*NO* House of the Dead: Overkill "The Good, the Sweet, and the Sour"

[Chimpazilla]

Contact Information

• Remixer Username: Audio Mocha
• Real Name: Daniel Florez
• Preferred E-mail: 
• User ID: 33297

Name of games arranged: House Of The Dead: Overkill

Name of arrangement: The Good, The Sweet, And The Sour

Name of individual songs: Dim Sum For Papa

Source materials: https://soundcloud.com/pitstop-productions/house-of-the-dead-overkill-003

Comments: When Dwelling of Duels announced that October 2021's theme would be Wii games, I immediately knew that I had to make something. The Wii is easily the most influential console in my life since it was the first one that I was really around for its release, its controller made shooting and sword-wielding games a lot funner, and because I was exposed to a very large amount of its library. Most people only tend to remember the first party titles on the console so when I saw the theme, I knew I wanted to go with something a bit more left-field. I then realized that Overkill was the perfect choice, considering the number of times I've beaten it and how much the music fits my style. I initially started off just making a pretty straight cover and kind of arranging as I recorded guitar but over the week I was working on it, I just kept getting ideas and eventually settled on a more spaghetti western surf feel after I played a part on trumpet and realized I could actually pull it off since it was right in my range in the time of recording. I'm especially proud of this one since it's the first time I've included live recordings of me on the trumpet completely solo and with minimal processing as well as the very first time I've included any of my violin playing in a track; The violin is less upfront but I wanted to include it to give a more Mariachi-esque texture when it is present. Hope you enjoy it, I certainly did while making it!

File Link: 

 

--

Daniel Florez

E-mail: 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Liontamer
closed decision

[DarkSim]

You're getting all Pulp Fiction on us, aren't you? That opening guitar is spot on for the sound you were going for, and the instrumentation throughout is well-chosen. On first listen, I thought the violin was ever so slightly flat, but on reflection, the tuning fits the style well. That trumpet sounds great too, you did an awesome job there!

I like the arrangement, because it pays unmistakable homage to the source, yet your individuality shines through in the organ and guitar solos, and of course the live violin and trumpet performances are great to hear. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the coconut-shell percussion, particularly the lowered-pitch parts from 1:52. The mixing exposes the sound too much, so it doesn't sound like it's part of the main band. Pitch-shifting the samples only serves to further distract from the otherwise excellent soloing. 2:03-2:16 was my favourite part, and I love how it segues back to the source theme for the final chorus.

The overall energy of the piece is definitely higher than that of the source tune, and it's a really fun listen. Makes me want to hit repeat.

YES

[MindWanderer]

The surf rock/spaghetti western tone is basically the same as the original, so I needed to see a lot of creativity in the additional material to consider it sufficiently transformative.  I was worried up until 1:11 when the original writing kicks in.  At that point it definitely kicks things up a notch in the writing department, so good work there.

Unfortunately, the sound quality is a problem for me.  Was the intent to make this sound like a period-appropriate cassette recording?  Because there's some heavy saturation which sounds like it may have been deliberate.  Highs and lows alike are absent, with nearly all the sounds taking up the middle frequency bands.  Everything is clear, but it sounds like mush.  The violin in particular is so heavily treated that it doesn't sound like a live performance at all; it sounds like it was sampled from a deteriorating audio tape.  The trumpet sounds better but still sounds like it was put through the same processing as everything else.

Clean this up and give everything a crisper sound and I think this could be great.  I can't vote for it in its current state, though.

NO (resubmit)

[prophetik music]

what a fun idea! i can hear the influence right away.

elephant in the room: it does sound pretty messily mastered. there's a huge amount of sub-40hz stuff, so it's muddy, and there's a big peak at like 120hz and essentially nothing above it for the rest of the eq range. there's a serious need to do some EQing here to notch everything in better. the live instruments especially need some love since they're really condensed freq-wise and it's affecting their tone a lot. for example, the violin's lack of upper range makes it sound more like a sine wave. the trumpet sound is fine, i thought, but the rhythm guitar is very low-heavy and focused exclusively in the low-mid right near the bass, so that's super boomy.

that said, it is a fun track! there's a ton of interesting little ideas and performance elements that lean into the spag west concept. i like the arrangement a lot, it just sounds boomy and messy.

