*NO* Clock Tower "When the Bell Tolls One"

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Artist Name: CrazyGroupTrio

I tried to capture the feel of the game Clock Tower and using the fairly simple song Cradle Under the Star, making the arrangement simultaneously upbeat and haunting by mixing orchestral sounds with synth, and using some samples from the original game.

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Games & Sources

Cradle Under the Star from the Super Famicom game Clock Tower. Music is composed by Kōji Niikura.

Edited 2 hours ago by Chimpazilla
closed decision

[prophetik music ⚖️]

really neat original. that short synth tone is really unique.

opens with some bells and ambient synths. it doesn't sound like most of the things being played are the original, but rather following a similar structure. the beat comes in at 0:28, and the strings that eventually come in also are outlining a descending pattern that isn't the same notes or particularly close to the original. same with the eventual synth arp.

beat drops around 1:22 for a bit, but comes back unchanged. there's a recap of what just happened, and the opening bells come in too, but still no source. we get something that's again reminiscent of the original at 2:03, but all that includes is movement from the 5 to the b6 and b7 - none of the 5 b6 4 5 pattern that permeates the original, and also none of the little 7-8 lick that stands out in the original as well.

we get another break at 2:44 with some choral elements, but the same taiko and synth elements in the background are still there. we do get some more unique strings after this when the same beat comes back in again, but nothing from the original. there's a fun stutter effect in the strings near the end, and then it's done with the arps fading out (over a very long time, this probably should be shortened by half if not more).

unfortunately this doesn't really appear to be a remix of the Cradle Under the Star theme, but rather something inspired by it or reminiscent of it. there's no actual original material that i can hear in the track you've submitted. so that's a dealbreaker right there. separately, it's really obvious in here where you copy/paste each individual element's block of material - the synth does the same thing every time it shows up, the beat is the same, the taiko element is the same, etc. even the fake scream transition sfx is used repeatedly. that much repetition becomes really noticeable really quickly when you listen to something more than once. spending the extra time to make each entrance of an instrument unique is absolutely worth it. if this was a complete arrangement of the original, i'd probably still reject it due to how muddy and overly dense the representation is, and how much repetition is used.

i think that the original's neat and there's definitely legs for this style of arrangement. trimming the fat and making it more clearly related to the original will definitely help craft a better overall product.

 

 

NO

[jnWake ⚖️]

Interesting source to cover, it doesn't that have much material but a neat atmosphere.

I think prophetik above did a good job describing each section so I won't expand much there. I generally agree with his take on source usage, your track is taking musical ideas similar to the original, like 3 note arpeggios on several sections making "melodies" with the highest note of the arpeggio, but at no point plays the source in a way that anyone would clearly pinpoint it being a cover. For example, on the intro you're doing a 3-2-1 "melody" on F minor while the source does 5-6-4 on D minor (plus the 3-4-2 flourish to end each phrase), you then change the "melody" to a different one that still doesn't clearly echo the source. The synth arpeggio at 1:08 is the closest to the source since at least it has the 5-6 interaction, but it's a minor part of the track so even if it counted as "source usage" we'd be left with an arrangement that's largely "original". As an aside, on the 2:03 you're layering a synth playing a melody on C# minor over the F minor arrangement and it doesn't really sound good to my ears. I'm assuming you're doing this contrast intentionally but it doesn't land well IMO.

K, so on arrangement. First, this isn't fit for OCR on its current form as its not really an identifiable cover of the source. It'd definitely need retooling on that side to clear our submission standards. Besides from that I think the arrangement's quite good, sections are well constructed and it flows well. I do agree with proph that it's fairly repetitive though, there's potential to add some extra touches on repeats to make each section feel unique.

I don't have many notes on production, I think most elements sound good and are easy to hear in the soundscape. Only instrument I felt could use some extra work are the low strings, it lacks some clarity that could be achieved with more attack on the sample or maybe layering an staccato string playing the same lines.

Overall, I think this is a solid arrangement with good production. However, it feels more like an original song than a clear cover of the source, which disqualifies it for OCR. If you intend to resubmit it you'd need to rework the arrangement to make the source usage more clear. It'll be challenging with a source like this but there's elements that could be highlighted and expanded even on such a short track (the 5-6-4 "melody", the 3-4-2 flourish at the end of each phrase, the #7 that gives the arpeggio a harmonic minor feel). For now though, the vote is:

NO

Edited 14 hours ago by jnWake

[Chimpazilla ⚖️]

Cool original, and cool track but I agree with my fellow Js that the source song isn't nearly recognizable enough for OCR.  The arrangement is cool but the sections get repetitive with the same instruments and patterns over and over.  The mix is super low-heavy and the master is quite loud, I think the low end could be a bit better controlled so you have a little more headroom to work with and then there's no need to push the limiter so hard. 

But generally, this is a cool listen!  Just not enough source for OCR.  For OCR, the source song would need to be very easily identifiable, and you could do all kinds of original things over the top of it, that is a great remix strategy for such a simple and repetitive source.

NO