Liontamer Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 Main ReMixer name: TheManPF (User ID: 35318) Additional artists: Zach Chapman; Shinobisyntax; Niko Vargas Submission: Games: Super Smash Bros. Brawl; Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Name of arrangement: With a Little Help From My Friends Songs arranged: Main Theme (https://youtu.be/zeKE0NHUtUw); Lifelight (https://youtu.be/EhgDibw7vB4) Original composers: Nobuo Uematsu; Hideki Sakamoto Systems: Nintendo Wii; Nintendo Switch Years: 2008; 2018 Comments: Not really a Beatles reference, this song was arranged for the 20th Anniversary of Dwelling of Duels, as my way to commemorate the support and friendship from everyone in the community of VGM and, more importantly, DoD, in a similar way to "wily theme" but in a much more direct, intimate way. I've always wanted to cover the main theme from Brawl, it's one of my favorite vgm tracks of all time, but I never had any idea how to tackle it, it's such a rich and powerful song already that I felt I never would be able to properly do it justice, so I didn't really have plans for it for a long time. However, as the 20th Anniversary of Dwelling of Duels was getting closer and closer, I tried to stop and think what I would like to do to celebrate such an occasion. When I was trying to think of what to do earlier this year, since the beginning I was already set on doing something Hip-Hop/R&B-ish. I was super inspired by "House Party", by DakotaCityRag, from the August 2022 free month duel: https://dodarchive.dwellingofduels.net/22-08-Free/09-DakotaCityRag%2C%20Kyaira%20Ware%2C%20Brooklyn%20the%20Kid%2C%20Chocobao%2C%20Rik%20Lloyd%2C%20Hyper%20Light%20Drummer-Animal%20Crossing%20City%20Folk-House%20Party-DoD.mp3 I was also listening to the first ending of Spy x Family "Comedy" an awful lot: https://youtu.be/K1SAtJ8QIcc I was like "damn, I want to do something like this", the anniversary was a good opportunity for it, I wasn't really thinking of "competing" for the anniversary, I didn't want to stress myself over doing something super impressive that would get me the top spot, but I wanted to do something I felt was meaningful. I was looking at a list of games I played and trying to decide which one of them could fit an R&B sound, and also which one would fit thematically for the anniversary, and landed in Smash, and thought "wtf, of course, it's such an obvious idea", I'm actually surprised nobody else thought of it, it represents the coming together of all of these people from different walks of life in an epic duel to see who's the best, the Brawl theme also speaks a lot of friendship and meeting your heroes and deadly enemies (or rivals), it also has always been a celebration of gaming as a whole, which fits our vgm community so well, especially since in the anniversary we were expecting a lot of old names coming back, the phrase "everyone is here" kept repeating in my head over and over, it was a no-brainer, also it was finally a good opportunity to try to cover Brawl's main theme like I always wanted. For this track I wanted to specifically bring people that I have personally invited to DoD at some point, obviously, Zach had to be there, but the other two people were Shinobisyntax (also known as Sketch the Conductor), who I did a Subnautica track with for DoD 2 years ago, and Niko Vargas, who sang for "My Dear", a Nier cover that I did in that same month. Both of these people fit the R&B/Hip-Hop style very well, and Sketch is particularly REALLY REALLY GOOD at this style, he's extremely gifted at putting pen to paper and writing extremely catchy and meaningful lyrics, it was something that I really wanted to show everyone, I just gave him the concept "I want to do a song that celebrates friendship, collaboration, friends being there for you in tough times, and our love for music", and he just did his thing, all the rap verses were written by him. Most of the sound of the track was inspired by the two tracks I mentioned earlier, "House Party" and "Comedy", I wanted something lofi-ish but with a lot of groove, live bass and clean guitars, live keyboards (I played them myself, I'm not a keyboardist, but this was relatively simple and I wanted it to feel live), and have the vocalists go wild, and everyone knocked it out of the park. I sent Sketch all the stems I could and he did the final mix, including a lot of the sfx and sound design that really gives it that delicious sound (including the cinematic toms you hear throughout), he goes more in-depth about his process in this document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qVIXr2MhgysBGB9wUZ1GHLL6TGLNxnq1E0QS3H5cGZk/edit?usp=sharing At the 20th Anniversary, this track ended up ranking FOURTH out of FIFTY-NINE TRACKS, even beating pud (!!!!!) by one spot, looking at it now it's super wild to me that this ended up ranking so high, I never went in with that intention, the last few months have been extremely tough for me, I have been EXTREMELY depressed, losing most of my ability to feel pleasure from things that I liked doing, just sitting and recording this has been super hard, and I feel things like the guitar solo could've been worked a lot better, but I did put a lot of heart into it, I wanted to make a tribute to all my friends in the community, I wanted to show everyone in the anniversary how much this community means to me and how much the help of these people has made me able to push through, even after doing something like Hip-Hop which I never tried before (and I almost never hear in DoD ever!), and I'm super happy that that love came through ? Full credits: Zach Chapman - Bass Shinobisyntax - Mix, lyrics and vocals (rap verses) Niko Vargas - Vocals (hook/chorus) TheManPF - Arrangement, lyrics (minus rap verses) sequencing, guitars, keyboards, vocals (intro, pre-chorus and bridge) Lyrics: [Intro] Now my friends are with me And as we face each other in battle We shine ever brighter [Verse 1] I ain't got no time to be wastin with snakes, Pass the controller, I see em dashin while riding the wave, We off the hook, but stay connected like links in a chain, I'mma just blast em away, like I been chargin my a, ay, You bringin heat, well I'm ready with Terry, Grab a machete, we sending sheep in wolf's clothing to cemeteries, Meet up with palutena and tell her you met me, Should've retired already, like I was battling reggie, (Ready? GO!) We always got sumn left, You doublin your team and it'd lead to a (sudden death) My final fantasy is I'm set to rock, My team roster longer than the sword on sephiroth, Cause whenever I'm struggling, my homies stay up with me, I get to the stage when knocked down my team's my recovery, Ain't no L's in our names, We are the master and craze, We meeting up* then it's (GAME), We are the mains [Pre-Chorus 