Ken's Theme - Melodic Metal style! (Street Fighter)

[MysticGTR]

Hi there!  I'm Paul. I'm new to this website so I'm not 100% how it works but, I've seen some really awesome stuff though and I'm glad to be a part of this community!

I've just started my own journey of creating metal versions of classic retro (and maybe some modern) video game music.

I've started with a very well known theme that's probably been done to death, but I'd like to think I put my own spin on it. A Swedish melodic metal twist perhaps?

Anyway... here it is! Hope you all like it! Peace!

 

[Native Dialect]

1) Welcome to the OC Remix community! It is always nice to meet a fellow Street Fighter fan. 

2) The Ken theme is already a glam metal song, so finding enough nuance to deliver a fresh interpretation in another sub-genre of metal music is a bit of a challenge. I'd say you rose to that challenge and met it. The power metal approach works incredibly well, even with the double bass, which you tastefully layered throughout the composition. 

3) Your musicianship is excellent, with your timing and key all perfectly aligned. 

4) I've been working on a fan album for the 30th Anniversary of Street Fighter. Would you be interested in contributing your track to the project? 

5) Your rendition reminds me of Patrick Gill's take on the theme, which he scored for the film, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist. Did you happen to take any inspiration from Gill's version, or is that merely coincidental?

 

[MysticGTR]

1 hour ago, Native Dialect said:

1) Welcome to the OC Remix community! It is always nice to meet a fellow Street Fighter fan. 

2) The Ken theme is already a glam metal song, so finding enough nuance to deliver a fresh interpretation in another sub-genre of metal music is a bit of a challenge. I'd say you rose to that challenge and met it. The power metal approach works incredibly well, even with the double bass, which you tastefully layered throughout the composition. 

3) Your musicianship is excellent, with your timing and key all perfectly aligned. 

4) I've been working on a fan album for the 30th Anniversary of Street Fighter. Would you be interested in contributing your track to the project? 

5) Your rendition reminds me of Patrick Gill's take on the theme, which he scored for the film, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist. Did you happen to take any inspiration from Gill's version, or is that merely coincidental?

 

1) Why thank you!

2) Wow for a second there I was bracing for impact but I'm so relieved that you found my version worthy!

3) That's very kind of your to say.

4) Oooh tell me more! Sounds like a plan!

5) Actually, I finished recording all the audio and the only thing I had left to do was the guitar solo and the recording of the video. It was at this point that I decided to see what else was out there and I did come across this! I try not to search for others work before I decide on recording a song since I 100% want it to come from me and my metal influences. So no, I didn't take inspiration, but I can see where you made the connection.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen. I love doing this and there will be plenty more to come. Pokemon Red - Pallet Town theme or Zelda: A Link to the Past - Overworld theme will be next, I haven't decided yet Nice to meet you!

Paul

[Michael_Lochlann]

the guitar playing is pretty solid, way better than mine lol. i would say going forward in your practice focus on the phrasing & getting emotion out of the parts and sounding as clean as possible, you are at the level where what you have left are tweaks.

i'm on laptop speakers right now so... keep that in mind:

the guitar tone is pretty good.  i wonder if you would benefit from a bit of room reverb on the rhythm guitars. they sound a bit dry. obviously you have to be careful with that since it's metal riffing but a little might not hurt.

it sounds like the guitars are on top of the drums...like the drums are a separate part of the track almost.  i would try bringing the drums up a bit in level, adding some more low to the kick and a bit of brightness to the cymbals so they have their own sonic  place, and this might help the most, use or tweak your master bus compression to glue the entire track together.  maybe use a bit of the same reverb you use on the rhythm guitars on the drums to make them sound like they're in the same space.  i also get the feeling like you MAY be rushing the guitar parts a bit over the drum track...but on a closer listen, i think your playing is pretty on time.   i think the problem is you can't really hear the "attack" of the drums.  you may have overcompressed the track or the drum bus because the drums do sound a bit squashed dynamics wise.  either that or maybe the attacks on the drums aren't "clicky" or bright enough for me to really hear them. you can try adding a transient shaper to the kick and snare, or some 8k-9k on eq to bring out the snap/attack on the drums more. here is a good melodic metal reference track i used to check myself here.

the track sounds good, and maybe it's just my laptop speakers screwing it up.  but i do think guitar guys have this problem where they focus on the guitars so much that the drums (especially since they're programmed) and bass don't get as much attention mix-wise.  

