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Lovely vibes right off the start, I'm not sure where this is going but there's a tremendous amount of expressiveness in the performances shining through immediately, which persists through the whole arrangement. A really unexpected changeup to the instrumentation hits around the halfway mark, but it's definitely welcomed. Overall, I found that this arrangement passed the bar with no reservations because of the human element added by the live performances - it's expansive enough even though it hews close to the original material, and I don't think there's a strong case to reject this track on arrangement grounds, even though it doesn't deviate from the original structure. Production is more of a mixed bag. Instrument tone is really lovely overall. The mixing is handled in a way that has the piano sounding muffled, like it's coming from the corner of a quiet jazz club, and the guitar taking center stage and covering the lead melody role. I'm not opposed to mixing the piano that way and using it in more of a textural role., but I can see how it might have rubbed the other judges wrong. What's irking me a bit more is the heavy transient emphasis on the guitar - all of the pick noises feel incredibly loud in a way that does break my immersion in the chill vibe. I'm not sure if it's the compression style used or how the instrument was recorded, but it feels like many of the elements have a very plucky transient to it, and that is compounded more in the second half of the instrument when you add more instruments and the panning becomes more chaotic. It also feels like it's picking up on incidental artifacts/noises in the recording itself and accentuating them further - it leads me to suspect that compression might be the culprit here. I'm in agreement with jnWake that the second half of the track is where the production issues feel more present - it's very hard to follow what's going on because of instrument leveling and panning choices that were made - it's a lot to keep track of, and with the transients being so pokey, there's even more competing for my attention. I also felt like the mixing on the piano caused it to get totally lost in this section. I disagree with prophetik that the arrangement is the dealbreaking issue here, but because it's so conservative to the original source and doesn't take as many risks with the arrangement, the production nitpicks weigh a little heavier. That said, I love love love the vibe you've laid out here and the subtle ways you express feeling through your performances. There's absolutely a passing track here and I don't think it'll take much to get it there! NO (resubmit!)

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What a beautiful source, fits the title perfectly. Before starting the review, please remember we request WAV files next time you submit! Anyway, we begin with an electric guitar and piano doing the arpeggios from the intro. Right away the volume catches my attention as this is very quiet (and it'll continue to be). At 0:13, the main sax line plays on guitar and, as you mentioned on the write-up, it basically plays the original melody as is. Piano provides the backing chords here, in contrast to the original's combination of acoustic guitar and strings. Chord progression seems very similar to the original but you actually added a ton of variations to the bass notes, like a big focus on G as the pedal note on the first few chords. There's a brief move to F on the bass around 0:27 (sounds kinda weird on the next chord at 0:30, personally I'd have moved to E like the source) and then we return to pedal tone G for a bit. From 0:40 you start following the original bass for a few bars but then return to the G pedal note on the chromatic E-Eb-D-Db-C section of the original, then it moves to B pedal note for a bit and resolves like the original. Cool! We reach the loop point around 1:18. Additional voices and some form of percussion join at 1:32. Mix here starts becoming muddier and it becomes harder to parse what's going on. The piano for example becomes almost completely buried and I can only hear a few bass notes here and there. There's also some plucky strings in the mix, also hard to hear. Second loop ends around 2:38 with some strings and we get a simple outro. On arrangement I have 2 main notes. Note #1 is that the structure of the arrangement and the melodies are basically 1:1 to the source, which risks our "reinterpretation" requirement a little. The variations you added to the piano background do have a ton of merit as some are pretty cool, but I'm not entirely convinced on them being enough by themselves. Luckily, the second half adds some additional voices and stuff that give your version a bit more identity. That said, I wish there was a more concrete flow to this arrangement, it's basically 2 loops of the source. I wish there was more tension or build-up or something of the sort. Production is, however, where this one fails more IMO. Electric guitar's fine, I like the tone and the performance. Piano, as proph noted, sounds quite far away and becomes very buried on the second half. Said second half is easily where the production's issues are felt the most, as the larger amount of voices makes it hard to focus on anything. I believe there's 2 guitars, a bass, some plucky string lines and the piano, but I can't really hear all of the elements that clearly. Also, as Gario above mentioned, there's a very "boxy" feel to the sound, with not much material on the lowest and highest frequencies. I think you can probably breathe a lot of life into the mix by looking at those areas. Finally, it's very quiet! I understand that this is a calm cover but it's quite below standard volume at the moment. Overall, while I mostly like the arrangement, I think you need some extra spice on the arrangement and a second pass on the mix for this to pass. NO