 

 

NO

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by prophetik music

[Chimpazilla]

This is quite a conservative arrangement, but the soloing with the violin, trumpet and guitar are great and fit the vibe perfectly.  It starts off sounding just like a cover but I like the faster surf-rock style.  I wish original writing kicked in sooner than 1:11, though, but the trumpet writing is particularly good.  The guitar and organ soloing are also quite good.  The mixing though is a problem.  Every element is playing in the middle of the frequency range and in the middle of the stereo field.  I actually opened up Ozone Imager to see if I was imagining this, but the Imager confirms that even in the fullest section, everything is playing in the middle, nearly mono. The mix will need to be cleaned up, cutting out unnecessary lows from everything other than kick and bass (this will clear out a ton of mud), and ideally placing some backing elements more widely in the soundscape (leads should be more centered but not mono).  This will give the mix a nice, full soundscape without elements piling on top of each other in the middle.

NO (resubmit)

[Liontamer]

I'm listening and this mixing doesn't sound right. Whenever the bowed strings and brass come in, the levels on those seem too loud and upfront, and then the guitar becomes very indistinct and lost in the background. Even the same for the little clicking hand percussion sounds, those were too loud as well.

So the mixing's not optimal, as illustrated by the others. They're not wrong at all, but the arrangement is strong. Nice adaptation where the instrumentation feels so similar to the original, and you're thinking it's too close going from one electric guitar to another, but then you have the spaghetti western vibes and more urgency via the excellent percussion writing. Just because the mixing's not ideal doesn't mean it's not solid; I can hear most of the parts clearly enough aside from the fullest part from 2:28-2:40 when the guitar got buried, which was brief. Great concept, energy, and presentation from Daniel! Strong arrangement + decent & capable, but not ideal production... we ride.

YES

[XPRTNovice]

 

Man what a cool feel you've got going on here. I love the guitar performance and the soundscape you've chosen. 

I recommend taking just a sliiiight cut on the high freqs of the castanets, either with multiband compression or just simple EQ. They pop out of the mix too much; they're a perfect spice for the dish, but you've got too much of it on there. 

The TRUMPET solo. YES. Fits perfectly, performed well, mixed in great. 

When the solos start trading (organ, guitar, etc) I would say bring them out (particularly the organ - the patch you chose there for the organ kind of oscillates back into the background too much and I lose its presence in the main stage of the piece). Nothing dramatic, just a db or 2 to give the listener the obvious impression that the performers are standing out from each other.

I'm on the fence here when it comes to the overall sound of the production. I feel like you've got everything in the right place, and mostly at the right volumes except for what I've called out above, but there's something about the mixing of the piece that's holding it back. As some other judges have said, there's a 250hz muddiness that can be pulled out in the bass guitar, which will then give you room to add in some other things and bolster other sounds. You've got so much room on the sides as Chimp mentioned, so USE that part of the soundscape. I am loathe to NO this, but I don't want you to take it as discouraging; 
I'm begging you to resubmit becuase this piece has incredible potentital with just a little more attention to detail in the mixing. GREAT job. 

 

NO (resubmit or else)

 

 

 

[DarkeSword]

Agree with Joe. It's a NO (resub or else) from me too. I think the arrangement is good but some of the performances (outside the trumpet) feel a little wilted. I'm not sure if that's the EQ or the mud or what but it feels like the energy is being sucked out of this one. My touchstone for a track like this would be (obviously) Pulp Fiction but also Juno Reactor's Pistolero. There's a clarity that's missing here and it's hurting this track, which is a shame.

Would love to see this on the site eventually. Hopefully it's not too late to fix up.