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Results In 1st place with 18 points: HarlemHeat360 In 2nd place with 12 points: TheVodouQueen In 3rd place with 10 points: Wassup Thunder And the last place hero (Again...) with 8 points: TheVideoGamer Souperion created a bonus mix. HarlemHeat360 please PM me with your source pick for Round 126. Ideally for next week. (Roughly the 25th of July) Congrats to everyone who participated, you peeps did great! Comments: Fun round this month, great entries everyone! Surprised to be last again lol, but onwards and upwards eh?

It was some good times either way. Let's tear it up on the next one, shall we?

Ok sorry i was so late, i have been very busy the last week or so. I've listened to them all and here's what i think of it, in grave detail. Souperion - Really liking the dark rock vibes in the first half, it's almost like some intense boss battle. Great string ambience, this is one spooky tune. Like how you also tried to invert the chords, so we still get the complex 7th's, but in a minor key. Interesting melody switch too, it's very dissonant, but in a satisfying way. Nice that you included some synths, really brings it to life. Don't hear much of the main melody, but i'm sure that's just a stylistic choice, especially since we are dealing with a lot of synths. The mix is really nice on here, very heavy but in a great way. Now the second half really makes me feel like i'm in coral cave. It goes straight into the original vibe, with lots of beautiful relaxing synth warbles, and a great glide on the arp. Now i would have loved to hear more of this, because i'm personally biased towards this part, it's so relaxing, and play's super well to the source's melodic content. Also like how the main melody takes full effect here. Mixing wise i couldn't find any problems, not much in the overall track to be honest, it's very well done. Maybe more of the second half would have worked for me, and a better less abrupt ending, but all in all, lovely work, really enjoyed this. Well done! Wassup Thunder - This is very close to the source, really like how you made the breakbeat out of light percussion. Makes the source more airy and breathy as a result. Not as intense. This does mean we loose a bit of the low end, but the bassline is there so it's not too much. Great bass sound actually, very juicy and enjoyable to my ears. Also really like the piano integration. Now the whole thing sounds lovely, but what would really work is a drum beat. I know i said it makes it light and airy, but i do feel drums could make this into something special. You could even do your classic Eurobeat 4 on the floor. Also i feel there is 2 things that could be improved. First the bass needs to be better mixed, i sense parts where it gets a little too loud for me, like it's almost distorted. I get this a lot in my tracks sometimes, and people have rightly pointed it out. It usually happens when i go for really intense basslines, mixed with distorted beats. The only other thing i might suggest, is doing more original things to the arrangement. I feel this is more on the MnP side than the PRC side, however though i too fall into this trap in PRC, so i call this one a minor issue. Plus as well, sometimes things sound better when it's closer to the original, so don't worry about too much. The last part is awesome, i love the choir integration, it's very well done, you've take only 2 chords and done something special with it, and i love it. Really nicely done on the arrangement. Well done! Marcusg - Really lovely breaks here, i definately like the grooves a lot. Loving the wonky piano feel, definately liking the simple ideas, it's done well. The breaks are fantastic. Really liking the sub bass too. The piano is very out of time, even if i said it was nice. I don't know it just feels great on it's own, but weird when the beats and bass come in. It's also very simple, i'd argue too simple, i feel there could be a lot more to this, especially since there is only 2 chords. I also feel as well, the breaks are a tad bit loud for the melodic elements, but that's just me. I mean the breaks on their own sound awesome, but it's the integration that feels off for me. I still like this idea a lot though, the sound selection was great. Yeah it's only 2 minutes, but it's done well. Great work on this, well done! TheVodouQueen - I laughed at the inclusion of Monkey sound effects, that's pretty funny. There seems to be some kind of live recording going on, with a radio. I think that could have been a Youtube video, who knows. Now listening to this in detail, my comments need to be completely rewritten. I love the pad sounds, and definately the drums, funky vibes all around. The educational comedy part was just the icing for me, i laughed so hard. Your creativity seems to always shine, some of the ideas are so original. Now i can kind of see why i thought this was a remix of Redial, because the pad sounds are quite full on, so i hear a lot of Redial in the front and Coral Cave in the background. However though, this is PRC, so this would be understandable. I also managed to hear a lot more of coral cave this time than when i skimmed through. Especially with the melody in the middle. I kinda owe everyone an apology for rushing mine, listening to it now, it's much better than before. The only problem i really have, is a kind of a polish thing. The drums get pushed down by the pad and melody, which i feel could be big and full. Also i feel there are parts that could be instrumental, (Or at least more instrumental than i'm hearing), to give time for some melody/drum play. Really though that's all i have, the rest sounds great. I love the work you did on here, and the humour was awesome, so much originality. Much better now that i got a chance to really listen to it, in full. Well done! Ok so what would i change from my original ranking? Compared to my original vote, Wassup Thunder's track has more unique parts than before and was definately not as static as what i've written. Had a lot more cool elements to switch it up. I still think it fits more in MnP terms, but this one isn't an issue per-say. I also had a mixing issue with the bass, something not in the original critique. Souperion's track was definately well mixed, i don't know why i put that in the original votes, this obviously came down from me not listening to it properly. Listening to Marcus's entrant, definately changed a lot of things. I hate to say this, because i don't want to bring this user down or anything, but i felt i was being way too generous with this entrant. I still commend him, because it was a lovely arrangement, i loved the breaks, however the arrangement felt very simple, and the piano was a little out of time, which is especially noticeable when the drums in. It's more so Marcus started it, as kind of an idea, that could be expanded or finished upon. However though, i am taking into account it was rushed, and a couple of rounds ago, he said he was still learning FL Studio, so i don't want to be too harsh (Which i'm worried i am being). I still loved the track though. TheVodouQueen was definately a big overhaul to me. I original said it was a remix of redial, and although to a degree i still can see why i said that, it's actually got a good chunk of Coral Cave, especially in the melody. More so when i listen to it, i only came up with a few mixing touches, i felt were needed, and maybe too much voice clips were used (But i consider this small, since everytime i listen to it, i get conflicted thoughts. I love it in one part, but then i think, maybe it's a bit too much. Still enjoy them though). The main pad sound might be why i initially thought of Redial, but going back, i've decided to backtrack on that, since i didn't listen deep enough Lovely work on this anyways! Based on these alone, if i were to be given a chance to do a re-ranking of my top 3 votes it would be as follows: 1. Souperion would be first. 2. TheVodouQueen would be second (Although her's was very close to being the top spot) 3. Marcusg (I still think your entry is very solid, and i really do like the work you've done with the breaks). Wassup Thunder would have made the 3rd spot, if the bass was mixed in a bit more (Still enjoyed his a lot though). Hopefully people can be assured that i've listened to them properly now and done really critique on it, not some half-assed poor attempt. Sorry it took so long too, been so busy this week. Onwards and upwards.

