Liontamer Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 (edited) Artist Name: Aaron Lehnen My arrangement was a fun technical metal re-envsioning of the notorious underwater level theme. I always loved this tune in the game despite the anxiety trying to swim around disarming the bombs in the dam. Games & Sources Today marks the 35th year anniversary of that awesome but brutally difficult Nintendo game. Platforms: Family Computer, NES Year: 1989 Developed by: Konami Published by: Konami, Palcom, Ultra Edited May 17 by Liontamer closed decision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 It feels practically impossible to meet the arrangement standards at 75 seconds long. Expands on the theme's texture well with the dense guitar work, and the drumming. The panning arguably may feel too wide for some; it's not majorly bothering me on my headphones, which is surprising given how wide it is. At :40, there's another iteration of the verse and chorus, and it's practically the same; if it wasn't a cut-and-paste, it might as well have been. And there's 0 ending or resolution beyond the track abruptly stopping. On the development side, this is just too short, and it doesn't go anywhere beyond the (excellent) genre adaptation. For a good example of a metal cover that develops things well, check out BrainCells' Super C piece "Against the Rest". Look at the dropoff at :47 with a mellower interlude, then soloing over the foundation of the source tune from 1:11-1:34; there's lots of way to personalize your approach further, help make the overall track more substantial, and also help it better stand apart from the original music, per our Submission Standards. Here's another example in a different genre: https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04414 -- in that writeup page, I link 10 other examples of melodically conservative arrangements we've posted so you can hear and compare what other interpretive techniques you could employ. Good base here, Aaron, and once again, solid musicianship. Forgive me if I'm ignorant and you're already there, but, if not, DoD would love to have you; you should be there as well! If you're intending this for OC ReMix, the arrangement needs to expand beyond such a relatively straightforward & brief cover. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 really wide panning right off the bat, with virtually no room verb/sound on the guitars. drums are pretty far back in the mix and don't have any body to them. they're playing fun stuff but i just can't hear the kick at all. bass is essentially unable to be heard as well. you've got a ton of mud in the 100-200hz area that needs to be EQed out, mostly in the lower guitars. scooping them harder will help a lot. overall a lot of EQ is needed. the track doesn't technically clip but it's clear that it's right up against the line repeatedly, that's something else that should be addressed so that it's not the guitars pushing it there but rather a combination of elements. the arrangement is also too short. there's not really a ton here aside from the adaptation to the style. we require more transformative arrangement than what's shown here - adding more of your own flourish to the track will help a lot, as will finding ways to extend the duration of the track without having it just be repeated material done the exact same way. there's not even an ending here, which could have helped extend it. i think that DoD's environment would help a lot to up your mastering game. the workshop discord/forums here also would help a lot for identifying how to get more meat out of your guitars and drums and better balance the individual parts. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Co-signing on what the guys said above. Great sounding guitar work here! Panning is way too wide for my taste. Drums are too quiet in the mix, as is the bass. The arrangement is too simple, too straightforward and way too short. Ending is a cold, unnatural cutoff. This seems more like a concept wip than a finished product. I agree with Larry and Brad that DoD would be a great place to refine your arrangement and production skills. I'd love to hear more from you in the future, in terms of a fully-fleshed out arrangement, because as Larry said the musicianship is most definitely there! NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts