Liontamer ⚖️ Posted March 24 Posted March 24 Artist Name: mo.oorgan This song has definitely been a long time in the making, being barred by a lot of big life events, but I can only express gratitude that it has come to where it is currently. An especially huge thanks to Chimpazilla for lending their expertise to mastering for this track, and to Workshop folks for helping me get over the proverbial hump of this track when I was stuck on how to proceed forward with it. While any exact meaning behind the song is intentionally ambiguous, it describes a story of different stages of a relationship, from the start to the end of one. The song itself, however, is about sudden, sweeping changes, and it definitely leans into this via the instrumentation. This track goes through three different movements, where each one is intended to hit harder than the previous one. The first section features a multi-layered/heavily distorted gated synth, which was inspired by Fred Again..’s style of processing lead synths on tracks across the album "Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9, 2022)." This album has meant a lot to me since it released, especially in the way they always manage to convey so much emotion in their songs. I opted to apply a relatively more aggressive tone to the lead, as well as more EDM-style glitch transitions in a vein of ISOxo, but on a garage/2-step groove, and while it's not my favorite part of the song, I think it contextualizes the rest appropriately. The 2nd section was a bit more inspired by 'classic' styles of dance music, like trance and techno, but with some notes of modern production blended in. This is kind of a call to the stylings of the Virtual Self project from Porter Robinson, as well as the various styles of trance I've imbued into my subconscious from hours of listening to Armin Van Buuren's ASoT radio show, that takes classic forms of electronic music, and poses them with a more modern awareness. This section makes use of two different phrases from Dire Dire Docks in a repetitive manner to make it more danceable, as well as to build tension to the 2nd verse/bridge section. The 2nd bridge switches to Piranha Plant's Lullaby as the source, and evolves to be an improvisation of the blending of both sources into one. This is intentionally complemented by the vocal bit repeating "wake up", as the song transitions from a full-blown metal section. While the lead-in to this section is atypical, I wanted it to feel very sudden, to convey a metaphorical sentiment of how quickly life can change without any hint of a warning. This section harkens back to years of metal influence, but borrows most from Trivium's "Embers to Inferno" album, which has always held a deep place in the heart of my angsty teenage-self. The first solo section takes starting phrases from the source and elaborates on them differently, then moves into a solo of its own to just capture the essence of a virtuoso-style 'Dad Rock' solo with techniques borrowed from Randy Rhoads. The final section of the metal section calls back to the chorus motif of Dire Dire Docks. Admittedly, I don't have this fret to play the highest note needed on my guitar in the song’s tuning, I was able to retune it to standard for the 3 notes, and then just tapped the strings above the frets for the final notes of the section, because frets are just a suggestion at the end of the day. The outro brings the metal into the verse/bridge palette, and uses a technique I've developed myself as a blend between the Dragonforce guitarist Herman Li's "Pac-Man" technique, and Randy Rhoads style slides (*see Crazy Train's intro), swathed in delay and reverb. The final moment is a phone ringing, with the final ring being extended well beyond normal to emphasize the feeling of hoping someone answers the phone just before it goes to voicemail and how long that ring can feel (or be, depending on a technical circumstance of some phone lines). The origin for the song name (if not just to match the alliteration of 'DIre Dire Docks') is from coming off the tail of multiple large life-changes over multiple months, and while being down at the utmost corner of the piers in Seattle recently, with nobody around at all, and taking in the sight of it all, witnessing how the pressure & stress from those changes lift away when taking in the sight & expanse of it all. The ellipsis is more an implication of a incomplete title, the full one being "Despair, down at the docks, stays at the docks." Games & Sources Original Composer: Koji Kondo (both sources) Super Mario 64 (N64) -- Dire Dire Docks This song is present throughout the entire arrangement. Super Mario 64 (N64) -- Phirana Plant's Lullaby This song is present from 3:30 to 4:04.