 

on that note i didn't even notice the bass until i went to listen to it.  normal for metal i know. but there are tricks. try sending your bass to a distortion or saturation effect on another channel, cutting all but the highs out of that and mix it into the regular signal to taste. that will give your bass some overtones so it shows up on laptop speakers. you can also try boosting let's say 70-100 because the guitar starts about 125 and the kick sits around 50-70 so you can give your bass some more bass that way without having it be over the guitars.

i do like how bright and clear you mix is though

also i would say the ending is ok, but a bit sudden. i think it's a good idea to add a climax at the end of the song (hopefully with some sort of cadential chord progression like a IV - I or V-I) so the song really sounds finished and not like it just stopped. that's a common problem with rock and metal writing in general as people don't typical study songwriting and chord progressions when going into that kind of music. 

perhaps you'd be kind enough to give my recent rock remix of a Lufia song a listen? 
https://ocremix.org/community/topic/47677-progressive-rock-lufia-medley-3-songs-deliverance/

[Native Dialect]

15 minutes ago, MysticGTR said:

1) Why thank you!

2) Wow for a second there I was bracing for impact but I'm so relieved that you found my version worthy!

3) That's very kind of your to say.

4) Oooh tell me more! Sounds like a plan!

5) Actually, I finished recording all the audio and the only thing I had left to do was the guitar solo and the recording of the video. It was at this point that I decided to see what else was out there and I did come across this! I try not to search for others work before I decide on recording a song since I 100% want it to come from me and my metal influences. So no, I didn't take inspiration, but I can see where you made the connection.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen. I love doing this and there will be plenty more to come. Pokemon Red - Pallet Town theme or Zelda: A Link to the Past - Overworld theme will be next, I haven't decided yet Nice to meet you!

Paul

 

Ten years ago, when I was new to the mixing scene, I collaborated with other musicians on YouTube to put out a 20th Anniversary Fan Album for Street Fighter. While it was a great deal of fun, the quality of my compositions was lacking. Now that I have far more experience, and the 30th Anniversary is being celebrated this year, I'd love to partner with other musicians (and visual artists) for a second attempt at a much more cohesive project. You are the first person I have asked, but I have a few others that I am eyeing, including people that I have worked with in the past. The previous project involved a great deal of creating content from scratch, and online collaboration, which led to delays and a lack of focus. This time, I'm being smarter about it and curating existing work that may be compiled as part of a single project. As I encounter new works that catch my attention, I'm reaching out to the composers to see if they are willing to contribute a given piece of music to the project. I figure everyone will appreciate the exposure, and the fan community will get something nice to end the 30th Anniversary celebration. 

Here are my own remixes that I feel is a fit for the project in question. With your Ken theme remix, that would bring the project up to four tracks (assuming you are willing to join the project). I am aiming for a minimum of twenty tracks so that the album has a decent run time. My goal is for there to be no redundant mixes (e.g. not three variations of the Zangief theme), and enough diversity of genres so that the album best represents the varied musicianship of the fandom. Please note, this is not an official OC Remix project, nor will I be associating the project with the community. I'm seeking musicians from OC Remix, YouTube, SoundCloud, BandCamp and any other space where musicians congregate. If you are interested, I'd love to include your Ken theme!

 

 

 

[MysticGTR]

2 minutes ago, Michael_Lochlann said:

the guitar playing is pretty solid, way better than mine lol. i would say going forward in your practice focus on the phrasing & getting emotion out of the parts and sounding as clean as possible, you are at the level where what you have left are tweaks.

i'm on laptop speakers right now so... keep that in mind:

the guitar tone is pretty good.  i wonder if you would benefit from a bit of room reverb on the rhythm guitars. they sound a bit dry. obviously you have to be careful with that since it's metal riffing but a little might not hurt.

it sounds like the guitars are on top of the drums...like the drums are a separate part of the track almost.  i would try bringing the drums up a bit in level, adding some more low to the kick and a bit of brightness to the cymbals so they have their own sonic  place, and this might help the most, use or tweak your master bus compression to glue the entire track together.  maybe use a bit of the same reverb you use on the rhythm guitars on the drums to make them sound like they're in the same space.  i also get the feeling like you MAY be rushing the guitar parts a bit over the drum track...either that or maybe the attacks on the drums aren't "clicky" or bright enough for me to really hear them. you can try adding a transient shaper to the kick and snare, or some 8k-9k on eq to bring out the snap/attack on the drums more

the track sounds good, and maybe it's just my laptop speakers screwing it up.  but i do think guitar guys have this problem where they focus on the guitars so much that the drums (especially since they're programmed) and bass don't get as much attention mix-wise.  

on that note i didn't even notice the bass until i went to listen to it.  normal for metal i know. but there are tricks. try sending your bass to a distortion or saturation effect on another channel, cutting all but the highs out of that and mix it into the regular signal to taste. that will give your bass some overtones so it shows up on laptop speakers. you can also try boosting let's say 70-100 because the guitar starts about 125 and the kick sits around 50-70 so you can give your bass some more bass that way without having it be over the guitars.

i do like how bright and clear you mix is though

perhaps you'd be kind enough to give my recent rock remix of a Lufia song a listen? https://ocremix.org/community/topic/47677-progressive-rock-lufia-medley-3-songs-deliverance/

Wow, thanks for the advice man!

