Liontamer Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Hey guys, Thought I'd toss this remix your way all though it may be a bit too cheesy for your site. There is a small site by the name of Vs compo where (among other things) us crazy remixers do one on one battles with one another. We pick a game, a song, and the time to do it in. I posted an introduction to myself there saying that I couldn't think of who to challenge or what game to try so I invited them to come to me instead with an idea. Little did I know that a certain someone by the name of KungFuFurby would accept my proposition and hit me with remixing something from the SNES version of RevolutionX. But hey, I wanted a challenge right? His explanation was basically that he wanted to see if we could make something good out of a game and soundtrack generally regarded as horrible . How could I not at least try? Yes, I am aware that half of the soundtrack consists of lo-fi Areo Smith songs and the other half is pretty awful. In case you haven't figured it out by now I am obviously nuts . Also, I am pretty sure that the way in which I used in-game sound fx and voice clips will have some of you cringing or at least wondering "What the hell man!?!" My reply to you is simply this. They were there for me to use, and given the oddity of the game in question how could I not? I think it's pretty cool and hilarious at the same time, but I am no OC judge and there is probably good reason for that . In any case, I mixed 2 songs together. "Inside Club X" and "Outside club X" and threw in some original improvisations all over the place. I really added a ton here. I hope you at least enjoy it! Oh, and if you're having trouble locating the SNES source that's no problem . http://mystro88.googlepages.com/revx.rsn Well, I look forward to comments from you guys on this one. If you "no" this I guess I could see why. I think "De- De-De De-De D-D-D Destroy!" could be insanely catchy. The title of this one is called "Music is a weapon" for obvious reasons. Well, I guess that's it then. Man, it'd be rad to see this posted but somehow I sort of doubt it . Oh well, thanks for taking the time to listen and give feedback. Take it easy, Jredd- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 God these source tunes are so lo-fi. I hope someone smacked the guy who implemented these into the game upside the head. Anyway. Hm. Groovy beats, nice variation. I think the voice-clips usage is pretty neat, actually. Nice texture and synth design. Not too sure about the balance some sections; particularly 1:14, when the lead comes in, I feel like it's fighting for attention with the background wah-synth. It's a minor gripe. I'm going with YES (borderline); if any other Js have significant issues with production, I'm down with changing my vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Ha, I forgot all about this game. How funny. I didn't even make the connection when I saw the thread. And I just sort of grabbed the source before even reading your email. I heard the opening riff of "Rag Doll" and was like WTF? Thought I'd downloaded the wrong file or something. This one is solid enough for a fairly quick vote. It's really solid, and after judging that last track (the Top Gear one), the treble almost feels too high. That wore off quick, and I really prefer this kind of EQ in the mixdown. It's fairly balanced I'd say. Nothing super-pro quality, but definitely acceptable. Really nice takes on the source themes, too, and I think they've been sewn together pretty seamlessly. I like it! Ye- Ye-Ye Ye-Ye Y-Y-Y YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJT Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 wake up. the revolution has begun. generation x is in effect. looooooooool. if anyone needed a reminder of how old this game is, there you go. drum samples are pretty lofi, though the sequencing indicates that you know what you're doing. as the other J's so far have indicated, the overall production isn't anything to write home about, but it gets the job done. the arrangement shows a sure hand. nice work jredd. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zykO Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 this is pretty freakin groovy the production isn't really bad at all and doesn't even warrant more mention than thus. i am all about the variation, sure hand and excellent musik i dig YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted December 3, 2007 Author Share Posted December 3, 2007 http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=revx - "Outside Club X" (revx-02.spc) & "Inside Club X" (revx-03.spc) No, the production was definitely a substantial enough weak point. It's not utterly terrible, but the mix is both too loud and too trebly. The beats being louder than the lead wouldn't have been so bad if that kick didn't seem like it was distorting from :00-1:04. Dunno what's causing that. Once things kicked in, I did feel the balance was off and the soundfield simply ended up too crowded from 1:12-1:44. The sequencing of all the leads ranged from a little robotic-sounding to very robotic-sounding. The sequencing on the faux-guitar lead from 2:00-2:24 was a bit rigid except for the flurries, followed by even more noticeably mechanical sequencing on on what felt a little a pretty cheap/exposed lead from 2:24-2:39. The sequencing on the bass from 2:40-2:55 was a bit rigid, but not too bad. Felt like the timing of the lead from 2:55-3:12 was too perfect however, a lot more exposed here for the finish as compared to the usages in the beginning. Say what you will about the Revolution X sources, but the main thing mechanical-sounding in those are the beats, not the leads. I'm a stickler, but the leads should be touched up to sound more humanized, and the various production and balance issues should be cleaned up. The arrangement concepts are pretty solid, but the execution's not so strong overall that I can look past these issues. I'd rather have some additional opinions, so I'm asking for some. NO (refine/resubmit) We still haven't figured out anything definitive as