*NO* Streets of Rage 2 "Lalo Mood"

[Gario]

Hi !

Big fan of the Streets of Rage OST, I wanted to remix it in an original way, otherwise it's useless. Composers themselves changed their songs for the live show. (and it's very brutal)

The Slow Moon track has a bass line and a loop harmony which make me think of Lalo Schifrin, so I try a latin jazz version. I'm pretty proud of this remix although this is a new style for me. I did my best to simulate real musicians and stay close to the original melody. I hope you will enjoy my rare non-orchestral work.

Regards !

Remixer name : Ophanin
Real Name : Mathieu Deltour
User Id : http://ocremix.org/community/user/34572-ophanin/

Game : Streets of Rage 2
Song Title : Lalo Mood
Original song : Slow Moon (stage 5)

Edited August 19, 2019 by MindWanderer

[Liontamer]

Interesting arrangement approach here; doesn't sound particularly focused, but let's see where it goes. Flute from :18-:26 was pretty shrill, and had other moments like that (1:08).

The beats from 1:08-on felt so tame, but I suppose they shouldn't overpower the rest of the instrumentation; but listen to 1:31-1:38, for example, and you hear how muted they are. An odd fit, but I'll live.

Not sure what that snap/pop sound at 1:19 was, but it didn't seem intentional.

I just ended up sitting back to go on the ride the track took me on. The track's pretty wild, but it's audacious stuff and I love how unorthodox this whole concept is. Any lack of realism in the instrumentation's offset by the strength of the writing, IMO, and the sounds were pretty capably used here regardless.

We come to the sticking point though. The track was 4:38-long, so I needed to hear "Slow Moon" referenced for at least 139 seconds for the source tune usage to be dominant in the arrangement.

:03-:20, :41.75-:47, :49.5-:55, :56.75-1:22, 1:31-1:35.75, 1:38.75-1:44, 2:00.5-2:07, 2:38-2:45, 2:47.5-2:51.5, 3:06.5-3:12, 3:14-3:20, 3:21.75-3:29.5, 3:33.5-3:40.5, 4:10.75-4:13 = 109 seconds or 39.20% overt source usage

As far as I could tell, this arrangement doesn't reference "Slow Moon" enough for the theme to qualify as "dominant" per the Submissions Standards. Unless I'm missing big swathes of references to the source tune, I think this is too liberal of an arrangement. I know the submission letter also mentions being inspired by the source's bassline, but I muted channels in the "Slow Moon" .VGM to listen to just that, and I didn't hear it explicitly referenced anywhere; I only heard bass work that was stylistically similar (and very quiet and subdued, it was worth noting). For those that want to isolate that part in the source, play it with a player supporting in_vgm, mute all of the SN76496 channels, and all but Channel 4 and DAC channel of the YM2612 side.

Nice work here, Mathieu, but as far as I can tell, it falls outside of what we can accept, even though this is a very enjoyable, spirited piece regardless. If you could somehow fit in more references to the theme, e.g. sticking more closely to the source tune's bassline, I could get behind this.

NO (resubmit)

[Rexy]

Interestingly, I had a different source breakdown in comparison to Larry:

0:04-0:34 - Clear source representation up until 0:19, and when the string melody dies down the bass from the source continues and the clavinet continues to do the familiar piano part from the A section of the source.
0:42-1:16 - coverage for source's B section.   0:57 has melody pitches being played around while keeping the rhythm.  Deducted 4 seconds where the source is absent (the flute trills).
1:16-1:23 - Piano references C section of the source.
1:31-1:46 - Clavinet references C section of the BGM, leading into the e-piano doing the same thing.
2:02-2:05 - Strings reference C section briefly.
2:39-2:41 - Strings reference B section briefly.
2:47-2:51 - Strings reference B section briefly.
3:07-3:29 - The call-and-response between string melodies and flute flourishes return.  3:22 has the e-piano and flute referencing the C section.  Again, I deducted 4 seconds of absent BGM.
3:33-3:41 - C section covered straight.

Unlike Larry, I couldn't detect anything past the 4-minute mark.  I still ended up source-short as well, with 125 seconds (45%).  I did consider the bass initially, but that was before I realized the notation is too drastic to consider as straight source use.

Elsewhere, you've got this lovely choice of instruments that all aimed for a playful journey through your unfamiliar genre trek.  The improvs are smart, the framework is a clear A-B-A structure despite the musical free-for-all, and the instrumentation is cohesively balanced and full of expression.  I also don't hear the same flute shrillness or pop issues.  All I saw of the flute in my spectrum analyzer was its tone, and I couldn't hear the pop anyway.

Nevertheless, lightness on the source is the track's biggest problem.  Often I recommend artists to look at their original sections and see if they can add more source references.  But Larry's idea of covering the bass straight is equally just as neat.  Whatever you do to fix the problem, I can get behind this idea.

NO (resubmit)

Edited August 14, 2019 by Rexy

[MindWanderer]

I'm going to disagree with the above, but only in focus. The realism of the instruments, especially the strings, wasn't up to where I expect it.  They weren't mechanical per se, but many of the instruments had really odd attack and decay envelopes, fading in or out in unrealistic ways.  This also had the effect of making the instruments sound out of sync with each other.  Also the reverb across instruments wasn't consistent, making them all sound like they were recorded in difference spaces.  With so many instruments involved, especially a string ensemble, they'd need a large space to play in, and many of them sounded more like they were in a small, sound-dampened space.

Also I'm not as sold as Larry on it sounding less unfocused over time.  Some of the noodling, especially the organ solo, really seemed like it was doing its own thing and didn't go with the rest of the parts.  The flute solos work better, since almost everything but the percussion drops out.

The bass piano being panned left was a little distracting, and there wasn't anything on the right to balance it.

The ending was a little abrupt and felt like a change of tone from the rest of the arrangement.

So yeah, even with more source I think this needs a few realism tweaks before you re-submit.  The rest of my concerns are fairly minor, and I'd forgive them if they were the only issues.  The arrangement is a lot of fun and I'd love to see a revision, though.

NO (resubmit)