The Remix Tournament Awakens

[buskerdog]

Sorry about the wait guys, I am now here to finish reviewing these.

Spoiler

Steps in the Twilight

I do certainly like the buildup in this piece, although without nay translation, I can't know what the male vocals are saying. Beyond that, what I have to say is this is very unique for a Touhou arrangement, and I like the beat that runs throughout the piece. I do have a few gripes with it as well, namely the fact I can't hear what theme it's meant to be based on, and that the part with the violins sounds too fast to me (they might not be violins I'm not great at identifying string instruments but you should understand what I mean). 

Pleasant and unique sounding, didn't have me jumping out my seat though. Gets a solid 6/10.

Observe, White Wolf!

The ZUNpet influence can be felt strongly in this, although I have to say, this is almost all trumpets. There are occasionally some nice things going on in the background which add some identity, but overall there's just not enough layers to it for me, and it comes across as a pretty surface-level adaptation. I was hoping for more. Not much else to say really, I can only give this 3/10.

Rainforest

This is one of those pieces which I like, but struggle to explain why I like it. I'll try my best; there's definitely a hard, driving beat to this, but it doesn't feel intense or overwhelming in anyway, and it's contrasted nicely with the actual main Bamboo Forest of the Lost melody later which is much calmer. This piece is made up of a lot of simple repeating melodies which are overlapped in different ways throughout, and I think that's why I can easily get into the relaxing mood without getting uninterested in the music. The bit where the main melody is layered on top of a counter melody is really good too. For me this is a relaxed and enjoyable piece that cleverly uses its simple parts to make a chill atmosphere that also prevents itself getting boring. Huh, I've outdone myself, I think I actually have done a good job explaining why I like it. It should also be noted that I am very biased for rain ambience. Anyway, I'm ranking this 7/10 overall.

 

[jssf1992]

Alright. I finally got the numbers worked out (sorry for the delay), but here they are:

Highest average song: a tie between Nuclear Fusion and Reach For the Moon x Doll Maker of Burcusti, each at 8.6 of 10

Highest average participant:  Drunken Flower, at 7.9 of 10

Other things

Only one 10/10 was given that wasn't by the one that picked, and it was for Steps in the Twilight.

The range of scores was 3/10 to 10/10, the range of averages was 6/10 to 8.6/10.

My personal favorites were Reach For the Moon x Doll Maker of Burcusti and the Stray House Fantastic Legend of Tono

 

[Drunken_Flower]

does this mean i won?
i thought im doing terrible lmao

so yeah time to guess who's who i guess
 

Spoiler

my submission


Spoiler
Nanagen Strasse - Twilight Steps
this was a disastrous choice
i initially choosen another one from the same arranger, but apparently that was not a 2hu arrange.
and i insisted to pick another song from the same arranger since i really like this guy.
time running out and this is the one of few 2hu arrange that uploaded on youtube.

C-Clays - Djedefre
i love middle eastern touhou.
pls send.

i forgot the other one i submitted, pls wait girls are thinking.
Tennenjemini - CALL OUT!!
i uh... cant rember why i choose this one.
probably because i like tennenjemini, they aint very pro but a fun one instead.

Jssf

i think he's the one choosen all 3 FMW OSTs, quite confident since his tournament history consist a lot of game OST

Shionne
he said earlier that he aint using youtube and admitted some of his submission.
chizhidoo - Falling Pegasus
Youkai Sound Team - Hyper Flavour
Joulez - Wasted Neverland

now just 6 left for 2 people, basically 50/50

Busker

Sonic Hybrid Orchestra - Soul Concerto
Busker is the type that will choose SHO, sick guitars

Gurdian of the Shrine - IZMIZM
Frozen Starfall - Rainforest
because i dont think Ken choosen this two, and you're a bit of an Electro guy right?
 

Ken
this all what left
dont think you're the type that will pick EDM stuffs, i dont even recall you ever posted EDM.
and the remaining is all orchestral.

Maiden's Cappricio/Armpit Maiden - Blooming
月まで届け、不死の煙×ブクレシュティの人形師 - Melodic Taste
O-Life Japan - マヨヒガ演舞

I'm curious to see how DF categorizes this into his taxonomy of musical adaptation

me too want to know

 

[buskerdog]

Woo, back here at the end again! Thanks again to all for participating and Jssf for coming back to host.

