*NO* Metroid Prime 2 'Torvus Catacombs'

[Gario]

Remixer Name: Jacoby Davis
Website: soundcloud.com/davisjacobym
User ID: 33912


Submission Info:

Game of Origin: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Name of Arrangement: Torvus Catacombs

Name of Songs Arranged: Submerged Temple


Comments:
I wanted for a long time to create a remix of the theme to the Submerged Temple in Torvus Bog. The original song iteslf is Kenji Yamamoto’s remix/reinterpretation of the Lower Brinstar theme from an earlier game in the Metroid Series. When I created it, I was intending to give it a similar style to my original song Motion, but as I progressed further into the song, I gave it much more of a heavy influence leaning towards melodic variants of dubstep & drum and bass hybrids. The song was produced using LMMS, relying solely on custom programmed ZynAddSubFX synths and drum samples. In total the instrumentation called for four melodic synthesizers, two chord based synths, and six separate bass synths.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2017 by Liontamer
closed decision

[MindWanderer]

(Not sure why this is filed under Super Metroid--I don't hear anything in this specifically from SM that isn't also in MP2.)

I've always wanted to try out LMMS.  Clearly it's quite possible to make a capable remix using it!  Much better than my own attempts using open source DAWs, that's for sure.  I really like the approach--I like the Red Brinstar melody, but the original is mostly atmospheric, so this is a fun, energetic take on it.  Simple but effective.  Mostly nice clean production and sound design, although I do hear a hint of overcompression.

That said, the arrangement does get pretty monotonous.  The main celesta-like lead is used almost throughout, doing mostly the same thing.  The percussion is very simple and hardly varies at all.  2:45-3:07 is a straight copy-paste of 1:39-2:01, and the next section after it is the same thing again, with the whistle lead added.

At 3:15 there's a random off-key note, sounds like an accident of some sort.

I'm on the fence about this one.  At about a minute from the end, I was solidly on board, but that whole last minute--over 1/4 of the mix--retreads old ground, at the same energy level, and with that slight overcompression to boot.  The ending's a little unsatisfying, too.  I like a lot about this, but I think it needs some more sophisticated writing to hold the listener's interest all the way through to the end.

NO (borderline, resubmit)

[Gario]

For the record, I marked this as Super Metroid as that's the 'Ur' example of this source, and I didn't see anything from the Metroid Prime source that differentiated the two. Since he said it was an arrangement of Metroid Prime I also included that source, too.

I find this to be a pretty well balanced arrangement, myself. The arrangement, while being a touch static, does do different things with the elements that it has to keep it interesting throughout the track. I'm not hearing the over-compression issues mentioned; any pumping sounds intentional in this rather than a mistake. At best, perhaps the bass drum causes a little overcompression when it hits, but it's pretty minor, if it's there; it's not nearly enough to bring down the track as a whole.

There IS a random note at 3:15 that sounds like a rendering error, though; it's like the volume shoots up for a moment then normalizes. Things like that happen to me sometimes when I change the envelope too quickly, so keep an eye on things like that.

I'm not getting the same vibes as MW on this one - I thought that while it drags on a little bit it doesn't get offensively static. The arrangement has good form to it, and there are some neat things (wubs, arpeggios, etc.) that keep the listener interested for a ~3 1/2 minute track.

YES

[DragonAvenger]

This is really coming down to whether the repetition and static overall arrangement is too much. I think it just clears the bar for me, because the soundscape is pretty interesting in overall design, and I found myself enjoying the arrangement throughout. I can honestly see this going either way, and I'm not opposed to switching my vote if it means getting feedback to the artist sooner than later. 

That being said, I think in the future there can be more variation overall to provide more sonic and arrangement variety. Hope to hear more from Jacoby soon!

YES (borderline)

[Sir_NutS]

Interesting.  This is some pretty good stuff coming from a rather simple workstation  like LMMS.  What I liked the most about this song was the soundscape building and the groove it builds to in the busy sections.  I do have a few issues with it, first, the dubstep bass feels, for lack of a better word, weak.  Exposing it at the end of each measure, as you do in later iterations of the groove, doesn't help much.  Second the kick is causing compression issues specially on the rolls.  If you're using sidechain you have to make sure it's not going into effect on those rolls because it's ducking the rest of the mix.  If not, you may want to balance it out so it doesn't act like this.

