Gario Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 ReMixer name: jnWake. Name of game(s) arranged: Mega Man X3, Mega Man X6. Name of arrangement: Beetle Dopplerganger. Name of individual song(s) arranged: "Doppler Stage 1" (from X3), "Ground Scaravich" (from X6). Note: This mix is included in the SFRG album headed by timaeus. LINK TO ARRANGEMENT: Mix comments: I wrote this remix as my first entry in the SFRG 2015 competition. It's a mix of my chosen tune (Ground Scaravich) with Darke's pick the round (Doppler Stage 1). When making the arrangement, I quickly realized picking Scaravich as a tune was a big mistake because it has barely any recognizable melodies... Instead, it has strange chords. Hence, this remix takes Doppler Stage 1's melodies (which are easily recognizable) and blends them with the weird chord progressions of Scaravich. I also went for a slightly progressive rock style with piano and synths which is kind of my usual style of composing I guess. This version I'm submitting now is actually pretty different from the original one I submitted to the competition. I rewrote a large bit of the rhytm guitar/bass lines, added some variation to the leads and even removed a repetition from the arrangement to help the pacing. Also, I made my best attempt at polishing the mixing to have a decent sounding song. The synth patch from the solo in the original version is also replaced by a patch from timaeus who somehow figured out the solo I played without any MIDIs in like 1 hour! Anyway, hope you like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Oof, I don't envy you this challenge--those Ground Scaravich chords are hard to work with. You made it work, even though those chords do get a little repetitive after a while. The sine synth from 0:59-1:19 is a little on the quiet side, and gets buried by the guitar. In 2:07-2:20, it gets a little too busy, and the pad turns to mush. However, those are my only production crits, and they're minor ones. The ending is a little unsatisfying, but I'm not sure how much that can be improved, since Ground Scaravich in general is pretty unsatisfying. And otherwise the arrangement is fine, doing interesting things with some pretty short sources. Strange indeed, but solid. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 The blending of sources in this is pretty superb; you definitely push both sources together while keeping them both sounding distinct enough to pull apart throughout the entire song. I consider that a job well done - Ground Dung beetle is a trickier source to work with. The production values are high, and the arrangement flows well. Listening to it through, it checks all of my boxes for what makes a good remix. It's not without a few things amiss, though they are minor. That rhythm guitar seems to be lacking some high end, which to my ear makes it sound dull. This gives space to your synth and other instruments later on so I can understand why that choice was made, but it feels like it went a little too far in the other direction and dulled the impact the guitar otherwise could've had. The piano throughout is pretty stiff and mechanical. It's not ever the center of attention of the piece so it has little impact, but when it's more expose playing those chords it has no dynamics, no life... nothin'. Little touches to breath life into background elements can transform a good song into a great one, so some more attention to the background would've been appreciated. As MW points out, the sine synth is pushed pretty far behind the mix. You get a bit more sympathy from me, considering I've used it in multiple arrangements of mine (Zeal Feels Good, and more recently Nimbus can Wait) - that is a super pain in the butt synth to work with that you can't just throw in anywhere and expect it to fit in. Your soundscape needs to be designed to fit it in, or else in an effort to make it heard it'll either make certain specific frequencies skyrocket, or it'll be super quiet (as it is here). Unless you're really going for the specific sound a sine gets you, I'd suggest either going for a flute next time (very similar sound, easier waveform to work with), or working with a different synth altogether. At 1:59 - 2:05 I'm not feeling those chord progressions. I get it - the melody does something similar for Ground Dung Beetle (can't spell the actual name, won't even try), but it doesn't do so harmonically, as it does here. I rarely rag on voice leading, but in this instance it just sounds like it's randomly jumping between two chords without any rhyme or reason. It's poor form to leap from one block chord to another, as it just sounds disconnected - be careful about that next time. It's a lot of little things, but they're very small things in the grand scheme of things. The two sources blend great, the themes are still catchy and the production is clean. It's not a hard choice to pass this one. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Yeah, gotta say that the combination of the two sources works way better than I would have expected, great job on that. Overall the track is a pretty creative take on both the sources, and I love that the mood was changed to be way more chill overall. Definitely agree that the sine wave ends up being a little too low in the mix when it's the lead, but it feels like a small nitpick overall. Also a small nitpick, but on headphones the hit of the ride cymbal comes through a little clicky, and at times it almost sounds like clipping. Might be just me though. Definitely a great take on two sources I wouldn't have expected much out of, nice work! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 Crunchy guitars that are very well mixed, they aren't necessarily melting any faces but they are filling up the necessary space very well. The lead synths blend with the rest of the track pretty cleanly, though I found the lead around the first minute mark to be a little on the quiet side and sometimes got behind the other elements. I was a fan of the synth strings used here, they evoke some of that classic string machine sound to me. The lead guitars are clean and well performed and the solo writing is ok, though I found it kinda vanilla in its execution. The ending left a lot to be desired, and I felt that something more interesting could've been done with it instead of the full stop. Overall the fusion of both themes was well done and this is pretty solid. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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