Chimpazilla Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 previous decision Your ReMixer name: Paper Coelacanth Your real name: Owen Henson Your email address: Name of game(s) arranged: Silent Hill 2 Name of arrangement: Crowded Minds and Lonely Roads Name of individual song(s) arranged: Alone in the Town Finally resubmitting a remix that I've been working on for quite a while. Last time there were concerns about the melody not being close enough, so I think I managed to get it closer to the original this time! I also changed some of the synth sounds, added to the drop, and a few other details that came up last time I submitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 I remember this track. The issue was source use. I definitely hear more this time around, although I still think a timestamp will be helpful. The production is really nice and tight and the arrangement is interesting. Dem jungle drums. I'm going to have to check the source more closely, but assuming it is enough this is an easy pass. Super cool stuff. YES (assuming enough source) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 It certainly is an interesting arrangement - nearly nothing like the source, yet has a solid presence all it's own. One thing that I like about OCR and potential OCR tracks - they transform a great, enjoyable source into something different, new and equally enjoyable, and this track fits that quota perfectly. The drum work in this, first and foremost, very energetic and has a whole lot going on down there. They're interesting, varied and complex, which allows them to really carry the track. The closed hat sound is a bit underwhelming, though it doesn't take the quality of the drums down too much. It's only really a bother when it's standing alone (like at 2:18 for extended stretches), as it sounds bare and mechanical without the other instruments it normally supports. I found the choice of synths to be interesting throughout. Almost sounds smooth, with those pads and that imitation vibraphone, but incorporates more unexpected drops that almost sound like they use dubstep bass. It doesn't always click for me, but that may be personal preference in this case - the jarring contrast between sections is not for everyone. From what I gather on the last submission of this track it was too liberal. Going through the source and this arrangement, it sounds like you've more than made up for it - the chords that are struck throughout are consistent with both what chords are used in the source and how they're used, and the melodic parts either play many parts of the source themes close to note-for-note, or with more fills and melodic variation. Either way, I think it holds enough source to cover it in that regard. I do find the chord usage to be pretty odd, though. Most of it works well, but there are enough moments that either have the melody sound out of key with the chord behind it (like at 0:43 and 4:09 - 4:11), or the chord progression sounds a little random, like at 1:15; the chord sounds strange used as it is there. I don't think these strange chord choices break the track, as they're not grating, but they do move from chord-to-chord using some strange voice-leading from time to time. Regardless of this, I think the track is pretty neat. The overall atmosphere and transformative nature of it certainly outweighs the sometimes strange chord structure that I hear. Nice work on it! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I didn't vote on the previous submission so this is new to me. Regarding the production, the drums feel crude, but they're creative and I feel you have a good grasp on how to make interesting dnb/drumstep grooves, and just need to improve the actual production by making them sound tighter together, as right now they feel too much like individual samples and not a cohesive unit. I was also not a fan of the drops at all; they felt very weak, the growls sounded muffled and the layered synth bass felt very exposed and vanilla. Really wish those delivered on the aggressiveness levels necessary to make them work. Regardless of these issues, I thought the adaptation and arrangement were pretty neat. All the other sections besides the drop worked very well for me, they're melodically rich and the synth sounds worked very well, creating a nice atmosphere that works for the adaptation. As mentioned above the drums sequencing was very detailed and never lost itself in doing too much or just going too random. I'm honestly very borderline on this one but I think the positives slightly surpass the negatives. YES (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMonz Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 I'm also new to this one. I'm not familiar with the source (and it's kind of a minimalist source), but after a few listens it sounds to me like the source is well-represented here. I'm with Mike here, the production sounds unpolished on the drums and on the drops. The biggest issue, to me, is the hi-hats not blending well with the snares, especially. I think they should be closer together in the mix, and maybe different sample choices would have blended better together. Some more velocity work on the hats might have also helped a bit there, to make things sound a bit more natural? That's more debatable though. Other than that, I like the sound design in general, I like the pace, I like the soundscape, I like the chords... Plenty to like in there. This is good stuff. Let's go! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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