Gario Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 (edited) Previous Decision Contact Info ReMixer Name Stunning Cactus Real Name Colin Betts Email Address Website https://colindbetts.wix.com/colindbetts User ID 32605 Submission Information Name of game arranged Kirby’s Adventure (NES) Name of arrangement Ride the Rainbow Warp Star Name of song arranged Rainbow Resort (a.k.a. “Level Map Select of LEVEL 7”) Link to original soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dnVcKSqxU8 Links to my remix: Download link Stream link Comments: This is a resubmission. I want to thank the judges profusely for asking me to resubmit – I can’t describe in words how much I appreciate the opportunity. Many, many hours have gone into this final version. I hope I have made you proud with the newly-polished production of my take on this awesome classic tune! Comments from original submission: I fell in love with the haunting melody the first time I heard it (which, oddly enough, wasn’t from the original soundtrack, but from a fan-made game that featured a remix of it). I didn’t really intend on remixing it to the extent that I did; I was originally planning to make a grand orchestral cover. However, I one day stumbled upon the anime No Game No Life and became absolutely infatuated with the opening theme, “This Game”. It’s a very upbeat tune with rapid pianos, bass-licks, drums and guitars, and I probably spent a day or two deconstructing it because it was so dense with crazy counter-melodies, polyrhythms and key modulations. I knew I had to make something in that same vein, and while working on creating my orchestral version of Rainbow Resort, the idea struck me: a bait-and-switch intro leading into an upbeat, frantic and super-catchy arrangement of the timeless Kirby track. I ran into a couple walls in the development process (and probably pounded my head against a couple real life walls), but focusing on finishing is what kept the fresh ideas coming. I’ve never worked harder on any composition in my entire life, and I’m genuinely pleased with how it turned out. I honestly couldn’t genre-ize this piece if you asked me to. Perhaps it’s some sort of hybrid between rock/metal and soundtrack music. I hope you’ll find this rather unorthodox arrangement of a classic 8-bit Kirby tune as endearing as I intended. Edited March 31, 2019 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 This is better than I remember the previous version being (which, granted, was a year and change ago). The piano work is great; the opening solo really has me on board. That said, there are still some issues. Balance is still off. 0:49-0:57 is a great example of the "lead" violin being too quiet and getting covered up by the piano and cymbals. Those cymbals in particular are really greedy. That buzz I mentioned before is still there. It's really noticeable at 0:16 and 1:18. Now it sounds more like something loose on the bass. I still disagree with that brief use of synths in an otherwise acoustic piece, but that's really just my preference. The ending is really weak. It's not a fade-out, but it still just sort of trails off without concluding. Overall it's a substantial improvement. The balance in particular could be better but IMO it's easily passable now. Nice job. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 (edited) First time listening to this mix, so apologies if I cover some previous ground relating to the previous submission. I found the selection of instruments quite interesting, while odd in parts I think they worked together well. The synths during the intro portion threw me off completely as far as determining mix direction. A strange move but I'm down for different. There are some clicks during the intro portion which I believe may be the bass, I found this a little off-putting. The piano arp at 0:57 was quite robotic, with the piano in general needing some humanisation. On the arrangement side, 1:30 sounds like we're closing off, but the mix starts up again. Not sure how I feel about this approach for introducing the second section of the mix - it almost felt like two variations of the same mix were glued together one after the other. This hurt the arrangement side for me, as I didn't feel that things changed substantially or built up enough between the two halves to warrant both sections. Mixing is ok. There are some parts that are competing for the place of lead, particularly the piano and violin. The cymbals on the right side made the balance feel a bit off in the high end. I agree with MindWanderer that the ending is weak (the "ending" half way felt more like an ending). I think this is close. Some aspects could do with further work. The lack of humanisation in the piano parts made things feel quite rigid (and became more apparent as the piano persists through the majority of the mix). Mixing could be improved to better regulate supporting instruments to the background. Although there are some good ideas here, I thought the arrangement was lacking and missing direction. A tough one as this is a resub. I am open to revisiting the vote as necessary, but I feel this mix still needs refinement. NO Edited March 10, 2019 by Jivemaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 The synth at :25 was super generic/vanilla; see what other effects you could use to give it a fuller and/or more unique sound. Whoa, really mechanical-sounding strings at :33, and the drum kit (particularly the kick drum tone) didn't have any synergy with the other instrumentation. The piano timing also sounded blocky, in the uncanny valley of realism; sometimes it flows nicely with reasonable enough humanization, but then you have something like the 1:43 section where the timing is just too rigid. Don't forget to actually resolve the ending as well; it just cuts out. Wow, I'd hate to turn down an arrangement that's so creative, but one more pass at the production quality by way of humanization would do a world of good for this; it's the main issue, but for the piano and string timing, it's a must to improve this, IMO. Also, reexamining the drum kit could help as well, but it's a more minor thing. Really promising thus far, Colin! If this doesn't make it as is yet, don't be discouraged; this is well in the right direction. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Beautiful intro, beautiful arrangement. Blending natural instruments and synths like this doesn't really bug me. Previous J's have hit my main points, though. The left hand piano runs sound very robotic. If you think about it, no player's hand is going to be flying around hitting each note that quickly with the same velocity and tone on each. It's hard to humanize stuff like that, I know, but I think this has plenty of room for improvement in that regard - either by better velocity (maybe even timing) variation or just simplifying the part so it's easier to make it sound more natural. Cymbal hit at :33 sounds like it's overcooked in the high end or overcompressed or too synthy or something. It doesn't sound right to me every time it hits. I'll note, the bass buzzing doesn't bother me either. Gives the mix a more "live" feeling. I'll cast my vote for a bit more developed ending as well, but IMO that's not as important as the previously mentioned issues. It's a great mix, just needs some more TLC. NO resubmit, please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 This drum kit is not working. I'm not sure if it's the kit samples themselves or how it's mixed but the crash, hi-hats, and snare especially really stick out in a bad way. An arrangement with instrumentation like this calls for a snappier, lighter touch on the percussion. Think about the "band" that's playing here. It's all pretty light stuff: piano, bass, violins. But then you have this guy sitting in the back just wailing on these drums; heavy snare, tons of crashes. It's overpowering and it's stealing focus. The drum writing and sequencing is great, but the sounds and mixing don't fit. Needs work. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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