Liontamer Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 (edited) Link to submission: MP3: WAV: Remixer Name: Veni Mortem Real Name: Venicia Jenifreya Email: Website: https://venimortem.carrd.co/ User ID: 38540 Name of Games Arranged: Mega Man X Series (Primarily X5, but including X-X7) Name of Arrangement: Zero Alternatives Name of Songs Arranged: "X vs Zero" (Mega Man X5) "Zero" (Mega Man X) "Zero" (Mega Man X2) "Zero" (Mega Man X3) "Opening Stage Zero (Sky Lagoon)" (Mega Man X4) "Opening Stage Zero" (Mega Man X5) "Awake Road Again (Highway Stage / Zero's Theme)" (Mega Man X7) "Demo (Zero's Speaks, Variable X)" (Mega Man X) "X vs Zero" (Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Version) You can find a YouTube upload here, which is fully timestamped, including visual cues, to follow along with each part of the medley! Comments: This was a huge project for me, having worked on it off and on for a few years. This was requested by my good friend and long time Patreon supporter Zorky, who is a huge fan of Zero. Initially he asked me to cover X vs Zero from X5, but as I started working with it, my ideas for it continued to grow. I first noticed that the rhythm of the strings section in the first segment of X vs Zero past the intro, had a similar rhythm to Zero's theme from Mega Man X, so I started by recreating the Zero theme melody with the same violins I was using, and beat the BPM with a hammer until it sounded right haha. Once I had that in, I just kept finding little ways to fit the other themes in here and there, wrapping them all around the tempo and rhythms of X vs Zero, to finally result in a sort of celebration of the character, and the series as a whole! X vs Zero is one of those tracks that just always stuck with me, and I've always considered it one of the greatest action compositions in gaming. As a music composer/producer myself, it just spoke to all of my composition sensibilities and was one of the few instances where a track made me think "Wow, I so wish I had made that one!" hahaha. So when the opportunity came to arrange it, I just had to give it my all and show my love for everything involved! Closing: If there are any issues with the files or any of the information, please let me know and I'll correct it as soon as possible! This is my first submission to OC Remix after many many years of listening, so I hope I got everything right! Thank you all so much for everything you do! Timestamped video of submission with source breakdown: Edited October 12, 2023 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted June 14, 2023 Author Share Posted June 14, 2023 I'm so thankful people in the community love these themes. I was initially scared to dig in, just because it's so many source tunes, but I actually recognized all but the MvCI theme, since I played MMX1 and the community's arranged all of the other themes at some point. Veni's video is also extremely helpful in showing the timing of all of the source tune references, and there's no major melody changes, so everything's straightforward as far as observing the source usage. Opens up with some fakey, but serviceable piano. Transition around :35 to MMX5 was fine, but there were some lines with a lot of unpleasent buzziness. The structure's not feeling interpretive with MMX5, so it's more about enhancing the textures. Good transition into the MMX1 Zero theme, and then into MMX5's X vs. Zero theme. I also liked the smooth change in the drumming with the brief change into the MMX3 theme before going back to MMX5 and then switching out to the MvCI theme. All good attention being paid to making these transitions feel smooth by keeping the backing instrumentation consistant. Another cool change around 5:23 to the MMX1 Demo theme followed by the MMX4 theme. The transition to the MMX7 theme felt abrupt, but not by much. If you'd told me this was all one extensive, proggy composition, I'd believe it, so kudos for gluing it all together in a cohesive way! The mixing could be clearer, and I don't like the underlying buzziness at all, so I'd love for it to be tweaked, but it's not bothering me enough to NO this or go conditional YES. The strength of the arrangement carries it. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 I'm as enthusiastic as LT about the arrangement. Great intermixing of the themes, all used clearly and cleverly played into and against each other. I enjoyed that tremendously. Unfortunately I'm not in agreement with him about the mixing. The bass absolutely dominates the mix. I have to strain to hear the leads in 0:45-1:03, 1:19-1:47, 2:15-2:44, 3:13-3:28, 3:50-4:12, 5:37-5:52, and 6:21-6:35, and even when I can make them out, all the timbre is crushed out of them. 1:33-1:47 is the worst, I'm actually using my imagination and knowledge of the source material to fill in the parts I can't hear. Those are just the most problematic parts; balance isn't ideal anywhere but the piano parts. On my fourth listen I finally noticed there was a choir in places, but it's almost completely buried. I definitely want to see a version of this get posted! Just not this version. Take it in for some loving rebalancing and it'll make an amazing mixpost. