prophetik music Posted September 13 Share Posted September 13 (edited) This is a weird one, it's a remix of a remix, does OCR jive with that? I don't know, but let's find out. I used Silent Protag month over at DoD last year as an excuse to cover this game, Meat Boy is a silent protagonist right? But so is everybody else (except they're not protagonists, I guess). I love this game and I love Danny's music, I have the album on regular rotation but I always skipped the last bunch of tracks of the album which are all remixes, I don't know why, but one day I stopped at the last one "Power of the Meat" by Josh Welchel and Melinda Hershey and I was AMAZED by it, it's so fun, so catchy, so creative, and after finding it I kept listening to it for months on end, it's that good. I didn't know how DoD felt about covering remixes either, but I did it anyway, and I slapped in a bunch of other tracks from the original soundtrack too for good measure, the chorus of the remix is so fun to replicate, but I didn't want this to just be a straight cover (of a cover), I wanted to put a little bit of myself into it, so why not? I extended it, changed the structure a little bit and put more references in it, originally this was just a remix of Betus Blues with some Forest Funk mixed into it, in my recover however I'm structuring this way: 0:05: 0:12 - 0:18 from Hot Damned 0:19: 0:30 - 0:45 from Betus Blues 1:56: 0:00 - 0:08 from It Ends 2:04: 0:16 - 0:49 from Forest Funk 2:26: 0:15 - 0:37 from Ballad of the Burning Squirrel 2:48: 0:51 - 1:08 from It Ends 3:04: 0:49 - 1:06 from Forest Funk 3:19: 0:15 - 0:30 from Rocket Rider 5:04: 0:38 - 0:58 from The Battle of Lil' Slugger (on crack) Everything else is heavily based on Josh and Melinda's remix, I didn't touch the lyrics, I wanted to keep them intact, I only changed the order a bit from how they're presented in the original remix. Players in this one include the one and only Zach Chapman doing bass as always, he rocks it, he also does the voice of Dr. Fetus, he rocks at that too. I also included Biggoron for this one, he's a great funky keys player that fits this vibe well, he usually leans more into improv, but for this one I felt the lines were too iconic to let them slip too much. Earth Kid does the voice of Bandage Girl, her lines are pretty simple, but her delivery keeps it super catchy and addictive. I did the usual, arrangement, sequencing, mix, guitars, I also did the voice of Meat Boy. I have absolutely no idea how something like this will be received but I'm way too curious to not send this in regardless (: Lyrics: Bandage Girl: Save me Meat! Dr. Fetus: Super Meat Boy, so moronic Quixicotic (is this a real word), idiotic Taking on my way psychotic Robotic saws My name is Dr. Fetus, P.H.D. I see you lack some skin boy, which is quite fine by me Your girl is quite fair, oh she's an anomaly So the bandages come off, baby wa'tcha hiding? Bandage Girl: Save me Meat Boy, you're the one that I need Dr. Fetus he can't beat us but he's making you bleed So won't you save me boy, I know you've got what it takes It's the hour, use your power and come help save the day Meat Boy: I will save you Bandage Girl You won't have to fear no more Take my hand and you will see Behold the Power of the Meat Bandage Girl: Save me boy, I know you've got what it takes It's the hour, use your power and come help save the day Dr. Fetus: I lined the walls with my robotic saws Don't you wish you had some fingers with which left to crawl? Now, I know what you're thinking, "for a fetus he's quite smart" Well when your blood paints these walls I'll call it work of art Bandage Girl: Save me Meat Boy, you're the one that I need Dr. Fetus he can't beat us but he's making you bleed So won't you save me boy, I know you've got what it takes It's the hour, use your power and come help save the day Meat Boy: I will save you Bandage Girl You won't have to fear no more Take my hand and you will see Behold the Power of the Meat Bandage Girl: Save me Meat Boy, you're the one that I need Dr. Fetus he can't beat us but he's making you bleed So won't you save me boy, I know you've got what it takes It's the hour, use your power and come help save the day Save me Meat Boy, you're the one that I need Dr. Fetus he can't beat us but he's making you bleed So won't you save me boy, I know you've got what it takes It's the hour, use your power and come help save the day Save me Meat Boy, you're the one that I need Dr. Fetus he can't beat us but he's making you bleed So won't you save me boy, I know you've