Emunator Posted November 18, 2023 Share Posted November 18, 2023 (edited) Remixer: LXE Name: Alexis Gelinas Email: Website: instagram.com/lexadex_yo 38753 -- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Stroll in the Park Flower Garden I was learning about 7th chords in my piano lessons and was experimenting with the melody over these 7th chords and it sounded so nice and relaxing so I felt a lofi vibe would work great Edited November 26, 2023 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 I have to admit I was biased against this within the first second. First of all, my moodbar visualizer looks like this: That's a track with basically no dynamics for a full three minutes. Now, not every type of change shows up on a visualizer like that, but it's not a good sign. The other thing was the lo-fi faux-vinyl crackle that runs through the whole thing. I'm not a big fan of lo-fi effects in general, but in this case it's particularly loud, and seems to be intentionally designed to cover up that lack of dynamics and depth. It's not doing this track any favors. So, on to the arrangement. Nice mellow e-piano take on the source material. Odd to have clean-sounding drumstick taps with an obviously synth drum kit. Other than the change in tempo, instrumentation, and the occasional "breakdown" sections where the drums cut out, it's structurally the same as the original. It's two loops of the A section, two of the B section, and another loop of the A section, after which it ends abruptly. While there's no single thing here that's a dealbreaker, it's underwhelming overall. It's 3 minutes of a constant, static groove that doesn't really do anything interesting, either with the source material or by means of interplay with its own motifs. It's a solo e-piano piece that uses a static effect to fill out a thin soundscape. I'm left feeling like this is a proof-of-concept and not a completed arrangement. There needs to be more depth and more variation to hold the listener's interest. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 Opens up pretty loud. IMO, too loud so the levels should be pulled back, but I'll live. This overly loud presentation's part of why MW felt it had no dynamics; I don't agree with that but I see where he's coming from. He's also not wrong about the vinyl/crackling SFX being too loud, everpresent, and repetitive in a way that's distracting and detracting rather than spicing up the soundscape. To me, the track's still undercooked, but it's well in the right direction. Much like Alexis's previous sub, Super Mario RPG "Geno Hop", more variation in the backing instrumentation, more time to develop, and fashioning a real ending would help put this over the top, IMO. Good base here! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted November 26, 2023 Share Posted November 26, 2023 I love this concept! I love the chords immediately. The crackle effect though, it is a very short loop that repeats over and over perfectly timed to the grid so it sounds completely unnatural. Was this intentional? To me it just sounds bad. For a lo-fi track, if you're going to have crackle going over most or all of it, it has to be super subtle and has to sound real. I'm loving this vibe, but the arrangement is under-developed at this point and it sounds repetitive. The drum groove almost never changes, giving the piece a very static energy dynamic. The arrangement needs a few more writing ideas and arrangement variations, perhaps some new and different instruments as it moves along. There is no outro or any kind of resolution to the ideas, and even the little wind chime and sfx at the end is cut off too early. I like the vocal, coin and bird sfx although they are too loud and up-front. Overall mixing and mastering are adequate. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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