OCR04497 - *YES* Nightmare on Elm Street "You've Got the Body, I've Got the Synth"

[Emunator]

Hello OC Remix! It's been 20 years since my last submission, LOL. Hope you enjoy!

• Your ReMixer name - VicViper
• Your real name - Tom Strickland
• Your email address - 
• Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile - VicViper (sorry, cannot find number)
• Name of game(s) arranged - Nightmare on Elm Street (NES)
• Name of arrangement - "You've Got the Body, I've Got the Synth"
• Name of individual song(s) arranged - Elm Street
• Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site) - NES, originally composed by David Wise
• Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site) - https://youtu.be/uNl4Ix6rIrk
• Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc. -   I've always believed this kinda crappy LJN game has a very under-appreciated score. Reading all the positive comments on a Youtube post of the original song inspired me to make this.  I tried to preserve the spirit of the original by including the "ticking clock" sequence! 

[DarkSim]

Vintage David Wise? Synthwave? Great title? I'm excited!

Starts off fantastically, it's exactly what I was expecting. Delightful, sweet-sounding arpeggio and great atmosphere with that textured pad. Nice detail in the effects as well. There's a problem with the harmony throughout the A section though, with the two hits at the end of the phrase. It sounds like some notes are clashing, and can be heard first at 0:18, then 0:21 and 0:27, then onward as that section is repeated. Whatever synth you're using to accentuate those notes is either too detuned, or playing the wrong notes. I'm afraid it just doesn't sound good - try a brassier sound, or maybe save the harmony for later in the track for impact.

I did find myself hoping for the drop to hit after the first 8 bars, and the percussion to kick in then. You made us wait for the 17th bar, and I was expecting a much harder drop after waiting so long, but unfortunately the mix is severely lacking punch once the percussion lands. The snare is all in the high-end, and the kick's really soft. You can tell how soft the kick is when the toms come in and sound louder and have more presence. The toms sound great - just get the kick and snare to match their presence and you'll be sorted there.

Arrangement is good, I especially like how you transition out of the 'ticking clock' middle section. Always difficult to change smoothly to a half-tempo section and back out, but it's done well here. I appreciate the effort to add a countermelody/counter-arp for the final chorus, but it's getting lost in the mixing, as the synth chosen sounds too similar to the backing. Try adjusting the mix, or designing the synth to have some more clarity to it.

I'd really love to hear this one again, and hopefully the fixes won't take too long. I'd say the harmonies and snare punchiness are must-fixes, but if you want to chop out bars 9-16 and switch up that synth in the final chorus, I reckon it'd sound even better. Looking forward to hearing it!

NO (resubmit)

[MindWanderer]

I can't say that I agree.  Those two-note hits aren't a standard chord, but they don't sound detuned or off-key to me.  It's probably some mode I don't know the name of.  Maybe another judge can label it, but to me it doesn't sound like a problem.  The kicks seem nice and boomy to me, though I don't have a listening setup with really strong sub.  The snares actually sound a little light in the highs to me, for a snare.

If you haven't guessed by now, I like this a lot.  I do think it's a little repetitive, as DarkSim implied---the intro is quite long, and the main themes do get iterated on a bit more than I'd like, but it's very minor.  Overall this has a great sound and is a lot of fun.

Is that a One Must Fall 2049 reference at 3:22, or just a coincidence?

This gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me.

YES

[prophetik music]

that part at 0:18 is absolutely a wrong note. the arpeggio in the beginning is outlining (i think) a Gsus with a flat 7 (G C D F) based around Gm, and the bass comes in and plays G B natural A, so you've got a C (fourth) next to a B natural (major third). this is extra weird because GCDF is not clearly in a key enough for the root to be super clear (could be a C2sus, F2 with a 6, a Dm with a sus...etc) so the B is super unsupported, and a Bb is elsewhere in the background, making it even worse. having the bass play Bb A or C A instead of B A would fix it. the jumps right after to other pitches are fine. it's still a little weird later because there's definitely a Bb in the pads somewhere and you've got the bass just jumping to a non-chord tone.

i think the percs sound find. it's a really 80s sound, with a punchy beater-forward kick and a fat snare with less highs. i do think it would benefit a bit from more brightness but it is fine the way it is. the transition at 1:35 is actually pretty well handled, although a bit jarring since it feels very different from the beginning. i wouldn't mind if the drums did more in here outside of the fills, like some tom stuff, but it's a nice transition piece between fairly repetitive sections sandwiching it. the ending does a good job of setting down. i like going out of time at the end to help it kind of trail out.

this is a cool idea for a track overall. i think. it's overly repetitive, and there's that weird bass note error, but the rest of the ensemble sounds good and is meaty. i think that it can't really go out with that B natural in the bass, but that will be a super easy fix and then it's ready to rock.

 

 

YES (conditional)

[XPRTNovice]

Man what a gem source. I'm not familiar with this at all, but this original slaps.

I actually really like the slightly discordant harmonies happening in the beginning, which seem to mix a kind of strange major and minor from two different keys?  I'm not sure what's going on there, but I like it.