got what it takes It's the hour, use your power and come help save the day Meat Boy: Take my hand and you will see Behold the Power of the Meat! Games & Sources Game: Super Meat Boy (the original 2010 soundtrack specifically) Songs arranged: Power of the Meat (https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02118) Hot Damned Betus Blues It Ends Forest Funk Ballad of the Burning Squirrel Rocket Rider The Battle of Lil' Slugger Original composer: Danny Baranowsky; original remix by Josh Welchel and Melinda Hershey System: I played it on my puter (: Year: 2010 Edited November 19 by prophetik music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted September 20 Author Share Posted September 20 (edited) this is pretty similar initially but spreads out a lot more as the track goes on. there's less a focus on orchestrated silliness in the background and more on a tighter band sound, as expected given the folks contributing. track starts to drag a bit around 2:50 since it's just powering through track callouts for a while - there's no real direction for a bit there until the vocalists come back in, and then it's a pretty abrupt transition. there's some really fun vocal processing work around the 4:50-5:00 mark, that was a nice way to mix it up. the meat boy vocal parts are a bit high to my ears - having to switch to falsetto at the top really kills the line unfortunately. this track isn't quite as over-long as the original (imo that was a 3 minute song and took 5:30 to be done). it's still a long song with a lot going on, and some of it probably should have been cut down to focus it more. overall, this track is way, way loud. the limiter's going nuts throughout the band sections, complete with a bunch of loud bursts in the master like at 0:24. audacity reports constant clipping throughout - i don't hear it, but i wonder how youtube's going to like it. the elephant in the room is if this is different enough from the original remix to constitute a new work. i think that there's enough here to do that, if we apply the same criteria to this remix vs. the ocr as we do remix vs. original. there's a lot of new lines, there's some restructuring, there's a lot of altered elements and added content. so while i think the song's more uneven than i'd expect given the arranger, and the mastering's not perfect, and the performances aren't perfect, i still think this is a banger and really fun to listen to. YES edit 11/19: yeah, i used the wrong terms - what i'm hearing is the kick causing pumping. separately, i listened to it again after a few months away and after the other votes went the other way. i think i'm in agreement the mix feels bland in a lot of places and that it needs another eq pass - i over-focused on arrangement the first time around, and there's not really any issues there. i think the snare in particular feels pretty blah as does the claps. i still love the arrangement (although it's probably too long), but as it is i think it'd be a "what could this have been" if we posted it. so ima change my vote and call it done. NO Edited November 19 by prophetik music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted November 9 Share Posted November 9 Nice lil' grandiose glow-up of the original arrangement with this opening orchestration. Vocoded vocals from :33-:40 were being suffocated; I know the original would do that sometimes for contrast, but that didn't click here. Male vocals at :40 by TheManPF are kind of bland as if they sound low effort in less processed spots ("Your girl is quite fair, oh she's an anomaly"), but the processing's OK, and they feel more stylized the rest of the way. At :56, the female vocals sound good, but the instrumental underneath feels hollow and thin; strings are extra quiet and there's some guitar that's also mixed like it's trying not to wake a sleeping baby. Clap groove from :33-1:41 is so meh; feels barren like it's just a WIP placeholder for the REAL beats that'll be worked in later. It quickly gets boring while also mixed in a way where it's louder than quieter-yet-more-interesting supporting instrumentation. Vocals from 1:48-1:56 are muffled. Again, the mixing's weird: vocals were quieter, you hear the bland clap groove more -- the xylo accents are alright. Transition section from 1:56-2:03 felt empty as well. At 2:03, the clap groove feels like a metronome, so placeholder-like. 2:48, the piano's in the uncanny valley. There's string and orch stab stuff later, but the textures just don't glue together well; a lot of the backing orchestration