Jillian Aversa

Yay, I get to be the first hater! ^_~ Okay, so here's the thing. I thought Tim Burton did an amazing job with the art direction. There are things you can do in film that are simply not possible on a stage, and he definitely capitalized on that. The cool colors were a chilling contrast to all the red, if you know what I mean. That being said, I was very disappointed with some other aspects. I probably have pretty high standards considering I actually played Johanna in a production of the musical, but there were so many cuts that bothered me. Anthony and Johanna's parts were reduced to practically nothing, whereas in the show their presence is really integral. Toby's monologue at the end was completely removed, and I think that really took away from the main message that the story is supposed to convey in the first place; it's a cautionary tale. Burton didn't even show the cycle continuing. Then there was the voices themselves. Helena Bonham Carter was a TERRIBLE Mrs. Lovett. She has the most thin, pathetic voice and I could hear blatant auto-tuning in half her stuff. Anthony sounded whiney, Johanna was a mouse on steroids with that awful vibrato, and Depp and Rickman were just decent. The only person I think was vocally worthy of their role in this film was Ed Sanders as Toby. Just my two cents.

For one thing, up until last year when I had to clear some serious space on my old laptop, OC ReMixes consisted over half my playlist, and they were basically the only thing I ever listened to for pleasure. That alone is enough to make an impression on my life. I have also met many wonderful people through the community, some of whom I consider to be among my closest friends... And whom I may wish to invite to a certain event that may center around a certain person I also met because of OCR. :*> Thank you, Dave! Geeks are happier, and the world is that much better because of your initiative.

I still wish I could have spent more time with so many of you! ;_; Vilecat is one of the coolest new people I had the chance to meet. XD

Wow, looks like I'm enjoying that fry a little too much.

The right side Everyone surrounding bustatunez during a swim! And that's a wrap. Enjoy. :>

zircon and I outside during the fire drill BIIIIIG group shot! So big that we couldn't fit everyone in it. I know almost everyone in this pic, but it would take forever to tag and I doubt anybody would be able to realistically use the tags as a resource anyway so meh. ^_~ Nice work! The left side

Da OCR AZNs@!!!1 (plus BGC and AF) - Blake Perdue, Dhsu, Bahamut, and Escariot SOC being a Turtle bustatunez, The Pezman, zircon, DjSammyG, and Elaine from Select Start jamming zircon and Snappleman

Back from Magfest, and it's lonely already! This year's group was so enormous that I wish I could have had more time to spend with people in smaller crowds. Mannnn... Anyway, I didn't go too crazy with the picture taking because there were plenty of others with cameras. Here's what I gots. Just a modest chunk of the overall OCR crew. Clockwise from top left: Fusion2004, Moguta, q-pa, BGC, Escariot, CHz, Anime Freak, Salty, Mustin, Dale North, gncmastwe16 (now revelation orange), Xerol, Starla, Larry, Rama, pixietricks, Kroze, Bluefox, zircon, Shael Riley, Suzumebachi, Geoffrey Taucer, DjSammyG, and bustatunez People congratulating bustatunez after the LucasArts announcement BGC coming out of the closet! SOC, Mewtation, Vilecat, and aureus (my brother) at TGIFriday's

lololololololol

Rocking out with Rock Band Sleepyheads playing games the next morning A Dunkin Donuts breakfast I know everyone wanted to see Doug up close and personal, sooo...

Woo hooooooo! Okay, here are a few pics from me. Somebody make that GIF? Group shot numba 1 Group shot numba 2 (I was trying to look tough) Leon K. is an animated story-teller

Oh noes... x_x

First post has been updated with some more details!

Okay Doug, so you're coming - right?

Wow, quite a year! I received... A 32-inch LCD HDTV for zircon and me! We thought we were going to inherit one of my dad's older TV's because Andy's broke, but this one is lightweight and thus better for moving. Wii Play and a new wiimote (as a joint gift with my brother) Mac OSX Leopard (also a joint gift for the whole family) A set of scented bubble bath, body lotion, and candle ^-^ Four career-related books Financing software for my Mac A pair of earrings by Holly Yashi, my favorite designer This nifty little avocado slicer that I am sure to get a lot of use of - it's my favorite veggie! A pashmina scarf

Aw, too late - I had already left by 5:00. But I did refute your claim in the post above, if the Ice CAPella thing is what you were referring to?