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 7, 2023 Share Posted July 7, 2023 initial piano part is serviceable - certainly nothing particularly groundbreaking there, it's just an arpeggiated left hand into the melody in the right. the big band sound starts at 0:36. the mastering is really messy here. the bass, rhythm guitar, and kick are all overlapping and not notched in at all from what i can hear, and the drums are ultrapanned with all of the instrumental elements pretty close, so it's confusing to listen to. having the kick be hard panned left and the snare hard panned right is aurally confusing as well. MW's right as well about the lead elements. in each of those timeframes he posted, i can turn the sound down and hear only some textural elements and percussion, no lead whatsoever. there's a few reasons why it's problematic to have the drums be so loud compared to everything else, not the least of which is that over half the song features the same drum pattern. there's certainly times it's mixed up or fills are added, but you've clearly got a groove you prefer and it's used constantly. a huge indictment is the static sweep at 3:49 - static should be the most encompassing frequency range sound you can use, and it's actually pretty tame relative to the rest of the track since the rest is so blown out. the piano break at 5:20 is desperately needed at that point - earlier breaks have been there but were so busy that they didn't really feel like breaks, and so that's five minutes of balls-to-the-wall. to be clear - this track's arrangement is overall great. i love the ways that you've grouped thematic material together, the band rhythmic elements that are scattered all over, and the aggressive, constant energy that the track possesses. i don't care for the buzziness and noisiness of the synth guitar at all, i think that there needs to be a TON of EQ work executed, and there is absolutely room for lightening up some of the breaks that exist already. MMX remix history is chock full of great medleys, and this definitely has the potential to be another one - there's still a lot of mastering work needed first. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted September 10, 2023 Share Posted September 10, 2023 Stellar arrangement! I see how Larry feels the arrangement carries it. But wow this is a dense, crowded mix. Way too many elements in the same frequency range, all competing for position in the soundscape too. The buzzy synth guitar just adds a sheen of distortion over an already flat-sounding, overcrowded mix. I also feel like quite often, the patches used to play fast lines are not keeping up as their attacks are just a bit too slow, making the fast writing feel awkward. The soundscape never changes as the arrangement moves along, the energy and instrumentation don't change, so it feels repetitive and sonically fatiguing. There are so many awesome sounds in this mix, and the writing is great! But the result is a flat/muddy/indistinct relentless wall of sound. The mastering is heavy-handed too, but I think the majority of the issues are on the mixing side. I also agree strongly with Brad that the kick should never be hard panned to either side. I'm not a fan of hard-panning of anything really, but the kick, man that's unforgivable! At a minimum there needs to be some detailed EQ work to separate the instruments from each other. Great arrangement.... but needs to be cleaned up. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 I wish you could have seen my face during the transition after the first piano part. I wasn't expecting that at all! Firstly, A for effort on the arrangement here. It's immense. I thoroughly enjoyed it, however... the mixing needs a lot of work. As soon as that buzzy bass came in, part of my reaction was 'that's way too loud'! Unfortunately, it never seems to let up with the buzzy distortion, and you're losing so much detail because of it. There's a synth in there around the 3:20-3:50 mark that's almost entirely buried. So much so that I doubt the casual listener would miss it if it were removed, but I like what it's doing! You've gotta bring it up in the mix, and give it some room. Energy levels are at maximum for the majority of the song, which clocks in over 7:30 long, so there's definitely room for paring back some of the sections. Don't be afraid to pull some of it back. It's a bit too Michael Bay at the moment - the listener becomes desensitised to the energy level, and as such begins to lose focus on it. The piano break is a nice change, but there's a lot more you could do. And whatever you adjust, make sure the melody is the most prominent thing! Good luck with the next version, and I hope to hear it back again soon. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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