OCR04908 - *YES* Gitaroo Man "Slow Dancing at the End of the World"

[Emunator ⚖️]

Emunator: Arrangement, programming, additional keys/percussion, mixing
Chimpazilla: Additional pads/fx, final mix, mastering
Flexstyle: Programmed drums
jnWake: Keys/synths
Zack Parrish: Electric guitar, electric bass

Comments: This song was my entry for the April 2025 Dwelling of Duels competition. The theme for the month - rhythm games - didn't immediately strike any inspiration for me, so I was planning to sit this month out. It wasn't until I was at VGM Con with a group of DoD regulars, watching The OneUps perform (my first time seeing them on stage in 16 years!!) and they played their cover of this theme that the vision finally clicked. I don't know this game at all, but I'm intimately familiar with J Damashii's classic rendition.  As with anything that man touches, I don't think I can do a better version of it myself... so instead I just set out to do something different. 

I went for a saccharine slow dance-friendly ballad inspired directly by Carly Rae Jepsen's All That, and pulled it together with a lot of help from a familiar cast of characters that should all be familiar faces from previous month's entries (all 4 of these collaborators also featured on my Phoenix Wright arrangement from last year.) Chimpazilla and I worked on the final mixdown of this track in person at her home studio, which was a really rewarding experience in its own right. Y'all helped bring this to life in such a beautiful way, thank you!!

This is one of my most directly-conceptual remixes - to put it simply, I wrote this as the soundtrack to the high school prom night that I never went to. The plot goes something like this: you're awkwardly floating around the perimeter of the school gym, too shy to ask your crush to dance. Then, a voice comes on the loudspeaker and announces that, due to an impending cataclysmic event, the world will be ending soon and the band only has time for one last song. So, after a moment of contemplation, you summon all the courage you have left, go up to her and ask for one last dance. The rest, I think, speaks for itself.

Letting myself make something this direct, a little cheesy, and painfully sincere took a bit of time to warm up to, but it was also wonderfully cathartic. If the world is ending, might as well go out on a high note ❤️

[Chimpazilla ⚖️]

Wes is being humble here, but I won't be.  This track just won second place in the DoD April "Rhythm Month" competition!  Not too shabby!  😁

[prophetik music ⚖️]

it only placed 2nd? wes, we don't aim for silver in this family. you're not emuBEEtor, you're emunAtor.

opens with washes of sound, because it's wes, but the ep and bass that come in after are delightful. the FM ep and clicky kit are very familiar sounds in this style and vibe. snare's a bit loud initially. the first chorus is also very rich and full sounding. there's a really wild hit at 1:39 that pops way out of the texture and sounds like an artifact to me.

the second verse has lots more harmonic and countermelodic elements, which is a nice way to mix it up a bit. the hats at 2:23 are a touch loud in the left ear.

there's a big drop at 2:50 with some sfx, and then we get the big chorus that we all wanted at 3:04. there's some real proggy elements here with how the beat and chord structure gets mixed up for several bars, and then we finally get the guitarist on his knees out in front of the band with the screaming lead that we've been waiting for. there's a ton of sfx and other stuff going on throughout this last section, and it finally all resolves a 4:23. i admit i didn't really dig the ending - the sustained choir just kind of collapsing on itself and the beat trucking for another measure or two wasn't quite the wind-down i expected after the big blow that was before it. and then it's done.

this is a fun package overall. there's some nits for sure - wes can't go two bars without a static whoosh effect, a few percussive elements are a bit loud here and there, and the ending was kind of a bummer for me - but this is still a great example of how to take a really overdone song and make it super unique and your own. definitely above the bar.

 

 

YES

Edited May 6 by prophetik music

[XPRTNovice ⚖️]

I feel like this is right out of Top Gun, or something. 

Elements are mixed great, arrangement is solid and interpretive. 

Since I have to justify my own existence; a suggestion on here would be to have more expression on the guitar playing. Like, give me some sick Bon Jovi bends and stuff. The guitar is the feature instrument, and it does get slightly buried a few times during swells like at 2:35 - and it needs to come out more during the (otherwise very awesome) transition at 3:08. I almost get the sense that the playing is shy? The guitar remains slightly buried to my ears through 4:00. There appears to be ripping solos going on in the background there at 4:05, too? But I can't hear them, and they SOUND like what I've been looking for the whole piece, but I can't really pick them out. 

The guitar is literally my only beef with this piece. It's exceptionally done with a great groove and vibe. Production is on point - but the guitar is the feature here, and I think you can really let it rip. With a more confident, out-in-front guitar performance, I think it will turn from an 80's tribute into a Gitaroo tribute because the Gitaroo is just smoking. 

YES

 

[paradiddlesjosh ⚖️]

This track only earned silver last month? Damn, what'd I miss?! 😂

No serious critiques on the arrangement from me. Y'all captured the high school slow dance vibe very well here. The rhythm section is restrained and tasteful. The drop from 2:50-3:04 is well-timed, great setup to push the final guitar lead into the sunset.

What's up with that hit around 1:39? I'll second Joe's call-outs about the guitar needing to be more up front, particularly from 3:04 onward. The final minute or so sounds like a struggle between the guitar lead and the additional fx/percussion layers for dominance. Ultimately, though, these are nitpicks. Really solid production, team.

YES