The drum entrance is nice and clean, smooth mixing all around as we get to the first minute mark. I could stand for the melody to come out just a bit at around 1:02, it seems to drop out for a second and left me wondering where it went, but then comes back in strong at 1:10. 

The build happening at 1:35 is great; I love the vocal SFX, the slowdown in tempo, and the not so subtle reminder that this is from an actual horror game so let's get a little scary. The breakdown and buildup at 2:10 gets a little muddy around the 250hz mark to my ears, but it's not so much that I'd dock it points. But if you were going at this with a scalpel, that's where I would carve out some of that boxy/boomy EQ and see if you can just get that a little cleaner. 

At 2:50, I run back into the issue that I feel like the melody is being swallowed up by the background; the higher voice in the arrangement falls pray to the wonderful 80s drum and bass remix you've got going on. That only lasts for about 10 seconds though, and then it comes back in just fine. 

Ending is great, love the ritard and out. Overall great piece with only some minor nitpicks that you might freshen up, but on their own I think they don't make this a NO by any stretch for me. 

YES

[Liontamer]

Opens up super promising; I enjoy the instrumentation and soundscape, which sound plucky and clean. Wait, ooooh, what's happening at :17??? Nooooooooooo, this supporting/doubling line or whatever this is off-key, and it's LOUDLY off-key. Nooooooo, I wanted to pass this and that's a nightmare scenario already right there in every iteration of the verse. (3/16/23 EDIT: Rexy pointed out it's in the source, and yes it is, but it's quiet and more stabby & brief in the NES original, not mixed so loudly like this where it clashes, so massively pull it back.)

Drums arrive at :35, and something about them's underwhelming, even though they're competantly mixed in. The bassline's good, but the main beat at the foundation of this plods; some off-beats and/or variations there would help that pattern not sound so bland.

I'm 1:30 in, and while the sound upgrade's solid, I'm needing more substance here. OK, here's a dropoff with a transition to some sampled voices, the ticking sounds, then a nice restart of music at 1:47 to take us to the next section. The build was JUST starting to feel overlong, but then we got back into the source tune at 2:22. IMO, you could have extended this part at 2:22 for a few more bars and work in some variations instead of just going right back into the main melody at 2:34.

Varying up the instrumentation of the lead would have felt like more substantial development and dynamic contrast. Still, I appreciated changing the percussion backing until 2:43, then adding some new countermelodic writing at 2:43 that interacted nicely with the melody and chorus. Since you were essentially rinsing and repeating the verses and melody at this point, my earlier critique definitely feels right; you need to vary up the presentation of melody & chorus in a way that feels less cut-and-paste, even though the additional writing on top of it was a positive step.

More good original writing at 3:21, though this stuff was too loud over the other instrumentation and the soundscape quickly became too messy and cluttered. Changeup at 3:39 mirroring 2:22's, but again, feels too much like a cut-and-paste with other (good) new writing stapled on top.

Such great promise here, and super fucking cool to hear a new submission from Tom 20+ years later. I'd love to see this posted in some form. If you're willing to revisit this Tom, and 1) adjust the off-key part by decreasing the volume on it, 2) vary up the drum writing (the core pattern not always being on the beat) and lead instrumentation over time, and 3) watch the mixing from 2:43-on once you adding in new original material to complement the source tune, this would be in great shape! Great source tune choice where I'm genuinely digging this concept. I hope you'd be willing to give it some further TLC.

NO (resubmit)

[Chimpazilla]

Cool source!  I am finding this arrangement fantastic.  I don't hear those two notes as being wrong, not at all, I like the harmony in fact.  I'm with XPRT, I don't know what's going on there (weird mode?) but I like it.  The vocal clip at the slowed-down section is killer although it could have been louder and with more effects/delay.  I think this arrangement is interesting and cool and I love the synthwave style and the overall vibe.  My biggest complaint is the mixing, I hear too much lows coming out of absolutely everything and it's muddying things up.  If you cut unneeded lows out of everything that isn't kick or bass, the low end would sound cleaner and much tighter too; as it stands, the low end has this loose feel that's a little uncomfortable if that makes sense. Some of the instruments sound almost flabby, I think due to stray lows and even rumble that can easily be EQd out.  The mix could also benefit from slightly stronger sidechaining, not for pumping effect but for mixing clarity and added groove.  The mixing isn't optimal but it isn't a dealbreaker for me. I think the track is great.

YES

[Emunator]

Oh yeah, I'm definitely on the side of "those harmonies sound intentional and in fact, I really like them." I do agree with Chimpazilla's assessment of the mixing and how it could be improved, but what you've already got is delightfully retro-sounding without sounding dated at all. The extended transition at 1:30 was executed especially well and did a perfect job adding some variety to the mix. You haven't lost your touch, 20 years later! 

YES

[DarkeSword]

That's not a wrong note. It's intentional and it works once it gets contextualized by the chord hits. It's great.

Really like this. Fantastic soundscape. Lots of energy and very groovy.

YES