Gario Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 ReMixer name: jnWake. Name of game(s) arranged: Paper Mario (N64). Name of arrangement: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Koopa". Name of individual song(s) arranged: "Koopa Bros Keep Cool", "Attack of the Koopa Bros". Collaborators: Sir Jordanius, XPRTNovice. Note: This mix is supposed to be included in the Paper Mario project but I think that one is dead... If this manages to be approved I'd just post it since I doubt that project's happening. LINK TO ARRANGEMENT: Mix comments (mine): I began this mix as a remix of only Koopa Bros Keep Cool. That track has some sort of gangster blues feel or something like that (it's the bass line!) so I wanted to keep that feeling while expanding on the instrumentation and melodies. However, I noticed very early that I didn't really have much melodies to work with so I added a second source, Attack of the Koopa Bros (which is a remix of the classic Hammer Bro theme from SMB3). Anyway, I took this second source and switched a few chords here and there to give it that more evil-ish vibe! At first, the song only had one brass instrument, the sax lead, but when Jordan offered to collab on it, he added a lot of brass stuff and the song suddenly became really cool. He then got XPRT on board to play the lead sax and it really started to gain shape. It was very cool to have real instruments for the song since I wanted it to sound as real possible to get more of that blues mood. So, a lot of thanks to both Jordan and XPRT for adding their talents to this mix! I hope you enjoy it! I tried to add many cool chords and even a drum solo in the middle to make it interesting and blues-ish! Jordan also had some comments: "While wrapping up the album there was a short period where a few of us briefly exchanged emails showcasing our current progress with our respective tracks, and I started grinning and bobbing my head while saying "aaaawwww yeah, I like where dis be goooin!!" when I first heard jnWake's concept. I immediately suggested (And offered) live brass/general funk services since it's clear that synthesized/programmed brass just wouldn't have the same effect with this song. I'm personally not comfortable with lead horn parts (not a confidence issue, I just have a VERY particular niche which is why I prefer to provide Tower of Power parts rather than single lead parts), but XPRTNovice came in and did his thing as usual with some sick lead saxophone work. I will admit that some of my brass stuff is a bit rough around the edges and questionably pitchy in some spots, but I had loads of fun working with Jorge and Joe... (oooh shiiiii--- Jorge, Joe, Jordan. what does it meeeaaan? O_o) jnWake is hella good with instrumentation, mixing, and composition ideas and I absolutely love his treatment of chord phrasings and progressions. Sure, Joe and I threw in our little signature styles with our respective parts, but we were just following orders from the boss man. Been a business doin pleasure with these gentlemen. peace ~j" No comments by XPRT other than the fact that I made him play many high notes, which is difficult... Woops! That happens when you write for an instrument you don't play I guess haha. Song breakdown: 0:00 - 0:11: Intro. Not based on any particular source, just trying to create a nice mood! 0:12 - 0:52: Based on the main section of Koopa Bros Keep Cool. Bass plays the source's bass line while the piano and sax play the neat melodies of the source's organ. 0:53 - 1:10: Transition... Bass is based on Koopa Bros Keep Cool. 1:11 - 1:55: Based on melody A of Attack of the Koopa Bros. Bass line is taken from the source and the sax line is based on the source's main melody. 1:56 - 2:05: Based on melody B of Attack of the Koopa Bros, played by the piano. 2:06 - 2:20: Build-up! First part is based on Koopa Bros Keep Cool and the drum solo is taking the idea from the mix's intro. 2:21 - 2:30: Based on the intro of Koopa Bros Keep Cool. Sax line plays the main melody of the source. 2:31 - 3:22: Sax solo section! Piano is based on the Koopa Bros Keep Cool but it is a bit liberal. 3:23 - End: Repeat of the 1:11 - 1:55 section. Hope you like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Not sure how many teenagers or ninjas would appreciate this gorgeous jazz brass, but I certainly do. Joe and Jordan never disappoint when it comes to their playing, and jnWake gave them a great arrangement to work with. Liberal and creative, but definitely recognizable, and smooth as anything. Drags on a little bit towards the middle, but that's typical of the genre. I personally find the ping-pong panning on the Hammond organ to be very distracting, but that's also pretty typical. Ending is a little anticlimactic, but it's not terrible. Great job by all, and a good start to this album. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share Posted February 10, 2017 Joe, Jordan, Jorge... Sounds like y'all are the Jammin' Jo-Jo's! ... er, anyway. Track sounds smooth, jazzy and all around badass. I think the piano sounds pretty mechanical, especially against that brass and sax work, but it's not exactly crushing the track. It's a touch drawn out (as MW suggests), but again not something that detracts enough from this to deter my vote. I'm diggin' it. Let's get er' done, eh? YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Love that lofi organ, even if the panning effect gets a bit old after a while. The arrangement grabbed me from the start, and even though I am not very familiar with the Paper Mario soundtrack I found myself really enjoying the melodies. The bassline is kind of a contrast to the rest of the performances, which are squarely on the jazzy side but the bass had a really funky groove going for it. All the brass performances are awesome, as expected. If I had to nitpick it would be the ending which was a bit more sudden than what I would've expected, given how smooth every transition in this piece is. As far as I'm concerned this should be on the front page asap. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Yeah this is great. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts