OCR04808 - *YES* Undertale "Waterfall (Sin City Mix)"

[prophetik music]

Regrettably, Undertale was one of those insanely popular games that captured the zeitgeist a few years ago but failed to fully get a hold on me when I tried to actually sit down and play it. So after a few hours of getting increasingly frustrated, I put down the controller and decided to look up some videos on YouTube and discovered what a wild, emotional journey the Undertale experience could be depending on how you played it.

Regardless of my enjoyment while playing it, I was still astounded to learn that the game was conceived and developed largely (if not in some ways entirely) by one person who went by the handle TobyFox. In addition, I discovered that he single-handedly composed the entire score for the game, which would already stand alone as an achievement of incredible breadth and quality on its own.

I listened to the Undertale soundtrack separately, which had many fantastic pieces on it. I came across a few tracks that I enjoyed thoroughly, but I ended up choosing the rather melancholy "Waterfall" theme as inspiration for this particular remix. The original song is a combination of ponderous, sad, and also somewhat epic at points.

I decided to lean heavily on various synth sounds and textures for this remix. As well, I had trouble deciding whether I enjoyed the original's more unique timing or something more traditionally 4/4 more, so I decided to incorporate both time signatures into the song at different points. I found that it helped to increase the energy of the later part of the song, and the strong structure of the melody certainly shines when presented the way TobyFox originally composed it.

As always, thanks for taking the time to listen, hope you enjoy!

---

Games & Sources

Undertale

[prophetik music]

opens with a really rich panning arpeggio that feels just a touch too bright. lead comes in at 0:13 with the beat, and it's a really nice laid-back groove. i found the original's melodic content to be very meandering, so it's tough for me to map the original to your track, but i can hear the motivic elements throughout. the wide synth lead at 1:07 is a really neat adaptation of the strings from the original and are simultaneously really big and really dense, so that's neat.

we get a bit of a break around 1:35, and there's a nice build into 1:46 with a focus on the arp and some other rhythmic elements in prep for some time signature changes. this is a neat way to transition and you did a great job prepping it so it doesn't feel too weird as it's happening. there's a recap of the strings section at 2:40, and a shift back to 4/4 in prep for the outro. a few more runs through the arp, a wash of bitcrushed color, and it's done.

this is a pretty smoove run through a pretty wandering original. i liked the time elements you worked in, as well as the very laid-back groove you got out of your instruments. the adaptation of the melodic line wasn't anything crazy, but it works well with the feel in both time sigs. nice work.

 

 

YES

[Liontamer]

I see what proph means about the opening feeling too bright; it's fine for me, but his point's not invalid. Good drive behind the beats and bass kicks, even if the bass kick feels hollow. Noticeably murky to me around 1:06 for the chorus section, though I can make out the part-writing alright, so no big deal. From 1:33-1:46, good idea getting subtractive with the melody; changing the lead sound and filling the melody back out then provided a nice contrast. Seamless change to a slow 6/4 at 1:59, that was awesome, then we hit another rendition of the chorus at 2:38 with the new time sig, which kept the presentation nicely varied. Finally moved back to 4/4 at 3:19. A cramped soundscape but, again, nothing where I couldn't make out the texture's components, so I'll live. I appreciated the presentation feeling darker, moodier, and more beat-driven than Toby Fox's original, so it definitely stood apart. :-)

YES

[Hemophiliac]

I think the one criticism that I can make here is the amount of reverb/stereo delay on the lead is almost too much here. On faster notes it overlaps with the next notes causing a washed out sound on faster passages. Fortunately there are not many of those moments and the melody just hovers over everything. If the stereo delay or reverb was reduced this might be too thin and sparse, so it's filling in the space when the pads aren't taking over the foreground such as 1:06-1:34.

Arrangement is terrific as always with MkVaff and delivers his own unique vibe and continues to fit in with his "Sin City" line of tracks he's been producing. Great work as always, chill beats, and awesome vibe.

Easy YES