Liontamer ⚖️ Posted September 29 Posted September 29 ZackParrish: Arrangement, Production, Mixing, Mastering, Piano, Glockenspiel, Tenor Sax, Nylon Guitar, Electric Guitar, Fretless Bass, Mark Tree, Drums(programmed) GameroftheWinds: Alto Flute, Soprano Sax prophetik music: Alto Sax TSori: Trumpet When I sent out to make this track I was just trying to do something upbeat and different from my usual moody / emotional stuff. I didn't have a lot of ambitions with it contest wise since it was out of my comfort zone and the bulk of the remix kind of was built around me going nuts with the drum programming and avoiding using strings. The crew performing for it did amazing and really brought the track to life. Games & Sources Croc: Legend of the Gobbos: Title Theme and Snow Island 5
Hemophiliac ⚖️ Posted September 29 Posted September 29 Well this is fun little romp. I have to say, I love the inclusion of the glockenspiel to double the higher octave. It really adds a bright shimmery quality to the piece and rounds out the opposite end. Especially because the bass is big and feeling just a smidge too much to start. Until 0:52 it was maybe 1-2 dB too hot for me. Not a killer, but it was just too heavy for me to start considering how light and airy the other parts are here. After the fuller sound at 0:52 it sits in the space better. Right around 2:00 the sax had me thinking this was clarinet for a moment, and I even had to check the credits to see if there was one included. That soprano sax tricked me. XD The inclusion to have electric guitar in the final third was a nice way to bring more oomph and lift to the ending when there already was a lot of energy to begin with. Fun source, well represented throughout. Fun track, a breath of fresh air. YES
jnWake ⚖️ Posted September 29 Posted September 29 (edited) I've never played (or even seen) Croc, but I love all the stories surrounding it and how it supposedly inspired Nintendo to do Super Mario 64. I had never listened to the music either and it's pretty funny how much the Title Theme resembles the music from games like Super Mario 3D World. Anyway, this track comes fresh from Fresh Month so I'll take the chance to vote quickly since I already reviewed it for DoD. Begins with some classic Zack sounding acoustic guitar before a jumpy piano and bass join. Main melody from the Title Theme is played on flute at 0:20. It's a bit airy sounding but nothing major. There's a brass melody at 0:43, unsure if it comes from any of the sources and we then get a repeat of the main melody layered on flute, sax and some percussion. At 1:08 we move to the B melody from Title Theme and then we get some repeats of both until a break at 1:40. Great idea to change the pace and let the listener breathe for a bit. Snow Island is featured on this section, which closes with a sax solo over a very cool chord progression. We then get some more repeats of the main melodies but now an electric guitar joins the band for extra variety (plus, every band member also adds some extra voices and flourishes on these final repeats). Track then ends on a repeat of the intro with just acoustic guitar and bass. Arrangement is fun, the original theme isn't super varied so there's a fair amount of melody repetition on the first 1:40 here, but you did a good job switching up lead instruments and energy levels so that it doesn't feel repetitive. Adding Snow Island to break this was a good idea and gave the arrangement a good structure. Source tunes are present for most of the remix so there's no question about eligibility. Production is good, all the instruments sound clear in the mix and the recordings are mostly high quality (pan flute is a bit airy as noted above). I don't really have many notes here, the track sounds great and any criticisms would be just nitpicks. Overall, excellent work! Great production and performances bring to life an arrangement that wouldn't feel out of place in a modern Mario game. Y for Yazoo Edited September 29 by jnWake
Gario ⚖️ Posted September 29 Posted September 29 (edited) Dang, bring my childhood onto the site, why don't ya? My first Playstation game I ever played, can't forget that iconic title music. Solid performances, great flourishes to make it stand out (that slow section borrowing from that snow section was a great way to break it out of sounding too conservative). At first I was pegging it as being too conservative because this does have a similar style and bounce to the source, but I'm glad I won't have to do that since listing to this arrangement brings a smile on my face. :) Not too much I can add, this is a great little tribute to a solid piece of Playstation history, ship it. YES Edited September 29 by Gario
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