2025/08/19 - Star Fox 64 & Star Fox "V I R U L E N T"

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Artist Name: The Vodoú Queen

DONE FOR DFW'S STAR FOX ALBUM

** RE: My artist notes, source breakdown and list of collaborators are stated in the SF Album's Submissions Form I had done for 'V I R U L E N T'. If there is anything else needed or you would like me to elaborate / comment on, please don't hesitate to ask. :)

 

**~*proph did not hesitate to ask*~**

 

**SOURCE BREAKDOWN**:

Presented in "VENOM [N64]" source track --

a) FALLING/RISING STRING RUN = 00:00 - 00:07

b) MAIN MELODY / CHORD PROGRESSION (horn stabs) = 00:08 ~ til repeat @ 00:56

c) COUNTERMELODY / HARMONY (legato horns) = 00:21 ~ til repeat

 

Presented in "Venom Base 1 & 3 [SNES]" source track --

d) FALLING/RISING STRING RUN = 00:00 - 00:05

e) MAIN MELODY / CHORD PROG (horn stabs) = 00:06 ~ til repeat @ 00:30

f) COUNTERMELODY / HARMONY (moar, *shorter horn stabs [marcato notation/articulation??]) = 00:09 @ til repeat

 

Presented in "Venom Base, Level 2 [SNES]" source track --

g) BEGINNING STABS = 00:00 - 00:03

h) MAIN MELODY / ARPS (i) = 00:09 ~ 00:31

i) MELODY (ii) = 00:32 ~ til repeat @ 00:44

---

Examples of where they occur in 'V I R U L E N T' --

• INTRO: 00:00 - 00:27 = modified version of VENOM (b) source chord progression, which is lacking the horn stabs, but is the chords themselves, split amongst the soft, Asian flutes and horns panned hard to either side and bouncing/phasing in-between throughout the segment;
• INTRO: starting @ 00:28 ~ = the chimes and bells play a modified version of VENOM (b)'s horn stabs, just with the notes playing at slightly different intervals of the beat (delayed);
• INTRO: starting @ 00:55 = direct declaration of VENOM (b)'s first few bars;
• 01:21 - 02:15 = simply plays VENOM [N64], in full, beat for beat with the exception of any flourishes and improv in the additional backing synths, and slight chord progression adjustments;
• 02:16 - 02:27 = Kestrel & Chromatic play with synth choir VENOM (c), then it returns to form after (their leitmotif is repeated in the outro of the remix, to correlate the song together, and for cohesion;
• 02:52 - 02:58 = Venom Base 1 & 3 (d) is played by the bells/chimes; running arp riser underneath it simulates parts of Venom Base, Level 2 (g); you can also hear the beginning of the Venom 2 (g) part when the sitar starts to play again;
• 02:59 - 03:25 = live strings play a modified / transformative version of VENOM (b); sitar & bells, (with the beats) continue the Venom Base motifs (1/3 e & f, and 2 h & i);
• 03:32 - 03:39 = direct declaration of VENOM (a);
• 03:40 - END = repeats aspects of the intro and source usage of VENOM (b) & (c).

---

Games & Sources

STARFOX 64 Original Soundtrack; Track 20 - VENOM; Artist(s): Hajime Wakai and Koji Kondo; Release Date: 17 October 1997; Label: Pony Canyon; Catalogue Number: PCCG-00421

STARFOX (SNES) Original Soundtrack; Track 16 - Venom Base 1, 3 & Track 13 - Venom Base 2; Artist(s): Hajime Hirasawa and Norimasa "Kisho" Yamanaka; Release Date: 1993/1994; Label: Argonaut & Nintendo

Edited 2 hours ago by prophetik music

[prophetik music ⚖️]

loads of sound design and sfx clips to start. a beat starts to surface at 0:27, and the rhythmic foundation for the original N64 track can be heard in the patterns being played here - an interesting idea. there are steadily more melodic elements added in until we get to the break at ~1:02, and then 1:21 is where we start hearing more of the melodic material again. there's some alternations in here, and notably the choice of notes at 1:40 and 1:47.5 are a half-step off of the key (should prob be Eb-F instead of D-E to avoid the D-Ab tritone)). this is real intense for the most part and a toe-tapper of a section. i really like the super-heavy electro bass through all this. a mid-range element is added around 2:04 that feels a little too much and makes it a touch too dense, but overall this is a neat section. the melody coming in as a break near the end of it is a good glue section. between that initial part and the deconstruction that happens after, around 2:30.

we get a wildly unexpected stylistic transition at 2:58 into...i guess hindi trap? the bassline here is really fun. this noodles quite a bit but is recognizable. there's another unexpected break before a short exploration of the opening few bars of the venom stabs, which morphs into a more brickwalled intense section of venom's stab section. there's way too much going on here and it's hard to hear any one thing, but i guess that's fitting for the style. the ending's a bit of a letdown after that level of intensity, but it's a fine ending and wraps the track.

this is a surprisingly straightforward arrangement of the venom theme, for the most part. there's some really wild exploratory sections that probably could have been integrated better with more patience applied to the transitions, but what's here is interesting and approachable.

