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*NO* Elemental Master 'Brother'


Gario
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Contact Information

 
ReMixer Name:   
Megalixir
Real Name:
Sam Barugh
Email Address:
 
Website:
Userid:
sambarugh
 
Submission Information
 
Game Arranged:  
Elemental Master
Arrangement Name:
Brother
Themes Arranged:
Great Spirit Overture [Opening]
Dance of Flame [Stage 1]
Calling on the Dark Dragon King [Boss 5]
Until the End of the Earth [Stage 3]
Cursed Destiny [Visual Scene 1]
Additional Info:
Elemental Master was a SEGA Genesis title released in 1993 in North America. Developed and Published by TechnoSoft.
Megalixir comprises of: Mads Aasvik – Synth / Sam Barugh – Guitar / Joe Khan – Bass / Joey Killam - Drums/Mastering                     
OST Links:
Provided above with theme details
Comments:
This is our second submission to Overclocked Remix. Recently we have been working with montage compositions and were inspired by Elemental Master. Unfortunately, neither TechnoSoft nor Toshiharu Yamanishi (composer) have a significant library of work, but both the game and the music speak to the quality on the Genesis at the time. This piece took a lot of work to coordinate but we are extremely happy with the outcome - we feel that it retains the spirit of the original work while incorporating our own  sound.
Edited by Liontamer
closed decision
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  • 2 weeks later...

I've never heard of this game, but wow, what a soundtrack.  This definitely needs some representation.  The performance and arrangement here are stellar.  Great integration of synth and rock elements.

It's a medley, for sure.  The transitions at 1:46, 2:50, and 4:24 really threw me off.  The rest were pretty smooth, though.

The lead synth in the intro is significantly buried; the percussion in particular is very loud.  This happens in a few other places as well: 1:16-1:31 with the lead guitar and 2:09-2:27 with multiple leads, just for starters.  It's an issue throughout.

5:00-5:20 is seriously loud.  It's peaking at over +0.5dB, definitely into waveform sausage territory.

Overall, the balance is the most significant issue.  The percussion is overwhelming the sound space, especially the kicks and snares.

I dunno.  I'm going to mull this over a bit more.  Mostly it's really good but I really have to strain to hear the melody in places.

Update 7/8/19: I'm not going to hold this back anymore.  I still really enjoy this but the issues are real and should be addressed before we post it.

NO (please resubmit)

Edited by MindWanderer
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On 2/28/2019 at 3:56 PM, MindWanderer said:

I've never heard of this game, but wow, what a soundtrack.  This definitely needs some representation. 

 

You can say that again my dude.  Elemental master has an INSANE soundtrack.  I've heard it remixed in other places but it's a shame we don't have much of it around here.  It's that classic Technosoft soundtrack full of rocking tracks, high-octane riffs and just full of energy.

Enough about that though and more about this track, which tries to follow-up on the steps of the original with some progressive rock.  The performances are very good overall, but the arrangement is not that deep, it's mostly following in the same steps as the original tracks, with some personal touches.  My biggest gripe here lies with the production though.  Some instruments, mainly synth lines, sound muffled and behind the percussion, and it gets super cluttered at some points, especially near the end, where it completely breaks apart and just becomes loud and messy.

I think a second pass on this to lighten the overall compression, brighten things up and giving some air and headroom to the track would help a lot, plus it would fix the last section which is just not good.  I also think this would benefit from a bit more work on the transitions and perhaps the structure/interpretation but that could be a bit much to ask when these are all live performances.  

And no I didn't miss the YYZ reference at 2:58.

NO (resubmit)

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  • Sir_NutS changed the title to 2018/03/05 - (1?/1N) Elemental Master 'Brother'
  • 4 months later...

i'll say it a third time - this ost is bomb and i need to hear more of it.

this track is so loud. sections like the transition at 2:26 don't stand out because there's simply no dynamic variation, despite being really fun writing. for a style that prides itself in variety, there's not a lot of dynamic variety throughout. it gets really bad at about 4:55 and doesn't slack until after 5:30. this entire thing needs another volumization and compression pass. there's simply no room in the mix to allow for the track to breathe. this sounds a lot like The Astonishing-era Dream Theater in that it's all guitar and punchy drums, and the keys/lead and bass often get washed out. that's not a good comparison.

i don't want to pass on commenting about the arrangement, though, because i thought it was great. i personally didn't have any issues with the transitions within the perspective of it having a ton of different sources at different speeds. i thought they were well-played, and while they were sudden, that's not unexpected. i also appreciated the instrumentation used, even if it wasn't always as clear as it could have been. the synth choices were good overall and i appreciated the guitar's variety in tone.

overall, the arrangement is fine and it's well played, but the mastering is simply too loud. the entire last quarter of the track clips. another pass on this one to fix the mastering and you've got yourself a great track.

 

NO (resub!)

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