Liontamer Posted October 9, 2023 Share Posted October 9, 2023 Hi! I would like to submit my song, a remix of Bloody Tears from Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest, to OC Remix. My ReMixer name is Blujak. So far, this is actually the first VG theme remix I've done. I plan on doing more in the future... The name of my remix is "In My Mother's Name." I wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered this track. I imagine you already have it, but this is the version I based it off of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2oZtvjg5oA I've been a HUGE fan of Castlevania since I was a kid. Grew up playing the series, and decided to put together my own interpretation of the classic "Bloody Tears" theme from Simon's Quest after I watched the Netflix anime. In my version, however, I wanted to add a few more elements to the mix such as vocals / lyrics - I wanted to tell the story of Alucard from his perspective; delving into the duality of his persona of being the son of Dracula, who wished vengeance on humanity, but also being the son of Lisa who wished for him to protect humanity (as in SoTN), as he wrestles with his own identity. I've always thought his story arch is fascinating, which is essentially the nexus of my remix; in the animated series, Greta beseeches him to protect the people of Danesti in his "father's house," hence one of the lines in the song and as he swears to his father at the final confrontation at the end of SoTN, he will protect them "in his mother's name." My user name is "Blujak," although I'm not sure what my user ID number is...I'm assuming it's "38557-blujak" as that is what my profile URL ends in. I've attached the master file for my remix in this email. It's in a 16 bit wav format. Let me know if there is any additional information you need from me. Also, I've included the cover art for my song as well. Looking forward to hearing back from you! Best, Blujak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted October 10, 2023 Share Posted October 10, 2023 i am 37 years old and i just realized today that alucard is dracula backwards. i always thought the name was just dumb-sounding. intro has the iconic arpeggio and lead melodic content in piano intially, then layers in orchestral elements and vocals. this does some stuff until we get some trap snares and it gets cooking. 0:56 is where the vocals really come in. i think this sounds pretty good here honestly, but this is easily the genre i know the least about. the flow sounds good and the chorus being doubled up an octave is a great idea. i particularly liked the constant vox sfx were a positive. 2:25 was pretty impressive as well. 3:02 is the start of the outro. the final beat drops out at 3:17, and there's some piano and strings to ride to the finish. final sustain was a touch short. this was not what i expected based on the writeup or intro, but it honestly sounds awesome. the beat is solid and i really liked the technical ability showcased both in your vocals and in the sfx applied to vocal clips throughout. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted October 10, 2023 Author Share Posted October 10, 2023 Source tune's in play almost the entire way, so no need for any timestamping. Solid piano to open things up; obviously fake, but has some personality to it. I thought the claps starting at :42 were way too loud; maybe that's just one of trap's trappings, but they're louder than the lyrics. Same with the bass; balance doesn't really make sense. Such a little detail, but the vox line at :41 that padded the intro was a good piece of business, a subtle element that separates a dry track from one that's properly filled out. LOTS of good variation in the cadence, flow, and effects with the vocal delivery. Sometimes the lyrics followed the source and would double the instrumentation, oftentimes it was doing it's own thing; you can never peg what role the vocals would fill in the texture, which kept things interesting as the track unfolded. The arrangement as a whole does a great job of adapting the source to this genre; loud claps aside, this has good textural variations, creative & fitting lyrics, and strong energy throughout! I don't like the levels of the vocals being mixed this quietly relative to the instrumental, but that's my only gripe, and I can make out everything well enough. Great debut, Blujack, definitely keep 'em coming! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 Also not what I was expecting, but after I got over my initial surprise, it was a pleasant one. The lyrics are great, and the rap performance is fantastic. However, I do have a couple of hangups. That loud, slow 808-style kick is severely detuned and is way off-key to my ears. It doesn't sound good at all, and unfortunately it's a major part of the minimal soundscape. The singing (1:40-1:54 and 2:33-2:47) seems a little pitchy, too. Fortunately it's only two short sections, and one of the things it's clashing with is those kicks (which clash with everything), so it's not that big an issue. There's a ton I like about this, even though I'm not a rap aficionado, but those detuned kicks bug the heck out of me and I can't get past them. NO (please resubmit!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 This is a banger. Your voice and flow reminds me a LOT of El-P. From a pure technical perspective, this is some of the best rapping I've heard in a hot minute on the panel. The pop-punk vocals add a very fresh, modern flair, I really wasn't expecting that but especially on repeat listens, I enjoyed it. There's a lot to love about this arrangement, and there was a lot of care put into making sure that both the beat and the vocal performance is dynamic and cohesive, never feeling like you just dropped some unrelated bars over a beat that happened to sample a Castlevania. The extra effort goes a long way. There's a few technical issues I've heard - the snare feels significantly louder and sharper than the rest of the percussion, and the piano sample feels exposed and weak, but that's not a huge deal. I think the detuning that MW called out feels like a feature of the genre, I've heard plenty of beats that apply a slow pitch envelope to the 808 like this and although it's definitely (intentionally) detuned, it doesn't feel like it's written out of key at all. Good stuff!! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 (edited) The 808 is purposely detuned! I'd prefer it less detuned, but it works just fine here and is a genre-specific production choice and not an error. This rapping and singing are amazing, really well done. The vocal sounds a tad thin to me though, and dry. Could probably use a little compression and a gentle touch of reverb. But it works well enough. The claps and percussion sound super hot and sizzly, uncomfortably so. And the claps are indeed too loud, and too up front (easy fix with a little reverb). The production isn't perfect, but this is an awesome remix. Source is evident throughout, lyrics and vocals are fresh, creative and extremely well performed. Love it, gotta go with it. It is indeed a banger. YES Edited January 7 by Chimpazilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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