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Gonna echo what @TSori said, this year's been rough enough as it is. If it's just a case of selecting another, less-controversial OST and starting PLT2 over fresh, then so be it. Nobody can fault you for prioritizing your own well being. Hang tight @Trism.

Sorry for posting two tracks at once. I was hoping to get feedback on something I feel is more akin to the type of music I like to write as well. Still, I think for OC Remix this isn't liberal enough, but I think when I was looking at doing this, I didn't want to stray too far from the original, but add to it. Still, maybe there is something worth exploring that I haven't opened my mind to. With that being said, I think I'm ready for some honest feedback instead of being stuck in my head lol. Thank you for your time and I appreciate any help. As a side note, I'm also somewhat of a newbie when it comes to mixing as well so if there is something that is offensive sounding, by all means feel free to critique! Source music My arrangement https://drive.google.com/file/d/11sE7p7KYl-NlTCV-86fmJBs3PJiATI7H/view?usp=sharing

I've been uhh, reluctant to really post my original music anywhere because I haven't been the most confident in my composition skills but I want to reach more people so I want to get better! And that means being more vulnerable haha. So, here it is Variation time stamps #1 0:00 #2 1:52 #3 3:06 #4 3:52 The track's title is Variations on a Theme by Anthoney. The story behind it being a friend of mine had a tune in his head. He would hum it from time to time but it never went anywhere. He hummed it to me and asked if I could do something with it. I had ideas over some months but they never quite came together. So I decided to take them and create a set of variations. There are about 4 "acts" or variations, with the last being the longest. I'm actually quite happy with the last one and the least happy with the first, both from a composition standpoint and a mixing standpoint. Concerning the latter point, rhe two were written months apart and in that time I had learned a lot about the features of my DAW and all the VSTs I have. I don't recommend dropping lots of money building a library of instruments first and learning later but that's another story entirely LOL. I almost think the last track could be a song in and of itself and I somewhat think of it as such. Anyway, this has been a long intro post and I'd be glad to talk further about the composition and thought process but for now, if you care to listen to this 7 minute piece and discuss anything that stood out to you—good or bad—I'd be grateful.

Welcome to the Voting Stage! There are 6 entries this round. There is 2 Bonus entry(s) this round There IS a voter bonus this round! HoboKa have a vote worth 2x. Muahahah When Voting, please don't be inflexible when considering the conservative approach. Don't vote for Bonus entries please. Participants may not vote for themselves. Vote ends on PINGAS day. (I accidentally edited this one instead of copy/pasting to next round LOL)

