djpretzel Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Wasn't sure on the timing of the intro rhythm guitar, but generally pretty swank stuff. See what you think. - djp --- Contact information: Remixer name: Carlton. Real name: Traevor Carlton Email address: Website: https://soundcloud.com/vanityangelfixx UserID: 31653 Submission information: Name of game: Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal Name of arrangement: "Black Oak Jazz" Name of song arranged: Rocket Game Corner Composer: Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose, Morikazu Aoki System: Game Boy Link to original song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWbUtdx827g Comments: Hello all! Attached here is a remix I did of the Game Corner Theme from Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal, named after Black Oak Casino, which I live close to in California. I began the remix about a year ago as an original song on my album "Supernature" modeled after the Rocket Game Corner theme. After working on the original song for a couple of months, I decided to scrap it because it didn't fit the sound of the album. Back in December or January, I took the bass and the chords and decided on making a sort of jazz-dance-early 90s remix of Rocket Game Corner, which I completed over the next few weeks. The arrangement I had to pull off was rather complex, given the source material had at max 5 sounds going at one time, including the white noise percussion. Sampling the source track during the breakdown was also challenging for its own set of reasons, which I wound up using a ROM to split the tracks into individual pieces so I could change things as needed. Probably most notably, the track was recorded and mixed on tape, then edited on Pro-Tools to "warm it up." It has a different sound than other remixes on OCRemix, and I am proud of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I do like the approach on this one - chill jazz. The source is well accounted for, and the arrangement does enough to keep things pretty interesting (a tall order on such a short source). The e-piano gets pretty repetitive in the background, and the overall soundscape tends to remain pretty static after it picks up the pace past the introduction. I will note that I hear the subtle differences that are there to keep things fresh, but it does start to all sound the same toward the end. It's a short song, so I feel it's not unbearable, but the issue is present. The instruments are a bit hit-and-miss for me on this. Most of the instruments are fairly well done, but there are a few that sound weak and thin, for some reason (such as the sax that carries the theme at 0:51 and the background guitar at 0:17). The mix is pretty borderline, as well. Again, the drums are perfect, as are the background elements (for the most part), but the theme is often mixed a little behind the other elements. The sax at 0:51 and the square at 1:58 (and at similar places for both of those) get drown by the rest of the mix. Those elements should be more prominent than they are. Speaking of the square, at 2:04 (and again at 2:55 & 3:10) it clashes with the background e-piano and chords. You'll likely need to adjust either the theme or the chords in order to make those sections sound right, as there is a note clash at those parts. That ending sounds... strange, but I suppose there isn't anything against making unexpected and strange endings. Lots of small things add up, for me, so while I really enjoyed it I don't think we can pass it quite yet. Fix the mixing issues, fix the off notes, make the thin instruments... er, less thin, and don't be afraid to drop instruments from time to time in order to give the soundscape some more variety (e.g. less static arrangement). NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I appreciate the approach of recording on tape first, but that does result in some production issues. Most notably, the metal elements of the percussion (cymbals, and I believe a tambourine) have a hissy, staticky sound to them, beyond the usual tape saturation. The silent parts are completely silent, though, so the tape artifact isn't consistently applied. You can be proud of the creativity in doing it this way, and pulling it off fairly well, but I think you would have been better off with digital recording, or even less "cleaning up" so it sounds consistent. That ending... wow. I mean, you foreshadowed it at 2:12 and all, but still. Weird. I suppose it's not objectively bad, but can't imagine it will have many fans. The arrangement does get pretty repetitive. The drums in particular are very static, with only some very minor changes through the whole arrangement, but on top of that, the other instruments' lines, both leads and accompaniment, repeat several times, mostly unchanged. I disagree with Gario here; I don't think this is quite short enough to justify this level of repetition. Gario's production crits are spot-on--the thin and buried leads he mentioned are indeed cause for concern--although I can't pick out the clashing notes he mentions. It's a unique approach, but there are a lot of things that I think need to be improved here. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Going to immediately chime in that I'm also not feeling the ending. It just seems odd and glitchy and too abrupt for the rest of the track. I think the soundscape you are going for is really awesome here! There are some production issues that need to to happen to fill out the track and 'warm it up' a little more, but I think you are definitely on the right track here. I'd also like to note that I appreciated some of the subtle panning you did; it's a nice touch. The drums stick out first for me, being so repetitive. I think varying up the drums and using them to lead the track could really add a ton more direction to the track and really help prevent that repetitive feel that we're all experiencing here. I also think a little more humanization in general could help[ the melody lines out as well. I'm also going to agree about the balancing, and the drums being a bit high whereas the melodies could come through a bit more overall. On the note of melodies, I think some variation there would also help out, they play the same pretty much every time. Great start here! You've got some work to go, but I think you're on a good track. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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