prophetik music Posted June 13 Share Posted June 13 (edited) Lucas Guimaraes - Arrangement, Master Minusworld - Production, Guitars, Bass, Synths, Mix MegadudeXD - Drums Source Breakdown: (It's in minor key, OG is in major ) - All melody is in the lead synths 0:00 - 0:20 - Intro [ORIGINAL] 0:21 - 0:48 - A Section [0:12 - 0:24] 0:49 - 1:04 - Modified B Section Transition [0:25 - 0:39] 1:05 - 1:52 - B Section [0:25 - 0:39] 1:53 - 2:06 - Original reprise 2:07 - 2:43 - A Section [0:12 - 0:24] the title and music tells all Games & Sources Delfino Plaza - Super Mario Sunshine Edited August 18 by Hemophiliac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted June 13 Author Share Posted June 13 (edited) opens with hugely loud snares and some synths behind it? and then the guiitars come in and i realize it's just very big arena-style mastering. the track sounds hugely scooped out - there's nothing in the mid range that i can hear, and it feels super blown with how noisy everything is. there's a ton going on in the low range where the bass and bottom string of the rhythm guitar are overlapping. i can hardly even hear the kick's beater tone, just some oomph from the bass end of it. opening synths are outlining the first part of the melodic line, if i'm not mistaken, without any of the rhythm. there's a break at 0:47 before we get back to balls-in-the-wall at 1:04, aping 0:55 in the original, i think. it plows through that material with another break at 1:49 for a few bars before building back up for the final blow at 2:04. the section from 2:04 through about 2:24 at least is straight copy from 0:17-0:47 outside the end fill, which is disappointing (for example, compare the fill at 0:39-0:40 to 2:26 and then compare the prior 20s or so for each spot). then there's one last fill and it's done. this is certainly a different feel from the original! i like the idea of throwing out the rhythmic elements entirely and just focusing on the pitches with a raging inferno of a band behind it. i think the overall shape of the track is solid too, with the different breaks in the piece and a shifting tone in the middle at 1:33. i think the mastering sounds really rough, though - i get wanting it to be this grungy, dirty tone, but it's so muddy down low (and normally I'm not the guy that cares about that!). the synth overpowers everything except the snare almost completely, and then the guitar, bass, and drum toms and kick are just sitting on top of one another. there's also a lot of sub-40hz content which is contributing to the mess. lastly, and this might be more personal preference - i didn't care for the guitar just strumming through the chords for most of the song. there may be more going on and it's just blown away by the synth being so loud, but the guitar really doesn't feel like it's doing much besides providing chorded background (and mud in the basement). i'd have wanted to hear it more involved in the arrangement instead of being on autopilot. i love the idea - i really do. i currently think this is enough arrangement ultimately if it was mastered better, but the mastering really drags it down. NO Edited June 13 by prophetik music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted June 13 Share Posted June 13 I know this source SO well. Listening to just the first section of 0:21-0:48, I can hear what has been done with 0:12-0:24 in the source, but I don't think it is sufficiently identifiable; it's more of the backing chord structure of that part of the source since the motif notes are not there. (are they there, if they are I cannot hear them) Same exact thing from 0:49-1:04, and 1:05-1:52, it is like the backing chord structure of the source, shifted to minor, and with no motif. Same for the final section. This is not enough source for me. It is fine to interpret source in a remix, but when it is SO deeply buried, I have a very hard time connecting it to a source song or even enjoying it as a remix. In this case, the genre is completely changed (which is fine!), the tone is changed from happy major to grungy minor (also fine!), the chord structure is suggested but the motif notes are totally absent (this is my dealbreaker). All these things together have buried the connection to the source song for me. Hearing this without knowing what source is being remixed, I would never know this was a Super Mario Sunshine remix (and the most iconic and earwormy theme therein!) To me (and I would imagine to most listeners, although I can only speak for myself) this is an original song. Other Js (like proph above) may feel differently. This may sound negative, but I do love the concept! I think if the motif notes were at least hinted at, I wouldn't have such a hard time connecting it to the source. The arrangement structure is fine, although the instrumentation and writing get repetitive after awhile. The final big section is identical to the first big section. The screamy saw feels very hot and sizzly and isn't doing much of interest other than playing blocked notes. In the middle section there's another synth added with some vibrato on it, adding a very tiny amount of sonic variation. The mixing is very flat and grungy, which is fine, but there is indeed a giant scoop at 400Hz, what's that all about? This is making the track feel bottom-heavy while at the same time quite piercy and shrill. The track has also been master-compressed heavily which adds to this effect (although it does not appear to have overcompression artifacts). The mastering level appears to be fine. (0db peak and -11dbRMS) Overall, I like this concept a lot, but I can't identify the source song at all, it has been interpreted too deeply for me (again, others' mileage may vary!), and the mixing needs an overhaul, direct repetition is too much in the arrangement, and the mastering compression should come down just a bit. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemophiliac Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Wow, I was not expecting a dark and heavy take from a light and airy source. I might be hearing the chords from the source to start out with but they are so thick and heavy that I can't tell for sure what they are playing and if it is the same progression as the source. With all the heavy chugging going on I can not hear the kick, I just barely make it out. The mids have been heavily scooped out around 400Hz as Chimpazilla has pointed out. I know removing some mids from the guitars is common practice, but here I think it is a detriment here. It's caused the mix to feel both very bottom heavy and have a very hot top end at the same time. The real problem is I'm barely making out a connection to the source. I mentioned the chords earlier, but it's hard to really connect a source by it's chords. It would have been helpful to have at least one less interpreted or modified version of the melodic content from the source to help the listener make more connection to it. I can see how they could be possibly be connected, but between the rhythm, accenting, and deemphasizing certain melody notes from the original is such a strong element, that it's very hard to connect the notes without some of that included here. I think the slides in the synth were a nice touch and the overall concept of going from bright and airy to dark and heavy was a great idea and could absolutely pay off, but the execution; both in production and presenting the source needs to be much stronger. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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