The arrangement does get a bit stale at some points, and the celesta arp. is almost a constant throughout the track, which I think is contributing to making the whole thing feel static.  These aren't deal-breakers for me, but something to be considered.

I feel there's a lot to like in this mix but it needs a second pass on the issues above.  It's very close and the votes could go either way.

NO (resubmit)

[Jivemaster]

Nice soundscape over a gradual build up. Your kick has a satisfying thud. The sine wave synth that comes in at 0:22 has a pierce to it which needs to tamed with some EQ. The arp playing throughout the track starts to become repetitive - especially in the intro section as it's only a bar long and doesn't change in pattern too often, though thankfully it drops away and changes up just before it overstays it welcome.

At 1:49 when the wub bass drops, a cloudiness descends over the track, where low end clarity is lost. This is also the main area where the kick drum is causing some over clamping of the compressor on the other parts, it's also noticeable on your rolls like the comp is not releasing quick enough. I also share Mike's concern that the wubs are lacking, I felt the growl and bite of them were a bit weak and they played the same basic progression each time they came in - it would've been nice to see some pattern/sound variation in there.

The progression of the arrangement feels pretty good. Things run at a fairly slow pace, but at no time did I feel the track dragged on. You noticeably change between a number of sections throughout.

I feel this needs some more polish to get past the line. In particular the kick compression issues and sine synth bother me the most, but the drop in clarity and lack of variation in the sections featuring the dubstep bass should also be addressed.

NO

[Liontamer]

It wasn't a borderline call for me, but this track's well in the right direction creatively, so I see why others went that way. As far the game we'd classify this under, I generally go by whatever the artist says. To me, I could hear how this was influenced by the MP2 version of the source based on some of the instrumentation choices here.

Opening synths were vanilla, and somewhat bright and bubbly. It's an interesting sound palette, but we'll see how this goes. Not sure why the melody was so downplayed from :21-:44, but it's not a big deal.

By :48, I was hoping something would change with the textures, and right on cue you had a change, so good stuff there. At 1:06, the buildup was solid. At 1:28, some beats came in, and the lead and kicks felt very thin. At 1:39, the wobble bass felt stapled on top of the soundscape, but some other elements came in later to let that sound fit in better.

The processing's pretty basic on these elements, so past 2 minutes I was looking for something more to be going on dynamically with this and it never really came. You have some good energy in place, but then the ideas and textures feel very static and repetitive over time, like the others have said.
 

After I wrote all this, I decided to check what the other judges said, and MindWanderer nailed it:
 

On 2/8/2017 at 7:45 PM, MindWanderer said:

I'm on the fence about this one.  At about a minute from the end, I was solidly on board, but that whole last minute--over 1/4 of the mix--retreads old ground, at the same energy level, and with that slight overcompression to boot.  The ending's a little unsatisfying, too.  I like a lot about this, but I think it needs some more sophisticated writing to hold the listener's interest all the way through to the end.

While I never thought the textures here were totally cohesive and full, you did basically have me on board until I noticed the track repeat ideas and not vary up enough texturally or dynamically. Try altering some leads or processing things differently, changing some rhythms, adding in some other writing ideas. You just need to develop something more here to seal the deal.

NO (resubmit)

[Nutritious]

I haven't even played the game, but man the Torvus Bog arrangement of Brinstar gives me the feels.

I had some issues with the way the synth elements were presented here, but it took me a few listens to articulate it here beyond just saying synths were basic: The synthwork here doesn't feel nuanced at all.  Elements generally enter in, play in a consistent volume & pattern, then drop out/new items enter in.  In a vacuum, I think the synth tones can each work (why I didn't want to crit them specifically), but they need some TLC to add interest and have a better interplay together in the form of effects, fades, velocity changes, tasteful reverb/delay, etc.

The cutting dubstep bass synth doesn't gel with the others and feels like it sticks out.  Pushing it back with aforementioned effect work could help.

Kick is too subby IMO, which is taking up a lot more sonic space than it may sound like.  You can tell this because at 2:44 there's some compression ducking going on which I don't think is intentional.  Lowering the almost inaudible bass sub frequencies on it and perhaps layering on a kick sound that compliments it well may give it better presence without the clashing frequencies.

Won't go into the repetition issue as that's already been sufficiently explained for 2:46.

Solid start here, but there's room for improvement

NO resubmit, please