Liontamer Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 DarkeSword told me I should submit this through here as the site upload is not working for me for whatever reason. Games: Metroid Prime + Castlevania Aria of Sorrow Track Name: Going Deeper Artist Name: VARIA Sources: Metroid Prime - Menu Theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLLE_PvJ5mY&ab_channel=SeryogA Castlevania Aria of Sorrow - Forbidden Area https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65ID04f6OuE&ab_channel=TheVGMClassics Notes: This track was created for OCR's Game, Set, Mash 2 back in March. I was given the task of mashing up the Metroid Prime menu theme, and a hidden area theme from Castlevania Aria of Sorrow as part of a group. After submitting for the competition I was super happy with my arrangement, as it is super fun and adventurous, and I think it stacked up well against our opponents. I was on Team Whip (Castlevania) against Team Gun (Metroid). I was heading the arrangement for this round, and I set up something a little different than our other tracks. I asked my team members to give me samples; any kind of sample would do. Some gave me clips of sounds from around their houses, clips of singing and humming, samples they found online or recorded of instruments, or things they produced. From these, I created synth instruments, sample instruments, and fx which I used to then write an arrangement of both tracks into one jungle/drum and bass track. This is a method I've found really activates my creativity, and you may have seen its like in online beat-making competitions, where producers are given a sample pack and a time limit and have to make the best thing they can. The mashup of it all turned out quite fun. I elected to alternate between the source tracks, and kind of use the Metroid Prime melodies as a hype 'chorus' that plays interspersed between longer, meandering sections from Aria of Sorrow. The two play off each other very well and all the key changes really make the song feel like a journey; we are 'Going Deeper!' (literally, as the song ends one or two keys down from where it starts haha). Since submitting for the competition, I have added extra instruments and effects, and done a lot of work in the mix to make it sound better and fully realize the vision I couldn't in just the week and a half we had in the competition. I am super happy with how its come out, and it'll be featured on my upcoming Metroid EP alongside 'Flooded Caverns' (my last OCR remix) and 3 (possibly 4??) other Metroid remixes this July! I'm so so excited to start rolling out tracks for this project that has been in the works for years now, and been a dream of mine for over a decade. I hope you enjoy the track! Artists who helped with production: paradiddlesjosh, pixelseph, meldecision, and Moebius. Thank you! VARIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 opens with some sfx and a gliding synth that really apes the CAoS track well. starts to get some more body around 0:30 and again at 0:54 as it starts to get some beats. beat hits at 1:18 and there's a really fun ambiance going on - the 4/4 influence is clear, but there's some playing with time which is a neat idea. i like the way the bass is used throughout this entire section. 2:14 is a more aggressive feel - continues being pretty spacey in the backing elements, but the bass is more aggressive. the extra distortion edge that's showing here in the bass is really nice. 2:38 is an extended break and feels so metroid - something about the arps and chorused bass really just piques that memory. there's a nice build through 3:35 into 3:45 to a chorus section. there's some extra metroid melodic material as it drops off a bit going into 4:15, another key change, and then we get some outro elements as it trucks back through some source material to get to the end. this is a layup. the CAoS melodic material is indeed meandering, and your idea to use it as a verse with the Prime track being the chorus was inspired. there's a bunch of subtle production techniques being used throughout which is really fun to hear as well. overall this is a great example of the inspiration that can come from a short timeframe to work on the bones of a track. nice work. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted May 27 Share Posted May 27 This is an odd one for me. The integration of the two sources is very smooth, in no small part because they're similar in tone to begin with. And I would say that this remix maintains that same tone, if not for the trap trappings. The sound palette is extremely simple, even primitive, but the synths are chosen carefully and used appropriately. 2:15-2:38 is the most problematic part, because the vanilla sounds aren't adequate to carry the sinister tone you're going for here, and it just sounds discordant. I think this would have benefited from more modern sound design, but what's used here isn't disqualifying. Due to the samples, I wouldn't call this a layup, but everything else about it is done quite well. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 It sounds "primitive" because it's jungle! Haha! Nah, I hear what MW is saying, the synth patches are indeed on the weak side. The bass is huge and awesome (and I love the varied types of bass processing, distortion and bitcrushing), but it sounds overblown because the other synths do not have a similar level of beefiness and badassery. Even the snare is falling a little flat for me, it should be smacking me in the face and it isn't. The other issue is that the master is UBERLOUD. I'm seeing -4.8RMS which is like, louder than Skrillex loud. The bass is surely causing that; it probably needs to come down a few db and also be EQ'd to make sure nothing below around 25Hz is coming through. Everything else about this arrangement rocks. The two sources are seamlessly combined, and the energy of the piece has awesome dynamics. Plenty of details and ear candy. The writing is varied and cool. The drum writing is great and the filtering transitions are excellent. I do find this to be a layup, even if I think it could kick harder with better synth patches or processing on the synths and snare. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 30 Author Share Posted May 30 "Forbidden Area" is a great source tune choice to work alongside Metroid music and definitely feels like Super Metroid music from another mother. :-D Very cool opening sound; that chirping-style lead was interesting, albeit the high-end felt a bit hot. Metroid Prime theme on belltones sounded off until it resolved at :59 and I understood where it went. Good bass writing (and presence) during the CV melody from 1:17-1:41. Nice breakbeat writing. Very effective dropoff at 2:39, though it felt like the track meandered until the MP melody came in at 3:14. Pretty cool how full the texture got when the bass beefed up at 3:44; cool contrast for a stronger finish! Count it! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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