 

 

YES

edit 9/15: listening again with some of the context from subsequent votes. wake and chimpa are right - this is so very hot when compared to other edm. i didn't notice how much the high mids especially were pushing on my ears until i came in fresh. cosigning their votes.

NO

Edited 2 hours ago by prophetik music

[jnWake ⚖️]

Some of the Star Fox 64 themes have such weird melodies, Venom being a standout in that sense...

In any case, we begin with some pads and voice clips. Backing is doing material from N64 Venom. Source quotes at 0:27 become quite evident. There's some fun toms (I guess?) here, with tons of effects applied that make them sound quite interesting. As usual in your tracks, there's A LOT going on in terms of sounds. Things build-up for a bit and it starts becoming very very LOUD, the waveform shows the limiting very clearly and the LUFS stabilizes around -7dB with occasional peaks of -5 and such. Around 0:55 the Venom 64 usage becomes even more evident with the additional synths. We get a transition with a voice clip around a minute in and then focus on a quick synth bass. Really love the dark electronic sound of that sample. At 1:22 the source returns and we get some nice moments of heavy electronica until a more syncopated section at 1:48. After that we get more heavy electronica with additional synths and tons of loudness. While the mix is clear sounding it also feels very heavy on the high frequencies (easy to check with plugins like SPAN). Section with violins at 2:16 is fun, nice change-up. We then return to more quotes of Venum with a lot of percussion and such. Around 2:51 there's a break and we move to SNES Venom for a few seconds before a cool variation of Venom N64 with Venom SNES as backing. Track then continues with quick changes and all sorts of Venom quotes. This is kinda like prog EDM at this point! At 4 minutes we get another voice clip transition and then we return to the mood of 1:22 and it's loud and busy as hell. There's another voice clip transition and the melody from 2:16 returns before the track closes off with some stabs.

On arrangement this is super cool, I have no idea how one would label this but I'd describe it as dark prog EDM. Source usage is clear and there's a lot of fun and creative usages of the original themes. Some transitions are a tad abrupt but I don't really mind them, I feel this generally flows well and is quite interesting to listen to. Well done!

On production I'm mixed but mostly because of one particular thing. Let me start with the positives though. Sound design is great, there's a lot of cool effects and fun treatment of the samples (like those toms in the first minute). Percussion is punchy and the bass, when it matters, stands out great. I also generally feel that the mixing is well done, with most individual things being easy to hear. There's 2 things that bother me about the production though. First, the mix is very very heavy on high frequencies and that makes listening to the entire track a little tiring on the ears. You use a lot of synths and it's easy for all those bright sounds to layer together and create a huge mass of shrill sounds that can get rough, I'd recommend trying to balance it out by ducking high frequencies on many of the samples. My main gripe, however, is that the master is ridiculously loud. A look at the waveform will clearly show that the limiter is being quite aggressive and checking with a LUFS meter indicates very high levels for most of the track. As a reminder, submission standards claim "Volume levels should be normal compared to the average recording".

Overall, while I think the arrangement is very very cool and the production is 90% there, I feel this needs (at least) a second pass on the mastering (although looking at balancing the higher frequencies would be great too). I understand that electronic genres want to be very loud sometimes but IMO this is way too much, especially for the length of the track.

NO

[Chimpazilla ⚖️]

This is a wild romp through the Virulent source indeed, very creative and avante-garde.  I like it, there's plenty of source and it's a fun listen. 

This version is not my master, and this master is as jnWake pointed out quite overhyped in the high mids and highs.  The premaster was already quite heavy in those regions, as my master still indicates, but this master is screaming in the high mids and highs to the point of pain.  The limiter has been cranked so high here, and also oddly it is limited at -1.2db which seems odd to me.  I agree another shot at the master would be appropriate here.  I'm happy to provide my master but that is absolutely not a requirement.

NO (resubmit)