Rexy Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 Contact Info ReMixer name: Katamari Real name: Austin Green Email address: Userid: 16526 ReMixer name: Sagnewshreds Real name: Sam Agnew Email address: Userid: 16118 ReMixer name: Trohnics Real name: Eric Smith Email address: Userid: N/A ReMixer name: Manny Real Name: Manny Lopez Email address: Userid: N/A Submission Info: Name of game(s) arranged: Power Drift Name of arrangement: "Velocity Fueled by Sake" Name of individual song(s) arranged: "Like the Wind" Composer: Hiroshi Kawaguchi System: Arcade Link to the original soundtrack: Contributors: Katamari: Arrangement, Guitars, Bass, Keys, Mixing Sagnewshreds: Arrangement, Guitars Trohnics: Arrangement, Guitars, SFX Manny: Arrangement, Keys Velocity: Fueled by Sake was a fun take on Power Drift that was cooked up for the Dwelling of Duels Kart Month contest in May 2018. A ton of inspiration on this track comes from J-Fusion bands such as T-Square and Casiopeia, noticeable mostly in the "EWI" tone for the main synth lead, as well as the multiple keyboard and guitar solos sprinkled throughout, culminating in a twin guitar solo battle at the end. Leading up to the submission date for the contest, we had been trading trash talk with another DoD regular, Snappleman. Both our group and Snappleman were planning on entering a Power Drift entry, and our group was determined to beat this legendary competitor. After consuming much sake during an extended weekend visit to Sagnewshreds' apartment in Manhattan (a yearly tradition), we had a completed track that we thought would stand up to the competition, which we aptly named "Fueled by Sake". However, being familiar with the way that Dwelling of Duels works (songs are listed alphabetically first by game, then by track title), we figured that our best bet would be to have our track go on *after* Snappleman, and so we appended "Velocity" to the front and called it finished. Snappleman did not actually enter that month, but we still took first place. No one knows to this day whether he had ever actually planned to compete. Thanks for considering us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Will keep it short and sweet. Soundscape was cramped and felt like things could have been cleaned up some. The first 1:30 was more of a super-close cover, but the sections afterward with extended soloing over the foundation of the source tune, followed by more interpretive arrangement and more substantial backing writing and textural differences afterward thankfully put this on solid ground in terms of the needed interpretation. Love it and glad to have Power Drift represented! Nice work, guys! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexy Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 The arrangement is essentially one run-through of the theme with some modifications. The bass line from 0:41 has more prominence with the octave licks, with the changed chord structures adding a subtle variation to the verse. Things got developed further at 1:31 with solos blistering through on top of that same verse-and-chorus accompaniment, culminating in some beefy harmony work at 2:04. I admit the bridge at 2:19 felt funky to me when I first heard it at the DoD duel this was a part of - wasn't too sure if having a bass doing similar riffs to the guitars would work sonically. But both the cameo reference to the intro and the resulting build back to the final chorus more than solidified its placement here. And yes, the all-out war at 3:34 made for some crazy subtractive work for the outro as well. For something that has more of a conservative approach, it did a lot of interpretive work with the source, and I felt that was worth it on its own. The soundscape is also serviceable - I can identify all parts for most of the time, the mixdown is also clean, and the tones for the guitars and synths all co-operate well together. Two things caught my attention, though: first of all, the open hi-hats have this fuzzy, loss-like tone to it and could've benefitted from a sibilance cut to tame it. And secondly, when all the leads do their spontaneous solos at 3:34, the soundscape feels very cluttered. The keyboard part going through the main melody was clear enough to keep the section going forward, though the ability to hear the other leads would've been handy to have. Despite my production crits, I honestly feel the treatment of the source did enough to work with the better parts of the presentation in creating a tight package through and through. I'm all revved up and excited to see it on the front page - excellent work, team! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 hey, this is pretty energetic right off the bat. that's fun! it's definitely a close cover with some synth leads to carry the melody initially. i found that synth lead tone to be both too loud and real boring (no lfo or anything that i noticed), but it was serviceable. the track came out of a soloing section to a bridge that felt real strange since it sat on the V and vii?/V for a while. it felt very unsettled as a result of that, but it served as a bridge well enough. after that was a restatement of the theme and then an extended outro featuring a lot of soloing. i liked the solos. they were fast and fun and weren't perfect, which i appreciate quite a bit since it makes the track sound more organic and not as processed. they also were panned but not too much, which was nice. i didn't mind the end's overlapping leads. i thought everything there was clear enough to hear the individual voices. the mastering overall felt pretty clear. it's loud and in your face, but it wasn't too cluttered. i wouldn't have minded a bit more verb/room to the overall tone, as it felt real dry, but it was fine. this is a fun take on a great source. nice work everyone =) YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_NutS Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 On 5/4/2020 at 6:46 PM, Rexy said: The arrangement is essentially one run-through of the theme with some modifications. Agree on this, it's a very safe remix. I really, really would've liked to hear some kind of expansion over the original or an original section... but even tho it's very close, it's not really a carbon copy although most of the originality is due to the soloing. The mastering is so-so, yes the elements can mostly be heard (I do hear some mud in there) but I don't think the mixdown is as clear as it could be. Like Larry I found some sections overly cramped specially with all the guitars and synth harmonies. The performances are pretty good in here, and overall this is pretty solid outside of the things I mentioned before which aren't as bad as I may be presenting them as in my vote. The track is going at almost breakneck speed but doesn't feel jumbled or chaotic, this could fit in a 90's arcade shoot-em-up just fine, without the racing sounds which honestly I found more cheesy than charming. Overall, this is a thumbs-up from me. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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