[Liontamer]

Original Decision: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8065

Please find attached my remix.

The remix is based on the Heatman stage from Mega Man 2 on the NES.

The track is titled 'Heatman - Ignition Remix'.

It's based on a remix that I submitted to you some time ago that was rejected, after taking some of your advice on how to improve the track I decided to take another stab at the mix as I love the source material so much!

My remixer name is Alex Fruen

Many thanks

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http://www.zophar.net/nsf/megaman2.zip - Track 12 ("Heatman Stage")

Aight, so I had this on while doing some multitasking, working on the submissions inbox, wrapping up the wording on another vote, and trying to pull up the original decision on this one.

So while I'm doing this and not actively listening, the track was sounding decent. Nothing great, nothing awful. But the Heatman melody was so quiet.

I finally picked my head up to look at Winamp and see what's up, not really thinking of being any more than 45 second in...and the timebar was already past the halfway point! The track is 4:02 long. So you're more than 2:25-in, and you're still in the buildup phase?!? What...the...hell? Well, when's the rest of the track supposed to happen?

You can't call this "Ignition Remix" and proceed to tread water all day. Jesus Christ, IGNITE DAT SHIT!

The whole time, this hovered at the same overly reserved energy level. The melody never stood out in the foreground the whole time, and wasn't developed. Nothing's happening. I'll be fair, IF you actually developed the arrangement of the Heatman theme and wanted to produced it like this (only cleaner), this would have a shot. But right now there's no substance.

If this were the buildup of a 12-minute piece, this would be fine, but as a standalone concept, where's the beef?

NO

[Vig]

Fails to ignite? Maybe. I'd call the track 'understated.' I think the concept is very well-executed; the piece is fantastic as a soundtrack-type remix. The energy never kicks your ass, but unlike so many underdeveloped tracks, there's plenty of development here. Sure, it's a background track, but there are plenty of changes in instrumentation and energy throughout the track. The vibe is subtle and evocative. I think the original is used very well.

YES

[big giant circles]

Ha, Larry's gonna punch me in the balls, but I voted YES on the last one, and dammit, I like this one too. It definitely doesn't blow my mind in any extreme sense, but it's fairly progressive in a simple sort of way, and I love the vibe. Pretty clean and balanced, as well.

I can definitely see why Larry gripes that the mix "fails to ignite" as it were, and I do wish there'd been at least one time where the mix completely jumps out and kicks you in the face, but though it never did, it's pleasant enough to listen to. Inappropriately named, but still cool.

IGNITE (yes)

[zircon]

I'm pretty close to the border on this. It's definitely an improvement on the last sub. I don't have a problem with the minimal & "soundtrack" vibe, and in fact I think it's quite effective. I think this genre could be called "progressive trance". The mix of hi-fi and lo-fi percussion worked well, and I like the variation of the Heatman source that happened throughout. Really reminds me of old school OCR.

I think my main problem with it, at the moment, is that it's too QUIET! It's nearly normalized (1db away) but there's basically no compression to really bring the volume up. You don't even need to totally remaster it. Just go here:

http://www.yohng.com/w1limit.html

Put that VST on your master track after everything else. Turn the threshold to -4 or -5db. I just did this myself with the MP3 and it sounds way way way better. So I'm going to go ahead and give this a..

YES (conditional)

Just do the volume tweak and you're good.

[Malcos]

From what I remember of the last submission, this has been completely overhauled - and for the better. I like the ambient feel here, and while I agree with Zircon that it could be somewhat louder, this is far from the almost cookie cutter mix that got subbed last time. The source was used well here, good stuff.

YES