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In the interest of healthy server space utilization, we'll be removing the audio files that get attached to submissions once the decision is complete. For accepted submissions, we'll remove the file after the remix has been posted to the site. For rejected and withdrawn submissions, we'll remove the file immediately after the decision is published. If you provide an external link to a file, we will not remove that link. Submission entries and all of the comments attached to them will remain intact, so you'll still have that history on your Submissions Tracking page. We'll also be going through the existing submissions to remove files. This process will start tonight (6/11) around 11PM ET. If you'd like to save a file before it gets removed, please do so. Thanks. -- DarkeSword

Hey Queenie. Glad your hiatus was brief and I hope you're feeling better today. ☺️ Last review I held back the stats, but there's an issue in this version I need to address right off the bat: you've got at least 14 instances of clipping and a sample peak of 0db ...on an unmastered track. Your master is gonna brick wall something fierce unless you do some gain-staging and leave headroom for dynamics, which are critical in an orchestra piece. I'd advise toning down the busy chorus part at 2:53, especially in relation to the previous section as the crescendo leading to it is pretty succinct/sudden. Speaking of, the Evil Glockenspiel was tamed but alas not vanquished. It remains overbearing during said chorus despite being noticeably quieter, yet still louder than everything else, detracting from the impact of that section. And while you took the time to make the composition less complex so every element can now shine, this also puts an additional spotlight on the Glock here. Easy fix tho: just drop a few dBs on it and let the orchestra be the dominant feature. I'd even suggest omitting some notes at intervals on that leitmotiv, to give it humanization. The last section still has some dissonance and note-clashing between 4:11~4:35, though I'd love for it to be entirely intentional, cause it adds a unique twist of uneasiness that confers character to the remix. Those small complaints aside, you pretty much addressed most gripes I had before, so props on the outstanding effort. 👍✨ Gotta say, I admire the pugnacity with which you fought for your creative ideas, but am also glad you went back and tinkered to fix issues pointed out by everyone. I respect your desire to claim this victory all by yourself and wear your crown with pride in front of the panel, but if you need help ironing out last kinks or with orch mastering, don't hesitate to hit me up. Good luck polishing this diamond to a shine. 👑💎

As promised, I said I would update things here...instead of bombarding Discord #Workshop threads like a madwoman. xD As it currently stands, this is probably my last iteration on the song, fully done now and updated with everyone's kind feedback in mind and actioned--inclusive of the old critique from the past rejection. It is unmastered, and I'm sliding it in here to see if The Sages or @Dj Mokram or @Emunator has any further ideas to glint. More-so, I think...I'm just trying to catch people for a final vibe-check (in case my ears are shot), and see if it's ready for the Panel again, regardless of result. Dunno how to necessarily master it, but I mixed it to the fullest extent I could after doing a lot of research and video watching on orchestral composition/arrangements (and practice with other work), and limiting/reassessing the reference scope to primarily TSO with hints of Tchaikovsky and Chopin. I'm being hopeful...and trying to find and instill the confidence in my solo projects to try again. As most people are aware, I've been hammering at this in-between nonsense for a good long while throughout the process since the reject. I hope...I've compressed the lump of coal into an unprocessed diamond, and now have given it the cut and polish to push it over the goal-line. :) VQ - Sorrowful Bellows WIP (UNMASTERED).mp3

