Rexy Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 (edited) Contact information ReMixer name: Devastus Real name: Jani Syrjänen User ID: 24166 Submission information Name of game arranged: Tekken 2 Name of arrangement: HEADHUNTER Name of individual song arranged: Black Winter Night Sky Link to original: Comments: In the year 2077, the umpteenth King of Iron Fist Tournament begins with a bang, as the Mishima Corps' head figures are attacked by an unknown, ironclad assailant. This song is a huge nostalgia trip, I played the hell out of Tekken 2 and 3 as a kid and really liked this intro. A friend of mine linked the original song to me a while back and that kinda got my creative grooves going. I've had a long break from making music, and an even longer break from making remixes, so this was an ample opportunity to take a shot at it once again. Maybe it's the quarantine, but I've been drawn to cyberpunk-ish dystopia stuff lately, and decided to pull a twist and try my hand at fully (well, 99%) electronic music instead of metal or orchestral, which I've been usually doing. The end result is that I really enjoyed the process, and think it turned out intense, brooding and hard hitting (the holy trinity). Stuff used here consists of Reaper DAW, Surge (it's amazing, I used it for literally every synth sound in the song), some freebie odds and ends for the drum sounds and a guitar. Hope you enjoy! - Devastus Edited October 17, 2020 by Rexy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 Good to hear some Tekken action. Things start off with some thunder and an arp synth, then we get a big big kick. We hit the drop at 0:52, which is big, but things are a bit muffled there. The section directly after seems ok. At 1:24 we get a guitar solo that’s quite unexpected, and played well. At 1:41 we get into the 2nd drop, where things are a bit muffled again. The backing elements are blended/mushed up, with multiple parts sharing the same frequency space to their collective detriment. The guitar returns over the top as a lead at 1:57, and sounds great. Things wind up soon after as they started. You’ve got some great ideas here. This is a very short mix, but there are a ton of ideas packed in. My main concern is your mixing in the 2 drop sections, which are just too crowded. I think a revisit of the mixing will clean this up — it may be some backing instruments need to be removed, or bass-frequencies need to be HPF’d out of the non-essential instruments so everything can breathe rather that stepping on each other. I think this is very close, please drop a re-sub. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 (edited) Big fan of the Tekken series and it's music from back in the day. Very cool to see it here. In general, it sounds like like you chose to keep a similar style and instrumentation to the original. Really LOVED how you changed it up at :52 & 1:41. Great energy there; these two really take the arrangement side over the top for me, as this is when you take the track in a new direction from the original, while still incorporating the backing synth riff from :17 in the OST. I have to agree with Jive on the crowded mixing, but I think I'd even take it a step further and say that I feel there are mixing issues throughout. The kick is taking up a ton of freq room, top to bottom. The bass synths are taking up most of the rest. When the two drop sections hit, it just exacerbates the situation with additional instrumentation causing even more overcrowding. You can hear it when you compare the drums here to elsewhere in the mix: lots of the low end gets squashed out and you get mainly the high-end click of the kick and a overcompressed snare coming through. I will say, the synths and guitar sound great. Energy is great. I'm good on arrangement. I think this one is very close and I'd be on board with another clearer mixing pass. NO (borderline), resubmit please Edited October 16, 2020 by Nutritious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexy Posted October 17, 2020 Author Share Posted October 17, 2020 Great source pick! Believe it or not, I've put more hours into Tekken 2 than any Street Fighter game - so I can relate with your blurb, Jani. It made a lot of sense for you to adapt the source into a cyberpunk feel like this. The progression goes through one loop with some developed segments, each with some unique textures and shaping. I sensed it with the arp's application on the bookends in shaping suitable for the genre; the original's polysynth adapted to the half-time breakdown at 0:52; the mid-section piano brought to the mellow plucks at 1:08 with some chord transformations; plus the guitar solo at 1:24 having some minor rhythm modifications. The return to the half-time drums at 1:40 felt alarming as compositionally, it returned to the same idea established before, but the added faint guitar chugs and solo at the end cemented its place. The palette is also really cool - a great choice of synths and your guitar tone/performance is excellent as always. However, Joel and Justin got the mixing issues spot on. This mix is over-crowded, particularly in the bass frequencies where the lower-tone synths occupied so much room that it's not giving the other parts a chance to cut through. Justin also homed in on why the drums didn't have that low-end power in the half-time drops. By looking at those low-mid synths and their EQ settings, you can find a way to clear space for that rumble to make its way out. I'd also recommend you let the ending fully fade out, so watch out for that when you get back to the project. Honestly, with 18 years since djp released his take on the game's ending, it'll be nice to hear some more coverage down the line. If you can revise the mixing on your lower-tone instruments, I'll be more than happy to listen to the track again. It's so close, Jani - keep at it! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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