Liontamer ⚖️ Posted October 12 Posted October 12 (edited) Artist Name: Lucas Guimaraes No track breakdown this time cause I believe it's pretty straightforward, but as always: If you need one I'll be happy to give one. Okay, so, where to start? Well, I had this ReMix since last year. I was almost wrapping up with a different version of it and decided to revisit it this year. I basically started over keeping almost nothing from the original version I did. I was inspired specifically by Trevor (Ridleysnipes) Vaporwave track on the Pixel Mixers Earthbound album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_F_VKeAVBQ) and wanted to do something kind-of similar. And then my Synthwave senses kicked in both attempts of this track. So I opted for somewhere in the middle where it's a bit Synthwave, but with leaning into some Vaporwave sound effects. Starting with the arrangement, I opted for a less is more approach. I've been trying to work on maximizing as much as possible with a limited palette. It's not the most original of my arrangements, but it gets the job done. I also knew I'd be slowing it down for the vaporwave feel, so it was very, very important to write less (the original file clocking at around 2:40). For the sound design, this was a first foray into learning a lot of different little things. Capturing atmosphere was important, but so was not cluttering up the sound. The most positive thing from the version I did last year was the sound design, and I basically had my work cut out with me doing it twice over. There's a lot of little things in here where I tried to capture a story with the sound design that mayyy be lost on the average listener. But if you hear something neat, let me know! You may hear some funky stuff: That's intentional (1:04 being a good example example). For the mix... honestly, if I were learning producing all over again, I'd get someone who would show me how to both simplify my tracks and render out to audio sooner. This track was a mess, lol. The creative process is normally messy, but there's something to be said about having over 100 tracks (including busses) with nothing rendered out to audio on a genre where it's very vital to render things out to audio sooner rather than later. Honestly, part of it is a confidence issue. Sometimes you just have to commit and then go back a couple of files. The first seven Mario RPG's are some of my favorite games of all time, so I was finally happy to take on a song from Superstar Saga. Hopefully the next mix from Superstar Saga won't be a long wait. Hope y'all enjoy! edit: Oh, I'd like to give a shoutout to one last thing in here. A couple of days ago, during the OCR feedback session, Xaleph and Josh gave me a TON of advice for making my drum sounds more realistic. I don't remember everything, but I Did remember to automate the pitch of the snare drum just a little throughout the whole piece. I really think it added tons of life to the drums. The amount of learning opportunities both in OC ReMix and then VGM community as a whole is truly wonderful. I don't say this lightly: I would not be the musician nor the person I am today without it. And we have a zillion covers of Corridors of Time and Donkey Kong. If you're someone reading this not in the VGM community and you're not convinced, then I have no hope. Games & Sources Teehee Valley - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Edited 19 hours ago by Hemophiliac closed vote
prophetik music ⚖️ Posted October 22 Posted October 22 opens with the instantly recognizable ascending line from the melody in snippets. the cutoff of the static at 0:28 was a little confusing, as was the transition to the melodic material at 0:30 - it's very abruptly to a new style. the initial presentation of the melody reminded me a lot of early 90s new age more than synthwave. i didn't care for the constant sfx, especially the burbling sound (maybe a voice clip?), but that's more of a personal opinion. the lack of dynamics in this melodic stretch is notable - there's virtually no changes to the dynamics or backing elements for over a minute, so the change at 1:49 is welcome albeit not really prepped or signaled. the swoop for that transition cuts off hard at 1:54, which i don't know if that's intentional. this middle section is much thinner in terms of texture and almost overstays, but we get back to the original feel soon after. there's one recap with the first lead, and an outro that's straightforward if not simple. i need to admit that i don't get vaporwave much at all, and most of the elements of it are things i generally don't prefer in music that i listen to (the constant detuned sfx, the usually strange-sounding and simple leads, the repetitive drum patterns). this does to my ear do a fairly good job of representing the style, but i feel like the result is less than the sum of its parts. it's clear that there's a lot of sound design done here, but i just don't personally care for what came out on the other side. i find the lack of dynamics, the abbreviated scope of the middle section's scoring, the simplistic ending, and the choices for the lead instruments to be all elements that come together to make a track that plods and doesn't feel like it's going anywhere. i'm open to being wrong, but i just find this track boring. interested to see what the other judges say. NO
