*NO* Metroid Prime & Castlevania 3 "Cruising Down Overture Blvd. (in the Depths of Tallon Traffic)"

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Artist Name: colorado weeks, Mel Decision, Moebius

colorado weeks - main arrangement

Mel Decision - additional synths, sfx

Moebius - guitars

Howdy! This was our Team Whip entry for GSM2, Round 2 where we were tasked with mashing up tunes from Metroid Prime and Castlevania III.

Mel pitched the idea of doing a synthwave track for Round 2 in the Team Whip Trello board, but let me take the helm for the arrangement while she was cookin' up some Pure Zebes. Moebius and Mel came in clutch with the ear candy while I struggled to re-learn FL studio within that time. 

I sat on this track more than a year so details from back then are a little fuzzy. This submission is slightly different than the competition version. This submission is still not the Feel Good Inc entry that Team Gun did and I still hate myself for it. Mel and Moebius I love you. Uhhhhhhhhh Team Whip 4ever <3

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Games & Sources

Metroid Prime - Tallon Overworld

Castlevania III - Dracula's Curse

Edited 6 hours ago by jnWake

[prophetik music ⚖️]

some really nice synth pads to start, and a lot of chromaticism in the lead synth right off the bat - a hallmark of the music of castlevania. the bass is reminiscent of Tallon's bassline as well. there's a break at 1:21 with just the bass and kit under a lead line - this needs something else to mix it up, it just sounds unfinished initially. the next section has some really great electric guitar and some sfx elements before the melodic material comes back in. there's some more meandering, and then it's done with a fuzzy fade-out that clips off hard at the end, probably unintentionally.

there's some really crunchy chords throughout, at least partially driven by the chromaticism in the main line and the rest probably a result of reverb tails conflicting, but it gets really rough in the last third of the piece. separately - and this is a bigger issue IMO - the piece meanders a lot. there's only really one major break in it, and most of the piece has a very loud lead instrument wandering around without a clear sense of cadence or form. it's hard to follow. being more intentional about framing phrases both in the lead and in the backing elements would help a ton, as would varying backing instrumentation on a regular basis to help box in the lead parts into consumable chunks.

i think this is actually pretty close. the lead's personalization is fun to follow and the arrangement overall makes for a nice thing to listen to. cleaning up the dissonance and making the melodic approach and overall song structure a little more formalized will make for a much more listenable track.

 

NO

[Hemophiliac ⚖️]

Took me quite a few listens to catch the usage of CV3 in this. I wasn't sure where it was being used. That's because the rhythm on the melody used is way different than the source. That kind of change up is cool, however the phrasing doesn't feel very fitting. The backing parts seem to be ending their section or phrase but the melody over the top continues on. Prophetik put it well when he said, more intentionality with the phrasing would help a lot.

The chromaticism in the lead also conflicts with the backing parts at times. This leads to some awkward changes for it. You'll want to be careful with using such a chromatic line while the backing stays relatively the same. Either the melody or backing needs to adapt to adjust to the other.

There's something odd going on with the snare reverb. Either the snare is panned left or the reverb is bouncing after the initial hit to the opposite side or there's an attempt at gated reverb and it's not quite working 100%.  Not sure what it is, but something about it sounds strange and slightly off.

Consider automating the vibrato on the synth lead so it's not just going all the time, let the note hit and then let the vibrato come in after. Just like a pop singer would do. That would really give live to the leads. How it is now is fine, but just a note for leveling up in the future.

Overall the concept is sweet and I enjoy it, but the small details are preventing this from being so much more.

NO

[jnWake ⚖️]

While listening to this I was dreading an eventual Megalovania quote all the time. Somehow I was a bit disappointed there was none by the end.

Anyway, this begins with some SFX while we build into a synthwave-ish sound that seems to be quoting Tallon Overworld. A synth lead enters around 0:23, it seems to sound a tad distorted and the melody is rather odd. At 0:56 we move to a different melody which I believe comes from Castlevania... wait, was the first melody also from CV? There's a very interesting contrast between the backing and the melodies, which several "spicy" notes. I do feel most of them sound very cool tho. We then move directly to Tallon melody on a plucky synth around 1:20 and then there's a repeat with a voice over and a cool chord progression. The synth lead returns and does a big melody over the backing. From 2:30 the remix takes a very atmospheric feel, the sources taking a bit of a backseat although still present. The 0:23 melody returns, there's some high frequency overlap between the synth and the plucky lead that sounds a bit harsh at times. Seriously how did you not add Megalovania at 3:25... and after that the track ends.

I'm gonna start on production, since I'm quite torn on it. I really liked it during the first half, you went for a synthwave sound and mostly nailed it. I think the kick could have more oomph and the synth lead sounds a tad distorted but other than that the mix was great here. However, things start changing for me when you introduce the plucky lead and especially when it plays together with the synth lead. The mix starts slowly becoming very harsh and it tires my ears. You also start layering more stuff on the low mids and it also gets cluttered there. One of the things I'd look at is either decreasing the volume of the reverb or taming it with some EQ, since I feel it's one of the main culprits of how muddy the mix ends up sounding.

On arrangement, this is an interesting track. As I mentioned earlier I like the vibe you went for and the arrangement supports that well. The combo of the bass and drums are a good background for the variations you create on top. I'll agree with both Proph and Hemo that some of the lead writing is rather odd, especially on the very first melody (0:23), where there's a lot of interruptions and some of the notes seem to play at random times. I wasn't really bothered by the spicier/dissonant notes but I can see why someone could be. Finally, I don't really mind the arrangement being kind of "meandering", it feels like that's what you guys wanted to create and it's an enjoyable ride (as the title and SFX imply!).

Overall, I think this needs a bit more time in the oven. While I generally enjoy the arrangement I think there's some extra polish needed on the mix to make it sound less harsh and cluttered on the second half of the track.

NO

Edited 6 hours ago by jnWake