[Rozovian]

Sound design is very 90's. That's cool. :D Production, unfortunately, is too. It sounds a bit like the stuff that showed up in electronic pop music in the early 90's. You need more modern production techniques to get on ocr, imo. That's not particularly hard, tho, some eq and reverb to separate tracks more and it should be in a good place.

Piano feels a bit stiff. I like the sample-y feel of it, and I don't mind the stiffness during the more intense parts of the mix, but when it has a more exposed part (like at 2:43), it just stands out as mechanical.

It's fairly conservative, but I think it's different enough. I like how it sounds like it comes from a shorter and less repetitive source, but the source is way worse than the mix in this regard. I don't mind the repetition in the mix. Drums could have more fills and a few more variations, even if they're subtle. The bass also. You've got a cool groove, but don't be afraid to develop a few variations of it, and use those variations to control the intensity of each part of the track - as you have with the 1:46-2:13 part.

Ending doesn't work. At least give us a delay tail and a bit more silence at the end or something.

Production update and humanization during human parts and it could make it to the site. Good luck. :D

PRODUCTION
- Unrealistic sequencing - not always a problem, but it's there
- Mixing is muddy (eg. too many sounds in the same range) - not horribly so, just 90's so

STRUCTURE
~ Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough) - could be more varied
~ Too repetitive - not a huge deal, but i bet the judges would comment on the drums and bass
~ Abrupt ending - it's not cut off but it does end poorly

[Red Rum]

I took everything that you said Rozovian, and I worked on it a lot more afterwards. I also took the criticism of other posts on this thread. Let's see what people think about it now.

https://soundcloud.com/red_rum/souled-out-finished

[Liontamer]

Saw this gem in response to the judges decision

Originally Posted by Red Rum

@ocremix are a bunch of cunts. Six months of hard work every single day, down the drain. I've wasted my time. They can go fuck themselves.

And yet, you had 3 different people basically say a lot earlier what I said in my vote, yet somehow you're still shocked:

Originally Posted by ambient

I really really don't want to discourage you, but I don't think this will pass. I could tell you "this is awesome and it rules and jgdfgts better pass it", but it won't do you any good. While you have variations, and some original parts in there, the basis of your mix is identical to the original and it is especially obvious in the beginning. The bass is the same, along with the repeating chords, the drums, the overall feel. What judges expect is rearrangement, and rearrangement in its most basic definition (at least to me) is the rearrangement of the supporting parts, of the bass, the supporting instruments, their rhythm, changes in percussive patterns, switching up the style. So, in general, I don't think the rearrangement factor is quite there.

Please keep at it and don't get discouraged!

Originally Posted by patella femoral syndrome

I love how you've matched the original feeling, but the instruments and sounds seem much too similar to the source sounds.

Originally Posted by Flexstyle

Unfortunately, this song veers dangerously close to "cover" territory, which will be a problem when dealing with the judges.

Overall it's a really enjoyable track, just probably wouldn't cut it for the judges. Cheers!

Now Rozo was wrong, IMO, and maybe that gave you false hope, but we still have ReMixes that are more cover-ish, retaining the same structure and tempo, but are more personalized than what you had. See what else you can do on the arrangement side or just try another arrangement with more interpretation in mind.

I think djp said it best when I mentioned this offhand in chat just now: "Hey man, no need to call us cunts, we liked the track, we just have requirements that the arrangement change things up a bit more. No hard feelings if you don't feel like it, but we'd love to see you make some changes & resubmit."

That's basically it. Maybe you can't read past the NOs at the bottom of the vote, but we all still enjoyed the track. And we've been called worse than Fucky McFuckcunt, or whatever you yelled, so we don't mind.

Your production's not bad, just get the arrangement/interpretation component on point, and you're good to go. And if you no longer aim to get something passed on the site here because you don't like the standards, that's fine, but go channel that anger into something positive.

EDIT: Here's the proof that we hate you:

Originally Posted by Liontamer

It's definitely cool and well-made, Greg, but it's falling outside of our scope on account of the arrangement approach.

Originally Posted by WillRock

Yeah i'm digging this.

So production as I said, is very good. Clearly passable.

Sorry that you won't be revisiting this, it would make a great track on the site in some form.

Originally Posted by Vig

Really dig the triplet feel; was not expecting it, and it was a pleasant surprise. I'm really digging the vibe. It's very moody and slightly disconcerting in a mysterious kind of way.

Great vibe, needs some help in the groove arrangement.

