Rexy Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 Contact info ReMixer name: Neon X Real name: Martin Höglund Email address: Websites: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV8NwzoUa9I9HD1YXRIXp3g https://soundcloud.com/martin-hoeglund UserID: N/A Submission info Game: Super Mario World (SNES) Name of arr: Underground City Songs arranged: Underground Theme Additional info: The game is from the Super Nintendo, original composer is Koji Kondo. Original song on youtube: Comments: Arranged by ear in Reason Studio version 5 using only PC mouse, no external/physical instrument were used. All sounds are self produced or original synthezisers modified directly in Reason. During the ongoing world wide pandemic I was drawn to music production and wanted to brand myself as a synthwave producer with strong links to the video game music universe. Since this summer (2020) I've produced many arrangements from a variety of games, especially from the SNES. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 (edited) Hey, another Reason mouse-only, makes-his-own-synths brother in arms, here; it's rough out there, but we do what we can. Alright, so to start I think it's a fabulous idea to take that underground texture, flip the key of the source, and re-arrange the harmonies under the familiar melody of the track. Funny enough, it now sounds more like the castle OST because of the change to minor (every song is a variation of the same theme in that game), but I get where you were coming from regardless. The flip to double time and switching the instruments in the second half of the arrangement was also an excellent idea, and breathed quite a bit of life into the track to keep people's attention throughout. The instruments used, while not an issue on their own, tend to overcrowd the mid range of the arrangement, so the mix is muddy as a result (which also makes it more difficult than it should be to hear the melody throughout), with the pads and melodic saw that play together being particularly guilty of crowding the same area at 0:34 - 0:45, which gets better when it enters another octave; it could've probably been in that register the entire time without losing too much contrast, and would sit better in the EQ register. The 25% duty square that comes in at 1:54 also crowds the same range, though because it's timbre is so much more distinct it comes through the mix better regardless. There's one other issue that hurts this one, and that's the amount of repetition that goes on from 1:54 to 2:39. The theme & counterpoint, while being a neat variation of the source, essentially repeats four times over the same harmonies established prior. This track is a pretty short arrangement, and while I enjoy the theme you built it doesn't merit direct repetition like that. Give the listener something more to listen to over that section - some more variation, something different - and you'll better hold their attention to the end. The fade out ending is a little anti-climatic, as well, though I don't think it hurts the track enough to put much weight on it. I think this is an enjoyable little arrangement, but the repetition does hold it back, for me. Give that section something more for the listeners to grasp and I'd give it my blessing. The midrange could be better handled by shifting an instrument or two around, too, though that's not the primary issue holding this one back. Enjoyed it, glad to see a brother Reason mouse user, so I hope to see it come back to us with the minor necessary adjustments necessary to bring it over the top. NO Edited February 25, 2021 by Gario Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 this is a really fun take on the original! there's definitely some nitpicks here but this is honestly pretty close, i think. the half-time melody in the beginning with the spacey bass is great, and definitely felt like a totally different track right away. the whooshing pad you use often (for example, 0:21) is really odd-sounding - it sounds like there's some mic pressure there, as if it was being recorded from the wind instead of being synthesized - but ultimately it's too much in the low-mid register and the mix feels really cluttered as a result every time it comes in. i like the idea but don't like the execution. the switch in the bass link at 0:57 to a fake sidechain was great. i loved that such a simple change made such a difference in the feel of the track. there's a short breakdown and then we're back at standard speed. this half of the track is more homogenous like gario said. i wouldn't have minded some more variation in the countermelody, and maybe a bit more work done on the melody to make it more your thing there. the fadeout isn't my favorite ending but this one is quick and is more endemic to this style so i won't fault that. this one is interesting. i like the track, and it's really feeling OCR 2002-like, in a good way. there's definitely issues, but i don't feel they're as pressing as what gario mentioned - for example, i never have an issue hearing the melody in any part of the track, and i didn't find the second half's repetition to be particularly frustrating (it's a short track, sure, but the repetition in question is less than a minute of content). i think this is over the bar. it's pretty close but i like it. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 I love what you're going for overall and think you picked a perfect source to execute it with. This melody adapts perfectly to synthwave, and I appreciate the decision to go with a less-common Mario World theme. I hear where Gario is coming from with regards to the back-half repetition, and I will say that I think the track is weaker for it. I think you could have ramped things up in the final section a bit more with some additional countermelodies or even some original writing to close things out in more dramatic fashion. The shift to double-time prevents this from being a straight-up copy/paste scenario, but once I noticed it, it did sour my overall impression of the track. It seems like an especially curious choice when you already have an alternate melody/chord progression at :57 that would fit right in and offer a counterpoint to round the track out more wholly. On the mixing side, there's a bit of muddiness that's endemic to the synthwave genre, but aside from that, the production does feel slightly sterile. Some of your individual synths could use more bite, possibly by way of saturation or very subtle distortion, as well as some overall compression to glue everything together better. This is more of a "want" than a "need", but I felt it was worth mentioning anyway. Ultimately, I think the repetition could be forgiven if there was more content in the track overall, but when it's such a large part of a short arrangement, it sticks out like a sore thumb and leaves things sounding unresolved. It's very close and I wouldn't be torn up if this does eventually pass, but addressing it would certainly make this a much stronger package. NO (borderline, resubmit!