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My short reviews: Flexstyle feat. bLiNd - Sins of the Syndicate: Very ominous, but still calming because of the instruments used. I like that you slowed down the Final Weapon theme so much, while still giving it so much more energy (at the 1-minute mark). Gravity Antonitron part mixes well, but I feel the mix starts to drag a bit on there. Holy crap sudden transition (and volume boost) at the 2 minute-mark... didn't count on that. I feel you should've already added changed the pace after the transition, instead of at 2:31. Annnnd fade-out. I especially like the start of the mix (the vibe and build-up is great there). However, nothing much is happening in the part from 1:00 - 1:30, and the part afterwards has less energy and also drags a bit imo. The transition doesn't work optimally. 7/10 Yami - F.I.N.A.L.: Fairly standard EDM-opening; eventually leading to saws for the Final Weapon melody (which does not mesh entirely well with the chosen chords). Wow sudden motionsynth stop at 1:26, something's not right there. The part starting at 1:26 feels a bit empty and doesn't really go anywhere, untill the motion synths enter (real sudden again). Magma Dragoon theme meshes better with chords. I'm missing some sort of climax. The vibe is ok, but the transitions do not work well, and the mix doesn't really go anywhere in the end, it doesn have a climax. Mixing of themes is not really creative 6/10 Tuberz McGee - N0v0r G0nn0 Dj0nt Y0u 0p: Guitars sound a bit muddy. Oh the ones at 0:30 are very clean (production wise). The intro seems very disconnected because of the difference (and thus the themes are not really mixed together well). The Rick Astley part feels a bit forced. The transition at 1:30 works very well, nice bridge. Wow, sudden beat at the 2-minute mark. What is it with sudden transitions this round? This almost feels like a different song. The Rick Astely part at the 3-minute mark works a lot better, although the synth is a bit too loud (or high pitched). Instruments are very muddy again at the 4-minute mark. This track has some nice ideas, but feels unstructured and the parts feel disconnected. Some of the instruments also sound very muddy. 6.5/10 Esperado - Wrong Boss Room: Interestign intro... sounds like a very cheesy alien movie vibe at 0:20 is good, build-up is good with additonal instruments, and a good transition at 0:40. Burn Dinorex part followed by heavier percussion, which works well. Bridge works fine; I have a feeling this is supposed to be the Final Weapon theme, but I can't really make it out. Nice build-up in the bridge, and the sudden transition afterwards works very well. Ending is nice, but I feel it's cut off a bit short. Good remix, good build-up and structure. However, I can't really make out the Final Weapon theme, which is a shame 7.5/10 Jason Covenant feat. Ghetto Lee Lewis & WillRock - Vector Point Engineering Sigma Fortress: Oh wow... This feels Gregorian or something. The timing doesn't always feel right though. Oh, what an epic transition to Blizzard Buffalo... very nicely done. Transition to the dubsteppy-part is also VERY nicely done! Haha and the choirs work surprisingly well here. Ah man, these themes really transition into each other nicely. Again, nice change of dynamics just past the 2-minute mark. The doubling of choirs and guitar (or alteration really) is also nicely done, really epic! I feel like there should be more intensity at 3:30, but there's more of a build-down and a VERY sudden ending. Awesome mix, lots of different dynamics but they blend so well. Not too fond of the ending 9/10 SuperiorX - Release the Kraken: Nice groove, the mix of piano with deep synths work well; although the sound of the piano isn't too good. Trnasition at 1:20 works well. The pianos starting at 1:33 sound robotic; this parts also drags on a bit - the transition is fine though. Ugh, that piano really doesn't sound good. I'm sorry, but as a pianist I can really be bothered by fake sounding piano... and that's the case here The mix is fine is fine, but some alteration in Final Weapon melody in the ending section would've been good. 7/10 YoshiBlade - Eww! Seaweed!: Ai, that first synth doesn't really sound confortable. I like how you've mixed the themes together although it didn't blow me away yet. Mix gets more body at the 1-minute mark. This gets a bit repetitive at 1:30, but you change it shortly after. The build-up to the 2-minute mark is good, but the single bass note with those Toxic Seahorse synths don't work that well and is the same the entire song; you really should've done something different here (with the chords most likely). I like the idea, especially when you mix the themes together, but 80% of the song is the same short melody with synths that don't sound too well, and one bass note. I found it repetetive and missing dynamics. 5/10 Sir_NutS feat. Usa - Space Base: Nice intro, very Shining Hotarunicus-ish. I like your choice of instruments, although it's really classeic Megaman X. Birdge at 1:30 is nice, the chords are quite different though. Hahaha what the hell with the vocoder part - what is it with all you guys trying to mix three songs? Synth solos after the 3-minute mark are awesome. Great mix, great vibe and choice of instruments to really reflect Shining Hotarunicus; vocoder part is crazy, but works. Synth solo is awesome. However, I'm having realy diffiluties hearing the Final Weapon theme 7.5/10 Trism - Celestial Bodies: I like the slow build-up, and the celestial feeling is certainly there! Nice adaptation of the Final Weapon theme. Good transition at 1:50, very serene but steels feels connected to the previous parts. The timing of the marimba sounds a bit loose. Sting Chameleon theme is clearly recognizable, although it's a shame that you have your two themes in such different parts. Drags a bit on at 3:30. Nice mix, adaptation of themes is good, but it's too bad they're featured in such seperate parts. The last part drags on a bit. 7.5/10 jnWake - Sword of the Scavalier: Interesting style-choice for these themes. Works very well with the Final Weapon theme though... The themes follow each other very nicely, they transition very smoothly. Nice change of pace at 1:40. Synth coupling with guitar works nice, lots of dynamic changes in this part. Wow, very different feeling at 2:30... not too fond of the piano here. This part really needs more reverb, it sounds very empty. Thge piano after the 3-minute also misses some intensity, it's the climax! The chord changes at the last part are nice, but this part feels really unpolished. Sudden ending note It's too bad the last part feels so unpolished: the soundscape is too thin, the piano doesn't sound good, I'm missing intensity and the ending is very sudden. The rest of the mix is very good: original style, good adaptations, good transitioning of themes and good changes in dynamic. 7.5/10 timeaus222 - Mind Flip~: The opening is very creepy and ominous, but also has something serene. A calm before the storm... very nicely done. The "break-down effect" is very nicely used, and the turning up the volume of the beat and the guitar is really nice. Transition works very nice, although I would've preferred keepign a more sustaining instrument after this intro. Cyber Peacock feels somewhat more uplifting in the major chords, but that is quickly countered in the part at 1:30... oh I thought for a second that you were going to start with Dancing Mad at 1:40 Transition at the 2-minute mark works well aswell - guitars doubling here is nice; nice build-up and good change in dynamics - also at 2:30. Good ending, lots of energy I really like this one, awesome job tim! Great altering between ominous and BadAss (yes I did it), the transitioning of themes works fairly well and the mix has great dynamics and build-up! 8.5/10

