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The phantom remix tournament.

jssf1992

jssf1992

Shrine Maiden
New Years resolution:  I'll try to do more stuff here.  Including more games, but let's start with this.  It may or may not be a good time to start, but if not, we'll hold off.

This is essentially a game of sharing and rating music remixes that we have found.  It's not really much of a competition, and there's not really much of a prize in the end, so don't worry about anyone taking this too seriously.  It will go like this: every participant will send three remixes/arrangements/etc to me via PM.  Then, I will post three of all the pieces in the thread, and everyone will comment on them and rate them.  A day or two later (depending on how many people we have and how fast they post), I will post the next set and we'll do it again.  We continue like this until we've gone through all the pieces, and we find out who had the highest rated song, best average rating, etc.

So, if you want to join, post here, then send me a PM with your choices.  Sign-ups will last one week, assuming we have enough interested people.

While rating by numbers is arbitrary, I can compile them into a percentage at the end so we can see who has the rated song and best average, so that would be preferable.

Entrants:

Garrison

Ken

Buskerdog

Drunken Flower

Amamiya Yuki

 
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Starting the new year off with some excitement! I wasn't expecting this for another three months, and I couldn't be happier!

 
jssf1992 said:
New Years resolution:  I'll try to do more stuff here.  Including more games, but let's start with this. 
Click to expand...
I've been wanting to make more topics as well, but I guess last year I wasn't that motivated lol. Anyway, very happy to be starting with this. "The phantom remix tournament" is probably just another one of your star wars references, but it has some legitimately spooky vibes to it. OOOooooOOOOooo... I think I may have some trouble choosing my songs this time, but I'm taking part of course.

Ha ha, like I don't have trouble choosing the songs every time...

 
You might want to message DF and Amamiya, since neither of them have been on the site since the announcement.

Also, if anyone else thinks they might be interested in joining, it's been a lot of fun in the past!

 
Ohh that's good to hear happy that it's there again so a bit late but yeah imma join as well

PS: When next tournament will be there i don't mind when someone would DM me on discord since i'm not coming to site that often and sometimes i'm not here for about month as well

 
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Alright, let's get this started!

First off, there was a piano in the Scarlet Devil Mansion?  Appearantly so:




 
1. Yo Ken it's pretty nice and calming piece of work, i probably could sleep to it even tho piano arrangements are just mostly decent for me (also about that title, i'm pretty sure there WAS a piano in SDM at least in most fangames)

6/10


2. Orchestra huh, it's pretty good and gets even better once music picks up a little in moments like 1:43 ngl i'm a bit more into orchestral stuff than solo piano and song is pretty good as well 

7/10


3. oh no it's a choir, that's probably just me but when i hear choir only thing i can think about is church and i'm ateist so i'll pass i just rather jam to stuff like piano/orchestra/post-rock etc. and probably only one that drops even lower is Jazz and some kind of Swing songs, don't get me wrong i love this kind of atmosphere in most songs especially when chorus or intense part kicks in and either something similar to this happens or just vocalist vocal gets much more intense and is kinda choir like however when it's choir on it's own i'll pass

4/10

 
Alright, let's dive into this!

There was a Piano in the Scarlet Devil Mansion?

A very calm and soothing piece, it's pleasant to listen to. The change in the mood about halfway through caught me off guard and threw me a bit, but it's a welcome addition, and actually I like the change of pace, it gives the song a bit more... momentum. Overall, it's a really nice rendition of Septette for the Dead Princess! 7/10.

Toyosatomimi's Medley

This piece is really graceful in how it blends between the different songs in the medley. I like how it uses different volumes and speeds as it moves throughout the piece, the loud brass section used to announce the "arrival" of Miko's theme is particularly catching. True Administrator and parts of Legend of the Great Gods are fast and grand but there's also a calm, mysterious mood associated with other themes. Overall super atmospheric. I'll give this 8/10.

U.N. Owen Was Her? (Choir)

This is short but sweet. It's a very different take on the song, and honestly a pretty good one. I have to say I appreciate the use of the background instrumentation though, I would have got pretty tired of hearing just the voices. They sound nice when used in tandem though. It's a very simple piece overall, but that's why it works. 6/10.

 
I see we're starting off with a more classical bent this time, eh?

1: There was a Piano in Scarlet Devil Mansion?
Glad we're getting this out of the way early. The artist did only one Touhou album, and as far as I know has no Youtube presence. His arrangements are characterized by an exploration of what it means to adapt something to piano, playing powerfully to the instrument's strengths.