I don't think it's a secret that my favourites came from the fourth round. Djedefre was actually a song I had heard before, but I'd forgotten about it since it was in a compilation of other songs, so nice to see it brought back to my attention. Stalking the Night with a Cross also left a big impression on me, it honestly might be my favourite rendition of Apparitions Stalk the Night. And to mention something that wasn't from that fourth round, I loved the dual vocal performance of CALL OUT!!

My submissions!:

Spoiler

Maiden's Capriccio - Blooming

Melodic Taste - The Doll Maker of Buccuresti x Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke

Frozen Starfall - Rainforest

Now, regarding the hosting of the next tournament: I was going to sign myself up for it, but... I have some songs that I'd kinda like to comment on myself next time. If no one else wants to host now then I'll still do it and save those songs for later. If someone else does want to host, then great! And I'll offer to host the next one afterward.

 

[jssf1992]

While it's been commented on, I have really talked much about how I keep coming back to fan games remixes.  This time in particular I picked three from Fantasy Maiden Wars: Scarlet, one of my favorites for a number of reasons, the soundtrack definitely being one of the highlights (though I did pick one from a later game).  Observe! White Wolf! is one I very fond of, despite being different, and honestly simpler, than the original, for it's energy.  It's what I think of as Momiji's theme, as opposed to the original stage theme.

I generally feel that the fan game mixes are kind of the other direction to go with the music.  Most remixes/arrangements will become 'active listening' pieces, that you could/should follow along with or focus on, while most video game music is 'passive listening' pieces, meant to be part of a whole, and having a purpose in that whole that doesn't require you to focus on it.  A great deal of my praise for the Touhou soundtracks is that Zun's work can do both well as-is, providing feeling and character to music while keeping a driving energy that is oh-so-neccesary while playing such fast paced games.  When the fangames manage to keep this element of the music through the remixes/arrangements, I'm all the more impressed.

FMW, though, is interesting in that being a strategy game, it doesn't have to keep the energy level high, but usually does anyway.

 

[Shionne Imeris]

i kinda agree to that about fangames music and that they often can be a different approach to same theme which may lead to great outcome!

now, thanks for everyone participating i had plenty of fun there

submissions of mine:
 

Spoiler

chizhidoo -Falling Pegasus
Youkai Sound Team - Hyper Flavour
Joulez - Wasted Neverland

and since i'm always full of stuff let's say i'm already waiting for next one!

 

[Ken Hisuag]

I need to work on my punctuality, I've been slipping of late.

Where to start? I'd like to take a deeper look into DF's clarification of terms, but I should probably get the more formulaic parts out of the way first. So, here's my three most memorable submissions for RT7.

Spoiler

1: Youkai Sound Team - Hyper Flavour
By far the highest moment of the tournament for me. Looking back, I probably should have given this a 10/10.

2: Ibiza - Stalking the Night with a Cross
Surprising, but pleasantly so.

3: Tie between C-CLAYS - Djedefre & Melodic Taste - Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke x The Doll Maker of Bucuresti
Both of these are victim of unfortunate circumstance; I was already familiar with Djedefre before the tournament, and the novelty of Melodic Taste was worn away by subsequent rounds (I would have placed it later in the tournament, but I'm probably overthinking it).

Next up is submitter guesses, and I think I've got it pretty close. I'm making more assumptions this time, in as much as I'm taking obvious patterns at surface value. But, as no obvious contradictions arise, I'm committing to it.

Spoiler

First up is Jssf, who's thematic submissions seem pretty straightforward this time around. It's rather interesting how wide a variety of musical genres exist within the Fantasy Maiden Wars series, even if it seems a bit hit-or-miss sometimes.
1: Paranoia Step
2: Stalking the Night with a Cross
3: Observe, White Wolf!

