*NO* Metroid "Space Huntress"

[Emunator]

ReMixer Name: Grant Supak (Real name is ReMixer name)

• Name of game: Metroid (NES)
• Name of Arrangement: Space Huntress
• Name of Individual Song: Norfair (Flame Stage)

Hope you enjoy the remix! It's a track that sat unfinished for several years as I couldn't quite nail what I wanted to do with it. I picked this particular theme as it's not one I've heard done hundreds of times, and its dissonant, non-musical qualities presented a unique challenge. Ultimately, I decided on a dreamy intro with the main progression altered from the original minor key to major. I added horns, inspired by the militaristic, triumphant sound found in the Crateria surface theme from Super Metroid. 

 

The song is a "fever dream" of sorts; it starts out chill and hopeful, but subtly morphs into menacing as it progresses, underpinning the hidden dangers of the Zebes Norfair area. It becomes more chaotic and jarring with each new section, the chosen instruments edgier and harder as the threat level increases. An ethereal wind blows underneath that ties the entire dream sequence together.

 

Thanks for your consideration!

 

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by prophetik music

[Emunator]

This is an interesting one - the sound design is a little rough around the edges but it does give it an interesting production quality that I can't quite pin down. The bass and drums get crunchy. 2:49 chip arp is super cool, ushering in some dirty guitar chugs. Arrangement is very engaging. 

[MindWanderer]

Starts off sounding like a sound upgrade, but 10 seconds in diverges into original writing, where it stays until 0:52.  There are hints of Brinstar's chord progression in the bass here, but that wasn't cited as a source.  Fortunately, that and 1:11-1:33, and then 3:27-3:45 are the only sections that aren't clearly from the source, so, at 69% source usage, it's technically within our standards.  It's just really weird for a remix to have so much original writing up front.

The lead horns sound terribly fake.  Sometimes you can get away with fake instruments in an otherwise all-synth mix, but this is not one of those times.  It's just unpleasant, exposed, and in your face.

At 2:40, there's an interesting call-and-return section with a new synth, but the "return" part is so quiet it's almost inaudible.

2:49 brings us back to the Item Room theme, overlaid on a loop of the Norfair theme.  I don't think it works; there's no harmony, the timing is different; they just don't go together.  At 3:05 there's some transformation that brings it back together, but it only lasts for 10 seconds.

3:25 has the Norfair theme weirdly start a loop and then immediately fade out, to be replaced by a return to the original writing, which is a loop of 0:32-1:11, then abruptly cuts back to Item Room as a bookend.

There isn't any one thing here that's a dealbreaker to me, but between the sound design and the disjointed layering and transitions, I have too many concerns.

NO

[Liontamer]

Opens and closes sampling the "Item Room" theme, but it's brief and a bookend technique. A simple but interesting soundscape to start. A wholly original line comes in at :31 (it does sound Brinstar-y, MindWanderer's right).

"Norfair" arrives at :51 with a very fake-sounding brass sample that lacks depth. Some minimalist beats arrived at 1:13, then the texture filled in more at 1:33 with some variations on "Norfair". All the brass, even layered, sounds very thin and mechanical; I'd argue it's not a viable lead as is since it'll never sound organic. Texturally, this is still too thin, and arguably doesn't fill out until 1:54 when a denser padding line came in.

2:14 continued filling in more, and you can hear how the track tries to evolve, but the blocky timing and relatively thin textures still drag out. I liked the change in the lead at 2:40-2:48; it could potentinally get tired after a while, but works there in terms of varying up the sounds. Some light electric guitar chugs entered into the picture at 2:49, followed by it doubling the lead at 3:05, then handling the countermelody at 3:15; very creative way to keep that part involved yet have it regularly switch roles.

At 3:25, we were back to the thinner textures, and this is just too relatively thin for too long to work, even though the effort is noticeably there to vary and build these textures. To me, the brass leads should be replaced. When expanding out the sounds, one would think the rigid timing would still work, but it's currently not. Would any musicians Js familiar with minimalism be able to offer Grant some production tips to help this sound more cohesive?

NO (resubmit)

[prophetik music]

interesting original choices.

intro is very ethereal, nice work making a vibe. the bell synth that comes in around 0:30 is a little square to fit into that. norfair's initial brass hit is actually to me pretty fitting in style, and i really dig the super-distorted bass synth, but the brass quickly sounds bad once it's more than a initial color choice.

by around 2:15, there's some noodling and it kind of hasn't progressed. there's some changes at 2:15, but i'd argue that they're not positive changes - it's just weirder, and less rooted in the original content, and not really forming a cohesive whole. i don't mind the idea of competing time signatures, but your mastering is too muddy to make it clear if that's what's supposed to be going on.

the guitar doubling the lead is neat intiially, but at 3:20 everything is just noise. it's way too much simultaneously. luckily you back off right away. the brass come back in at 3:45 or so and that kind of just...autopilots to the bookend sample and it's done? again, a weird progression.

this one's interesting. it's hard pointing to one specific thing as "this is why it's a NO". combining the very over-busy palette with dull mastering, no cohesive overall structure, and repetitive not-great synth choices is tough and definitely below the bar, though. fixing any number of these would improve it a lot.

 

 

NO