Well, I'll give you the "excuse" now haha! Basically I'm using a Line 6 GX studio (I know...) and POD Farm 2 (which is actually pretty alright). Here's the issue... I'm using Logitech Z130 speakers, oh dear!

I have no headphones or studio monitors. I completely agree, my mix is not great at all. Granted I'm not the best at mixing by any means but I could do better with some decent monitors or headphones. I used to have a pair of MH50s but I sold them earlier this year due to a poor financial position. My setup right now is literally Guitar > Line 6 GX studio > FL studio 12.

Thanks for your feedback! I really appreciate it and will definitely learn from your advice.

I'll check out your track now!

[Michael_Lochlann]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuItul-D0PA   used this as a pro melodic metal reference track to compare.  you can hear how "uncompressed" or "free" the drums sound and how they are as loud as the guitars in the mix, the guitars "fit in" with the drums volume wise.  compare that to yours and let me know what you think

 

in reply to your previous post, i think you are doing alright. just be careful to be able to hear every instrument equally (or equal to its importance) in the mix.  as guitarist we always want our guitar sound to be loud and ballsy but at the same time a track with weak sounding drums (and weak is just low volume relative to the rest of the mix) will usually decrease how ballsy the whole track sounds.

[MysticGTR]

1 minute ago, Michael_Lochlann said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuItul-D0PA   used this as a pro melodic metal reference track to compare.  you can hear how "uncompressed" or "free" the drums sound and how they are as loud as the guitars in the mix, the guitars "fit in" with the drums volume wise.  compare that to yours and let me know what you think

Literally my favourite band along with In Flames!

[Michael_Lochlann]

nice. i saw them live here and one of the best shows i've ever seen.  it's stupid that their music is so hard yet they can play it perfectly live. especially the drums. jesus.

[MysticGTR]

1 minute ago, Michael_Lochlann said:

nice. i saw them live here and one of the best shows i've ever seen.  it's stupid that their music is so hard yet they can play it perfectly live. especially the drums. jesus.

I guess when it's something you've created and is unique to your fingers, dexterity and various abilities, it's easy. Some of the Soilwork guitar parts aren't so difficult. The solo's however, are another story. But again, imitating a style is so much harder when it's unique, than playing things your own way!

I've still yet to see Soilwork live for various... private reasons haha!

[MysticGTR]

11 minutes ago, Native Dialect said:

 

Ten years ago, when I was new to the mixing scene, I collaborated with other musicians on YouTube to put out a 20th Anniversary Fan Album for Street Fighter. While it was a great deal of fun, the quality of my compositions was lacking. Now that I have far more experience, and the 30th Anniversary is being celebrated this year, I'd love to partner with other musicians (and visual artists) for a second attempt at a much more cohesive project. You are the first person I have asked, but I have a few others that I am eyeing, including people that I have worked with in the past. The previous project involved a great deal of creating content from scratch, and online collaboration, which led to delays and a lack of focus. This time, I'm being smarter about it and curating existing work that may be compiled as part of a single project. As I encounter new works that catch my attention, I'm reaching out to the composers to see if they are willing to contribute a given piece of music to the project. I figure everyone will appreciate the exposure, and the fan community will get something nice to end the 30th Anniversary celebration. 

Here are my own remixes that I feel is a fit for the project in question. With your Ken theme remix, that would bring the project up to four tracks (assuming you are willing to join the project). I am aiming for a minimum of twenty tracks so that the album has a decent run time. My goal is for there to be no redundant mixes (e.g. not three variations of the Zangief theme), and enough diversity of genres so that the album best represents the varied musicianship of the fandom. Please note, this is not an official OC Remix project, nor will I be associating the project with the community. I'm seeking musicians from OC Remix, YouTube, SoundCloud, BandCamp and any other space where musicians congregate. If you are interested, I'd love to include your Ken theme!

Sounds like a blast!

I might have to have someone mix my track though. It's been done on some really crappy speakers with a broken volume pot! ^.^ It could be a whole lot better with some better drum samples, mixing and mastering.

[Native Dialect]

15 minutes ago, MysticGTR said:

Sounds like a blast!

I might have to have someone mix my track though. It's been done on some really crappy speakers with a broken volume pot! ^.^ It could be a whole lot better with some better drum samples, mixing and mastering.

I completely understand. Mixing is not one of my strong suits either, even when I use headphones. I wing it with Audacity, but still don't always wind up with the mix I desire. Anyway, if you can DM me a short musician bio, any information you want to share about the process you went through for creating your remix, and your social media contacts, that'd be great. I want to make sure to include a PDF with every contributors information as part of the album. Also, if you submit your Ken mix to OC Remix, best of luck getting your submission accepted by the judges panel!