Nothing much. Haunted some dudes apartment for a while till he moved out. The usual.

EWQL Symphonic Orchestra is okay for entry level, and I still use some of the patches from an old Kontakt version (current versions run in PLAY now). They're lightweight, and inexpensive, but they are not dry recorded (they were recorded on a stage, and even the closeup mics that come with the platinum edition have some of that natural stage reverb), and most of them do not have dynamic crossfading, which is really what you want. Velocity layers are important, but you also need to be able to hear the change in timbre when, say, a horn has a crescendo from p to f, which you just won't get with most of the EWQL patches. (There are some dynamic crossfade patches available, but they are limited in scope). The EWQL Strings sound super fake, and all of the samples date back to the late 90s and don't reflect the best of current recording technology. But if you're going to get it, get Gold, not Silver, which is seriously lacking in the instrument department. At least with Gold, you will have a relatively complete orchestra set. (Platinum gives you more mic positions.) Garritan Personal Orchestra (the version that comes with Finale) should not be used for sample mockups. Garritan sells other libraries which may be of some use to people, though I haven't been particularly impressed. VSL (Vienna Symphonic Library) was considered the king of samples for a long time, and they're definitely very good, but they are incredibly expensive. They've also been superceded recently in many ways. Spitfire and ProjectSAM stuff sound really nice, but as mentioned they are pre-orchestrated sections, as well as effects. This may or may not be what you're looking for. EastWest has other libraries besides EWQLSO, like the Hollywood Series, Hollywood Strings and Hollywood Brass, which I'm told by colleagues sound very good. But they are heavy on the system and only run in PLAY, EastWest's proprietary sampler, which has a reputation for being difficult. Cinesamples would be an excellent choice, and all their libraries run in Kontakt, and they offer several packages for all sections of the orchestra, as well as combo packs. They're not cheap, but it may be worth it. LA Scoring Strings is a strings library that has a good reputation. A bit more intimate in scope, but it has a high learning curve (I'm still not sure I fully understand it and I've been using it for awhile). A "lite" version is available. Anything from 8dio, especially the Adagio Strings libraries. But again, not cheap.

Done.

I liked this song so much that I created a looped OGG version for FF7Music—a mod that let's you change the music in the PC version of FFVII. When the song started playing in game, I thought I had made a mistake because, at first, it sounded just like the original... and then the guitar dropped in and I literally got goosebumps. I especially love how you integrated all of the nuances of the song, especially the stuttering helicopter type sound that is iconic of this track. And you managed to do it without straying very far from the source material. This is the third looping track I've made tonight, along with Final Ecstasy (OCR00063) and Every Story Begins with a Name (OCR01841). I'm planning on doing the whole game to make an awesome remixed soundtrack—playable in-game—in honor of the FFVII Remake announcement. If anyone wants a copy of my tracks, just let me know.

For me Celestial Entrance was the only album that stuck, but I've not yet listened to Enigmatic: Calling