*NO* Dr. Mario "Chill Pill"

[Rexy]

Artist Information

Artist Name: Jakob Coltmyre
Real Name: Jared Clifton
Email: 
Website: https://soundcloud.com/jaycolt
User ID: JColtmyre 

Song Information

Game: Dr. Mario (NES)
Arrangement: Chill Pill
Original Song Title: Chill
Chill Theme Original:

Comments: Coincidentally, I had noticed a surge in various of my family members playing the old NES Dr. Mario game lately. It got me thinking that what I remember most about this game is the music. When I was 13, I recorded the Chill theme onto my old computer directly from an original black and white Gameboy with an aux cable plugged into the headphone port of the gameboy. I still have that recording! I used to love that song, still do! I would listen to it with headphones and loved how all the melodies fit together, each one becoming the center if you focus on it, but blending so smoothly when you view it as a whole.

It was my OC-remix-loving brother who, upon showing a group of us some OC remixes, I asked if anyone had done a remix of the old Chill theme from Dr. Mario. He didn’t recall any, so I accepted responsibility.

On a musical note (no pun intended), if you know what mode mixture means - you might begin to understand something. I thought this would be easy-peasy lemon-vitamin-juicy-squeezy. I played it in C on the piano, playing simple chords, but I was playing it wrong.  The original theme had so much mode mixture that it was hard for me, a novice, to find the right chords and counter-melodies when I started in Ableton. That said, I’m proud of what I accomplished; it keeps the spirit alive while making worthy contributions to the original.

Thank you for taking the time to vibe with me!
-JC

Key: C-wtfian
BPM: 120
MASTERED: 03/05/21

Edited February 7, 2022 by Liontamer
closed decision

[prophetik music]

fun original. lots of creative stuff going on in it.

this starts off with some fun synth work that is reminiscent of the detuned stuff that comes in later in the original. there's a lot of aural exploration and playing with different synths - i particularly like how you continue to switch the lead instrument to keep a pretty repetitive melody fresh. this continues through around 2:30. the melody is prevalent through the entire thing, and it never stays in one vibe too long.

there's a percussive break at 2:31 with some fun effects on the kick especially. the drums drop (they were getting a bit repetitive so that's good) and there's another big sweep into a new section at 3:20. around here we've heard that four-bar melodic bit quite a few times, so it's getting a bit tired even with the melodic instrument changing regularly. there's some new ideas at 3:31 that give it a much different feel, especially the synth solo through 4:23 (and subsequent C section from the original).

there's a shift back to the initial groove around the five minute mark. a lot of what happens after that sounds like what was going on in the earlier parts of the piece, although i don't think it's quite a copy. the remixer drops some synths here and there and then sends it out with a short outro.

overall i feel like it's four minutes of music spread over six. there's a lot of shifting around and clever synth work, but it's a short melodic fragment that you're representing and it stays essentially the same for most of the piece. while i think this one's over the bar due to the great presentation, i think you could have made a more cohesive package by actually playing with those modes you mentioned, or exploring switching up rhythms, chords, or notes in that four-bar fragment. that said, the mastering on this sounds pretty good and there's a lot of fun stuff going on, so i do think this one's good to go.

 

 

YES

[Liontamer]

Bad cop time. I agreed with prophetik on the arrangement dragging some over time but nonetheless being interpretive and developed enough, and I enjoyed the lead and textural variations used to try and keep the presentation of "Chill" fresh. Some of the instrumentation, like the drums and electrosynths, feels very generic/vanilla, so attempting to further personalize those sounds would also benefit this.

It's the production side where I think this still need more polish. The drums sound like a plastic bucket's being hit; it sounds better layered with the kick but still lacks oomph and presense in the texture.

Also the timing of everything's pretty stilted; sometimes it's not a big deal, but things like the sampled plucked strings (e.g.2:07-2:23), some of the sparser textures (e.g. 1:11-1:28, 2:23-3:03) or synths (e.g. the leads from 3:43-4:07 & 4:07-4:32) felt like bigger offenders in terms of exposing the mechanical-sounding timing. A 1% or 2% tempo increase might mitigate the issues enough; it's worth trying that or adjusting some timings so that everything doesn't sound so rigid, like the energy of the composition's being undermined.