This specific piece is my favorite from the album, and probably my favorite Touhou piano remix. It's essentially a simplistic arrangement, but just complex enough to have a classical feel. I picture Remilia playing in an empty grand hall (maybe with Sakyua listening from doorway), casually exercising the varying techniques she's learned. The stylistic changes that occur throughout (such as at 2:20) are the transitions from one technique to another. The original theme's bridge section (featured here at 4:21) sounds like improvisation, lending to this perception. Yet even as a practice piece, she still builds up a progression, brings the piece to a climax, and ends it without too much fanfare (the final chord has a relatively short duration).

Ultimately, I believe I can give this an honest 10/10.
On a side note, I also like to compare this arrangement to Demetori's Ascending into Naught as a showcase of the source material's diverse application potential.

2: The Dawn of Asuka, and the Beginning of the Legend (Brass Band Ver.)
An exceptional orchestral arrangement; if it's not live, then it's using some of the best VSTs I've ever heard. I tried finding more about the circle (Harimusic, or Hari Music), and found a impressive supply of Ten Desires' centered medleys. The blending of different motifs is near seamless, which effect I perceive stems from the way the piece is ordered. True Administrator's motifs are the most prevalent, but it does less tying the piece together and more becoming the primary motif to a unique arrangement.

Put another way: This doesn't sound like a medley of multiple themes. If I didn't know the source material, it would sound like a single, unified arrangement. As such, its progression is perfect, and it manages to instill a perfect balance of cinematic overture and concert hall feeling. All of this, and three-fourths of it are my least favorite themes from Touhou 10!

My initial inclination is a well deserved 9/10. I'm a little worried how well that will hold up in future rounds, though.

3: U.N. Owen Was Her?
Within the first few seconds, I thought someone had found the choir remix Garison was looking for. Veering off from that, this piece captures a very serene feel that definitely tries to tug at the emotions. I can easily see this growing into a more powerful arrangement, either as a climactic resolve or a crushing conclusion. Unfortunately, the piece doesn't build to anything. There's amazing potential to it as a beginning, but it's far too short.

The rating on this one is difficult. I did like it, so a five seems too low. But six seems too high, so I'll stick with 5/10.

Edit: @Garison DeCrick I'm curious if my perspective will help at all with your experience, but I suspect we're looking for something different in either the motif representation or in the style of arrangement. If the former, you might give Nguyen's Flight of the Bamboo Cutter a listen. If the latter, we might have a disagreement on the grounds of music theory. Most Touhou piano arrangements I come across tend to be "covers;" they recreate the original piece for piano. I enjoy this style, and there is significant creativity involved in imitating the complex themes on a simpler instrument. However, there is also the arrangement which reimagines the source material for piano. I appreciate Nguyen's style because of the pace changes; I interpret these as an exploration of the instrument and/or a form of storytelling through music (although there is a very near exception in his Meiling, Come in for a Bit; that one's weird, even for me). This is often my preference in solo instrument covers, possibly as an experience of the instrument rather than the piece itself. My least favorite track on this album is his Satori Maiden, which is his most straight-forward remix and probably not coincidentally his shortest. For the sake of comparison, could you highlight one of kkcwkoh's arrangements? I was under the previous assumption he was just a feature channel.

Also, yeah, that rendering flash is annoying, and I have no idea what caused it.

 
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sadness
 

1: the piano and the mastering itself nice, so smooth and kalm
i like few improvisation, kinda break me up from burnout or just from the pieces aint fond of
the problem is as Garrison said, the organization is kinda messed up, stuff end and change so quickly
also i kinda expected owens but no, kinda relieved but still eh
7/10

2: eyy this one amazing, they skipped Toyo's boring part, nice.
kalm opening for dramatic buildup or somethin
i have no much to say with orchestral, everything so strict and technical. i just know when i like or not
and i know the focus is Toyo but i demand old yuaxian more in it
8/10

3: why i only heard opening from the left OHNO mine headphone broke, i blame flan > :((
ok the choir really feel synthetical , it's like somethin i made when messing up with FL studio and aint a arranger
wait why the whole music is just opening? where the main dish?
3/10
fixed mine headphone btw :DDDD

i shouldn't've listen to other musics before rating these but pbtbtp.

 
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Alright, moving on to the second round:

First we have a lovely traditional arrange of Retribution for the Eternal Night:






 
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