OCR03396 - *YES* Super Mario Bros. 3 'Underground Pipe Society (Radio Edit)' *PROJECT*

[djpretzel]

I think @Liontamer had some arrangement reservations, IIRC? Production obviously checks out... I'm sure @DarkeSword will want to weigh in... - djp
 

Hey there!  This is a track off of the upcoming "Super Cartography Bros." remix album project, headed up by Flexstyle!  I was told I should submit individually since he wasn't yet sure what exactly was going to be posted as a mixflood.

Download Link (VBR1 mp3): 
Alternate Mirror: 
FLAC: 

Contact Information
===================
*Your ReMixer name: DDRKirby(ISQ)
*Your real name: Timothy Wong
*Your email address: 
*Your website: http://ddrkirby.com <- *NEW!*
*Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: 8933

Submission Information
======================
*Name of game(s) arranged: Super Mario Bros. 3
*Name of arrangement: Underground Pipe Society (Radio Edit)
*Name of individual song(s) arranged: World 7 Map

*Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.:

When I first signed up for this whole "Super Cartography Bros." remix project, I took a skim through the unclaimed map themes and...sheesh, this was really going to be a challenge!  I ended up picking the Pipe Maze world theme because it's darker and less peppy -- I figured I could try and spin it into some sort of slick EDM groove.

I guess restrictions breed creativity, because somehow I managed to have a blast arranging the minimalistic 8-second loop!  I tried my best to keep coming back to the main Pipe Maze riff while still adding enough variation to flesh it out into a full-length song.

My past submissions have tended to focus more on the peppy melodic 9-bit chiptunes, but I've always had an itch to create a nice EDM song like this as well.  I derived influences from PrototypeRaptor and some of the other trance/progressive music that I was listening to at the time, and made extensive use of Image-Line's Harmor synth to come up with all the gritty and growly basses.

A special thanks and shoutout to Flexstyle, who helped with the final mastering on this track (along with the rest of the album!).  Be sure to check out the full Super Cartography Bros. album for lots more where this came from, as well as the full 6-minute club edit of this song!

--DDRKirby(ISQ)

[DarkeSword]

Slam dunk, IMO. I have no issues with arrangement content. Pipe Maze theme is prevalent and recognizable throughout. I can see how strict, notes-not-rests stopwatching would raise issues otherwise, but I don't subscribe to that method. I'm a huge fan of this remix. Absolutely killer.

YES

[Chimpazilla]

THIS MIX IS FREAKING HUGE

SO MUCH PLENTY SOURCE

MANY VARIATION

WOW

DAYUM

HYOOOOOJ

YES

[Sir_NutS]

The mix is very big, but thankfully clear.  The main pulse lead is handled well, employing different articulations to keep it interesting. Awesome drop, and the subsequent sections keep changing things up to keep the listener interested, such as the awesome glitching around 3:19.  The whole song is based around a very basic melody but it doesn't feel repetitive.

TBH I'm not a big fan of mixes that push the levels up this hard, as the compression messes things up in some sections like big hits and transitions, but you managed to keep some dynamics and overall this is a very solid mix.

YES

[Nutritious]

Sweet stuff here.  Nice a full soundscape.  Hard hitting beat and edgy synths.  Connections were pretty clear thoughout, and though I felt the bass deviated a bit more from the source to be a solid connection, the lead pinned it down much more for me.

Levels didn't bother me personally.  Very creative.  Keeps the listener engaged throughout. Solid production.

YES

[Liontamer]

For a 4:21-long track, I needed 130.5 seconds of overt source usage for me to consider the VGM dominant in the arrangement according to the Submissions Standards.

:16.5-:17, :20.25-:20.75, :22.25-:24.75, :27.75-:28.75, :29.75-:31.5, :34.75-:35.25, :37.5-:39.75, :42.5-:46.5, :49.75-:50.25, :52-:54.25, :57.25-:57.75, :59.5-1:01.5, 1:04.5-1:05.25, 1:06.75-1:08.75, 1:11.75-1:12.5, 1:15.5-1:17, 1:19.5-1:21.5, 1:22.75-1:25, 1:26.5-1:28, 1:30.5-2:01.75, 2:03.5-2:05.25, 2:07.5-2:09, 2:10.75-2:12.25, 2:44.25-2:44.75, 2:47.75-2:48.5, 2:50.5-2:52.25, 2:55.5-2:56, 2:57.75-2:59.5, 3:02.75-3:03.5, 3:04.75-3:06.5, 3:10-3:10.75, 3:12-3:12.25, 3:19.25-3:20.25, 3:21.25-3:26.25, 3:28.5-3:29, 3:32.25-3:32.75, 3:34.5-3:37, 3:39.75-3:41, 3:43.5-3:43.75, 3:46.75-3:47.25, 3:49-3:51.5, 3:54.25-3:54.75, 3:56.5-3:58.5, 4:01.75-4:02.25, 4:04-4:06.5, 4:09.25-4:10.25 = 98.75 seconds or 37.8% overt source usage

Well, I definitely enjoy the piece in a vacuum, and the original writing additions were seamless, but I can't pass this on source usage grounds. I would love to be overlooking some element of the song to revise my vote. I didn't count the bars of beeps after the melodic phrases, because they're not the "Pipe Land" melody, even though it all pieces together nicely.

As I've said many times in the past, I don't count rests longer than a second, because those are long, IMO. There are so many places in this specific track where the source tune's not used for gaps longer than 2-3 seconds. To me, there are other aspects of the source tune that easily could be referenced during longer rests, rather than just relying on saying the melody -- which is only one component of the source -- is "taking a break" or is unbroken somehow.

In particular, the "Pipe Land" theme is so simple, one more creative way to tie it back to the arrangement when the melody wasn't going on would have been to arrange the 3-note perc pattern (CLACK... thump-thump, CLACK... thump-thump) from the source and just change the rhythm/timing of it, using that as a foundation of the backing instrumentation.

 

A cool place for integrating that 3-note beat pattern could have been the intro or the extended original section of 2:14-2:44, since that had no connection with the source.

Cool stuff, and I meant to post my issues earlier. To me, counting longer rests as continuation of the source material doesn't make sense, especially when there are ways to concretely use any source tune more throughout an arrangement. IMO, most of this piece doesn't directly reference the source.

NO