This one's well along the way, and maybe the arrangement (which doesn't need to be touched, IMO) can carry the day as is, but this still needs some production TLC, IMO. Nice work thus far, Jared, and good luck with the rest of the vote!

NO (resubmit)

[MindWanderer]

I'm definitely in agreement that the arrangement drags, but I think it's a bigger deal than LT or proph.  The hook that first appears at 0:24-0:32 is repeated twenty-six times: fifteen times from 0:24-2:23 (two solid minutes of it!), four times from 3:04-3:35, and seven more times from 4:56-5:52.  Three and a half minutes out of a six-minute track is a repetition of eight seconds of melody.  Now, to be fair, there are a lot of variations of those eight seconds: a couple of different leads, several changes to the backing, and a few changes to the percussion, but it still wears out its welcome after about a minute, let alone three and a half.

I respect trance, especially progressive trance, but it's a hard genre to succeed at without sounding overly repetitive.  This isn't trance, and does not.  For me, it's a dealbreaker.

Production is a mixed bag for me.  1:11-1:28 is an example where it really works (mostly; the guitar is a smidge buried under the pad), going from the subtractive to the sweep to the rich soundscape held up by the pad.  Other sections are overly busy, and those vanilla synths Larry mentioned really stand out.  I think it's adequate in and of itself, but it makes the repetition issue stand out more than it might otherwise.

What I would need to vote YES on a revision of this is a restructuring.  You could go deeper into the trance style by taking cues from prog trance, evolving the synths and soundscape in noticeable ways as you go; you did this to some extent already, but it would need to be more.  Successful trance also benefits greatly from richer, more interesting synth choices.  Or you could cut down on the repetition and lean more into the rest of Chill, which is a long source track, and has a lot of material to work with, that you used only once.  Either way could work.

Good luck!

NO

[Chimpazilla]

Cool arrangement and writing ideas, and interesting sound choices, but I have to agree with the guys above regarding the production.  Mainly the mix sounds cluttered and muddy.  I don't hear any sidechaining, so the kick is not only getting lost but it is doubling up the lows when it hits.  At a minimum the bass needs to be sidechained, but I recommend each element get some sidechaining, including leads and backing elements (very gently, only a couple of db of gain reduction).  Also, and maybe even more importantly, each element in the mix needs to be EQd so that each thing sits well in the mix.  As it stands now I hear many elements overlapping and crowding each other.  Cut lows out of everything that isn't kick or bass, for example your leads can be lowcut around 200Hz.  This will clear out a ton of mud.  Make sure reverbs are also lowcut. 

That is a rather odd snare!  Not quite a plastic bucket for me, but well into the uncanny valley.

Regarding the arrangement, I have to agree the mix outstays its welcome and goes on too long without introducing anything new, so I'd recommend cutting the arrangement back by 1-2 minutes.  Good start but needs some attention.

NO

[DarkSim]

I enjoyed this track a lot! It’s a catchy hook, although by about the 4 minute mark I caught myself checking how long was left, as it was starting to feel too repetitive. To my surprise, there were 2 minutes to go! Thankfully, the section from 4:08 came to save the day, although I think if you’re going to have such a different part of the source used in a track like this, it’s really got to come in sooner. You could probably bring it in a good 2 minutes earlier, but considering it’s such a big change, why not give the lead synth the support it deserves? It’s a pretty weak transition with just a short noise riser, and the synth has no support for a while except for the percussion, which make both stand out as fairly basic. I much prefer when the arpeggiated bass comes in at 4:32. It reminds me of Love Missile F1-11 by Sigue Sigue Sputnik (yes that’s a real band… and song). Good 80s vibes there.

Production could use a few tweaks - I found the saw pad too loud in the mix, particularly for the level of distortion/detune applied. This can be heard particularly from 5:16-5:52, as it started to grate on me after being present for so long at once. Lack of sidechaining mentioned above by Kris, and I see you use Ableton, which is great because it’s really quick and easy to get a cool sounding sidechain going in Live. Look up a tutorial on YouTube and you’ll use one in every track you ever make from now on - I know I do! Drum samples could do with a review, too - start with the 4:08 section and work outwards from there.

I really dig this take on the theme. Take on board some of the advice from the panel, and I’d love to hear this one again with some cleaner production and more interesting sound design.

NO (resubmit)