Liontamer ⚖️ Posted October 6 Posted October 6 Artist Name: pixeltea Arranged with the intention of sounding like a Super Smash Bros remix - more upbeat, energetic and triumphant Games & Sources Pikmin 4 - Title Theme incorporates some brief motifs from throughout the game and series (Pikmin 1 title theme, cave jingles)
prophetik music ⚖️ Posted October 15 Posted October 15 opens with a cute fanfare, and we quickly get into the meat with violins replacing the piano ostinado. there's a nice rolling beat in the kit and some fun flourishes in winds and percussion. the feel changes a bit at 0:45 with some new instruments taking on the melodic material - the chimes are a nice touch. a big drop at 1:28 to just keys is sudden (i wouldn't have minded more transitional notice there), but the subsequent instrumentation that is gradually brought back in is really nice and tasteful. 2:25's recap sounds quite a bit like the opening section, but is blissfully short before we get to some outro material. a fade-out ending isn't quite what i'd hoped but it does wrap the song up. there's some really nice stuff here! the instrumentation throughout is really well-chosen and the mix is clear and consistent. i think i liked the last ~45s less than the first few minutes due to the repetition and the fade-out ending, but this is a great rendition of the original's concept in a fresh and inviting style. nice work. YES
jnWake ⚖️ Posted October 27 Posted October 27 Always happy to see more Pikmin here! I also dig the concept of turning a calm theme and Smashifying it. This one begins with the source's intro on trumpet and we quickly move to the first section with the full band ensemble: strings, percussion, bass and piano. I like the energy you're bringing into the track with the percussion and string writing, although I feel the bass writing is a little uninspired, it seems like it's just playing the root note once per bar. If you're trying to Smashify a track and give it more energy, exciting bass writing is a great place to start! During the first minute we continue on more or less the same vibe, with some additional orchestral flourishes here and there. At 0:51 we move to the second section from the source, I'm not sure what instrument is playing the melody (it sounds like brass) but the sample doesn't do it many favors. 1:13 introduces the classic Pikmin jingle and at 1:27 we have a small piano only break reprising the first section. Orchestra slowly returns to the piece and at 2:09 we have a new section focusing on the main Pikmin melody. There's some stabs and around 2:28 we have a full repeat of the first section and we end on a fadeout. Although it makes sense for a "Smashified" track to end on a loop I'll agree with proph that it'd have been cool for the final ~40 seconds to be more interesting, featuring an actual ending for example. On production this is pretty good, everything sounds clean and is easy to hear. Quality of the orchestral samples varies, with flute/strings sounding fine/good and brass being much lower quality. There's a ton of free libraries that can be used to layer and get better sounds if you don't have access to the expensive libraries. In any case, that's more of a nitpick. On arrangement I enjoyed it but I have a few qualms. First is the bass writing, for future tracks I'd love more movement there. You can add a lot of energy and drive to a track with good bass writing, making it play in off-beats for example, or adding licks between chords to create anticipation. Second qualm is the ending. The final 40s or so being a repetition isn't ideal but I can accept it, the ending being a simple fade-out though is almost a deal breaker. Overall, nice concept and nice execution. You did well taking a very peaceful theme and transforming into something energetic, I honestly can easily imagine it playing in the Garden of Hope stage. I particularly enjoyed the orchestral writing and flourishes. Finally, although I'd love the final minute to be a little more developed, what's here is more than enough to pass. YES
Hemophiliac ⚖️ Posted Friday at 04:40 AM Posted Friday at 04:40 AM What a calming and chill source. It's really cool to hear the energy injected into your version, pixeltea. While this is fairly conservative structurally there's expansion in the supporting parts. I also greatly appreciate the broader range of dynamics added to the piece. The source is relatively flat, but this covers soft and loud, big and small. Some of the samples aren't handled the best and leave something to be desired in terms of realism but what's here is good enough. More attention to detailed humanization would go a long way, especially in the solo instruments like violin (at 1:46 panned to the left), and also with the brass which just felt like a lower quality sample. The other thing I have to mention is the fade-out ending. Here it works fine, but it is disappointing to not have a more definitive and emotional payoff at the end of a dynamic track like this. I think what's here is fine, and is enjoyable despite a few short-comings that could be thought about for any future work or submissions. YES
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