Liontamer Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Hi, Here are the details of my ReMix submission... Contact Info: Remixer & real name: Chris Grey E-mail add: collapsethelight@gmail.com Website: www.soundclick.com/cgreymusic Forum username: StarsDie Remix Info: Remix Name: The Legend of Monkey Island Games remixed: Monkey Island Series & Legend of Zelda Name of songs remixed: Monkey Island Title Theme, Cemetery Theme, LeChuck's Theme Legend of Zelda Overword Theme Comments: This is a rock/metal remix of music from a couple of my favourite games. It combines variations on themes from the Monkey Island series of games and the Legend of Zelda overworld theme. Originally put together as a bit of fun, but thought it might be worthy of inclusion on the OCRemix despite being a remix of two totally unrelated games! I was originally inspired to make this after hearing Trapeziod's amazing 'Monkey Brain Soup for the Soul' remix of the Monkey Island 2 music. Recorded in Cubase using real guitars and bass, plus drum and orchestral soft synths. Cheers, Chris ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Secret of Monkey Island (Game Rip) - (01) "Monkey Island Theme" [:01-1:13] http://www.zophar.net/nsf/zelda.zip - Track 3 [1:13-2:13] LeChuck's Revenge (Game Rip) - (08) "Scabb Island Cemetary" [2:13-3:18] The Secret of Monkey Island (Game Rip) - (11) "LeChuck's Theme" [3:18-4:35] Certainly no problem integrating pieces from two wholly different series. I thought it was far from seamless in terms of the styles matching up, so I wasn't feeling the Zelda section at all, but it wasn't terrible. The arrangement title leaves something to be desired, but it gets the point across. However, the percussion definitely stands out as the weak link here. A shame when an otherwise solid rock piece has lackluster sequenced percussion. Bland patterns, especially on the generic-sounding drum samples, took away from the skill of the guitar performance and undermined the overall energy of the piece. Gotta spruce that up in a major way and hit us back with this one. Use the ReMixing forum to learn more about making effective use of your sampled drums in a rock setting, harass SnappleMan for advice, and resubmit this once you've improved on that level. Not only will it complete this piece effectively, but the skills you pick up would be applicable to future work. Great base so far, Chris. Hope you stick around the community here and continue to develop your skills. NO (rework/resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 I disagree with Larry, in that I didn't think the drums here were really all that bad in terms of the samples themselves. Sure, they're not the greatest, but they don't sound that much worse than the free stuff that's available. I think the problem I have though is that the percussion does very little besides keep the tempo, aside from the Zelda section; some more creative patterns and fills using more of the drumset (toms, rimshot, cowbell, etc) would have been much appreciated throughout. For example, the cemetary section sounded rather dull and exposed because it's going so slowly and the rhythms aren't really subdivided. I would consider maybe adding some lightly processed drumloops on top and/or ethnic percussion to keep things interesting. Aside from the percussion, I thought the arrangement was creative, the performances tight, and the production generally solid. However, the drums simply drag the rest of the mix down a bit too much, so I would like to ask you for a resubmit here. It should be very simple to improve them, maybe 15-30mins of works improving the detail. Feel free to try different samples also, though again I didn't think that was a major issue (it would certainly help.) You might also consider adding additional instrumental parts to fill in some of the more sparse sections of the arrangement. For example, maybe a harp here and there, or some light piano chords before the cemetary section. Sometimes when you only have the guitar going, things sound dry and centered, which detracts from the bounciness and energy of the track. Good job so far, just a little more work and this will be ready to go. NO, RESUBMIT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHz Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Arrangement is okayish. Definitely room for improvement in each of the individual source sections. Monkey Island Theme is pretty close to the original, with some additional repetition and a few little melody changes here and there. The transition to the Zelda melody at 1:13 was actually really smooth, but I thought as a whole that section didn't flow well at all with the rest of the track. Zelda overworld is pretty coverish with the melody. Transition to the cemetery theme isn't too bad either. Melody's pretty close, but there's a little bit of change to it, and the original bassline and pads are good additions. Transition at 3:18 was the weakest by my reckoning, but still not a mess. LeChuck's Theme got the most arrangement, and is easily my favorite part of the medley. Overall, I'd definitely like to see more interpretation in the sources, especially in the second section. Second and third transitions could be cleaned up a little bit, but the only big medleyitis hit was in the Zelda section, which just doesn't really fit at all in there. I'm definitely not saying you can't mix tracks from different games, but they should at least combine into a cohesive whole, and they currently don't. Guitar is good, nice and clean. Didn't think the percussion was that bad, but there's room for improvement; mix it up in the first and fourth sections, etc. The cemetery section was a good break from the rocking of the other sections, but it's actually too good of a break; as zirc said, it's pretty limp compared to everything else, dragging its legs through the whole thing. Spice that up a bit. This is pretty close, but I can't give it to you quite yet. The start and end are pretty good, but it's the middle two sections that I'm not comfortable with. Get the Zelda and cemetery sections integrated better into the track (style for the first, energy for the second), be more interpretive of the sources, and come back with another shot. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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