Emunator Posted December 9, 2023 Share Posted December 9, 2023 Previous Decision I'm so glad you all liked my track. Thank you all for the incredible feedback. I've taken another shot at this and tried my best to address all of your comments. Looking forward to hearing from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted December 10, 2023 Share Posted December 10, 2023 I didn't vote on the previous submission, so I'm going into this one with completely fresh ears. Nice tropical-style instrumentation to open, with an absolutely huge kick. Sounds like the transient is quite fat with low-frequency content after the initial hit, which gives the kick a fatiguing quality quite quickly. Fun use of the Toad vox leading into the initial drop at 1:02. Steel drum lead sounds great, and some nice auxiliary percussion in the background. Nice transition to the B section with the descending triplet steel drums. Strings in the B section at 1:33 sound very similar to the original Mariokart 64 instrumentation, and then we head into synth territory which reminds me of Ben Briggs' early stuff like Fleeting Ecstasy. The kick doesn't sound as fatiguing in the busier sections, which leaves me wondering if perhaps your compressor is working too hard in boosting the transient when there isn't as much stuff in the mix. It's a nice reprieve when the kick drops out for a bar or two at 1:50. There's a bit of winding down as the mix comes to a close, and some nice delay on the final few notes to finish. Not a ton of original writing here, but the instrumentation is a neat switch from frosty to tropical, and it's a tidy package. Kick is a bit on the heavy side, but at a short 3:08 running time, it never gets too uncomfortable. Nice job! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 Opens up with more textural depth than the previous version, lots more oomph, but it's loud and crowded. At :23, when that countermelody comes in, I immediately reacted like "this sounds too loud and too bright". At :31, the bassline does resonate, so I hear it, but it's still being buried. The dropoff section at :46 with the Toad "whoa-whoa-whoa's" is so annoying; I definitely hate you for it. (Seriously, good change in dynamics.) This mixing's definitely too muddy now, I'm afraid. At 1:02, the chip-like countermelody just sounds like it's adding busyness to the texture; maybe there are parts with overlapping frequencies, I dunno. The musician Js can hopefully hone in on what I believe I'm hearing as issues. The kicks at 1:31 are so loud, they sound like they're clipping/popping. Then at 1:48, the melodic line's absolutely steamrolled over until the louder synth at 1:56. Too loud and too busy. If you can pare back the levels appropriately and ensure parts aren't getting obliterated, this would be stronger. Watch the lack of a proper fade-out too; the ending just cuts out (though we can always fix that if need be). Good writing and textural improvements, Cameron, but not yet mixed properly. It feels like if this got YES'ed, it would be with at least one conditional vote. This is moving in the correct direction though. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 (edited) my previous vote mentioned a death of a thousand cuts - namely a ton of little things that came together and made the sum less than the parts. still a heavily compressed beat right off the bat. sounds like less of the panning on that stutter synth, so that's a win. beat hits at 1:02 and it feels fuller than it did before, which is a positive. 1:33 still doesn't have much going on there besides the beat, lead, bass, and arp. around the 2 minute mark i noticed the arp's been hammering away the entire track and it's starting to feel a little much. 2:00's when the glidier synth comes in on the lead, and it's a nice change. it definitely feels too cluttered there - the arp's so loud that it feels louder than the lead, and it's a bit confusing what to listen to. the track then navigates a subtractive fade and it's done. it still feels really loud, and it's messy in several sections. the limiter's really doing a lot and it shouldn't be. but the song's got a catchy feel, it drives well, and conceptually i like what you're doing with the instruments. i'm actually kind of mixed about this one right now. ??? edit: based on the other judge votes, i am making perfect the enemy of good. i do think this is enough. YES Edited December 18, 2023 by prophetik music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 (edited) I YESed this before, and it's even better now. The bass is still a little loud, but it's a nice full soundscape, and it moves through ideas at a good pace, to a solid ending. There is some overlap between the chip arp and the steel drums, briefly, and the whistle lead is definitely too quiet, but otherwise I can hear all the parts clearly. I'm not picking up any problematic pumping. I concur that there's room for improvement in the mixing, but I think it's above our bar, I don't agree with the complaints about emptiness or overcompression, and if Larry thinks that bass is buried, something's wrong with either his setup or his ears. YES Edited December 13, 2023 by MindWanderer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted December 17, 2023 Author Share Posted December 17, 2023 I definitely feel like this is an improvement overall, despite not fully hitting the mark on the mixing. On future attempts, I would employ more surgical volume automation on your backing parts, or sidechain your leads to your rhythm synths more, because there's moments where your leads still don't feel like leads (the flute especially gets buried) but you don't really have anymore headroom to work with to make those louder - you need to make sacrifices elsewhere. It's loud and a bit overcompressed, so if you wanted to keep working on it, there's gains to be made. All criticisms aside, this is definitely still a super-fun twist on the source material, adapting it to a new stylistic palette and introducing a ton of fresh ideas. It's a fresh spin that feels totally fresh. You've peppered a ton of creative ideas throughout the arrangement, including the walk-down at 1:29 which is incredibly engaging and snaps me back into the moment before leading into a powerful presentation of the chorus. There's tons of spirit here, and that ultimately prevails over any technical hiccups. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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