paradiddlesjosh ⚖️ Posted May 17 Posted May 17 This track was produced during Round 3 of Game-Set-Mash!! 3, hosted by DarkeSword. GSM3 pitted tracks from Streets of Rage, Streets of Rage 2, and Streets of Rage 3 against Etrian Odyssey, Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard, and Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City in a team-based VGM mashup competition. "At the Heart of Yggdrasil" is Team Streets of Rage's mashup of the chosen tracks from Streets of Rage and Etrian Odyssey II. Writing proggy stuff is fun, but putting a stylistically simpler arrangement together just hits different. I've never played a game from either series, so GSM3 was my first introduction to both games' soundtracks. I gotta give mad props to Koshiro-san for crafting the sources: "Petal Bridge" captures the essence of foreboding darkness and implacable determination of dungeon delving without an over-reliance on harmonic tension and the bassline on "The Last Soul" has this slippery propulsiveness to it. For the final round, I heard "The Last Soul" from the first Streets of Rage, and the slinky, shuffled bassline immediately pulled me into a Clutch mood. While I was originally thinking along the lines of "Careful with That Mic...", my inspiration shifted toward something more akin to "Son of Virginia" once Team Etrian Odyssey's pick of "Labyrinth IV - Petal Bridge [Dungeon: 16F-20F]" was revealed. That inspiration informed structural decisions like the pivot between the "Last Soul" bassline riff and the "Petal Bridge" intro vamp with its more colorful voicings of the same i-iv progression, the slow burn until a true chorus emerges at 2:33, and a partial extension of the final chorus. I had a rough skeleton for the track laid out in about a day, and then the six of us -- Moebius, H36T, gravitygauntlet, Ronald Poe, Seph, and me -- knocked our heads together sketching out lyrics and a vocal melody. You'll find some Neil Fallon songwriting staples: references to myth, radio filtered echoes, and a non-sequitor in a foreign language. The narrative framework is some modern fantasy nonsense -- the vigilante heroes of Streets of Rage prepare for a showdown with the villainous Syndicate's bossman, Mr. X, only the final battle is taking place in the World-Tree Yggdrasil of Norse legend instead of the penthouse suite in some downtown skyscraper. Credits (listed in alphabetical order): gravitygauntlet - sound design, lyrics H36T - vocal melody, lyrics Moebius - sound design, mastering Ronald Poe - lyrics paradiddlesjosh - arrangement, MIDI sequencing (drums, keys), lyrics pixelseph - guitars, bass, vocal performance, lyrics Source Breakdown: 0:00-0:13 - "The Last Soul" (LS) Intro (bassline only) 0:13-0:25 - "Labyrinth IV - Petal Bridge [Dungeon: 16F-20F]" (PB) Intro (iadd9-ivadd13 progression) 0:25-0:51 - LS A, 1st Half 0:51-0:57 - PB Intro 0:57-1:04 - LS Intro 1:04-1:10 - PB Intro 1:10-1:36 - LS A, 1st Half 1:36-1:42 - PB Intro 1:42-1:49 - LS Intro 1:49-1:55 - PB Intro 1:55-2:01 - LS Intro 2:01-2:08 - PB Intro 2:08-2:59 - LS B (bassline only 2:08-2:33, add melody line 2:33-2:59) 2:59-3:25 - PB B, 1st Half 3:25-3:57 - LS B 3:57-4:48 - PB A, 1st Half 4:48-5:01 - LS C 5:01-6:10 - LS B LYRICS: Quote Pass me the smokes. Lemme tell ya somethin, kid. You don’t know a damn thing about these streets. Hey. Look at me. And listen… (And listen…) Staring at the roots of the ol’ World Tree The faces of my mothers’ mothers stare back at me And Mr. X’s defeat is what they wanna see (Mr. X's defeat is what they wanna see) What comes next, I’ll be the last soul alive to see it Will I fall down, or will I destroy the Syndicate? (Will I fall down?) (...or I destroy the Syndicate?) And at the heart is where we’ll find the truth of it Omae wa mou shindeiru* — LOOK OUT! [*You are already dead] Nidhogg bites down On the roots of the great tree Yggdrasil You’re in for the fight of your life And the fate of Wood Oak Here at the heart At the heart of the great tree Yggdrasil You must only trust your fist ‘Cause the police will never help you (Hey, you got a light?) We’re at