but there's a stilted quality to the timing on the sequenced parts that holds this back, most apparent with the organ & piano parts. Get the stiff timing and flat dynamics of the piece addressed and this would be a shoe-in, since the arrangement itself is a pass, IMO. Good first pass, Chris & Mac! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Ah this is a really cool idea, but not executed too well. The drums are a major point, they lack dynamics, snare rolls are very exposed and mechanical. There is variation but the sequencing is lacking humanization and processing. I think the drums could've been brought down a notch and other elements like the guitars brought up and given more presence. Parts like 1:28 could've had more power behind them but the unbalanced mix didn't help much and took a whole lot of power out of it. Most of the mix is pretty dry not as full as it could be. Larry pointed out the empty background, and I agree, but you don't necessarily need pads to fill it out everywhere, but a tighter mix, where your instruments cover more ground in the frequency spectrum, could be the right solution instead. In this particular genre the guitars should be covering more ground, for example, as yours don't feel quite as full and powerful as they should be. You could add more compression to your buses or your master to tighten everything up in a nice package. The arrangement has a few repeated sections, which could've used some more variation but it's not a big issue for me. More interpretation is always welcomed. Overall I think this track is almost there, but it's being held back by mixing and production issues. Your idea is great, loved the spooky atmosphere, the theremin-like synth (classic), the synth lead, the mix of modern and classic rock elements, and you also had your structure down and on point. Almost all the elements we need are here, but it needs to be pushed up just a tad. NO (Resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 21 hours ago, Liontamer said: Chimpazilla would rightly call out the cut-and-paste nature of the verses (:04-:23 vs. :54-1:13) & choruses (:36-:53 vs. 1:26-1:43), which was lazy. He's right, I do NOT like cut and paste. And I check so carefully for it. Thanks for saving me a bit of time with the timestamps, Larry! The energy of this track stays in one gear the entire time, and the copy pasta is part of the problem. Swap out each section of straight copy pasta with something more interesting, or at least add something to those sections so it has something different for the listener. Those drums sound too upfront because there's no reverb to connect them to each other or to the soundscape. This also is causing the general empty feeling Larry is having. Add a bit of drumroom reverb as a send (and/or some delay for snare and hats), and then you might need to bring some drum volumes down after that. Kick doesn't have much punch now either. This one is close for me, it has a lot going for it. Just needs a bit more variation on those copy pastas and a revamp of the reverb on things, and it'll be good to go. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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