[GRMRB] [2018] Round 2 - Proto Man Bracket

[DarkeSword]

The Grand Robot Master Remix Battle

Voting for Round 2 has begun. The matchups are as follows:

Remixer and Source	VS	Remixer and Source
Chalis - Flash Man	vs	Realme - Wind Man
Trism - Top Man	vs	Garpocalypse - Tengu Man
PlanarianHugger - Freeze Man	vs	Gario - Cloud Man
Starphoenix - Grenade Man	vs	Jamphibious - Charge Man

Download the remixes from Round 2

Gario and Realme dropped out of the round, so voting is only required for two matchups.

• The most important thing to consider when voting is how well the remix incorporates and arranges both themes. Production and enjoyability should also be considered, but this is primarily an arrangement competition.
• Everyone is allowed (and encouraged) to vote, including competitors.
• Everyone must adhere to the Competitions Code of Conduct.

Please use this thread for remix reviews and feedback!

 

[Starphoenix]

Great job Protoman Bracket! A lot of great mixes. Unfortunate that Gario and Realme had to drop.

Very brief thoughts:

• Groove Bomb - You never disappoint when it comes to Mega Man compo tracks! Have always loved your stuff, and Groove Bomb is no exception. Great job combining both sources, especially the accenting you did around the 1:41-1:53 mark. Love it!
• Grenade Powered Locomotive - Had a lot of fun and frustration creating this track. Originally my goal was for something reminiscent of Txai-style swing jack, but it never really developed. Still, much more pleased with this showing compared to my last compo...
• Planet Killer 2019 - Holy darkwave, Batman. Once the 0:40 mark hit, my fists were pumping like a madman while waiting for my Tron bike to show. Tengu Man is clearly identifiable throughout the track, but at points I struggled hearing Top Man. Not as familiar with his theme, so it might just be me. Production is killer. Great job!
• Unbalanced - Honestly thought it was game over coming off Garp's track, but you held your own. Could pick out both themes pretty easily. Track is a little static throughout, and the drums could probably afford to be moved a little farther back in the mix. Still, awesome job man.
• Glassy Haze - Arrangement really sounded like two MIDIs crammed together. There was also some disharmony happening at points. Think it might have been the bells? 
• Frozen Sky - A lot of really great ideas in here. Though I'm not as familiar with MM7's Robot Master themes, each theme is identifiable, so I can hear where you're trying to take them. Good job.

[MindWanderer]

Ah, so many newer games in here.  Give me 8-bit Mega Man any day.

• Groove Bomb: Groove indeed!  I'm tapping my feet to this one.  It is a little static, though, with not many changes in energy or sound palette.  Still, it's a lot of fun, and you integrated the two sources cleverly and smoothly.  Ending is a bit abrupt.
• Grenade Powered Locomotive: There seem to be some off harmonies here.  The changes between the two sources are frequently abrupt, and the Charge Man sections don't seem to fit as well.  Nice soundscape, though.
• Glassy Haze: The timing on the strings in the opening is slow.  It takes over a minute to get into the meat of the arrangement at all, and even then the energy levels seem subdued throughout--the whole thing sounds like one long intro.  Overall it seems thin and incomplete.
• Planet Killer 2019: 2019?  More like 1989!  The highs are a little subdued, but otherwise I'm loving this epic 80's soundscape. The arrangement is a lot of fun, although the usage of Top Man is pretty subtle.  A few notes seem off, though.  The lead is frequently buried, partially due to conflicting frequencies, and partially due to synths with similar timbre stealing each others' thunder.  Could do with some more dynamism in energy level.  But I'm hoping to see a polished version of this on the panel.
• Unbalanced: This is mixed awfully quietly.  The two sources weren't really integrated at all.  I did like the key transformations and the performance, though.
• Frozen Sky: I can tell you struggled with integrating the two sources, but you put forth a valiant effort.  The arrangement is quite static, though, with unchanging energy levels, a drumline that switches drums but not patterns, and not much variation in instrumentation.

[Garpocalypse]

Round 2 

RAGE REVIEWS

...part music critique, part semi-psychotic rambling

 

Unbalanced
Trism, you've improved a ton since the last time I heard your stuff on one of these mega man compos. The middle part of this remix
gave me serious flashbacks of Metallica's version of the Blue Oyster Cult Classic Astronomy which I enjoyed the hell out of.  
After giving it a few listens it seems like all of the melodies from Top Man are there and Tengu man was adapted to fit the rest
of it. All in all this would work well as part of a Twisted Metal Ost.  Nice work!  NEXT!

Groove bomb Vs Grenade Powered
Honestly a great matchup.  Both tracks are really well made and groovy AF.  

Groove Bomb
Gotta admit I was really excited to see jamphib sign up for this thing and he did was an awesome remix that doesn't disappoint.
The different themes were all used very well and i'm loving that bass part. The one thing i can say bad about it is that the highs
definitely stick out too much for my tastes but everything is very well balanced otherwise. Curious as to what cans you use mix
on. If they are sennheiser's you have to be careful of the infamous "sennheiser veil" which could cause you to boost those highs.  Great remix!

Grenade Powered Locamotive
I really dig what you were going for.  Kind of a night time dreamy take on a similar style as jamphib's. Loved the background
diddles. Nothing bad I can really say about it other than you made it apparent what side of the loudness war you are on. :/ There
is a LOT of clipping on your track here but the cool thing is I wouldn't have noticed it so much if not for popping it into
audacity.  Good work, going to keep this one in my playlist 

Planet Killer 2019
What did you do here? Put on a wig, Call yourself Pat Benatar and shape broadband noise into a "remix"? I couldnt' tell if I was
listening to a piece of music or hearing someone fry eggs!  NEXT!!

Glassy Haze

Interesting soundscape. The combination of samples and synths make it like you were attempting to go for a Prodigy esque remix.
Maybe the drag in the strings was intentional but it's a good idea to sync up your samples with the groove using the midi time
offset in your DAW so that the attack of the strings comes before the beat.  Most string instruments take a solid 30-50ms to get
the string vibrating and since that is a feature of well made orchestral VST's you need to compensate for that if you are doing a
tight electronic track. 

I'm hearing a lot of clipping throughout the track. A quick glance in audacity is showing a large amount of red. For a quick
solution I'd recommend using something like Gclip  to snip the transients off of your percussive elements but honestly there's a
lot of mixing practice that you could use this remix for.  Try taking some noise and cut it across 4 different faders using a
multiband, scramble the volume levels by using different output settings on a plugin then use the faders to try to get as close to
the original noise as you can.  Warning that this will fatigue your ears quick but you'll get use to hearing for highs mids and
lows seperately.  Keep at it!

Frozen Sky
Good job with the sources.  Outside of some occasionally awkward harmonizing it's a cohesive enough of a remix. Mess with the
attack settings on that bass as it is lethargic and severely lacking. With percussion that tight such a soft attack on the bass
doesn't work well and robs a lot of energy from the remix.