the heart At the heart of the World Tree Yggdrasil You must only trust your fist ‘Cause you know the police will never help you Trust only in your fist ‘Cause the gods will never help you STATS FOR NERDS: Quote Key: D Minor Time/Tempo: 4/4 @ 75bpm VSTi Used: Aly James Lab (FMDrive), Arturia V Collection (B3 V2, Clavinet V, Jun-6 V), Native Instruments (FM8, Kontakt - Impact Soundworks Heritage Percussion), ML Drums (Yamz, Meld), u-he (Diva) VST Effects Used (Mixdown): Arturia FX Collection (Bus PEAK, Bus EXCITER-104, Comp FET-76, Comp TUBE-STA, Comp VCA-65, Delay BRIGADE, Delay TAPE-201, Pre 1973, Pre TridA, Rev LX-24, Rev PLATE-140), Kilohearts (kHs Gate, kHs Pitch Shifter), Klevgrand (REAMP), Plugin Alliance/brainworx (bx_subfilter) Presonus (Compressor, Mixtool, Pro EQ), TBProAudio (ISOL8), Tokyo Dawn Records (TDR Nova), Voxengo (SPAN), Youlean (Youlean Loudness Meter 2) VST Effects Used (Master): Image-Line (Fruity EQ2, Fruity Limiter, Patcher), iZotope (Ozone 11), Voxengo (SPAN), Youlean (Youlean Loudness Meter 2) Sound Effects Used: "burning_cigarette_02" by martian on freesound.org, "SL_Sound_Effect_Lighter" by Soundtrack Loops, "Seagull" by Image-Line, "MAG_FIRE" from Etrian Odyssey II Guitars were recorded using a Line 6 JTV-59 Variax through a Line 6 Helix LT into Studio One 4. Bass was recorded using a Schecter C4 through a Line 6 Helix LT into Studio One 4. Vocals recorded using a Scarlett CM25 Mk III through a Solid State Logic SSL2 interface into Studio One 6. Arranged, sequenced, and mixed in Studio One 7. Mastered in FL Studio 2024. Games & Sources Streets of Rage - "The Last Soul" 0:00-0:30 - Intro, loop point at 0:02 (repeats at 1:37) 0:30-0:48 - Section A, 1st Half 0:48-0:58 - Section A, 2nd Half (Transition) 0:58-1:18 - Section B 1:18-1:37 - Section C (Drum/SFX Break) Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard - "Labyrinth IV - Petal Bridge [Dungeon: 16F-20F]" 0:00-0:19 - Intro (repeats at 2:36 from the top) 0:19-0:41 - Section A, 1st Half 0:41-1:03 - Section A, 2nd Half 1:03-1:24 - Section A', 1st Half (add percussion) 1:25-1:49 - Section A', 2nd Half 1:49-2:14 - Section B, 1st Half 2:14-2:36 - Section B, 2nd Half
prophetik music ⚖️ Posted May 28 Posted May 28 opening vox processing, specifically the verb, doesn't really fit the bassline's clarity. sounds a lot better when everything else is going. the bassline feels great here when the vocals come in especially. i also like the gated organ that's there as well. the trading between PB and LS through the first minute feels nice too. vocal harmonies come in at 1:22, and you can hear the compressor reacting to them being in there and pushing the backing elements back. the verb sounds kind of funny as well, like a pressure feeling. organ started to get overbearing in the 2:15 range, so it's nice to have the guitar parts come forward at 2:33. chord changes at 2:59 are welcome as it's been the (admittedly cool) LS bassline through most of the opening. prosody of "police" is weird (there are a few that are like this in this section but that's the one that stood out). we get the first real big change to the song's timbre at 3:56 as we switch over to some EP (bass here has some intonation issues). the sidestick used at 4:25 has a ton of verb on it and doesn't sound like it's in the same place as the rest of the kit, but i like the brush work on the cymbals in here. an extended (repeated?) fill kicks off the end blow, and it's a fun one, lots of ensemble work which i am a sucker for. one last chord and it's done. this is a really interesting combination. the SoR stuff is way more visible throughout, mostly due to Last Soul's bassline, but there's a lot of fun interweaving of the parts. i think i'm not a huge fan of the vocal treatment in some of the bigger ensemble parts, mainly due to how squeezed everything feels there - but there's a ton going on, and i doubt i could do better! i do really like the vocal approach throughout and think it fits the concept a lot. the swagger throughout feels great and i think that the piece as a whole definitely does what you set out to do. nice work. YES pixelseph 1
