OCR04438 - *YES* Mario Kart 8, SMW2, SSBB, SMW, SSB & SMK "Yoshi Race (Love Mix Version)" *PRIORITY*

[Liontamer]

ReMixer name: Kiragon o Bardo  
Real name: Herbert Nunes Moura  
Email address: 
Website(s): https://www.youtube.com/@KiragonoBardo  
https://www.instagram.com/kiragon_obardo/  
User id: 38523  

Featuring Kyana on the drums 
ReMixer name: Kyana 
Real name: Kanamori Yoshihiro 
Website(s): https://twitter.com/game_yk_hml_310
https://www.instagram.com/game_yk_hml_310/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXkFJX0qajj8wLsRctfbp3w?app=desktop
https://www.tiktok.com/@game_yk_hml_310
https://min.togetter.com/zARqVNT
User id: 38525 

Name of game(s) arranged: Mario Kart series
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003)  
Mario Kart DS (2005)  
Mario Kart 8 (DLC Pack 1) (2014)  
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017)  
Mario Kart Tour (2019)  
  
Name of arrangement: Yoshi Race love Remix Version
Name of individual song(s) arranged: Yoshi Circuit  
Additional information about game: This song first appeared in “Mario Kart: Double Dash!!” for GameCube, and the original composers are Shinobu Tanaka and Kenta Nagata
Link to the original soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpXqPFtEpDE&ab_channel=DavidBosch

Comments about the mix:  

Kiragon: “This specific mix features Kyana, a very talented drummer from japan, the other instruments are played by me, you can also hear it with soulless drums MIDIs and a super cool video edition that I made on my youtube channel! The arrangement has many influences and references, the instrumentation itself was inspired by the game "yoshi's story", so the main lines are played in a melodica and a recorder flute. I made sure it had some elements from all the original versions of this track, but the main reference was the "mario kart 8" version. At the solo part it's almost a medley, it has many references, the "super smash bros" versions of these songs inspired most of them, among those are: Flower Garden from "Yoshi's Island", Wildlands from "Yoshi's Island DS", The "Mario Kart" Lick from dophin shoals from "mario kart 8", Athletic theme (bongos) from "Super Mario World" and Yoshi's Story theme.”

Kyana: “I made the drums part after listening to the Alberto's playing. 

I kept in mind to cover the drums part, to entertain not only the listener, but also the player!” 

P.S: Alberto is me, Kiragon, my friends call me Alberto for some reason.

 

[Liontamer]

I'm sincerely glad that Kiragon & Kyana were willing to submit this for our Mario month. I tweeted at them directly encouraging them to send this in after discovering this, and always want to encourage folks worldwide to join the community!

Very interesting to hear this basically stay with the same structure and tempo yet feel personalized in the performance, showing how the live performances add that personalized touch, particularly Kyana's wild drumming.  The bonanza of other Mario franchise cameos from 1:15-2:01 was also wonderfully integrated with the main source tune subtly staying in play the whole time, then went back into a faster iteration of the theme (final lap!) for the short-but-sweet closing section at 2:05! Great energy throughout, and love the Kart series getting some representation.

YES

My version of the song list based on Kiragon's notes:
Mario Kart 8 (WIIU) - "GCN Yoshi Circuit"
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES) - "Flower Garden"
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (WII) - "Yoshi: Wildlands"
Mario Kart 8 (WIIU) - "Dolphin Shoals - Above Ground"
Super Mario World (SNES) - "Athletic BGM"
Super Smash Bros. (N64) - "Yoshi's Island Stage"
Super Mario Kart (SNES) - "Final Lap"

[prophetik music]

hey, this is really fun! the original's vibe translated really easily to this arrangement. ultimately most of the arrangement felt like the original to the point i needed to A/B it, and i think that the first minute is mostly in line with the original, with a solo break and some goofiness during the second minute until a break at 2:02. there's an extra-frantic ending and that's that.

ultimately, the mastering on this track is really poor. it's hard to hear anything, really, and there's no EQ i can hear on the drums at all where they're desperately needed. it's very dense as shown by the freq plot - tons of sub-40hz content, tons of stuff between 100-200hz, and essentially nothinig past 2khz, which is why it sounds so dull. a quick mastering pass could work wonders with this! right now i don't think it passes our mastering bar, but it's a fun track that absolutely would have a home here once it's gone through that.

 

 

NO

[Chimpazilla]

This is a crazy, frantic remix with lots of personality and energy.  It's extremely goofy which fits the theme of the original.  It's definitely conservative in terms of style, instrumentation and energy.  I think it's a lot of fun.  I agree with prophetik that the mastering could be stronger, but I disagree totally that there is too much sub content or not enough highs.  Honestly I don't hear that, nor do I see it on an instance of SPAN.  The bass seems to live at 130Hz, and while I don't hear mud, it's not a bad idea to EQ other instruments so they aren't interfering too much in the 130Hz-and-below range (something to be aware of for next time).  I do see that the EQ is hard cut-off at 16k Hz, not sure why?  But I don't think that is killing the high end at all (and may in fact be cutting off a lot of painful fuzz!).  This is a busy mix and while the mixing/mastering isn't perfect, I find it adequate and everything is audible.  I like the transition into the sped-up finale a lot!  Fun stuff, let's go!

YES

[MindWanderer]

The arrangement is lots of fun, but sadly, I'm in immediate agreement with proph.  The mixing is so thin that I initially wondered if there was something wrong with my setup.  Everything's crammed into the tenor range.  I'm feeling no bass (though maybe there's sub; my setup has weak sub), mids are weak, highs are weak except for a shrill range that makes the whistles and harmonica cut through like a knife.  Even the Hammond solo is weirdly flat and high-pitched.  It sounds like a cassette recording played on a cheap stereo, just without the saturation.