MOD REVIEW Well, sort of. It's more train-of-thought than I'd like, but it should get the points across. - The right-panned guitar starting at 0:08 is piercing around 2700 Hz, but also sounds alike to the left-panned guitar, just with added flanger-like effects. Part of me wants you to try replacing both lead guitars here with synth leads to add a sense of progression when you transition at 0:26 into the heavier section where guitars are more justified. (The guitars make more sense at 0:42 - 1:06, although the piercing nature of the right-panned guitar there also stands.) - At 0:26, there is a very piercing left-panned synth lead (just low pass it above around 11000 Hz), because it has a metallic quality to it above 13000 Hz. Same at 1:27. - At 1:27 - 1:42, which is similar to 0:26 - 0:42, you're definitely putting too many high-frequency instruments in the same spot. Consider that you're probably just using too many instruments there, and take the time to decide what you want to lead, what is arpeggiating, what is doing rhythm, what is doing bass. Think about the question, "if someone were to attempt to recreate this by ear, how feasible would it be?", then adjust accordingly so that you can distinguish most of the notes and what is playing what. - At 1:42 - 2:06, consider again that you could replace the two lead guitars here with synth leads (preferably two different ones from each other), to add meaningful variation across sections. No matter how much I like guitar, this is too much guitar noodling in these first 2 minutes. - I do like how 2:06 - 3:06 sounds. That should be the kind of feel you shoot for. - Within 3:06 - 3:48, the church bell sounds off-tune (maybe sharp). You could just use a tubular bell soundfont and it would probably fit the role better. Also, you could probably remove the church bell sound by the time you get to 3:48. At that point, 3:48 - 4:10, it doesn't add to the soundscape, but just puts another sound in the background, basically adding extra clutter and, at the moment, extra dissonance. Also, the guitar coming in at 3:24 - 3:48 is nice, but I would suggest maybe starting out with full chokes, leading up to lighter palm mutes to add more of a sense of progression. - For 4:43, I'd say you don't need the hits there; it sounds like you were about to finish the ReMix there, then you decided "oh hey, let's add more", and then proceeded to add more without changing how that transitions. Without those hits, you could let the guitar chord ring out from earlier, which should lead more smoothly into the harpsichord. - Around 5:38, maybe refine that transition a bit more to be less sudden. Could just add a double kick hit plus a snare beforehand, instead of immediately slamming the listener. - 6:16 - 6:40, same remark as for 1:42 - 2:06. - 6:52, similar remark as at 4:43; it sounds like it's done, but then you added more. So try simply making that part seem like it's about to end, but not like it's already ended, because you have the last bit right afterwards. - And last bit at 7:04, maybe just take off the lead guitar there and have the rhythm guitar end it. Just something to consider. --- Overall... Main concerns: - Overused guitars to do lead parts when synth leads could do them (which leads to this being tiring to listen to over time). A good mix between synth-driven sections and guitar-driven sections will be the key to this really working. - You have multiple sections with drastically different dynamics but lacking progression between them (making this seem longer than it is, other than it already being 7 minutes). You basically have step-ladder dynamics, rather than a dynamic curve. Other concerns: - You often have too many instruments playing at once, in the higher registers especially. - Smooth out some of your transitions (considering this is a medley, this is still important), and some select parts that sound like endings but aren't actually supposed to be endings. Here are some recommended references to listen to that I feel match what you are going for, and/or have been approved before. SSH (a bit lower quality than I'd like, but it's the only video with this specific version I can find) - ocremix (HeavenWraith): END OF MOD REVIEW

Soundcloud is being weird again, but here it is https://soundcloud.com/100_percent_roemer/gravbea

I hear ya. The game had good sounds, especially for the DS, methinks. Thanks for the info on Unity though. I'm hesitant to try and make money outta this hobby, but I appreciate the ideas.

Sad to hear Trism, but your health is always more important. I am still very glad that you invited me, as I had a blast getting back into music again. I even had probably the most fun in a while arranging something. You can always hit me up for a future project if you chose to! I'll submit my completed track to the judges. @Chimpazilla

There's been an influx of cool handheld games, like R H...I got burnt out trying to keep up with 'em though. Handheld JRPGs just lose my attention too quick, sadly. Emulating them might work...but I seem to prioritize metroidvania games over JRPGs these days. Meh. Maybe I'll check out R H's OST BTW, I just found out today that Unity doesn't do payouts until you hit $100 (couldn't tell if that is a recent policy update...). So "a few bucks" is probably a stupid idea...maybe this is designed to reduce the Low Value Low-Ballers who're devaluating the market too much... That said, I think you've got the potential to make a pretty sick Audio Asset Package, if you don't like commission work. That's what I'm doing hehe. That's why you don't hear many originals from me these days. Very hush-hush.

Hey all, I've decided to quit the project. It's not a decision I made lightly, but unfortunately over the past few weeks the whole thing has started to become more like a burden than anything else. We've had another person quit, which is essentially what made my mind up for me. Since the whole Jeremy Soule revelation there's been a feeling like the whole thing is tainted, and that's become more apparent as people have distanced themselves from it. No artist that I've contacted to do the cover art wants to touch this thing; some of them have specifically stated it's because of the Soule connection. It's becoming depressing. I'm going to offer up to the project to anyone who wants to take it on. If you're interested drop me a DM and we'll discuss. I'm sorry to drop this out of the blue, but I feel it's best for my own mental wellbeing to do this.