just feels like it's thin and incohesively, indistinctly mixed. Except for the clap groove, the writing's more sophisticated than you'd think, you just don't hear it well due to the mixing. I literally don't know shit, so I can't tell you how to fix it, but the potential's there. String accents from 3:48-4:03 feel too exposed and the lower sustains are also in the uncanny valley. Loved the brief guitar & synth soloing from 5:03-5:19. The vocals from 5:19 are arguably pushed down too much, again understanding that it's following the original arrangement, so I can live with that. The vocals are cool, both PF's and EK's, thanks to some creative and stylish effects. The integration of the numerous SMB themes is nice to take the arrangement to a conceptually higher level. I wasn't put off by the track being longer and felt the flow was fine. I'll definitely sound like I'm making the perfect the enemy of the good: it's a great concept, still needs another production TLC pass. Bland clap groove needs to be killed with fire and there's overall mixing tweaks that could clean this up and not make the backing instrumentation feel so thin, like it's an afterthought. I can definitely understand the overall strength of the concept being approved as is, and I tend to lean for ambitiousness over production. None of this is poor, and it sounds like I'm bagging on TheManPF's abilities and talent when y'all know I love his shit, including this re-ReMix concept. The overall production though (clap groove and imbalanced mixing with a hollow feel) is messy enough that I feel this could shine way more with another pass at it. Not ready yet. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted November 18 Share Posted November 18 (edited) Seven sources AND it's a remix of a remix.... uh, ok! Since I don't know this OST well (I know, shame on me, I have no excuse!), and Brad and Larry have already voted, I'm just going to vote on the mix itself. I also didn't like the suffocated vocoded vocals at 0:33, (and again at 5:18) but when the real vocals come in, they are clean and clear, perhaps too clean though. I think adding some more processing to the vocals would be good, not to mutilate them but to make them mesh with the soundscape better. I think this arrangement is really ambitious and cool. The instrumentation is good, the strings sound full and well sequenced, and I like the orchestral sounds against the guitars and synths, and there are tons of little glitches and fun ear candy. The guitar bits are performed well and so are the vocals. The arrangement is great, super creative and fun. I completely agree with Larry though, regarding the production. That clap is comically bad, so simple and dry. The drums overall are mixed way too quietly. The vocals could definitely be louder in the mix, and there's a low-heavy feel to the midrange instruments giving the overall soundscape an unnecessary boomy sound (those elements need their lows tamed with EQ), while the bass itself is too quiet in the mix. The vocals (especially the male vocal) have too much low end presence (example, "you" at 1:18 sounds way boomy). This mix could definitely use another balancing/mixing pass. And the piano sounds too stiff and gridlocked, needs a bit of humanization. I don't hear or see the final limiter going nuts as Brad does. I don't see any clipping in Cubase or on SPAN (remember to turn off "true peak" if using SPAN, and if Audacity has that parameter turn it off) and I do not hear overcompression, but I do hear the master is doing some unwanted pumping whenever the kick hits. I don't hear any sidechaining in this mix, and sidechaining (at the very least, of the heavy/low elements like bass, deep strings and pads) would clear up room in the soundscape and reduce the heavy load when each kick hit happens, which will reduce the burden on the final limiter and eliminate that pumpy thing happening in the master. (fast attack and release on the sidechain compressors, 3-ish db gain reduction, ratio of 2:1... keep it subtle but that will really clean things up in conjunction with some EQ on the low ends of things) I was actually planning to pass this even with mixing flaws but reading back what I wrote I don't think I can pass it in good conscience after having said all that. I love this though, and it will be an easy pass for me when the mixing/balancing/master have been improved! NO (please resubmit) Edited November 18 by Chimpazilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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