Liontamer Posted March 12, 2023 Share Posted March 12, 2023 Name of game(s) arranged: Donkey Kong Country (DKC) Name of arrangement: Tantric Hijinx Name of individual song(s) arranged: Jungle Hijinx Your ReMixer name: HANABI [하나비], Alter Loy Your real name: Aaron (Hanabi), Alter (dunno real name but is not that needed right?) Your email address: Your website(s): https://open.spotify.com/artist/1V0ertkugC2gsMZPdFnfd2?si=K75wAq9ESQ6jIV08oYwaQQ (Spotify) and https://www.youtube.com/@HANABI_Music (Youtube), Alter Loy's Spotify too so you have his spotify to tag as well: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7rL0RtqIfDQGJpLv7IWIcq?si=O0z1TeqiT8u4RtATK5-GDQ&app_destination=copy-link Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site): Composer - David Wise, System: SNES Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjRw9X2Hxro Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc: I am half Indian, and Alter Loy is Spanish so we did an Indo-Spanish fusion track. I noticed the track isnt here: https://ocremix.org/game/47/donkey-kong-country-snes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted March 12, 2023 Author Share Posted March 12, 2023 A Bollywood and tango hybrid's no doubt an interesting approach. Opens sounding like Super Mario 64's "Lethal Lava Land" with the mood. Theme kicks in at :07 with a nice rhythmic change, but the strings sound so rigidly timed. At :23, the piano sounds thin and mechanical, then the clap-driven beats at :24 were really flimsy and didn't drive the track forward. The accordion at :31 was really stilted. :48 hit an original section that sounded texturally empty, but brought back the source melody underneath at :55. Back to the underwhelming beats at 1:04, and I noticed how the foreground feels like it's the bass and beats, with the melody competing for space and the supporting strings being obscured. I liked the transition at 1:25 (that delay effect gave the accordion some depth to the sound) into the source tune's next section, although the steel drum timing sounded so robotic. Thank you for the new beats at 1:41; I'd argue the change was overdue, so consider varying them up earlier. The rhythms are much more interesting, and the strings at 1:57 sound serviceable, though they need a richer sound. Wow, a VERY underwhelming & sudden ending. It's comes off so lazy, which is unintentional but likely how it would be taken by many others, so I'm keeping it real here. Even in the original itself, it takes more time for that section to play out and then transition back to the beginning, so why not consider it here as well and ensure it doesn't feel like such an abrupt close? The final string notes should have been given time to breathe and there's literally no resolution, it sounds much more like a work-in-progress sketch where you say "I'll come back to this later to finish it", so don't give up on including some other arrangement ideas to wrap it up in a cohesive way. It's a good concept, Hanabi & Alter; the structure is conservative, but the interpretation is there with the new instrumentation, beats, and rhythms. But the arrangement is clearly unfinished with the way this ends. I also felt the instrumentation realism was in the uncanny valley on practically everything, which was another dealbreaker for me; the tones were decent yet noticeably thin, and the sequencing was too rigid, so the timing felt very blocky and locked to grid. Would love to hear a musician judge offer some tips on how to mitigate the realism issues and achieve a more believeable sound with tools like these. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted March 13, 2023 Share Posted March 13, 2023 The mechanical performances and thin soundscape leap out at me, followed quickly by a handful of clashing notes in the riffs; these sound like the melody was tweaked but the harmonies left alone, creating dissonance. Even though I know this is all technically from one source, 1:23 is an abrupt transition in style and turns this remix into two pieces that don't sound related at all. And then, as Larry said, the second section isn't really developed at all. It's absolutely begging for a bookend that guides that back into the theme from the first half to both tie it all together and wrap it up. There are some really creative, fun ideas here which I did enjoy. However, what we have here is basically a proof-of-concept. The instruments need to be more realistically realized, and the arrangement needs to be smoothed together and filled out. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted March 15, 2023 Share Posted March 15, 2023 ok, neat idea. the initial beat is a fun sound. the string stabs were stylistically appropriate and sit well next to the sitar's buzziness. melody comes in at 0:32, and while i think the accordion is a clever idea, the natural lack of a focused tone made it harder to really hear the melody. the chord adjustments done here though are great, and would have been further emphasized with an actual bass (the bass instrument feels like it should be an octave down). the drums also are neat initially but get stale fast, with little to no shifts. this section overall is fun to listen to, if overall light on arrangement. there's a hard shift at like 1:28, which i don't mind (although the transition meanders). i agree though that it just doesn't tie to the original hardly at all, and then it just ends. sounds like you submitted something that's half done. at the least this needs a recap to tie it together more smoothly, and then a real ending. i think i like this more than my fellow judges, but this just ain't there yet. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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