Never go FULL hippie. I hope instead that, as with so many previous technologies, we explore the boundaries of what is possible, democratize the creative process and open it up to a much more diverse audience, and STILL have the wisdom and depth (spiritual or otherwise) to differentiate between art across the full spectrum of "human-only" to "machine-only", including the vast majority of output which will probably sit somewhere in the middle. Of all the reasons I see articulated for hating Rogan, this at least feels like it's based on some sort of principle... but as with @Rozovian's post, it seems like the principle hovers somewhere in the vicinity of Luddism. CAN it be avoided? The ships are already sailing; furthermore, consider that whatever might be done to "avoid" what you're concerned about could end up being worse than the symptoms... Think of how many might write an entire symphony because the task is no longer overbearing; also think of all the kids who stopped learning math when calculators became cheap, etc. Not every technological development is an either-or proposition that kills human utility entirely, and usually more than a few new doors are opened. Deep Blue didn't kill chess, and the popularity of The Queen's Gambit actually prompted a spike of sorts, etc., etc. Well, make up your mind - potentially, or not? It's hard to ring the alarm bells and tell folk there MIGHT be an issue... Here's how I see it... there are many types of music. There is "free expression" music written just for the sheer fun of it, there are soundtracks written for myriad forms of entertainment/education/media, there's commercial music written in many different genres, folk music performed for rituals, etc. In the short term, from a market angle, it seems like AI is going to have the most impact on musicians doing work-for-hire stuff for smaller productions, stock music, and more "utilitarian" composition where the artist name isn't front-and-center and there tends to be more of a churn/grind dynamic. In other arenas, I think it's more likely that humans will remain relevant & involved for a good long while, but they'll be leveraging SOME of the AI tooling as part of their process. I am relatively confident kids will continue learning instruments; Esther just performed a trombone solo for her 5th grade band concert, and she killed it. Very proud. The utility of learning an instrument and performing as part of a group extends far beyond whatever market value the resultant audio recording might have - which is very little, to anyone other than the parents :) Some things don't change. Yeah I believe thinking is going to get you further than feeling, on this one. If you want to feel bad (and who doesn't?!) for a more defined, concrete reason, I think it would be something like this: Eventually AI will come for almost any profession and task you can name. On a long enough timeline, hardly any human talent or utility escapes. But on that same timeline, due to that widespread market disruption, hopefully we end up advancing technology to the point where we are all far better off, where new concerns present themselves, and where we begin the long process of transforming our systems into something Roddenberry-esque. What sucks is that art & music & writing seem like they might get hit first, a little earlier than other disciplines, and thus not benefit from the market protections I believe we will eventually see arise. So it's a timing thing, mostly. But there is plenty of tragedy to be had in matters of timing, of course. It's going to be too blurry for that; you're criticizing poor old Joe for being "cheap and binary" but I think you & many others keep on conceptualizing AI as a binary all-or-nothing proposition when I think it's far more likely that we'll be looking at a MIX of human/machine input & "collaboration" into the future. That's why I chimed in originally - a single prompt feels quite wrong, yes, but if you start adding more & more prompts, refinements, or even allow for direct input of audio (I think one of the services just added this actually), you move away from the "a machine made this" vibe and towards more human input, along a spectrum. Because literally no technology in the history of technology has waited for "the whole world" to "come together and do public philosophy"? Nuclear might come closest... The line of thinking reminds me of this: https://squareallworthy.tumblr.com/post/163790039847/everyone-will-not-just

hey, that's a bunch of very sudden great feedback all at once! ha. this one is gonna be a lotta work for me to get it as good as can be. unless i get a stronger laptop over here, i'll have to finish it next winter because i started it on that pc in southern italy where i've been for jan-may. i have the project file here in case i wanna get another good studio pc. the ample sound guitars and waves keyboards and stuff are just crushing my crappy netbook. i *might* try a rework with 10-15 year old vsts. but probly just do new mixes with them in the meantimes. it's a great tune right dj mokram? i really think that for some reason it's not ez to arrange with modern instruments at all...like it was written to perfectly fit the PSG chip. i think Boss Battle is a far fourth or fifth looking at the whole soundtrack, BUT when Boss Battle first hits after underground, i agree that it's totally badass. the experience of first playing Sonic 2 on GG/MS as a young one is something to behold! that little nasty crab thing down the ravine on the right with bouncing cannon balls incoming from the left, and no rings in the stage for safety....fucking horror show for a kid!! maybe one could do a medley of the first 10 minutes of play of sonic 2 that culminates in the boss battle. incorporating the stage intro and stage won jingles. i think there's too few remixes that directly incorporate the real time experience of intense gameplay sequences! and sonic 2 was really intense. stage 2 is very unique as well...very chill vibes for sonic. the music as well as the hang glider prop. that damn hang glider took everyone a lotta tries i think. totally untypical for sonic as well, but it worked! and that's sonic 2 for GG/MS kinda...very untypical, sort of the most interesting sonic game. ymmv.