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 This is definitely a close one. I really enjoyed the genre change here, and I think it absolutely sounds like it would fit into an 80's highway night drive movie scene. Gotta agree with the others above that the repetition is just a little too much here. I'd love to hear some more change-ups and little differences to bring this alive. The others didn't mention this, but even some subtle changes to the drums would help out. Hope to hear this again! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 Not a close one for me. Great variations throughout. prophetik laid out a lot of the interpretive aspects of the piece that really shouldn't be undersold; this is a different genre, lots of additive writing including original countermelodies. I'd even argue that the areas referencing the "on Yoshi" drums aspect of the source aren't even copying those patterns, so it's like getting wholly original writing inspired by the Yoshi drums. Gario had a valid point on the repetition of the melody from 1:54-2:39, sure, but it wasn't long overall and that part was really a brand new rhythmic idea after everything prior to it; really, the offending repetition was only from 2:16-2:39; some doubling/chorusing of the lead there and/or varying the beats more from 1:30-on would have been a subtle way to differentiate from the first iteration at 1:54, but it was brief, the repetitive section was already meaningfully interpretive, and it's a nitpick. Sure, more could be done with this, but nitpicks aplenty aside, when you look at the big picture at how interpretive this is of a 16-bit theme vis-a-vis rhythm, tempo, instrumentation, additive writing, and dynamic shifts, and how full the production sounds, I don't know how this is a close call. If this gets rejected, I'd argue the bar's just too high. YES djpretzel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 I hear what the other Js are saying about repetition, and I think the continuous same baseline is what causes that for me, but I agree with Larry that there is more than enough variation in the track to overcome the repetition. I like the double-time section and I really like the new lead I hear there. I don't care for fadeouts, but this one doesn't detract from the overall vibe of the track. I love this source in synthwave style. This one works for me. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Mmm, Daft Punk meets SMW. If they ever made a sequel to the Super Mario Bros. live action movie, this would be a great track for it. At least the first half; the second half's lead is more traditional 8-bit stuff. It is super, super short, though. It feels more repetitive than it is because it's over so quickly. It's a build-up, then a rise, and then that's it. It doesn't come across so much as repetitive as incomplete. If the current fade-out ending transitioned into a breakdown or other mellow cooldown section (and again, you can look to the Tron soundtracks for inspiration), then back into a climax, this would be <chef's kiss>. I kind of want this to get sent back because I want to hear what the rest of this remix would be if it were finished! But it's not going to be me who does it, because this does meet our standards for length, as unsatisfying as it is. Production is fine, it's creative as hell, and fun to boot. Absolutely please let us know if you ever decide to add more, but I have to give this a YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djpretzel Posted September 3, 2021 Share Posted September 3, 2021 Yeah. @Liontamer's vote, on this one. Which is actually not that common, where he's the one I agree with the most, but...it's got an idea, it runs with it, executes it well enough, feels complete. There are a gazillion ways this could be enhanced or extended, but that's not really the point - we gotta judge what's there - and I think this is above the bar. Not far above it, but above it. It's a familiar theme for most of us, but I ain't heard it this way, and I enjoyed hearing it this way. Repetition definitely subtracts some metaphorical points, but while it was an issue here, it wasn't flagrant enough to be a deal-breaker for me. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 Ah, Neon X! I recognise you from the WIP boards. Glad to see you’ve been submitting some of your work to the site. So, hang on a minute - this isn’t the castle theme?! Gario notes correctly that the underlying theme in SMW is omnipresent in the soundtrack, be it the normal theme, athletic theme, underwater, underground or castle. Makes for a very cohesive soundtrack that has arguably been remixed 4 times already in the game! RIght off the bat I’m feeling this one - I love these slow, pulsating synthwave tracks, and you’ve got the feel for that down. The percussion is serviceable, although I would have liked some groovier open-hat hits in there from 0:22-0:57. The glitchy arp that’s oscillating round the space actually does a great job of layering the bass and providing more interest to the groove in lieu of some more detailed percussion. The best part of this is 0:57-1:20 where you can really hear the underground theme working well as a little bridge section. I love the chord progression here too, it fits the genre amazingly well. I’m torn over the rest of the track, because it feels like it’s an epic build but then it just ends. Why you gotta end it there, eh? We were just getting going! As the other judges have noted, I felt the 4 runs through of the melody with that pulse lead were 2 too many, and I certainly would have liked some more variation in there, especially if that’s how the track ends. I was looking through the submission guidelines for anything related to ending a track “too soon”, but alas, this does meet the submission standards for arrangement. My lingering feeling after listening to the track was that it was incomplete, however. I’m squarely in agreement with all points made by MindWanderer on this. The overall production of the track is OK - I definitely feel like you should work on adding clarity to the elements of your mixes, though. There are tons of synthwave artists out there and although this level of production meets OCR’s standards, for you to grow as an artist I would recommend working on this aspect of your game. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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