to whether the source tunes are assuredly original material, so we need to do more on that level. I knew the backstory of the game, but just ended up forgetting that Aerosmith sampled some of their mainstream stuff for the soundtrack. All my searching so far seems to imply that these sources are ok, but we'd need to know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 No, the production was definitely a substantial enough weak point. It's not utterly terrible, but the mix is both too loud and too trebly. The beats being louder than the lead wouldn't have been so bad if that kick didn't seem like it was distorting from :00-1:04. Dunno what's causing that. Once things kicked in, I did feel the balance was off and the soundfield simply ended up too crowded from 1:12-1:44. I'll agree that the mix (drums mainly) is a little on the loud side, and that the kick seems distorted, but I believe that's just the particular sample he's using. As far as being too trebly, are you sure you're not just suffering from midrange-withdrawl due to the high number of submissions lately that have been WAAAAAAY heavy in the mid/mid-low area like I mentioned in my vote? Spectrum analysis looks fair enough. We still haven't figured out anything definitive as to whether the source tunes are assuredly original material, so we need to do more on that level. I knew the backstory of the game, but just ended up forgetting that Aerosmith sampled some of their mainstream stuff for the soundtrack. All my searching so far seems to imply that these sources are ok, but we'd need to know for sure. I remain confident that they're not. I'm 99.9%, and I used to listen to Aerosmith for hours on end back in the day. I didn't recognize either sources from any of their album tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 I tried doing research on whether the sources are eligible. They seems fine, but I didn't get anything conclusive. They don't seem to sample any of the songs that sites have listed ARE sampled in this game. If BGC knows Aerosmith, then I think we can defer to him. Yeah, the kick is really distorted. It's very noticeable for the first 30 seconds and then less so after that as other instruments fill up that high range. There's a similar kick at 1:52 for another 30 seconds. That's a tough call, because it's not clipping, it's just a very distorted sample that really doesn't work in this context. I thought it was very distracting, and because it's used so much, it should be fixed before this passes. I also thought the lead coming in at 2:24 was cheap and too rigidly sequenced - but that only plays for about fifteen seconds; it's a much smaller problem. The production was quite good in other aspects. The majority of the leads and synths are well-programmed and there's a quite a variety of them - I think there is a lot of talent in those parts. The drums sound fine without that offending kick, like starting at 1:05. Actually, I think things really came together in that section. I had no problem with the balance in any section. Writing-wise, it's very expansive on the source and a nice interpretation. I mean, props just for taking absolutely horrible songs and making them worth listening to. Basically, if the distorted kicks get fixed, I would yes this. NO (resubmit) Edit: Changed to YES (conditional on fixing the kick) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Vinnie, if all you're asking for is the kick fixed, isn't that more of a conditional YES? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zykO Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 hmm i think i need to listen to this on my headphones... on my monitors, i didn't actually catch any of the distortion... i thought this only lacked in the midrange and was trebly... which isn't really enough to kill something completely. but i don't think i heard this right. let me get back to you after i've heard this on my beyerdynamics rather than my jbl's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted December 4, 2007 Author Share Posted December 4, 2007 Vinnie, if all you're asking for is the kick fixed, isn't that more of a conditional YES? Agreed, if that's the only concern, that sounds like a conditional YES, not a NO. I'd just encourage everyone just to check this mix on some cans just to make sure we're all hearing the same things. I'm not gonna die over this mix passing as is, but I think there were some valid production issues that potentially got glossed over and may not have been as readily picked up on without headphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Vinnie, if all you're asking for is the kick fixed, isn't that more of a conditional YES? Yeah, I wasn't sure which to go with. Since the problem is with the sample, I thought the work involved might be more than a simple volume increase or a clipping thing. I'll go ahead and change my vote to conditional YES. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 The kick is distorted, but it's not clipping and has a decent amount of headroom. The tone choice is a subjective thing, IMO, it's not an objective problem with the recording or sample playback. That being said, I do have to agree that it probably needs more low-end meat and less high end saturation. Simple EQ and maybe layering another sample on top with a deep fundamental would probably get the job done. Much like Jredd's NSMB sub, this definitely has a rather rough production sound, which includes a decent amount of compression and saturation. However, I think it works better here than it did in the NSMB mix (which I personally NOed.) The frequency balance is not bad and I think Beatdrop/Roe have passed with harsher mixing/mastering. I am OK w/ the production. Arrangement is pretty creative overall, and the way the song is structured works. I have no complaints here and think the mix has a good flow. My issues w/ the somewhat rough production are not enough to outweigh the creative sound design (to be expected of Jredd) and the arrangement. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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