*NO* Star Fox 64 "Star Fox Capture Plan"

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Artist Name: Eltwish

This whole track came about all because of the silly title. I've long been a fan of the Japanese jazz-rock trio Fox Capture Plan. Some five or so years ago it happened to occur to me that Star Fox Capture Plan would be a great name for Star Fox music arranged in the style of a Fox Capture Plan tune. This year I decided I still really liked the idea and it was time to finally try it.

疾走する閃光 and Acceleration are a couple songs from FCP that might give a good sense of what I was going for. It was tricky to arrange a characteristically melodic, narratively unfolding Kondo piece in their style, which tends to feature repeated arpeggio-centric grooves and somewhat minimal melodic material. I started with a simple reharmonization of the main theme from the credits (comes in at 0:27 in the linked source video), and used that harmony as the basis for some arpeggiated riffing and a solo section. Of course, I soon realized that using a reharm as the main structural element meant I often didn't really have any of the source present, so in addition to the sections where the right hand quotes the theme, I added a couple sections drawing on the source more explicitly. The first is the more mellow synth melody at 0:54, which echoes the light piccolo-lead part at 0:41 in the source. The other is the spacey section at 1:56, where the bass comes in playing the oboe (?) theme from source 1:25. Much like the source, this then drifts into a more downtempo open section which gradually builds back into the theme restatement and energetic conclusion, in part by way of the main Star Fox theme (used in the credits at 2:53). So the whole arrangement roughly follows the structure of the original, if not very transparently.

I've wanted to make something for OC Remix since I first found the site over 20 years ago. I took a stab at it every few years since then, but only in the last year or so have I started focusing more seriously on music and finally put together something I feel good about submitting. Whatever the result, I'm sure it won't be my last submission. I'd like to extend my gratitutde to 744 and Josh Winiberg, who gave me feedback on a draft on the Discord channel. This project was a big challenge for me in terms of drum programming and mixing, both areas where I've felt I have little clue what I'm doing. Their encouragement convinced me to submit my work, and their mixing advice was indispensable for getting this to sound more like FCP and less like the piano was underwater.

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Games & Sources

The material for this remix comes from the ending credits theme from Star Fox 64. The intro fanfare is based on "All Clear", the completion theme of the last level, which in-game leads right into the credits. Both were composed by Koji Kondo.

Edited Wednesday at 06:18 PM by Chimpazilla
closed decision

[XPRTNovice ⚖️]

I LOVE Fox Capture Plan, and this is an amazing nod to them. Extremely strong opening. 

Something is going on with the vibes (?) at :54 that make them sound like they're playing the wrong notes. Listening back, I wonder if it was maybe the piano that was doing the damage there, but there's definitely some notes clashing there. Decide which is the feature, clean up the notes, and pull whatever ISN'T the feature back. It's cool for the vibes to come out there, but have the piano performance fall back as well. 

Breakdown at 2:00 is awesome. 

2:50 starts to sound really messy mixing wise. I get the idea of the chaos and it goes with Fox but it's not working here. We get too much going on at once, which is effective from an ARRANGEMENT standpoint, but the bass mud really comes in strong here and makes it less enjoyable to listen to. 

The bass needs some EQ trimming around 400hz-500hz because we're getting some wubs in there that make it sound not clean. FCP is a lot of things, but they're always neat and organized in their arrangement and mixing even when they're being chaotic. You can also add in some high freqs in there to get some air back in the bass, which will sound really nice int here. 

The drumset, particular the hi-hat and the snare, tend to steal the show too often. Both of those need to sit back in the mix better. I like the spatial panning you've done with the drums, though, it keeps everything nicely contained. 

One other persistent problem that I'm hearing from the piano is that we're getting a lot of left-hand banging. It dirties up the great playing on the right hand. I'm not totally sure how you tracked that, but there are parts where there's just an absolute hammer of a left hand going on, which contributes to the un-clean feeling I was talking about before. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCAPQB-7ONU&list=PL8DzZtX89EQ_SbUVuxJbkGe1Zxxz4OJlx&index=3 

Reincarnation linked above has a REALLY clean mix. Hear how absolutely distinct everything is? Not that we need an exact copy - your goal here isn't to BE FCP - but it's a great reference to mix to. 

I think a much stronger ending would NOT include that delay. Just slam that shit out. The delay felt not right to me. 

The arrangement here is killer. I really like it. You are totally encapsulating their vibe. But we need some work on the mixing before this is above the bar for me. 

NO (please resubmit) 

[prophetik music ⚖️]

feels pretty forward right off the bat. the drums sound really forward (adding a touch of wet verb and pulling back the dry would help a lot), and once we get into around the 0:10 mark it really sounds like there's some crunch there. joe's right, though, the vibe is excellent. i think what's going on at 0:54 is some long-tail lead notes clashing against what the keys are doing in the back (is the keys delay effect on there? you may want to turn it off). there's some distortion on the bass tone at 1:57 - i don't think that's intentional, and that's the crunchy feeling i was mentioning earlier. 2:50's fun, but like joe said, the mix feels messy. turning everything down a touch and then fixing the spacial definition of the kit and the EQ range of the bass will make for a much stronger overall feel without losing the tight band sound.

i basically just repeated what joe said, but i agree wholeheartedly - tighter mix and this will be an all-timer. excellent, fun arrangement.

 

 

NO

[Chimpazilla ⚖️]

Right from the jump, this master is way too loud.  There is no reason for a mellow/jazzy track to be mastered this loud and it has no dynamics as a result.

I do love the jazzy-vibed concept of this mix.  The drum groove is a particular highlight!  The piano performance is excellent. 

The instruments and drum kit all sound ok to me, and the volumes sound well balanced, but I do hear the clashing that has been mentioned in a few sections.  From 0:09-0:23 the reverbs and delays are running together leaving a mush of clashing soundscape trailing behind the fast piano playing.  You may not need this much delay in the mix.  There's a harmonically awkward turnaround happening at 0:59, and the overlapping reverbs and delays are making it worse.

I agree with the guys above me, the mixing needs a cleanup.  In addition to taming the reverbs and delays, some EQ work is suggested.  Make sure there aren't lows in your piano or other supporting instrumentation playing/conflicting in the low-mid bass ranges, and I agree with XPRT that the bass could also use some EQ to remove some low-mids.  On the reverbs (and delays), make sure lows are EQd out also.  These mixing fixes should clean things up nicely.

I don't agree with the guys though on the drum mixing, I find the balances of the drums fine if not a bit quiet in the mix!  I think the drums are fine as-is.

Awesome concept and remix!  It just needs some mixing love to keep things sounding crisp and clear.  You may also want to turn down the final limiter gain also for a more reasonable master volume (something more like -12 to -11db RMS, the mix currently hits -7db RMS), although the EQ changes we have suggested will most likely give you more mastering headroom anyway.  Please do these things and let's hear this fun remix again soon.

NO (resubmit please)