1] Listen my friend (Struggling, my homies stay up with me) Listen my friend (To the stage when knocked down my team's my recovery) [Chorus 1] Hear the sounds that light our passions aflame Bring to life the memories of precious days Linked together by the feelings we share Reaching farther with a little help from my friends [Verse 2] While Battling all of my demons, They got my back when I need it, I couldn't rap like a Phoenix, If i was back on the bleachers, I send this straight to the ether, To all homies I needed, Im really hoping you see this, You made and gave me a reason, Through trials and tribulations, With miles I walk the pavement, Im finally out the matrix, Were final like destination, When I'm stuck in a pit of despair, Searching for answers, I always find myself hoping they're there [Pre-Chorus 2] Listen my friend (Finally out the matrix, we're final like destination) Listen my friend (I always find myself hoping you're there) [Chorus 2] Hear the sounds that light our passions aflame Bring to life the memories of precious days Linked together by the feelings we share Soaring higher with a little help from my friends [Bridge] Friends by my side They are all here with me Some of them heroes to me Some of them once my enemies [Instrumental break] [Pre-Chorus 3] Thank you my friend (All of us find our destinies thank you for all the memories) Thank you my friend (I'm not alone cause everyone's here, everyone's here) [Chorus 3] Hear the sounds that light our passions aflame Bring to life the memories of precious days Linked together by the feelings we share Shining brighter with the help of my dearest friends Shining brighter with the help of my dearest friends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted October 15, 2023 Author Share Posted October 15, 2023 No source breakdown needed, since the sources are in play almost all the time. "Lifelight" is only used during some of the vocal choruses. (Also, I have to note here that I HATED the soft way the percussion was mixed in the original "Lifelight" from the Ultimate OST; man, what happened there??) Anyway, pretty well mixed. In the opening section, the vinyl static quietly added a little something to help fill out a relatively thin texture, which was a nice understated touch used here and there as the track went on. The Brawl main theme was creatively used throughout. Nice lyrics as well. I thought Niko's vocals were too loud compared to everything else, but nothing dealbreaking there; loved when they first got layered at 2:54; awesome stuff there. Understated but effective dynamics, with some low-key areas like 3:18-4:00 to help break things up, which prevented anything from getting monotonous or plodding. Strings at 3:40 lacked realism but were at least quietly mixed enough that they didn't stick out like a sore thumb, and they were used effectively from 4:55-on in the final section thanks to the delay effects. Creative stuff that earned a strong place for the 20th anniversary DoD; nice work, y'all! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 oddly panned in the initial few seconds. the ep that comes in at 0:14 is great, and the bass feels good under it. the initial verse's flow is solid if a tiny bit rushed. i love the interplay on the pre-chorus, and the chorus works great as a breakpoint. i thought this is particularly well-performed. there's a nice little break after the chorus before the 2nd verse comes in at 2:12. the additional energy in this verse is great, even aside from the fun vocal effecting. second chorus is great and the high note at the end of it is a great payoff. the bridge is a little sudden after the chorus - a bit of time to enjoy the high note would have been nice - but the instrumental section after is nice and the guitar solo sounds great with a great turnaround at the end. after this is another run-through of the pre-chorus and the chorus with some additional percussion. i thought the percussion elements didn't really fit the vibe of the track up to that point really at all, but they didn't overstay their welcome. there's an outro after this that works well and it's done. this is an easy vote for me. the nitpicks i mentioned don't change that the track has a nice shape, it's well-performed, and the elements are strung together nicely. nice work. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 Great structure, amazing arrangement. Every second of this is engaging, which is not something I can say for every 5 ½-minute mix we see. The intro is pretty strange. Not sure how 12 seconds of faux opera connects to any of the rest of this, and there's no callback to it at any time. I'm a little iffy on the vocals. Both male and female vocals are frequently a little pitchy (3:05-3:16 really stands out) and they're pretty loud compared to everything else except the drums and bass. The rap is a little conversational in tone, and lacks the rhythmic, almost percussive pattern of really good rap. No idea what Larry's talking about regarding the percussion being "soft" in the choruses. Sounds fine. Nice work overall. Very creative, and good job stepping out of your comfort zone. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I wasn't expecting the chill groove after that orchestral intro, but I loved the switchup. The groove is great, gorgeous electric piano, and the echoey vocals in the intro fill out the vibe perfectly. Really, I'd have loved this kind of lo-fi groove the whole way through, but we move into hip-hop territory with some rapping. If I'm giving an honest critique, the delivery could be a bit more in the pocket. The flow is pretty good, but it's a little straight and could use some dialling in to match the groove. This is NOT an easy skill, but all the best rappers pay most attention to flow and the lyrical content comes second. I feel like this is true for most genres, but becomes particularly exposed during VGM remixes because the lyrical content is generally only relevant to those familiar with the game being remixed. This is general advice now for anyone adding vocals to a track - ensure the musical quality comes first, and lyrical content second. There are a couple of times in the first verse where you need to take a breath. After the punchlines of "cemeteries" and "Sephiroth", you're not leaving enough time for the listener to get the punchline of the set-up before barrelling into the next line. Cutting a few unnecessary syllables, and slowing down the delivery, should help with both flow and impact of the lyrics. That said, I think it's really clever how you've worked in multi-syllabic rhymes with in-game SFX (sum'n left/sudden death) in that first verse, as well as those set-up/punchline combos. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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