OCR01703 - *YES* Cave Story 'H2O'

[Liontamer]

I think I'll try a "safe" submission in light of the massive lulz that was my last effort at pleasing the OCR judicial system. This song is basically "Path-ology Take 2" so theoretically it should pass... right ? Interesting factoid: it is track 1 from the Cave Story Remix Project. The track remixed is "Living Waterway."

p.s. after this then I have another one that is similar but I will send that one after you guys are done with this one k? :3

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Cave Story - (21) "Living Waterway"

Interesting minimal opening. Melody arrived at :22 on a wind instrument, with some mechanical-style beats entering in at :45. Not much in the way of texture, but we'll see if this is leading to anything. The overall volume level is definitely too low.

Ok, some new stuff at 1:07, placing the countermelodic material pretty far in the background with some Follin-esque trills from 1:07-1:26, before moving back into the main arranged melody at 1:30. 1:52 moved over into another section of the source with the Follin-esque trills brought back until 2:11. 2:15 arranged another section of the source before revisiting at 3:00 for the last section.

The textures could be criticized, but I feel they were adequate enough and offered something different than what we normally get. Man, you definitely don't use harmonies much, as I've come to learn. My main criticism would be the sheer repetition of the industrial-style backing percussion at the core of the track repeated ad nauseum from :44-3:23 and countermelody from 1:52-3:00 causing the entire thing to drag and feel way too repetitive. The original does the same thing repeating its backing patterns the whole time, but you're supposed to be taking it to a new level, and your arrangement is a lot longer than the Cave Story track which makes the repetition level of that percussion a significant problem.

Arrangement-wise, there's variations and subdued dynamic changes otherwise, and the interpretation of the source material is ok. Reworking the percussion and that countermelody to change, evolve and integrate more with the rest of the arrangement would be a meaningful plus. You should revisit this one, it could end up a lot more interesting if you were willing to.

NO (resubmit)

[big giant circles]

really interesting interpretation all across the board. with your minimalist setup, and completely different backing from how the source goes, i actually had a kind of tough time recognizing the melody (even though it's fairly close) because of how different the rest of the track was, comparatively speaking.

hmmm. well, it's hard to say at this point. i suppose, i might have to actually get out the timer and grind on the total level of arrangement vs. source. man, i hate doing that crap.

right now, i'm actually leaning toward YES. This is a really habit-forming mix. it truly is. typically i'm really particular and often kind of "meh" on minimalistic mixes, but this one is kind of hitting the sweet spot. I like the vibe, and the melodic connection is definitely clear. really, considering the length of the track, i don't think this ones as repetive as it might seem, especially with the slower tempo.

fudge it. i like it. it's interpretive, it's mellow, and it's clean. it's also unique to most tracks we get on here.

unless i notice any glaring issues when i revisit this (or after seeing other judges reactions) i'm going to go ahead and lay down the official thumbs up.

YES

*edit*

K, it's been a few days since my vote, and after revisiting this one a few more times, I'm still solid in my YES vote.

[zircon]

This is pretty creative as compared to the original "Living Waterway". Really introduces a different mood and changes the melody/harmony in an interesting manner. Production is fine, not too mellow but not too in-your-face either. It works. It boils down to the level of density and the repetition factor. Despite the layering of the drums over the course of the song, I think this is just a little too drawn out given the lack of substantial variations in the sounds. Path-ology was definitely stronger in that regard. Though it had a static drumloop, there was more going on so it got covered up more. At least, that's how I look at it, and even that mix was pretty borderline.

Less repetition, more patterns.

NO, resubmit

[DarkeSword]

The whole thing has a really groovy vibe to it, and I like the texture. Production is clean, and the instruments sit where they should.

My problem is the repetition. The percussion simply does not let up at all, and continues throughout the song with out any real change, save for adding some 8th note hi-hat work. No rhythmic variation, no cuts, nothing. There should be a little more interaction there, more integration.

NO resub plz

[CHz]

Like BGC, I actually had difficulty picking out Living Waterway at first because of how completely different it sounds, even though melody is actually relatively close. Very nice interpretation of the source in that regard, especially with the flourishes down at the end like at 2:22-2:25 and 2:31-2:37 instead of just hitting with an exact repeat of the melody immediately (which does eventually come at 3:00).

The repetition of the percussion and other backing does take a toll on the remix, but there's no full on copy-pasting; even though that melody from 0:22-0:44 is repeated twice, the backing behind it is different each time. Specifically, there's more to it each time, and that combined with the other sections like 2:15-3:00 make the piece do feel like it's going somewhere, even with the amount of repetition that's going on.

The production is good enough, the arrangement is fine, and the repetition is fine with me because it doesn't feel at any point like the piece is really stagnating. More variation would've been good, and I can see where the NO's are coming from, but this one works for me.

YES

[zykO]

hmm, i don't see why the repetition is a problem. some music works BECAUSE it's repetitive (has anybody really knocked ravel's bolero for repeating the same alternating parts for 13 minutes?) and this one definetly works - it has "x factor" personality to it and that has to count for somethin, right?

the vibe is killer... i'm entranced by it; it has such a transporting element to it and while it isn't the singly most impressive example of instrumentation, it has just enough texture to work. it really carries itself on its groove and its ambient feel. this could be listened to for a loooong time.

i just think the repetition is too much of a stylistic issue to drop the track solely upon.

very solid SOC work

YES

[JJT]

the repetition doesn't kill it for me, cuz there's a deliberate shape to the arrangement. its not like he ran out of ideas and just hit "copy+paste" IMO.

anyway, this works. if not exactly epic, it'll still be a great addition to the site.

YES

[Palpable]

Tricky call. I admit, the first time listening through I wasn't really feeling this song. It seemed a little repetitive, and lacking in something. But the second time through, it delivered. It has a nice direction that isn't immediately apparent, a good vibe, interesting textures. It's minimalistic rather than lacking (obviously that's a judgment call, based on what I thought the song was trying to do), and the repetition isn't that bad because there's still always something capturing your attention. Definitely, more variation would enhance it, but what's here is enough.

As far as the production goes, I thought the few instruments covered the spectrum well, which can be hard to do with minimalism. Some of the samples, like the weird arpeggios starting at 1:08, sounded like they were missing highs, lacking clarity. I'm not sure whether it comes down to the sample or the EQ, but it's a minor thing. There's enough action in that range to cover for it. Your interpretation is a fine one, quite entrancing as zyko mentioned, and I think it deserves to be on the site.

YES

[Malcos]

This has a groove that more than makes up for any repetitiveness that this might be perceived to have - and the arrangement is definitely progressive. There is lots of low frequency activity here which fills out the soundscape nicely (ultra low bassline section in intro and from 2.15), so although it is minimalistic the texture doesn't actually feel empty. This is also a nice addition to the site as it adds some variety to what we already have.

This could have done with more background melodic elements, but as it stands, this is a

YES