jnWake ⚖️ Posted October 30 Posted October 30 (edited) K so your synth oriented spree continues! We begin with slow pads, some SFX and a lead presenting the main melody of the source, nice mood on this section. There's some sort of sweep at 0:29 doing the transition to the next section but it seems oddly timed. In any case, on 0:30 we get a stable beat on percussion and the main source melody on various different samples. I enjoy the constant lead switching as it keeps things interesting. I'm not hot on the drums though, they feel buried in the mix. On synthwave-ish stuff I expect the kick especially to blow me away but the one here is barely squeezing through. Snare works better but I'd also like it a bit louder, but this may be more of a personal thing. 1:10 introduces a different melody, although the backing barely changes. When the bass plays very low notes it becomes a little hard to hear it properly and discern what notes it's actually playing. Layering another sample an octave above could help and also add a bit more drive to the bass sound. 1:51 introduces a new section which feels like a bigger reinterpretation of the source material. Soundscape feels very empty to me here, but it may partly be due to the percussion being so quiet on the mix. At 2:32 we return to the previous treatment of the source until the end. On arrangement I like this, I feel there's a good flow to it. A quick intro to set the mood, some repetitions, a break and some final reprises. Nothing mindblowing but it does its job. That said, I have a couple gripes. First is that the percussion/bass combo are extremely repetitive, basically the complete opposite of how you treated the leads. The bass line is kinda fun on the source so you shouldn't have much issue adding extra movement and licks to it. Percussion could use more fills or maybe a switch to the cymbals, I dunno. My second gripe is that the 1:51 section feels very empty. I enjoy the idea of a rhytm oriented section but it's not really doing it for me yet, maybe just because of the production though. On production, I think you achieved the synthwave sound reasonably well except for the percussion. The kick in particular is very weak, but really the entire kit isn't cutting through the mix as much as you'd want in a synthwave track. Other than that I dig the synth samples, the different sound effects and transitions. I would also take a look at the bass sample when it's doing very low notes too. Overall, I think this needs some more time to cook. Arrangement and production both seem like they're 80% there to me. One thing I've noticed in particular is that you've had trouble balancing the low-end of your synth oriented stuff so I hope you take the time to polish that section. I'll say I completely disagree with proph's general take on the genre/track above, I don't find this remix boring at all. I do agree with the notion of making the backing writing less repetitive though. NO Edited October 30 by jnWake
Hemophiliac ⚖️ Posted 19 hours ago Posted 19 hours ago So I actually can't hear the kick on this at all, and I usually can make out the kick in a buried mess. It's only during the sparsest section when everything drops out that I can hear it. So it definitely needs to have space carved out for it, also a little bit of beater sound could also help it cut through some too. I have to say I felt a bit disappointed when the intro finished and we get the proper start of the piece at 0:30. The intro is a lush, fantastic, 80s feeling that sets the tone too well. I was expecting this fullness to continue, but the break happens and then the rest of the parts felt thin in comparison to the intro. Also I'm confused as to what the mood is supposed to be. Is it silly or ominous and dark? To me the lightness and short sounding synths feel more light and silly than dark. The opening gave me a different vibe than that. Structurally I feel the piece is in a decent spot, it tells a story, but it lacks dynamics and feels fairly static. Drum variations and range of dynamics are missing from this, again making this feel lacking the finishing salt on top of a fresh delicious brownie. That polish and lack of cohesion is preventing it from crossing the finish line. I can live the lack of dynamics but the sound design and buried kick are the things that stand out to me the most. NO
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