[timaeus222]

You should try again anyway. Meh, the judges were being nice with the crits, just read between the lines. If you're a person that can bear to adjust an arrangement you already finalized, go ahead. Worth a try. Then ask someone to comment on that again in this topic. Arrangement is a tough judgment call, can't get it perfect right away every time, not when you've just recently become "good" (I'd call myself "good" as of New Year's Day 2013, after 1.66 years). You probably just didn't have all that much time on your hands to practice, or did much of the same level stuff without looking for new and interesting techniques, or something tough in your DAW, or something.

It also helps to have the ability to envision a mix in your head, so you can just try out ideas in your head and then use your sense of judgment to decide what to use and what to scrap.

So yeah. Stay here dude. Don't expect to get something posted within less than 50 OCR forum posts and the rather minimal amounts of advice that you can get within that amount of time on OCR. Not extremely likely IMO. You need more time here to improve your skills in the right direction. I think if you came here earlier than your apparent sign-up date, you probably could have had a mix on the site by now, but wutchagunnado.

[Argle]

It's too late. Suicide is the only option now.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

If you're a musician and you freak out on people via Twitter who crit. your music (which is going to happen anyway), that's real bad PR and it can potentially follow you to the grave.

Working for six months on a song and getting rejected by OCR isn't a waste of time.

Being pissed about it is.

[Argle]

All I'm going to say is, if you worked on a track constantly for 6 months and still didn't make it different enough from the source, you need to pick up the pace.

[Chimpazilla]

I spent six months on a track once, it got horrible critiques in the wip forum. Clearly I was doing something wrong. I took careful note of the critiques and started something new.

That something new took me four months and also got horrible critiques in the wip forum. Clearly I was still doing something wrong.

I reached out to some musicians whose music I respected, and made friends with them. I sent track after track to them, and clearly I was doing stuff wrong. A bit less wrong as time went on.

Each time I received bad criticism, either in a forum or in an email, I thanked the person heartily for the time they took to write the crit. Then I went off and cried for awhile, then considered the things said, and tried again.

I'm now at a point where I can write something within a couple of weeks and get fairly good comments on it. Still, each person who takes the time to comment points out to me the things I still haven't learned, or things I just couldn't hear because I'm too close to the mix. This has been absolutely invaluable and I'm so thankful for it. I rely on it. I then go off and learn that thing, or fix that thing, or try that new thing.

Each and every time I respond to anyone in a post or email, I'm always kind and gracious, even if the words written to me weren't so nice. If I can't respond kindly right away, I say nothing. Eventually, I am able to thank the person for whatever they said, and 9 times out of 10 their advice was correct. Clearly I'm doing something right. (funny, quite often, these very people whose words hurt me the most are the ones who give the most helpful advice, and often they become my good friends shortly thereafter, but only if I've treated them with respect and kindness, which I always do)

Sometimes I paint myself into a corner on a track and it really can't be salvaged. I used to hang onto that track for months, not wanting to admit having "wasted" time. Now, when I hit that "painted into a corner" thing, I either reach out to a collaborator to see if they have any ideas for the track, or I scrap the track. Either way, I've learned something from the effort and the time is never "wasted." Clearly I'm doing something right.

I also find myself getting invited onto album projects from time to time. I now have a reputation for being reliable and good to work with, as well as an improving musician. Clearly I'm doing something right.

Hang in there. Try again. Make some new friends. Make some new tracks. Get feedback along the way instead of waiting until the very end. And above all, be civil in what you write. You'll get there.

[Rukunetsu]

Originally Posted by chimpazilla

Hang in there. Try again. Make some new friends. Make some new tracks. Get feedback along the way instead of waiting until the very end. And above all, be civil in what you write. You'll get there.

Well said.

Originally Posted by Argle

All I'm going to say is, if you worked on a track constantly for 6 months and still didn't make it different enough from the source, you need to pick up the pace.

I'd have to agree with this as well. Cold, but it's the truth. The notion that the more time you spend on a something automatically means it must be good/accepted will get you shot down every time. Be it Artwork or Music.

[Cash and Change]

If you're placing so much stake on one decision, you really need to step back and reevaluate your attitude. Creating music, in my opinion, should be about the journey, the actual process. These are the questions you should be asking: "did I enjoy making this song" and "did I learn something". If the answer to one or both of those is yes, you didn't waste your time. One decision does not and should not invalidate the work you put into your song.

The feedback you received from the panel was very positive, you should be happy. Not everybody gets a resubmit vote, address their critiques and try again. You're blowing this whole thing way out of proportion. They actually enjoyed it, and you call them cunts? If this is how you handle positive feedback, you probably shouldn't be posting music on the internet. You'll be very lucky indeed if this is the worst feedback you receive on your music.