jnWake ⚖️ Posted July 8 Posted July 8 (edited) 2 extremely different sources, it'll be interesting to see how you mix 'em... Track starting like a cowboy theme wasn't what I expected! The SoR bass line as a slower moody riff works great and the chords from EO2 work great as a trade-off. We return to SoR with a mass of guitars and then vocals enter as we alternate between the previous 2 sections. I really like the vocal delivery although I'd like the vocals themselves to be louder/more present, they get a tad drowned in the mix. There's moments like 2:08 where I'd like the vocals to explode but they just don't (maybe there's heavy compression on the vocal bus?). At 2:08 we get the pay-off of the previous 2 minutes with the SoR riff now delivered on heavy guitars and accompanied by a (loud) organ. I'm noticing at this point that the mastering is strange as it's not peaking too high (which a test on a DAW quickly confirms). We get another verse at 2:35 and then a guitar focused section at 3:00. I love the feel here but the mix is busy, maybe with more panning of the pieces it'd be easy to hear everything clearly. Interesting break at 3:57, a much needed variation to justify the length of the track! The guitar swells are a very cool idea. There's a drum transition, a cool nood to the SoR source and we repeat a previous section until the track ends. On arrangement this is really cool, you grabbed 2 sources with completely different moods and feels and created a blend that has its also completely different mood and feel! Like proph said, there's a lot of swagger in here and it's really fun to listen to. Source usage is present throughout the entire track, so no issues there. I also feel SoR takes the main spot, thanks to how prominent the bass riff is on the arrangement. On production this is generally great, drums sound great as do guitars and bass. I have some relatively minor qualms with the production tho, mainly on the mastering. Despite the rocking mood, the track generally feels quiet and I think it'd benefit from some extra compression/limiting on the master. Second is that the track is a bit heavy on the mids and could use some more highs as it currently ends up not sounding as crisp and punchy as one'd like. I made some quick EQ/limiting adjustments on my end as a test and I really liked how it sounded, but this is nowhere near a dealbreaker. Overall, a really cool arrangement with solid production. My nitpicks are just that, this is an easy vote. YES Edited July 8 by jnWake pixelseph 1
Hemophiliac ⚖️ Posted July 14 Posted July 14 This was very well done. If something was going to beat out our track in the final round, I'm glad it was this one. I like how both sources were worked in together, especially because they are so different. It's also really funny how both entries in the compo chose to focus on the Last Soul bassline. Gotta point out the lyrics because the story told is interesting and fitting for both games as bizarre as they are in a vacuum. Vocals could have been louder in the mix, but are still clear and are mostly the focus, just want them a small step up more compared to the bass. The backing organ was a highlight for me, because it was invisibly supporting all the weight of the harmonic elements and some of the rhythm without stepping on the toes of the other parts. I'd be remiss not to point out a couple of the Easter eggs from the compo as well that people won't know about unless they were following it. Seagulls were in at least one of your team's tracks each round, out of context they're silly. The other thing was the lyric at the end: Quote "You must only trust your fist ‘Cause you know the police will never help you Trust only in your fist ‘Cause the gods will never help you" Nice callback to your team's first round entry "Only Trust Your Mix, Techniques Will Never Help You" All that said, great work bringing together something cohesive, musical, and interesting from all the chaos of the compo. Well done team SoR! YES pixelseph 1
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