*NO* Jet Grind Radio 'Butterfly Spy'

[Gario]

Link to ReMix (Attachment is there in case something goes wrong): 

Contact Information

ReMixer Name: GCJ

Real Name: Caleb

Email: 

Website: https://soundcloud.com/gcjofficial or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4gkFBO9_FKEr_GRezitg6w

Forum userid: 34256
 

Submission Information

Games Arranged: Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future

Name of Arrangement: Butterfly Spy

Name of Songs Arranged: "Sneakman" and "Fly Like A Butterfly"

Additional Information: Composer for both songs, Hideki Naganuma. Jet Set Radio was originally on the Dreamcast, but has been ported to Windows, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Vita, iOS, and Android. Jet Set Radio Future was only on the original Xbox.

Link to Soundtracks: Jet Set Radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGA4PilHdr0 Jet Set Radio Future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugo6ASPVu9g

Link to Original Songs Used: Sneakman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VyaShl6urc Fly Like A Butterfly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfLK13n91Q8

Comments on Mix: I was very inspired by the style of music throughout Jet Set Radio & its sequel, Jet Set Radio Future. The instruments are half-sampled, half-synth in a similar style to the soundtrack of those games. There were also full drumset samples cut and chopped up inspired by some similar editing in "Fly Like A Butterfly". 
A note on the vocal samples: I did use vocal samples that were also used in the songs; however, I did not sample the original songs themselves. I realize that if I sampled the songs my remix would be disqualified so I'm not sure how that applies to this situation, since this style of music is heavily sample based, and the specific vocal samples used in these songs are what make them recognizable. In addition, the samples were from various sample packs unrelated to the game or company making the game, so I believe the use of those samples should be fine in this instance.

Edited June 23, 2017 by Liontamer
closed decision

[Gario]

This is a bit of a strange case. I'm split on the samples on this one - the vocal samples are from the source track, re-sampled and rearranged above an arrangement that ISN'T sampled from the source (though still sounding sampled itself, stylistically). I'm not sure whether this counts as "Too much sampling from the original source" or not, since the sampling is basically from SFX that are in the music. We've taken tracks that sample a lot of game SFX before, and this is sort of half-way between that and sampling the music itself, so... Yeah. Not sure where we should take this one, myself, so I just said 'Fuck it' and paneled it.

All that aside, as far as the track goes on its own it's a pretty cool arrangement. The samples are pretty percussive in their use, which helps fit them into the track, though I would say it's excessive at a few places - "I said it before" isn't percussive enough to repeat as much as it is in this track, in particular. Most of those samples make up a pretty cool series of patterns that is really catchy. The sampled orchestra hits are pretty weak in this - they don't have very much presence, in comparison to the other instruments, which just makes them feel weak.

The production on this is pretty solid, though. The mixing could've brought the sampling vocals down a bit while bringing out the other instruments more, but it's not something that breaks the piece, either. Yeah, pending on others opinions on that sampling I could pass this, but that's honestly a make-or-break issue. Not sure how to rule on this one - other opinions on that point would be appreciated.

EDIT (04/05): Larry's clarification made sense to me, so I'll go with that. I think there are elements that could be better, but I didn't think those broke the track, so I'll give it my thumbs up. If it gets sent back, though, pay attention to those thin samples that you use.

YES

[Liontamer]

From a standards perspective, the voice clips are abundant, but the cutoff to me if whether or not the track leans on the voice clip usage as the connection to the source tunes. Here, that's not a problem because the entire instrumental was made by the submitting artist, and that arranged those 2 sources. So even if you eliminated the voice clips, you'd have a Jet Grind Radio arrangement here.

So like I said, I don't have an inherent huge problem with this using the voice clips, though to me, it's a bit egregious/overdone in this track. And I say that knowing we have an OC ReMix that already used that approach with HappyBivouac's "Late Night Sneakin'" way back in 2004, just not as over the top. For example, with the sped up voice clip of "Float Like a Butterfly" first used at 1:15, it just sounds like it's sped up and crammed in just to fit the tempo, and that doesn't sound good, IMO.

There's a click/pop around :44 that should be fixed.

Focusing on just the instrumental, it's noticeably thin, particularly during the sections employing the orch stabs and organ. I like the all of the bassline, guitar noodling, and breakbeat sampling, but the orch stabs and organ sound really thin and low-quality, which left the track sounding sparse for too long. I mean, once you get to :50, the instrumental's texture was as full as the track ever got. And at 2:07, I felt like I was just hearing the same sections of the instrumental recycled from :50 for the rest of the piece, when the track is pretty short.

For me, the instrumental's well in the right direction, but needs more fullness, particularly through improved sound quality/depth/realism from the organ and orchestral stabs. The execution of the "Float Like a Butterfly" should fit more comfortably here, whether that's by reducing the clip or using it in more creative ways, and the overall voice clip usage is too busy -- and again, I understand the style you're going for. You could tone some of that back. You should also include more variation/ideas with how you're arranging "Sneakman"; don't get so cut-and-paste happy with the music and see what other creativity can be done there for the final minute. Good start so far, Caleb. See if you can polish and refine this.

NO (resubmit)
 

[MindWanderer]

I'm a bit more in favor of this than Larry was--there's a lot going on here that I think works really well, and I actually thought your use of the samples as instruments was pretty effective.  However, it's also definitely true that the organ and the orchestra hits were really thin and not effective as lead instruments.  The MIDI electric guitar wasn't much better.  And the arrangement also does feel repetitive by the time you get to about the halfway mark, due to a general lack of variation in instrumentation, style, and melody.

I definitely think this is worth pursuing, but for me, the leads need some attention and the arrangement modified to be more dynamic.

NO (resubmit)

[DragonAvenger]

I'm on the fence here. I thought the track was pretty creative, especially considering how pretty much all of the vocal clips fit pretty well into the track. That being said, I do think they end up being overused here. Along with that, certain clips end up being a lot lower in volume compared to "I don't understand what's going on here" which was very prominent, to the point of being distracting. I think adjusting the volume on those clips might help bring a little more focus onto the music as well, while still being a focus. There's a lot of variation here, but I feel like there are a lot of elements here that add up to making the track sound pretty repetitive. I think the constant sound wall of words is the biggest factor, but a lot of the other elements are used gratuitously. 

I think it's pretty close here, but needs a few adjustments to bring down the repetitiveness a touch and to make the track a little more varied. Good luck on the rest of the vote!

NO (resubmit)

[Sir_NutS]

I agree with Larry that the vocal samples are way overused, I disagree on the "Float like a butterfly"  usage sounding bad, the way it's sped up.  Repetitive sample usage aside, I felt the mix itself felt pretty barebones and not full enough.  Some of the instrumentation ends up sounding very simplistic and of not the greatest sample quality.  I think this needs more developing, maybe using the samples in different ways and slicing those samples into new patterns throughout the track to keep them from getting too repetitive, and getting the instrumentation to sound more full and complete.

NO