prophetik music ⚖️ Posted March 24 Posted March 24 opens with some heavily filtered arpeggiated elements and pads, and some really ringy vocals. the big hit at 0:31 reminds me of another remixer's penchant for huge transitional synths. there's some trancey keys doing the arpeggio and eventual melody line, although they're not particularly idiomatic. i found the wide spacey synth with the long delay on the attack to be a little too fast for how slow it was, but i liked the vibe for sure. there's a big transitional element into 1:39, and there's some really wild sound design here that's fun. i appreciate that it never quite settles down to a normal - it's constantly changing and evolving. 2:10's a hard drop in style, and the keys here sound like they're releasing early which is interesting. the lack of sustain compared to earlier feels is unsettling. another big build into 2:44, and there's a particularly filthy bassline synth that i really like here. there's also a lot of rumble which i'm not as big a fan of. the lead here is outrageously mean and over-the-top extreme, and the transitions are all really janky, so this is very intense. 3:30's long falling action functions as a great palate-cleanser to that intensity, and we hear the docks come back much clearer this time around. the sfx in here on the vocal clips is enough that i couldn't tell at all what was going on in them. i don't know if that was intentional or not. the piano in here is a little too high and piercing for me, and combined with the overtones from the vocal clips, this was kind of uncomfortable to listen. we finally reach the third section, and it's a much more straightforward, heavy feel. most of this didn't seem to be clearly able to be mapped to the original in any way, but there was some clear intentionality at 5:11, and later when the keys come in at 5:41. the intensity of the drums especially is nuts through this whole section. i found myself liking the setting more than everything that the lead was playing - especially initially, that low bend sounded nowhere near the key that was being played. 5:41's a significant falling action, and this is clearly the end of the road here. there's some sfx to end it, and we're done. what a ride! this is so broad from start to finish, showing a ton of versatility and stylistic influences. i certainly don't think it's perfect, but what a broad spectrum of approaches and concepts. i certainly don't know of another DDD concept that comes at the original from so many different directions. it's easy to nitpick something so broad, so i'll just say that i really enjoyed it, there's more than enough source for it to count, and the perspective here is intense. nice work. YES
Liontamer ⚖️ Posted March 24 Author Posted March 24 Loved this theme as a kid, so always glad to hear someone transform it. The sound design's pretty cool, and I appreciate giving this a not-dour-yet-darker edge; very exploratory, and I didn't expect the... let's say indulgent... rock turn 4 minutes in. :-) Dayum, son, where’d you musically incubate? Arriving here all fully formed and shit… :-P YES
Rexy ⚖️ Posted April 1 Posted April 1 (edited) Oh wow, this is definitely super indulgent. I was already impressed enough with the idea of putting DDD in a minor key, and bringing in a nod to "Piranha Plant's Lullaby" had me sold - but three movements of the source, in three completely different emotional packages, contextualising the development of a relationship whether romantic or even platonic? Now, THAT hits deep. From the lively treatment of the source in the initial build and two-step section, to the more intimate-sounding EDM second section, to the outright broken nature of the heavy metal section with eventual blast beats and quadruple kick pedal (!!), there's so much contextually that has something that a listener can easily interpret this ride of an emotional bond in their own way. With that ambition also comes its way of being placed together. Obviously the tones are all well put together, whether it be synths, guitars, percussion or various other effects. Brad can say what he wants about the transitions being jank, or disjointed, but that's part of the anticipating of seeing where the direction would go next. The only thing that stuck out as concerning for me was the un-synergized tonality between the lead guitar shredding and the more minimalist chords, which makes sense concerning the different tuning put in play. It's no irk for me, as at the end of the day, timings and performances are tight enough to let the section run through in its intended (chaotic) format. It's a very easy vote - super ambitious, obvious use of the source BGM albeit twisted in more ways than one, all wrapped up in a powerful package. Let's get this on board. YES Edited April 2 by Rexy
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