What a pleasant source, and what a chill interpretation of it. It's calming, a touch conservative but the personality of the performance shines through so I don't think it's too much so for OCR. The performances are as loose as intended, it really sells the "we're just chillin' and jammin'" vibes that it's going for. I agree with Liontamer that the arrangement has enough of a shift in energy to keep things interesting throughout the performance. The production values on this are an issue, though. I suspect there's a lowpass on this that's keeping the arrangement all in the lower and lower/mid range of the spectrum, which while sounding *warm* also introduces the issue of introducing artifacts and fuzziness when instruments play together. There's small moments where the track clicks unintentionally thoroughout, but moments like 2:36 - 2:38 really take me out of it with how crunchy the artifacts get. I like this otherwise, but I do think the production quality is below the bar. I believe lifting the lowpass on some of the instruments and remixing the arrangement would pretty much fix the production issues that I hear, so I hope to hear this again soon. NO

Interesting.... I agree this is lovely to listen to, but it's a reduction of the source song down to almost a little soundbite. The instruments don't sound perfect to me sample-wise but they don't sound terrible either (other than the four string notes at 1:45 which sound extremely fake since they are so exposed). This is a nice little comp, but it seems almost more like a short trailer or teaser or proof-of-concept and not a full track, at this short length. Half of this arrangement is buildup, one big swell and a soft outro and it's done. It just doesn't feel like a full arrangement, although it's a very nice start. NO

Opens up with some uncanny valley orchestration that sounds... aight. There's effects on everything to give it some depth and mitigate the realism issues, though it's not enough to prevent lack of realism from standing out as soon as this started. Hard to articulate but at 1:07 when it transitioned into the more grandiose texture with these high strings, the volume was too quiet for the energy of the part-writing, if that makes any sense; obviously, this shouldn't be clipping, and I'm not saying "just turn the knob one higher", because it's actually pretty shrill. But something about the layering of the parts should have been fuller and more cohesive. The high strings were always very exposed as being a sample, but the articulation around 1:10 was the worst offender. A little better texture at 1:32, though it's pretty muddy until 1:39. Something about the way the strings at 1:45 and winds at 1:51 were produced made them feel like they weren't in the same room, even though I hear the stereo placement being different; again, difficult for me to articulate. There's some sort of light pop at 1:59 that needs to be eliminated as well. The bar isn't "now, go find some live players!", and this possibly could have passed like this 20 years ago. That said, I do wonder how much this could be improved to humanize these sounds and make the textures less shrill, more cohesive, and with more realistic ambiance, because that's the real hangup for me, not the arrangement, which in a vacuum is fine, no problem with it. Needs some more finesse with these samples, Pipko, but it's a good concept. For something so short, this needs to be closer to firing on all cylinders. NO (resubmit)

I have zero reason to believe this is AI, and the artist has an online presence that extends far enough back that I really have no doubt. He also mentioned his DAW and software, which is also quickly verifiable online. Nice typical Big Room arrangement here. Not sure why there is 3.3db of headroom, is this a premaster? The mixing is on the harsh side which I find unnecessary, every element has heavy distortion which means there isn't much contrast in the soundscape, and it feels somewhat abrasive. Not a dealbreaker, just makes it a bit hot on the eardrums. The lack of enough source makes it a dealbreaker for OCR however. Fun to hear in the big club though, I'm sure! NO

Very cool arrangement, great performances, vocals and energy. I love the concept! But wow is this dense, loud and crunchy. The guitars are indeed very loud compared to everything else. Very wide, very midrangey, and very, VERY loud. EK's vocals are so buried under the wall of sound. When I can hear her, for example at 0:30, she sounds very dry, and too upfront. She sounds too intimate compared to everything else, and that really emphasizes how everything was recorded in a separate space from each other. EK's vocals will need some further processing, some reverb (with some predelay, like 60-90ms), and there will need to be heavy EQ cuts on the guitars and backing elements so the vocals can cut through. You can even do this with a dynamic EQ, just make sure it sounds natural enough overall (no obvious dips). The screamo cuts through better than the female vocal, but there are spots that even the screamo is drowned out. Wow! The drum work is great! But yeah it's buried under the wall of guitars and backing elements, a good amount of the time. In the densest areas of the track, for example at 2:41, the high mids are dog-piling so hard between 3-4kHz that it is literally shredding my eardrums. It's just too many midrangey things playing at once, with no EQ used to let leads/vocals shine in front of the soundscape. This is an oppressive wall of sound! The master is driven very heavily. The numbers look ok (-10db RMS is totally fair), but the master sounds so crispy on top as if it has just been pushed too hard. From time to time I hear pumping in the master. You'll want to turn every stem down by several db so you have more mastering headroom, and also make sure with EQ that no instruments are playing any stray or unnecessary subs, lows, or inaudible rumble. This is a long arrangement, and it's pretty samey all the way through. The instruments, vocals and energy level remain constant once established. Having a low-energy, soft, and possibly drumless breakdown would really break up the relentless nature of this arrangement and let the listener have a break before another big section starts. As it stands, this arrangement is more of an assault on the listener rather than telling a story. This song has some terrific elements! As I said the performances and instruments and vocals are all great. But the mixing and processing are blowing it. I suggest going back to the drawing board on the mixing. Maybe just start with the drums and the bass, get those working well together with volume balancing and EQ, then add one element at a time, utilizing EQ and stereo placement to make sure that leads/vocals come through when they should, without sounding so buried, and without the soundscape feeling so cluttered and oppressive. NO (resubmit)