I enjoyed the arrangement a lot, the cameos were cool, but I need another mastering pass before I can vote in its favor.

NO

[DarkSim]

This one gets a pass simply for 1:32 where you have the 'Mount Yoshi' SFX followed by the addition of YOSHI BONGOS!

YES

Seriously though, mastering is really poor and does this a huge disservice. I love everything about the arrangement (although it does feel a little bit like a medley), especially the drums, but they're so thin it almost kills it. I'm gonna have to give this one a Conditional, because I slapped it into my DAW and tried out a number of random generic 'Mastering' presets on it, and they all sounded better. I suggest doing the same with this, then sending it back on over. It's a 1 minute fix.

CONDITIONAL

[Emunator]

This is an interesting approach to arrangement that we don't really get often. The instrumentation feels almost identical to the original, though it's been clearly recreated with a pretty meticulous attention to detail. The end result reminds me a lot of Juke's approach with tracks like "Vacation in the Mushroom Kingdom" or "Our Home" where much of the personalization comes in the way that you interweave a number of other sources into the arrangement. This does feel a bit more like a medley but ultimately feels cohesive enough to pass muster on the arrangement. The Yoshi's Island theme is the only instance where the transition feels jarring, but you tie it back to the main arrangement by bringing in some of the Mario Kart tune at the same time. 

The whole mix definitely feels squished and messy, but in a way it almost kind of works? I feel like I'm listening to a maniacal live band play in a small pub somewhere, so the mixing doesn't feel entirely out of place for me and almost contributes to the live jam band sound. 

The organ solo rips, by the way. Nice work on that. 

I was fully prepared to vote NO on this when I first heard it but the more I engaged, the more I came around to it and appreciated all the subtle things you did with your arrangement. I'm glad to have flipped here, it's fun on this side

YES

Edited March 22, 2023 by Emunator

[DarkeSword]

Nice arrangement, sticks close to the original's energy but some nice performances. Love the callbacks to older Yoshi music. Bongos are great.

Mixing is an issue though. What happened here? Other Js articulated it well. Needs anot pass on that.

NO, resub

[XPRTNovice]

Honestly, I was ready to NO this piece as soon as I heard it because of the drum mixing, from 0:01. It's really janky; the kick drum is very difficult to listen to, and the rest of the piece is buried by it. The spacial mixing seems okay, but I can't even get a good sense of what the piece really sounds like in a lot of places because the drums muddy the whole thing. 

That being said, christ alive the performances are amazing and the arrangement is off the hook. Timing is tight. Drum performance is amazing. The Yoshi Story ode was incredible. Whistling is impressive. The "Last Lap" motif is fun as hell. I'm like, really sad that I'm going to NO this based on the mixing, but to me it's a hard pass. 

NO

[Rexy]

I agree with my fellow Js that the arrangement is fantastic.  Yes, it starts with a conservative run on the source proper, but then the sprinkling in of all the Yoshi cameos and the frantic "final lap" part adapted so organically to your overall direction that I can't find a way to improve on that.  Major kudos.

The main issue that I have with it, as mentioned earlier, is the drum mixing.  Right from the get-go, Kyana's drums - extremely fun and articulate like the rest of the instrumentation - completely overpowered the rest of the soundscape.  I wanted to hear everything else alongside it, but I had to focus more than usual.  Additionally, I felt barely any EQ cuts - I hear resonance on your snare, the floor on the kick, and the hi-hats imply too much emphasis with sizzling on the overhead mics.  I don't know if you got the stems for each drum mic, but if you do, it's worth reviewing their volume / EQ settings to see what you can do to sit them in.  If it's just one big master file and you can't break it down, bringing the volume down could still work.

I also wasn't sure what was going on at 1:39-2:01, either - it felt like some audible clipping was going onto the left speaker.  I suspect that there's something to do with the "Yoshi Bongoes" that caused it, but it'll be worth going back into your mixdown and figuring out which hard-left-panned instrument is causing it, then tweak its volume / EQ accordingly.

I'm also glad that Larry reached out to you because what you sent over was such a fun live jam.  But for me to see it on OCR, your drum mixing needs that pinch more TLC, whatever you decide to do.  I'm just shocked that a source this iconic hasn't been repped on OCR yet, so that's another reason why I'd love to see this back here.  Keep at it.

NO (resubmit)

[Gario]

Okay, that middle bit with the actual Yoshi's Island reference is quite good, along with that Yoshi's Story reference it honestly does sell the arrangement for me - on that end, anyway. I'll admit that I agree that the mixing of this one is questionable, with some instruments just pulling too far to the front. However, giving this a few listens I do not think it actually brings this below the OCR bar.

The judges critiquing the mixing of this aren't wrong, and it would be great if the mixing was better blended, but I don't think this is below our standards. Short and sweet, I like it.

YES

[djpretzel]

Has anyone seen The Amazing World of Gumball? Because I swear this has the same energy...

I've heard drums mixed like this before, somewhere (maybe it was Boredoms?), but before we get to that, one thing is abundantly obvious: Kyana can DRUM!! Goodness gracious... I confess that I'm probably more tempted to "excuse" or attribute to intentional aesthetic choice the drum mixing, based on how solid the performance is - it's not how we should really approach evaluation, but it's hard for me to process throwing down such a badass performance and then being.... nonchalant?... about how it's mixed. The kick hits me the weirdest.... drier than a Cabernet in the Gobi, EQ curve that makes it sound more like a cochlea misfire at times... but it's a sound. And in the zany & boisterous context of the overall arrangement, it's a sound that ultimately works well enough for me. Other judges covered various highs & lows already, but the sink-or-swim factor for most seems to be the less-orthodox production, and I side with the approval votes.

YES