Gario Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 ReMixer Name: LongBoxofChocolate Real Names: Trevor Burch, Daniel Perry, Aaron Schmitt, Nick Bello, Philippe Delage http://youtube.com/longboxofchocolate https://soundcloud.com/longboxofchocolate Game: Undertale Title: Glitterbomb Source: Death by Glamour Link: "Who needs arms when you have legs like these?" Hey everyone, Described internally as nothing short of "hot, bright, and aggressively fabulous," this is a disco glam rock (is that a thing?) cover of Undertale's Death by Glamour. Our saxophonist and resident cool-dude Hank led the charge, saying: "The original track is so funny to me because Mettaton is just so ridiculous and all over the place. I really wanted to grab that wild spirit." With that goal in mind, I think we were successful in really pushing the limit of just how many fat tracks we could cram into a single tune. Other notable highlights for me include the opportunity to incorporate dance synths into a rock band setting, Hank's interpretation of the half-time breakdowns and killer sax runs across the entire board. Some may think it's over the top; we think it's just right. So regardless of what the panel decides, Glitterbomb will remain one of my favorite overall tracks in the band's portfolio. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 I'm not sure I'd describe this as "disco glam rock," but this is certainly a lot of fun! And it does, as promised, have a lot going on. The e-piano section from 0:45-1:10, especially from 0:58 on, is extremely busy, and the rather thin lead is buried behind all the accompaniment. When the sax comes in, the e-piano sounds unpleasantly distorted, with the warbles in the instrument causing some subtle dissonance with the lead. 2:03-2:16 also has some balance issues, with that one disco-esque synth coming too far forward. The transition at 2:44 is extremely abrupt. I like where you ended up going with it, but a little more lead-in or another transition element would have helped this not sound like a break between songs. The sax that comes in at 3:23 is mixed really, really loud. I had to drop my listening volume by 20% to get it to a comfortable level, and the rest of the song is much too quiet at that level. Overall, I really like this arrangement a lot. Strange, yes, but clever and entertaining. But the volume of that last sax section is a dealbreaker for me, and some work on the balance in the more "disco" sections would be really appreciated as well. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 The introduction section was definitely muddy and messy, and I thought the balance was off, but things sounded better at 1:10. Things should have been cleaner, but it wasn't a dealbreaker in and of itself. Nice flute performance at 1:37, and awesome to hear a live one instead of a sampled one, followed by a short but sweet transition to the sax taking the lead at 1:50. Just loads of strong variations in the instrumentation throughout. 2:45 slowed things down and back when I first heard this, I was interested to see where it would go; nice rebuild to the source melody fading up. I could see how MindWanderer though the shift was abrupt, but it didn't bother me. The sax at 3:10 was too loud, and I agreed that it should have been better mixed, but it didn't strike me as enough of an issue (alongside the others) to send this back. The arrangement's stronger than the mixing, and I'd love another pass at the mixing. But on the seesaw of what works vs. what doesn't, a lot more works here, and the overall production is solid enough where this can pass. I've heard a lot of otherwise-strong arrangements with not ideal mixing, and we've passed a ton of them. Love LBC's ideas & energy, as always.YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I agree that this song has some issues. The beginning was messy indeed, to the point where the arrangement stopped making sense to me. But after it hits 1:10 it just switches gears to awesome and never lets go until the end. Yes, the last sax lead is a bit too loud and its sudden introduction kinda enhances this issue, but I can't deny that for the majority of the duration, the production on this mix is passable and the arrangement and performances are great. The sax performance, together with the flute were a highlight for me. I am on the fence on this, but I'm thinking of sending this one to the frontpage. At the end of the day I think the issues vs good things in this mix balance out and tip off towards a pass, but I'll give this one another listen later, leaving my initial thoughts here in the meantime.EDIT 4/20 : listened again today after seeing some voting activity on this one again. I still think it's very close but I feel my initial assertion was correct and this is tipping over the bar just a bit considering the balance of messy 1st minute vs everything else. I however would encourage a revision if possible, but I'm ok with sending this one up.YES (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 Agreeing with a lot of what the others said about this - messy up until 1:10, then it starts to really shine (though with a screaming sax that's too loud toward the end). I have a few more specific critiques to give, but everyone on here is pretty much on point as to the issues here. The mixing in the beginning has a middleground that every instrument is fighting to take space in, while lacking any real foreground or background; that specifically makes it sound like one soupy mess for over a minute. While it gets better after the 1:10 mark, I don't think the mixing is perfect after, either - it's a great improvement to have a foreground, but the middleground still has too much competing for space there. Having nearly a quarter of your track sound really messy and hard to follow, followed by three quarters sounding pretty damn good (though not perfect, either)... It's pretty hard for me to justify passing this as it stands. Really clean up the first minute of the track, tone the sax at the end down a bit so it doesn't sound as piercing and I think you'd be good to go, as it's a really great arrangement otherwise. NO (P.S. Jazz flute is the bomb and I'm so damn happy you incorporate it in there) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Yeah, this is a toughie. Really love the idea behind this, and I'm pretty much agreeing with what everyone said before here. IF the opening wasn't so messy and cluttered I think the other issues wouldn't be dealbreakers, but as-is it's right on the edge for me. That being said, I do think I agree the Larry is right that the arrangement as a whole and the production for the most part does put this over the bar, if just barely. Curious to see where this ends up, and if you guys ever re-vamped the intro/clean this up a little more I'd love to hear that updated version! YES (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Yeah, definitely agreed the intro is pretty messy. The sax sounds pasted on top of the other elements and isn't gelling with everything else. There are just too many things going on here to be cohesive. Kick has a dull, low-heavy tone which I'm not thrilled with. 1:14 really improves dramatically. Liking the energy from here on out. Mixing felt a bit off throughout for me. Drums tended to get a bit buried in the more busy section and there's a general lack of clarity in those parts as well. Cool note runs around 2:30. Nice performance work throughout here. There's room for improvement production and intro writing, but the horns/woodwinds are so darn catchy and the arrangement is super cool. In the end, it gets more right than wrong, though I wouldn't mind seeing the above issues tightened up if they wanted to. YES (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Agree with all the crits here. That first one minute is ooof. The entire track's balances are off, the writing is frequently too busy, and things are not mixed to sit in their proper places. The arrangement is too good not to go with it, but please take our crits to heart for next time. Dat wakka guitar tho! YES (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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