Sure, Pezman - that could be neat. And no, I don't think Ice CAPella will be making an appearance on the album, but... I'm going to Yangtze River tonight for Christmas Eve dinner! What's your full name, Katsurugi? Maybe I can tell your relatives that we're friends.

Yays! ^-^

I'm surprised at you, Jimmy. You would really take the smaller one over that big, black sexiness? ^_~

The static at 2:50 Palp mentioned threw me off as well. Was this intentional? I can't imagine how that could have happened accidentally, but I guess anything is possible. I don't mind that the harp was mixed a little loud, because it really is the lead instrument of the piece and deserves to be heard. You also may not be used to that kind of twangy quality, Palp, but it's not uncommon in New Age music. Listen to some Vollenweider and you'll see. ^-^ (Of course he is the harp master, so don't be too harsh on Avaris!) I'm hearing the same skips as everyone else; 1:12, 1:36, and 3:36 in particular felt jarring. It's not that I mind rhythmic complexity by any means, but something feels off about the way it was executed in a few places here. That being said, I do think this is a very inventive arrangement. Truly enjoyable from start to finish! I would really hate to send this through the whole official resubmission process, so if we could just get in touch with Avaris about the harp distortion in the beginning, the static at 2:50, and the abrupt fadeout, that'd be nice. I also wouldn't mind hearing his thoughts about the rhythmic skips, just to understand what was going on in his head. (But I wouldn't NO this because of those alone.) YES Conditional P.S. Nice to see that zyko and I have more in common than I originally thought, too, in terms of musical taste. :>

Sorry, Michael, but I'm going to have to agree. This is a very conservative arrangement. Not bad at all in terms of production, but the percussion does lack punch. Something funny happens in the drums at 1:44 as well... It sounds like you were going for some sort of syncopation, but whatever it was didn't actually work out the way you intended - it sounds completely off rhythm. :3 You have a good handle on music making, it would seem, so don't be discouraged. Just try to familiarize yourself with our standards on reinterpretation, and give this arrangement another (more personalized) shot. NO RESUBMIT

Source: --------- Haha, this version of Dire, Dire Docks totally belongs on a Windham Hill collection. So relaxing! It's not the most daring arrangement I've ever heard, mainly because you chose to stick close to the structure and arpeggiated style of the source tune. But you've embellished both melody and harmony in a very tasteful manner, and with wonderfully expressive playing! Other than the occasional punchy note, I think production is top notch for a piano solo arrangement: great balance of octave ranges and subtle reverb. I do wish you held the final chord a little longer; the song ends a little abruptly because of the short decay and lack of silence at the end. A more original title might have been nice as well. Small gripes, though - very nice work. YES EDIT: Johan misspoke when he said the file size doesn't meet our criteria. It's at 200 kbps VBR, though, so we'll have to ask him to re-encode if this is passed.

Nice start! I didn't notice the cheesy lyrics at first, really, since the focus was more on the parts themselves the way you mixed them. Had the lead vox been better balanced with the backings, however, I might have had cared more. ^_~ I do think that the lead needs to be mixed to the forefront, because it's totally drowned out at the moment. It sounds as though your mic was picking up some plosive P's and B's, though. Did you use a pop filter? If so, you may need to back off a bit more while recording. The backup vocals are definitely well performed (although I think the tenor I is a little harsh during the choruses). I hear nothing wrong with the lead performance, except that the lyrics and mixing don't do your voice justice. As Larry already pointed out, it may help meet the arrangement criteria here if you didn't stick so close to the original structure. I started hearing much more interpretation starting around 1:10, and you definitely have a knack for jazzing things up. I'd just push that to the next level and either add a totally fresh section, or perhaps some killer scat solos if you're confident enough with that sort of thing. In addition to those production/arrangement points, I think would be sweet if you'd consider re-writing the lyrics. Right now, it's sometimes hard to even tell where the rhythmic pulse is because the syllabic division of your words are so counterintuitive. A capella is the perfect genre for showing off your wit, and I know you have some! Dazzle everyone with something really clever. NO PLEASE RESUBMIT!

lollllllll

That looks great out of context. Thanks for the feedback, everyone.