Chimpazilla Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Hello! This is my first time ever submitting to OC Remix, so I just wanted to give a bit of background information. My name's Steven, but my project is called Got Item!. Got Item! is a Nintendocore/post-hardcore project where almost everything that I release is original. However, I plan on releasing a few remixes of some video game OSTs. For this first one, I had a close friend from another band help me out, so I want to credit him in the track title moreso than the artist listing. For the people who enjoy metal and a bit of scream vocals in their musical library, I'm for them! My track can be downloaded here: And here's the info needed for submission, if you have any questions or comments, please let me know. I hope to hear from you guys soon! ReMixer name: gotitem (would like to be credited as Got Item!) exclamation point is part of name. Real name: Steven Dunn E-mail address: Website: https://gotitem.bandcamp.com Userid: 33532 Name of game arranged: “Kingdom Hearts” (PS2) Name of arrangement: “Cymbals and Screams (ft. Jacob Martinez from The Brotherhood of Ellipsis)" Name of individual song(s) arranged: “Simple and Clean”, part of “Dearly Beloved” during outro Comments: Music by Steven Dunn and Jacob Martinez. Original music and lyrics for "Simple and Clean" by Utada Hikaru. Tracked and engineered by Anthony Bruno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 Omg ok screamo. I find this neither simple nor clean, but that's beside the point! The arrangement is conservative enough that I have no issue with source. The synth leads all sound a bit loud compared to the rest of everything, they stick out just a little. The screamo vocals are a bit pushed into the background by comparison to the synths, but I'll be honest, I'm glad. The looooow guitars and drums are performed and mixed well. Damn this track is relentless. How do you still have a voice left over after performing these vocals? This isn't my genre for sure, but I can't find much fault with this, screamo-heads will enjoy this just fine. I love the bit of Dearly Beloved in the outro. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Fun fact - I played drums for a very short time for a screamo band out of high school, with a singer that shared the same name that I did. We sucked, and frankly we never played in any shows, but that's beside the point. Point is, it's interesting that we don't have any screamo music on OCR yet (to my knowledge), so I'm hoping this fixes this issue here. Well, first and foremost the performances are solid and well varied. The screamo is exactly as it should be - it punctuates just enough to where you can make out the words. Good screamo isn't easy or trivial, so I applaude your scream singing. While short, the arrangement seems to do a good job with the material from the source. The breaks from the source are welcome and fit well with the music. The dearly beloved at the end was a slick way to end the track, too. The only complaint in the arrangement department is that the opening fades in, which seems like a strange choice. I wonder if there's any reason you did that rather than let the music just start at a regular volume level? Normally a fade-in is used in order to sound like the listener is coming into the middle of an ongoing song, but that doesn't seem to be the case, here. I think the one issue that I have with this is the balance of instruments. While there isn't too much in the way of crowding, the wrong instruments just seem to be mixed to the front of the track, pushing back more important elements. The screamo parts should be clear, and should be placed at a prominent place in the mix, but instead they seem mixed to the middle, having things like the synths, pad & rhythm guitar mixed to the front. This seems to be an issue that pervades the entire track, so this isn't a minor thing. I think it's a great track with one glaring, un-ignorable flaw: the mixing. I hate to send this back, as I really want to see this posted on here, but I think you need to rebalance the mix so that the synths and pads don't get pushed to the front, while putting the vocals in a stronger place in the mix overall. Please resubmit this, as this is an under-represented genre on here. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clem Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Bold sound choices here. Mixing retro game synths with heavy guitars and screamed vocals is tricky. You've got solid djent riffs and good vox. There is overcompression, guitars overtaking the mix. Sometimes, the dry synth patches clash with recorded elements. Just takes a little EQ. I like the simple approach to synth design. The melodic/harmonic stuff from the sources comes across with the heavy style. Fans will dig it . . . I would have extended the outro. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 I can see what the others are saying about the balance in regards to which instruments are forefront, but overall i think that the arrangement and performance overcome the smaller production flaws. That being said, if it comes down to a resubmit I wouldn't be sad to see things fixed up even more. Keep it up and good work! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 Yikes, screamo. Not my favorite metal genre, though I used to listen to Loma Prieta a bit in what seems like a decade ago. Anyways, this remix is pretty good! I didn't like the synth elements being so exposed, but the performances from the band were great. The screams are on point, although the lower guttural scream felt a bit forced, big kudos to the vocalist. The mixing is the biggest issue here, as I mentioned before the synths seem to take too much precedence over what should be highlighted: the awesome performances from the band. The arrangement is good for the most part, however I didn't like the inclusion of dearly beloved much, i don't think it was needed and felt like it was forced onto the arrangement rather than flowing naturally into it. The synths not having the perfect balance relative to the track didn't help on that front. The other Js seemed to like it though, so I'll mark that as subjective from me. I don't think the track is relentless, as the arrangement is spiced up with interesting breakdowns and pacing changes throughout so you don't really feel overwhelmed by the powerful vocals. I'm borderline on this, not perfect mixing to be found here, but really good performances. I think I'll let this one pass as I think the good things overcome the bad, but just slightly. I would've personally loved to hear a properly balanced mix on this one, but with live performances that's not always a possibility.YES (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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