Then of course is He Who's Name Keeps Changing, who I presume pulled a Garison and made all his submissions unique links, whether for novelty or familiarity. Either way, the pieces themselves fit his tastes, so the shoe fits.
1: Falling Pegasus
2: Hyper Flavour
3: Wasted Neverland

busker's commentary style is an unreliable indicator of whether he's previously familiar with a piece or not, without being explicitly biased about it. I admire this ability, as much as it makes this part of the game more difficult.
1: Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke x The Doll Maker of Bucuresti
2: Blooming
3: Reflection

Finally, we come to the wild card. There's always a couple points in a tournament where I say to myself, "That's one of DF's submissions," just by the sound. But then I second guess myself, lacking supporting evidence, and it usually comes down to a process of elimination.
1: CALL OUT!!
2: Djedefre
3: Steps in the Twilight

I feel so much less confident now then when I started, but I still ultimately enjoyed it.

Almost forgot to put down my own picks. ?

Spoiler

1: Guardian of the Shrine
I thought this would be my wild card this tournament, but by the end I think it became pretty obvious. Less commonly remixed track.

2: Soul Concerto
Phantom Ensemble is my favorite Touhou theme, and I have not found many arrangements of it. This is one of the best I've found.

3: Stray House Performance
I've been holding on to this one for a while. My appreciation for Touhou meets my appreciation for Irish folk.

That will do for now.

 

[Ken Hisuag]

Okay, let's do this.

- Cover is basically where someone play faithful to the music sheet with barely no change. e.g Piano Cover
- Remix is where you add something to the original music like effects, mixes, enhancements and such while keeping the original feeling the same.
- Re-Arrangement is where it gets interesting. Basically you play music with your own style, your own image. Altering the original meaning and mood to fit your own views and expression.

This definition of musical cover is consistent with my previous understanding, and I appreciate the clarification being made. I realize I tend to estimate these differently from how I would an arrangement, though perhaps not as much as I should. The intent of the cover is to recreate the original with different instrumentation, presumably adjusting the tone in the process to fit the new genre. Thus, the difference between a good cover and a bad cover is mostly technical quality, i.e. how successful the adaptation was. The remix tournaments tend toward analysis of creativity and emotional perception, with some (but less) focus on technical quality, leaving covers at a disadvantage. While I don't expect I'll be submitting many covers, I will remember in future to approach such submissions with an appropriate mindset.

The description of musical arrangement is artfully worded (I appreciate the presupposition of music as a medium of meaning and intent), and sufficiently distinguishes the concept from that of the cover. I'm not sure the term "rearrangement" fits, given that the word implies a moving around of what is already present in a similar way to the word "remix." At the same time, I understand the intention and justification of creating the distinction. I might use the word "metamix" myself, but will remember the context for other references here.

A remix is assumed to be a "mixing" of the musical material being worked with. This process takes inspiration from what is currently contained in the source material, hence the "re-mix." I question what the qualifications are for a musical adaptation to be more than a cover without becoming a metamix; even a cover will alter the mood and feeling to a limited extent, so it seemingly becomes a matter of subjective perception. How much can you add without effecting the fundamentals? What even are the fundamentals?

As such, I propose that a remix is a limited reinterpretation, without drifting too far from the source material. This is still subjective, but allows for the first two categories to broaden and gain more versatility, and limited the third category to become more manageable without losing significance. The farther away from "cover" an adaptation becomes, the more reliant upon its creativity its estimation becomes. My specified curiosity concerning Observe, White Wolf! had to do with the limited distance from its source material. I considered this a cover, albeit in a style normally complex enough to qualify for DF's "remix;" similarly, Soul Concerto is mostly a direct genre adaptation, up until it introduces interpretive elements in its second half (as appropriately noted by DF in his review). All that being said, this taxonomy is still very subjective; it will be up to the individual to justify their classification should the need arise, and convincing levels of justification will likewise vary. I doubt it will come up often, but I think it will be fun when it does. :)

For further consideration, a selection of other terms that may or may not fit in:
Mashup
Extension
Medley
"Inspired by"
Remastered

Bonus question: Are the musical adaptation of the fighting game spinoffs predominately covers, arrangements, or metamixes?

 

[Ken Hisuag]

If someone else does want to host, then great!

I'm game. I'd probably wait till late May in anticipation of Jerome's return.