Super Smash Bros. 64 - All Clear

[Uffe von Lauterbach]

Super Smash Bros. 64 had a lot of good music and a lot of it today is something most people I believe looked past or don't even remember. I'd actually like to get serious about completing a remix of the final score theme after defeating Master Hand.

Original

Remix v1

Remix v2

 

[glasfen]

Solid start. Very different vibe than the original, which is always refreshing.

The source is simple and repetitive, which makes originality difficult. I would recommend some drops, bends, solos, or a bridge and/or key change to keep things fresh. Adding one or two more SFX would be cool, especially if used (sparingly) in one of these change-ups.

There's a lot of room for play here. Great source material. Definitely overlooked, as you noted.

[The Nikanoru]

Been a long time since I picked up an N64 controller, but memories of this game come through very clearly. Link was always my favorite, but few could defeat me with the 'Chu.

I think glasfen has said pretty much everything I would say on this. The only thing I would add it that it doesn't sound mixed quite right - I want to say compression, but I don't know my terminology enough to advise you properly here. Perhaps someone like timaeus222 or Rozovian could give you better advice here.

I always find it interesting when someone can take a short loop and turn it into a full remix. This sounds great!

[Uffe von Lauterbach]

Thanks you two. As you said, Glasfen, the melody is simple and repetitive, which kind of has me concerned with how I could change it up. I was thinking of throwing in other familiar Smash Bros. melodies, but at the same time, I was thinking that I could try to make my own melodies and attempt to capture the influences of Smash Bros. music. The Nikanoru, I know this isn't mixed right. That's another issue I've been having in general when trying to make music. I'm not all that savvy in those areas, unfortunately. The saw synth that comes in at the 0:54 mark could probably be toned down, but I really like the dreamy sound is has, and I'd like to push everything else through while trying to have the saw synth still give fullness. In the meantime, I'm going to play around with the melodies and arps, and then come back to mixing down with hopefully better results.

[Theory of N]

Yeah, I dig the vibe you've got going on. Definitely cool sounding. First thing that sticks out to me is that the climax of your buildups are clipped pretty heavily which is the result of being too loud, basically. Once everything gets heavy around 0:54, the only thing that remains distinct is the kick and hat. Everything is super muddy and in serious need of some EQ'ing; cut out those unnecessary frequencies and make sure everything has its own place in the soundscape. Very subtle panning could help a bit too.

As far as arrangement goes, the source itself doesn't have much substance but you could derive some sense of melody from it and potentially throw a lead over what you've got that would help vary things up and add a bit more excitement. 

Looking forward to hearing what you do with this dude, definitely a solid start.

[Uffe von Lauterbach]

I'm not all that great at EQing or really much of anything mixing, but I'll do what I can for now. I tried to cut as much freq out of the dreamy saw synth and I want to say that I can still hear it. Doesn't really sound like it's drowning everything out. Any tips on how I can find the better parts of each frequency when EQing? I don't want to remove the important ones and keep the unnecessary ones. I'll try to get an update posted soon.

[Uffe von Lauterbach]

New upload. I'm still bad at EQing and stuff. I threw in a different melody in the earlier parts and eventually the track landed into sort of a different genre. I could attempt to go dubstep with it, but that'll require some changes. Also, I'm not sure if I should use the trophy theme or not. I'm bad at explaining things. Things will become clearer if you listen.

[Light_of_Aether]

I'm really enjoying this. I think the section after 1:47 would benefit from additional sound effects thrown in occasionally. It would also be good to change it up slightly somewhere around 2:15 to keep things interesting. Maybe you could swap the high and low voices, swap their parts? I'd love to hear where you take the song from here.

[Uffe von Lauterbach]

6 hours ago, Light_of_Aether said:

I'm really enjoying this. I think the section after 1:47 would benefit from additional sound effects thrown in occasionally. It would also be good to change it up slightly somewhere around 2:15 to keep things interesting. Maybe you could swap the high and low voices, swap their parts? I'd love to hear where you take the song from here.

Hey, thanks! I'll take any advice and suggestions that I can. As for swapping high and low voices, what do you mean by that? Like place treble into bass and bass into treble?

[Light_of_Aether]

21 hours ago, Uffe von Lauterbach said:

Hey, thanks! I'll take any advice and suggestions that I can. As for swapping high and low voices, what do you mean by that? Like place treble into bass and bass into treble?

Yeah, I think switching treble to bass and vice-versa would work. In terms of an orchestra, what I mean is that you could have the tubas play the flutes' part and vice versa. A lot of electronic music that I've listened to has the melody pitched high rather than pitched low. As long it's not muddy, it could be interesting to hear the melody played with low notes.