*NO* Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney "Scruffy Always Comes Through"

[Gario]

ReMixer Name: Paper Coelacanth

Game Arranged: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Name of Arrangement: Scruffy Always Comes Through
Song Arranged: Dick Gumshoe ~ It's Detective Gumshoe, Pal! (Gumshoe's Theme)

Always thought Mr. Scruffy Detective Dick Gumshoe's theme had the perfect vibe and structure for a Trance / Dance remix. Still hoping they'll bring him back someday!

Source: 

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by Rexy

[MindWanderer]

This is a fun little arrangement.  Lots of entertaining riffs and harmonies.  Great use of new age synths.  Gets just a little repetitive in places, but for trance it's not very repetitive at all.

My one complaint, and it's a big one, is that the soundscape is really thin.  The bass sits at a fairly high frequency, and it's pretty quiet in the busier sections, like 1:00-1:38.  It also stands out at 0:23 and 1:41; most new age trace would really hit you with that low bass you can feel in your gut, and this doesn't.  As a result, it feels empty, almost incomplete.

Since there's nothing competing with those low frequencies except the kick, I think this is probably a quick fix, maybe even a single change to an EQ filter, and it would make a huge difference.  This is super close, and I don't want to be discouraging, but I'm coming down on

NO (borderline, please resubmit!)

[Sir_NutS]

Cool arrangement with some interesting structural choices, but the soundscape can feel bland and uninspired.  The main chord synths feel like they could hit a bit harder even with a softer mix like this one.  This reminds me of some of the trance tracks we used to post over a decade ago, which is not a bad thing really, just that it's lacking the modern, fuller production values we've come to expect.

Overall, it's a short arrangement that works, with some barren production.  There's some detailing in the sequencing and performances, even though the drums are your standar classic dream trance fare.  It's pretty borderline but I'm willing to give this a chance at the front page.  I can't find anything super offensive about it and like I said, I enjoyed my time listening to this one.  It's a soft yes, but other judges may disagree.

YES

[Gario]

Fun source choice, and honestly it's a great approach - it does lend itself well to the trance genre. The arrangement does some interesting things with the track, keeping things fresh with some subtractive arrangement midway & some fun new textures built on top of that, to boot. The ending is lackluster - almost sounds like the track is incomplete - but that's a pretty minor complaint in comparison to the strength of the rest of the arrangement itself.

The production doesn't have any immediate red flags (like clipping, unintentional overcompression, etc.), but the instrument choices don't do any favors for this one. The bass is strong, but the accompanying synths don't do enough to fill the rest of the soundscape. The filtered sine arps used as texture barely have presence, the pads backing don't nearly fill the background enough, and the piano (which can nicely fill the upper end of the soundscape) sounds like it's run aggressively under a lowpass. There's plenty of space in this soundscape to let more highs pass through on this, since as is it sounds empty and dampened throughout the entire track.

Either some more rich instruments should be used or the instruments present should be better utilized in order to better fill the mid/upper range of the soundscape EQ, as right now it sounds like a solid skeleton to a fully fleshed out arrangement rather than a fully realized remix. I like where you took this, I do hope to hear this get more fleshed out with the soundscape in mind on another pass!

NO

Edited May 12, 2019 by Gario

[Rexy]

This track isn't too bad, actually - does lend itself well to dream trance, surprisingly.  The arrangement feels safe and remarkably close to the original, but the additional instrumentation and subtractive change-up at 1:54 help with saving source representation from repetition.  On the production side, I can also hear that side-chain going and pushing back the strings whenever the kick is in play, as well as the instrumentation being well balanced.

However, this soundscape feels empty on the mid-to-high EQ register. Notably, the piano part sounds muddy and has a lot of its crunch missing, making it unable to stand out among the rest of the instrumentation.  In addition to shifting its EQ into those mid-high ranges to fix this problem, a similar thing can also be done with the sine arpeggio and pads to give them some increased presence into the mix.  

There's a robust plan to be had here, but as of right now the soundscape feels tame and devoid of mid-to-high frequencies.  It'll be good if it can get filled either with altering EQs on some of your already established sounds or adding more layers / fuller instruments into the mix.  I like where this is going, and I hope to see this back in the inbox after another pass.

NO (resubmit)

[prophetik music]

i really enjoy this track the more i listen to it. i don't think the arrangement is ground-breaking, but it does enough to differentiate itself from the original. i like the energy - this style of electronica needs to have a feel of constantly moving forward or else the repetitive nature of the style gets tiresome, and i don't feel that in this one at all.

i agree with the other judges that there's a really empty eq range here. the piano sounds mashed down - maybe a stylistic choice, but it really collapses the soundscape. i like the bass sound a lot actually, but the lack of low presence really is a problem. i thought the background parts were filled in enough that it didn't bother me overmuch, but it definitely wouldn't hurt to add some body to what's there.

i think the production really pulls this track down overall, but the arrangement and realization is definitely above the bar for what we do here. some adjustments to your EQing and another look at your background parts, and this is going to be sparkling.

 

 

NO (resub!)