Jillian Aversa

Thanks again, everybody! Mods, feel free to lock this whenever. ^_~

Yeah, this year we can use my apartment as home base. And zircon will be coming, too!

You guys aren't late! It'll still be my birthday for another 39 minutes.

ROFL. My mom saw that. Sorry to disappoint everyone, but I didn't get drunk tonight. I ordered a Hennessy's with Bailey's Cream at the restaurant, and drank it veeeeerrrryyy slowly. (I did receive two bottles of champagne and one Benedectine as gifts, however!)

Thanks, wingless! Thanks, everybody. ^-^

Awww, Ramakins, you shouldn't have... (Oh wait, you didn't! )

Aw, thanks! Gonna order my first drink tonight at an Irish restaurant with zircon, Drum, and friends... >X)

My man maketh the phat beats. This track is perfect from start to finish! That is all.

As much as I love the source tune this round, looks like I'm not gonna have time to come up with anything. It's been a busy week, and this weekend is my 21st birthday so my mom's gonna be in town and yada yada. Sorrrrryyyy.

Nice going there, Larry. I can see what you were going for here, Raiyne, and I actually really like it from an arrangement standpoint. I don't think the repetitiveness is that much of a problem, actually, because the source tune lends itself well to the dark, atmospheric background of a vocal track... Reminds me a lot of "Teardrop" by Massive Attack in that respect. You have a great voice, too, from what I can tell! Just can't hear it very well, which brings me to my next point. Production is definitely what's dragging you down for the most part, as I see it. If you fixed things up but didn't change much in the arrangement, I'd probably pass it, but I know some other judges would be sticklers about the repetition, so hopefully you can achieve the best of both worlds by adding in an original section or two to break things up. Anyway, problems: * As Larry already pointed out, the piano sequencing is very rigid at the moment. * Piano is also way too loud with respect to all the other instruments. We've gotta hear more of that sweet bassline, and your voice! * The vocal recordings themselves sound pretty hissy. If you're serious about getting a song up on this site, I think it would be worth it to buy a decent mic. (I'd recommend the Samson CO1U USB mic... That's what I use now, and it rocks! Hardly have to do anything to clean up the sound.) * I'm hearing a lot of clipping, and I'm not sure if it's in the vocal recordings themselves or just a result of your overall mixing. You've gotta be much more sensitive about balance and levels. * The strings that come in at 2:41 are great in that they provide a sense of climax, but yes, there are some wrong notes in there. The third chord of that repeated progression is wrong for the key every time. * There are some wrong notes in the little melody that enters at 2:17, and again at 2:23. Same deal; they don't fit in the key. So yeah, those are the main problems. Larry's suggestion about varying up the percussion a little more is definitely a good idea, because that in combination with lower piano levels and better sequencing could make things sound much more organic. But yeah... I really wanna see a resubmission of this piece, because the concept is awesome and I think you could learn a lot about the technical process through reworking things. Don't be afraid to ask for help in the #ocrwip IRC channel or on the WIP forums! Really, I like this enough that I wouldn't mind working through things one-on-one if you pop me an email. I wanna help you get this mix passed, because I see a lot of potential in you as a mixer!!! You remind me a lot of myself when I first got involved in this scene. NO PLEASE RESUBMIT!

Wow, very interesting arrangement! The two themes mesh quite well the way you present them here, and the ending kicks major ass. I like this mix even better than Too Hot for Heatman. Your production skills have noticeably improved since then. Getting the chiptune style to sound fresh and cutting edge can't be an easy task, but you have officially joined the Mazedude/Shnabubula ranks in that respect. I'd be interested in hearing some more organic percussion in your next track– a little mixture of old and new– but that's just a side comment. Definitely doesn't take away from what you've created here. Awesome, awesome. YES

Psychedelic... Kinda makes me wanna whip out a lighter and sway it in the air. This track would sound awesome with some live crowd SFX! But it sounds awesome anyway; I have no real complaints. Panning was a little wide, and the guitars were sorta dry as Vig pointed out, but I'm also listening under headphones right now due to external circumstances, so that probably enhances whatever flaws are there. I thought the transition into the Fanfare theme at 2:54 was really cool, actually. I guess it's just a matter of taste. Nice work! ^-^ YES

Ahhhhhh, the cumshots! Jeremy, you're one crazy mofo. Honestly, what's not to like here? A living, breathing, evolving, 6-minute plus arrangement from two very compatible sources... with two very compatible remixers. Beautiful! Your creativity shines very brightly in this mix, guys. I love the relaxed undertones, and the different forms they take throughout the piece. The only section I felt could have been reworked (or just removed all together) was from 3:50-4:12; as Mr. Tamer pointed out, things felt pretty sparse and awkward right there. Assuming the mix passes, I wouldn't mind seeing you patch that part up before Dave makes his post, but I'd YES it regardless. Nice work. YES

