[Liontamer]

Now that I'm looking at the letter, from "Adam Fudge", I think some n00b is trying to get this posted because he liked it. It actually sounds pretty good, and it's by Krispy, so I'll find out from Kris what's up - LT

clandestine is the name of the song and it is from the Chicago level in perfect dark for the n64.

credits to:http://www.pdark-mod.com/

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http://www.zophar.net/usf/pdusf.rar - 20b "Chicago: Stealth"

Good concept opening things up. The way the sequencing ends up, the bassline and beats seem a bit stiff and choppy in terms of the timing, not resulting in a smooth flow. Not quite a huge criticism there; I'm actually more impressed with how you enhanced and expanded the groove compared to the simplicity of the original.

Not much else to say here. Smooth sailing throughout the arrangement, IMO. Definitely a great fit for Perfect Dark: Source as well as OCR.

YES

[Palpable]

This is awesome. Great atmosphere built out of strings, decaying beats, and background synths (would have loved some rain and thunder FX too, haha). Excellent development of the simple Chicago theme - I get the feeling that this is what the original song wanted to be. Love the elegance of the climbing strings at 2:16.

Production is very good. I agree that the bass playing could have been tighter, but that's not close to stopping this one.

YES

[zircon]

I have to agree with Larry that the beat and bassline seem stiff and choppy. The primary drum groove sounds like it should simply be way faster, like for a breakbeat or big beat track, rather than for a chill atmospheric remix like this. The more distorted and processed drums are very nice though. This reminds me of the bustatunez/TO collaboration "Rare Square" in almost every way, which I was a big fan of... but I think the percussion there was more fitting in the mix and less distracting.

Production is good, other than the main drums. However, it really seems similar to the original in terms of style, mood, and instrumentation. In fact, I actually preferred the atmosphere of the original, even though the setup was almost identical to the remix. Lots of long sustained string chords, simple progression, etc. Even though there is a degree of interpretation in the remix, I just don't think it was quite expansive enough overall. The layers build up gradually throughout, but the texture never changes very much (besides more percussion), and almost all the notes are just long sustains. The whole mix sits awkwardly between being a dramatic action film score type of sound, and a chill, atmospheric groove, so neither style is working.

Hate to be so negative, especially compared to the other judges, but I just think this one needs more cohesiveness, and more elements to set it apart from the source.

NO

[DarkeSword]

Yeah, the drumbeat is obviously a faster loop that's been sliced and tempo-matched; it's pretty repetitive and actually doesn't seem to change at all throughout the piece until halfway through, but then it's just replaced by some more repetitive beats. This whole song sounds pretty stiff and plodding. There's not much interesting stuff going on aside from the stuff during the transitions. The song just sounds like it's on autopilot.

NO

[zyko]

i agree that it seems stiff but that would be almost exclusively due to the fact that the drums are a loop here. that said, some genres benefit from that distinction and i think this is groovy at points... but ultimately that is where the track's only significant downside is.

honestly, it doesn't really plod all that much... it does have some distinct parts to it and it transitions from them decently enough.

furthermore, this is totally perfect dark.

==========

yeah, i like it but im not yessing it outright. this needs a little more work. i don't think the drums are bad enough for an outright no... they just need to be beefier and because they're looped funny like that, they sound out of place... they need a real groove to them - the current one is too hard to get into. the loop you're using doesn't sound designed to carry a track for long stretches like that... it works, sure, but not very effectively...
you should mix up the loops just a smidge... spell that one with one that grooves more straight forward, allowing your listener to follow the instrumental and then shake em up.

this is very close as it already is pretty cool.

YEScond.

[Liontamer]

This is our current oldest submission. 6 months?!? Get it going guys!

[big giant circles]

I'm going to have to side with Andy and Shariq on this one. I really have nothing else to add/offer. Sorry for the glib vote, but between the two of them, those are exactly my feelings and concerns.

Cool concept for a piece - it's definitely fitting of a Perfect Dark remix, but cool concept alone doesn't earn the green light by it's lonesome. The execution needs to back it up.

More expression in the legato/sustained strings, and un-rigid-ify the beats. Speeding the track up maybe even 5 bpm could even help a bit.

NO

And now we're at 3Y/3N. 6 months and it may as well be at zero votes...

[Malcos]

Little bit of downtempo bias here methinks? This is quite embarrassing that this has been here for 6 months.

This is a very atmospheric soundtrack type smouldering beat. I think the slightly off time bass was quite groovy. However, what lets this mix down is the beat which is too repetitive (although there are additions at 1.39). If the beat was phatter ie, more emphasis on the kick, it would have also made this mix sound more solid. However, I thought the other instrumental elements were fantastic - and the arrangement, while simple, was very effective. Taking everything into consideration...

YES

[Another Soundscape]

Cool track. Very modern, very Amon Tobin.

I liked the chopped up drumbeat and the general sloppiness of the bass. They both really helps to set the vibe. It does sound very intentional and groove-based and not like an error. The drum-loop could use some more low-end if this was a big beat track, but in this case I don't think it's nessecary. Very cool to let the saxophone take the lead, superb tone.

I thought the strings was so-so but it's a minor. The arrangement otheriwse is plodding along quite good. Some interesting expansion of the source and generally very true to the mood of the original, something I can appreciate.

This is good enough for me and conceptually a great arrangement. The low-end could've helped to aim this to a larger crowd and give the loop more impact but I think that would've taken focus from the chill arrangement. So I'm gonna go with

YES

[Vig]

I dig the tune. I think some of the balances are a bit off. I agree whole-heartedly with Weed that the groove needs to be beefier. fat kick plz. If you need to, carve a chunk out of the bass/low strings to make room for the kick around 60-125 Hz. Those strings are kind of boomy anyway.


NO