From what I can tell here, this seems like genAI. Fuzzy overall sound, some good instrumentation in places, but it wanders around with wholly original sections that have 0 connection to Crystalis. Obviously not enough source too, which is an automatic NO. If it's genAI, begone.

Says Hitoshi Ohori on sax for the Kingdom Hearts II soundtrack, but if you told me it was proph here, I wouldn't have batted an eye. :-) Beautiful theme. Definitely a straightforward arrangement, and we'll see where it goes, though offhand the reinstrumentation here does help it stand apart from the original. The light little bits of recording feedback do add some character, but not sure they should be in there. 1:31 has a subtle but noticeable shift in the energy by adding the percussive support and doubling the melody, which is the kind of stuff I was talking about in terms of needing some more personalization. Nice little guitar riffing/ornamentations from 2:37 until the end to add a last bit of flavor to close it. It's not my thing personally, i.e. I would have done something more boisterous with the theme, but that doesn't mean this isn't a substantive albeit melodically conservative arrangement approach. I disagreed with proph; sure, I'd personally like it with more complexity, but that's not required, nor do I think this approach isn't substantive enough without it. The reinstrumentation of the first half has a measure of personalization to the approach. Not enough to YES it if the style stayed like that the whole way, but then everything from 1:31 on for the second half pushed it over the line for me in terms of standing apart from the original. I don't think it should be turned down for needing more dynamics when that's more of a personal tilt to me. If I heard this on the actual OST, I'd say it did enough to feel texturally different from the other version. We ride... YES

Man, all the years I've known about Phantasy Star II, but I've never actually listened to this specific source before, this is awesome. In any case, Rick, I've gotta echo prophetik. This is under two minutes (read: underdeveloped), and it's sampling the original audio and (in your case, substantively but basically) building around it, which itself is a violation of our Submission Standards. We're looking for a true arrangement when you reinstrument & interpret the source tune, not a traditional remix where the foundation is the original in-game music/audio. No ending either, c'mon; at least make one instead of ending at a hard stop. Stick around and see what more you can learn from this community, Rick! NO

The arrangement side was previously a pass, so I'm side-stepping that and just looking at production. I'll say right off the bat, this still sounds massively cluttered. When the growling vocal word came in at :19 with no clarity, I knew this was going to be a tough hill to climb. EK's vocals at :30 sound so dry and untreated, and are getting swallowed up by the surrounding instrumentation, it really nerfs her potential impact if the vocals don't sound airier. Even Gregorio's vocals at :49 & 4:44 are really buried and I'm mainly just hearing the guitar's pushed way forward over the top of him until 1:26 & 5:03. The choruses at 1:26 & 2:41 sound noisy/cacophonous, this balancing doesn't make sense. The vocals never cut through and the guitar stuff is just massively overdriven to the point where it feels like the loudest parts are distorting. I did like the guitar parts from 2:22-2:39 & 3:37-3:55, those isolated bits were sounding aggressive without obliterating other parts. Anything texturally more busy than that was a hot mess. Vocals are buried. Guitars are overdriven. Textured are cluttered. Energy of the performances sounds strong. Arrangement's on point. As I lamented last time, Zach, I'm not a musician or producer, so I can't tell you how to rein this in, which disappoints me because I want this posted, it's a creative arrangement. Saying no may come off like I'm saying you're an incapable producer or a no-hoper when we all know differently; you're bold for working outside your wheelhouse. Though this doesn't need to have perfectly balanced, pro-level mixing, the mixing revisions still leave this far from where it should be; the parts lack clarity and they're not reasonably positioned/balanced. This is still promising, but it needs production TLC. I'd love us and/or DoD to hold a #workshop session where other community members work with you to tighten this up, because this deserves it. NO (resubmit)