This is solid. Nice groove, decent production, and plenty of variation to keep things interesting. I'll agree with Larry that some of the countermelody seemed a little off, in the section from 2:01-2:32, but there weren't any actual sour notes... just... strange voice leading. I'd rather not read into things too deep with this one, though. It's enjoyable as is, and exhibits some great effort all around. YES

CONGRATS, BRAD!!!! That is awesome. I remember how you explained the Magfest thing to her... Hilarious. Hey, if you're looking for a wedding singer... ^_~

TO's right; there's really very little arrangement here, and the production is what actually feels like a stronger point. I have no major qualms in that regard, other than the sequencing of the whistle sample you used from 1:41-2:10, which sounds very bland and choppy. Had you chosen a better lead there, it might have made for a stronger breakdown, but even so... not much going on. The whole mix is pretty generic, in my opinion. Where's the interpretation? Where's the feeling? Seems like you just trance-ified the source with some stereotypical techno formula you'd find in a wikipedia article. I vant more! NO RESUBMIT

Okay, I can tell you did some work on this resubmission. Production sounds crisper in general, the lead vocals are more in tune, and you got rid of those low octave "All the feeling's gone" echoes. Good... so far. The harmonies in both choruses (1:05 and 2:47) are still very flat, on the words "Take me away." What's strange is that the *higher* part of the harmony during that second chorus ("Maybe then I'll live again") are perfectly in tune. So I guess it's not really a key thing... just gotta listen more carefully and do as many takes as you can tolerate until 1:02. Now, you're gonna hate me for this (and believe me, I'm kicking myself over it), but there were a lot of timing issues that I didn't notice the first time through. Larry touched on it a little bit in the original decision, but only regarding the harmonies... which are still off at 1:25!!! I'm not sure why you just thanked him for fixing them, Larries, cuz they ain't fixed. Anyway, what I'm seeing now– and it's present in both versions– are some serious synchronization problems in both of the choruses, particularly the first one at 1:05. The echoey "cah" sound effect gets way out of time with the bass and accoustic strumming... usually way behind the beat, but occasionally early. It sounds like you tried to line it up individually each time, but unsuccessfully. Even after the chorus finishes, and you have the little interlude from 1:47 to 2:03, the bass, strumming, and lead music boxy thing don't line up. Again, these timing issues are present in both choruses, just more noticeably in the first one. Finally, and this is somewhat minor, but the vocal doubling at the end is a little distracting to me, because they don't quite mesh. Not sure why you chose to do that, but it's your call. Sucks because you know how much I adore this arrangement, but the tuning and timing issues still need to be resolved before I can comfortably pass this. Keep at it, Darangen! Feel free to IM me any time if you want quick feedback. NO RESUBMIT!

I'm with BGC and zircon on the volume issues. The guitars in the intro are rather quiet (and slightly sharp), but then things even out... until 1:30, when everything gets crazy loud. It would be such an easy fix that I don't feel like this mix needs to go through the entire resubmission process again, so long as about:blank is willing to get us an update ASAP. The drum compression doesn't bother me, but do whatever you want with that. ^_~ As for the arrangement, I'm loving it. I can see where Vig is coming from about the retriggering effect being a little gimmicky, but then again, the Earthworm Jim soundtrack is pretty quirky to begin with. I think this fits right in! Transitions are all interesting and unique, and the texture works very well, in my opinion. Lots of personal flair! Provided you fix the volume probs... YES

Sure, although you'd have to try to ignore all the ridiculous amounts of reverb m1lesteg applied, since it makes my voice sounds bigger than it actually was. That was recorded my freshman year, and as it was in the opera style, I'm sure you would notice improvement since then. I cringe when I hear that mix, lol. EDIT: Okay, guys. Here are a few recordings! I decided not to post the whole recital, so as to give you something to look forward to when I update my website in March. For now, here is one movement from each of the first three song sets, plus the Schubert in its entirety: Gustav Holst, Op. 35 "Four Songs for Voice and Violin": I sing of a maiden Maurice Ravel, "Cinq Mélodies Populaires Greques": La-bas, vers l'église Benjamin Britten, "On This Island": Seascape Franz Schubert, "Shepherd on the Rock"

Errr... To be fair, you can't really compare The Place We Knew with anything I do classically. I sound completely different singing in a pop style. And while people say I have been continually improving in the classical style as well, the difference isn't that drastic. You'd have to listen to the other classical stuff up on my website now to make an accurate comparison. ^_~

Yes. Well, not that I can *really* play it, but I've fooled around with it a bit. The lowest notes shake the stage. XD

That was when we were indoors at the Indian restaurant. They had warm jackets for outside, silly. ^_~

And last, but not least... Dinner afterwards with Upthorn, Jiggles McPuff, Ferret, zircon, my family, and some family friends!

More of that The Britten Shepherd on the Rock Bowing at the end with my accompanists

Okay, so it's still gonna take a little while for me to split the tracks on the recordings and get everything uploaded, but in the meantime, here are some pictures from the performance and afterwards! Getting my hair done o_O Holst op. 35 ("Four Songs for Voice and Violin") More of that The Ravel