Congrats to HarlemHeat360! I enjoyed everyone's pieces, keep up the good work.

Did you ever come back to this? The bones of this track seem promising to me, just waiting for some extra flesh to bring them to life. Some thoughts as to what: Perhaps sounds of lapping and rippling water could be incorporated in somewhere? Small echoing drips, maybe? Or if you wanted to take it in an entirely different direction, it could be brought outside to storm and rain, perhaps crickets... The rhythmic tapping that comes in from time to time, what if there were more versions of that with sounds of something else tapping? What if in one or two places it echoed? This seems like a theme you could do a lot of interesting with looping back on itself in layers, fugue-like. I suspect keeping the melodies simple and all in this soft piano is a big part of the mood, and would be well preserved, but perhaps having some subtle hazy tonal drone fade in and out underneath it like you might hear in a horror game soundtrack, could help flesh it out without competing at all for the melody lines, such as they are. You wouldn't want to make it crowded, of course, but somewhat less barren, this could get really interesting. Hope this enthusiasm and advice has not been unwelcome, anyway. Good day!

Nice job mixing this one. Lotta resonances/verbs/delays/shakuhachi breaths in here but they all have their space.

I hadn't forgotten, lol... ---- 1) 'Benny Rikashi and the Puffoons' – Souperion Pros: This is a beautiful remix of the source. Everything melts and melds right in. Well-coordinated and organic. Love it. I'm not usually one into Bluegrass / Country, but I liked this a lot. Especially the creative addition @ 1:44, that kind of turned the song into a pirate jig, a la Pirates of the Caribbean. Really cool. There's so much variety here! Also, loved the ending. Critique: Disappointed there's no dueling banjos. Also, half-expected a hurdy-gurdy or accordion to come outta nowhere in some parts. The song really didn't need it, but it was just a weird expectation on my part, especially when it began to build up to the end. I'd honestly be a nick-picky SOB if I sat here trying to find “issues” to critique on here. In reality, I can't really think of any, and on first listen-through, I was very satisfied with the finished product. Excellent job! Never thought I'd actually super enjoy a Country song for once. xD 2) 'Beats Rikashi' – TheVideoGamer Pros: I'm kinda glad and taken aback that you went the truer path of 1:1 remix this time around, aside it being the MnP standard. Usually, you'd do something much more hardcore, whether or not your tune is in keeping with the MIDI completely or not. Major props there, going outside your usual mould. Like Wassup's, I like the bombastic, cheery atmosphere in this piece. It's great to hear. Love the percussion! I think it could've had some steel hanging drums in it somewhere, since you mentioned you were trying for a Caribbean / Jamaican party, or rather, marching band vibe. The swinging synths really provoked that feeling, but yeah, good stuff. Critique: Thought the bass was a bit too..."bassy"? The reverb and volume on it, I mean... Sorry—I know what you were trying to go for but it was overwhelming from the get-go. The drums are extremely loud, too. I had my headphone volume down to < 20% and it was still kinda overmuch. Again, I get what you're going for, but balance is key I suppose. Wasn't feeling the ending, apologies, but this composition is not bad at all for something not generally “in your wheelhouse.” I enjoyed it nonetheless. :3 --BONUS-- + 'Fairwinds Festival' – Wassup Thunder Pros: Really love the happy-go-lucky, playful atmosphere you made with the song. Had a similar cadence and feel to the 'Millennial Fair' song from Chrono Trigger. It was a real joy to listen to. The strings were a wonderful addition halfway through the song, and rounding it all up with the bells / chimes at the end was fabulous. It was loud, but never felt “too” loud throughout. It felt just right for the mood you were trying to express and set. Excellent work with sound balancing, as far as I can hear. Critique: To be honest, there wasn't really much in the song I could hear or pick out that was specifically problematic. The instruments seemed fairly well-balanced between the lot, and nothing really swamped or stomped on any other track used in the composition. I think my only major concern was the lack of a discernable fore, middle, and background between instruments. A lot of it was very “in-your-face” / foreground-related, with no midground and a bit of back (the drums and percussion.) Having a few of the lighter instruments maybe more in-between things might've helped, but I wouldn't want to take too much away from the loudness and bombasticness of the song, when it's supposed to be very uplifting and joyous. Great work, though!