I thought I might post in this thread, and share the instruments used:) The flute is myself sampled in direct wave in FL Studio. The strings at the beginning are from BBCSO Discover. The vocal is from Arcane, a free Kontakt library that works in the free player, I think. The Celeste is also from BBCSO Discover. The choir and organ are from the old Musyng soundfont (not the kite version). The harpsichord is from the Kontakt 6 factory library, but if I didn't have Kontakt, the harpsichord in Musyng sounds good also. The low brass is BBCSO Discover once again....bass trombone layered with tenor trombone...the French horns are also from that library. The trumpet is a free instrument that DOES require full Kontakt. I would have made do with the free Berlin Orchestra offering if I didn't have NI. I thought perhaps some folks might appreciate the instrument breakdown. I think I might do the same for my other ReMix later 😁 I certainly wouldn't mind hearing such information from others. Respectfully and Semper Fi, Eric, aka Audiomancer.

Wow I thought I was dealing with a Piano/classical type interpretation at the start, the beat drop was extremely welcome and a fun surprise. I am absolutely loving the retro vibes. Reminds me of those action/thriller 80s movies. You know the ones I am referring to: dark, brooding, but a lone hero in a dying world has to get the job done anyway against near insurmountable odds. A big fan, time to go watch Terminator 1! Or maybe that zombie movie where the guy plays chess by himself up in the apartment? Phenomenal work!

Uh, wow! Crazy talented group of musicians there, or, I imagine, one guy with like 8 instruments attached to his body in various ways..... Not a song I can listen to in the background, feel like it really forced my attention otherwise the song made me lost in the chaos of the changing instruments. Once I embraced this wild mix I got swept along and enjoyed this very unique piece. Bravo for coming up with such an interesting genre mash up.

Several things just "feel right". Hit me in several weakpoints: ethereal choir, some zippy synth melody, and a, hmmm tight/stiff bass beat? I am a man that struggles to grasp the correct language for what the music is telling me, but this entire track is incredibly pleasing to my ear, and opens my imagination where I begin creating stories/scenarios in my head. 5 stars!

The whole soundtrack is pretty good, I recommend you check more of them out. Not only from this game but the other Capcom versus games also have solid theme songs (some which I've also covered) That's an interesting take on my tone, and I'm glad to hear as I like that kind of sound given that it was big in the 80s. It's great that you're picking up the guitar. it's a fantastic instrument and both useful for rhythm and leads which makes it a complete instrument. It's good what you're doing to get better. If I had the best universal advice to give, it's this: whatever you do (scales, chords, improvisation, etc.) always start slow with a metronome, and slowly increase the speed once you've mastered it and played it perfectly. That way you learn well and don't make mistakes later. It's like when lifting weights, you first learn the technique well and slowly increase your strength progressively. You do the same here with your coordination and skill. You want to develop the muscle/mind connection and do so progressively without rushing the process. To answer to your question, I've played for about 11 years now. I'm self taught. Learned from watching videos and learning songs. I think I could've been better much earlier had I learned the correct techniques and did what I suggested above. Learning technique well from the beginning will save you so much time and frustration in the long run. Thanks for the words, I'm glad you liked this cover. Check out the rest of my channel if you wish to hear more of my work, or in streaming services like Spotify, etc.

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Oh man, even an Xbox is huge joke on that very same page.

Man, I am in this too many times. Also, it's 3 AM, and we're getting ready for bed last night. starla looks me dead in the eye and says, "Do you remember 'Your opinions of late are ridiculous'?" we old, man. we old. Also me.

This is a solid start! Too much repetition across the runtime, and not enough personalization by far, to meet our criteria, though. proph hit all the same points I was going to make; there's plenty of room for more exploration in here - changing the backing under the solo, adding an original bridge to tie some sections together - that would help make up ground. Seconded on the #workshop channel feedback (direct link to the OCR discord) - it's invaluable for getting ears on your track and feedback making any adjustments you'd like! I'd be happy to give this another listen if it comes back on the panel with some fresh changes, but unfortunately it's going to be a NO (resubmit)

I just melody swapped the main riff for Ice Cap Zone in one of my original tracks, and this happened. lol Ice Cap Zone but it's boss music.wav