Rexy Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Contact Information thebitterroost !fname thebitterrooster.wordpress.com 32609 Submission Information Faxanadu Faxanadoom Name of individual song(s) arranged: Elf Town (Eolis) June Chikuma, NES https://youtu.be/77m6aTJb-yk?t=47 Made with cheap mics, cheap drums, cheap(ish) audio interface, freeware amp sims. Kind of a medium-slow/sludgier/doomier/whatever metal take on the tune, with just a hint of Opeth and a possibly misguided bit of bitcrushing. And it loops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 (edited) There are a few original riffs in there, but mostly this is a short, conservative cover. It's not the sort of reinterpretation we look for here. It's also pretty grungy production-wise. Very light on the highs, nothing but the cymbals and the occasional synth up there. It's a good performance and I'm eager to get some more Faxanadu representation, but more than anything else we look for arrangements that are a little more adventurous. NO Update 03/03/2020: LT asked me to review this again because of how strongly he disagreed with me. The structure and melody line are nearly identical to the source material. The bass usually sticks closely to the source, but does branch out a little. There are added harmonies, and the percussion work is original. Of course, there is the performance element: the lead guitar has the flourishes one would expect from a live guitar performance. There are brief variations--a measure of chiptune here and there, the acoustic bridge--but they're mostly straight instrument swaps. It was perhaps unfair to call this a cover, since there is some original part-writing here. But also calling it "nicely personalized and expanded" is going too far. If this were an orchestral remix, I'd expect a lot more layering and instrument-swapping to call it an orchestration that meets our arrangement standards. But of course that wouldn't be appropriate here, and there is some of that. I'm okay revising my vote, but only just. In the future, adding an entirely original section, mixing in something from a different source, playing around more with part-writing or instrumentation, etc. would make this vote more clear-cut. YES (borderline) Edited March 3, 2020 by MindWanderer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 (edited) yeah, there's essentially no arrangement here. it's a nice realization but there's nothing really that's real unique or new about this track unfortunately. the performance is great and i liked the unexpected bitcrushing and bloops when they showed up. for using cheap drums, cheap mics, cheap everything, this sounds decent, too, but it's really lacking in highs as MW said. it's real punchy in the lower mids and then not much else anywhere else. the oodles of verb on everything make it hard to discern everything too. ultimately i am gonna need to see more arrangement before i can call it enough there, and i'd also like to see more attention paid to mastering. an ending would help too. NO edit for posterity: so i listened to this one again, and i'm still on the side of it not having enough arrangement. i approached the arrangement more from the structure and content side and not from the performance perspective, so that may be a failing on my side of not encapsulating the whole thing. but i don't feel that the combination of the mastering and what i still think is a conservative arrangement at best makes it over the bar. it's closer than i may have made it look like, but i'm going to leave this vote as-is. Edited March 3, 2020 by prophetik music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 Mixing's a bit lo-fi, but I'm not hearing how this is a NO at all. Great energy and a spirited rock cover. Didn't think this needed the little chiptune cameos/tradeoffs, but certainly not a big deal, and I thought it was a decently executed idea, even if not optimal. I liked the acoustic guitar brought in at 1:39 along with the dark sustained notes behind it, which gave this an eerie feel. There was also chiptune there in the background, but it was so super quiet that it was basically a non-factor. Yeah, I don't get what the NOs are on about at all. This arrangement is nicely personalize and expanded compared to the original, and while the production isn't sharp and lacks highs for sure, it's reasonably well mixed to where I can hear the major parts in their own proper space. Just because the arrangement is melodically conservative doesn't mean that there can't be enough other elements of arrangement through the genre, instrumentation, tempo, and original writing additions. This is a perfect example of a strong rock cover that we should be welcoming and fits comfortably within OCR's Submissions Standards. Let's not get carried away here. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted March 3, 2020 Share Posted March 3, 2020 This is one of those signature tracks from this OST. The track starts very conservative, but it does expand over the original enough, only not necesarily through the main lead section. I did like the lo-fi sections although they sound a touch too distorted for their own good. On the good side the arrangement doesn't feel like it's copy-pasting, it feels like some thought went into each section. Nice Djent adaptation as well, which is a bit of a culprit when it comes to the lack of highs. Yes the track quotes the original melody almost verbatim but outside of that there's work done with the structure and the sections in-between the main melody. I do think the Js that voted NO have a point in this being on the conservative side. I do think it makes it but it's not as clear-cut as Larry puts it, specially considering the mix could be cleaned up further. I do think it's enough but only just. YES (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexy Posted March 3, 2020 Author Share Posted March 3, 2020 Honestly, I see this as a neat genre adaptation. The performances are tight, the guitar tones both electric and unplugged are expressive, the drum writing never sticks around in one place, and the palette as a whole has this raw garage sound to it. Yes, this track does have more of a bass presence and not so much on the highs, but I didn't sense any glaring frequency overlaps either and can consider this an intentional alt-rock sound that fits its intended purpose. And yes, the arrangement is minimal, but it's just the melody maintained as it is while the bass does its own thing, and the added rhythm guitars/synth work contributes some fun textures that also shake up through the track's duration. The sustained aesthetic in the second variation felt ominous, the bit-crushed breakdown at 1:23 was out of leftfield, and the half-time drums at 2:17 shaped up an impressive audible climax. I think it set out to tread the fine line between conservative arranging and thoughtful interpretation, and that's impressive on its own. So yes, it's a gritty sound and minimal arrangement that may not fly with everyone, but I didn't sense anything glaring, so both sides squeaked over the bar for me. But I do hope you take what you've learned from this experience and see where you can push yourself for future submissions. Please stick around! YES (borderline) djpretzel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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