Jillian Aversa

Oh man, everything was SO good up until 1:22. Larry and TO are right; you really need to bring out the bassline and percussion. They sound too muffled and distant for funk, which is such an in-your-face genre. No clipping on my end, but if it happened for Lee, that's still a concern. My other minor beef is the occasionally volume shift you have; you fade everything down at once in a couple instances, and it's a little disorienting because it takes away from the "live" feel. It sounds less like the "players" are taking it down a notch, and more like some dude came in and mastered the performance with butter fingers. Awesome solos, though. This will be an easy YES for me, with a few easy fixes. NO- RESUBMIT

BAH! Samples shmamples! I understand your concern, guys, but I think you may be coming down too hard on the guy. Purely orchestral remixes are by far the most difficult to get a realistic sound from, and I think this is still well above the bar in that respect. The brass didn't bother me as much as that one cello solo section at 1:17, and even that wasn't cringe-worthy. This arrangement is brilliant, and Jared knows what he's doing with those sforzando crescendos! The production 1:54-2:25 was weaker compared to the whole, but I'm not gonna let that stand in my way. Ultimately, there are going to be people who simply can't get into a synthesized orchestra arrangement, as was the case with Chrono Symphonic. Oh well, right? Their loss. YES

Well, I read through the original decision to refresh my memory on this one, and I have to say... One of the biggest gripes we expressed was your recycling of material throughout the arrangement. And now you say that you've added a minute or so to the length of the song? The new ending could conceivably add some time, and it did a little, but primarly what you've done here is recycle that material even more. I don't notice any changes in those sections that weren't there before. Secondly, I know I at least suggested that you do something to correct the snare rolls, and you haven't. You simply added in a tambourine-like sample that echoes its stiffness. That doesn't really solve the problem. I notice a bit of improvement in dynamics, though, so good for you! Lastly, while I'm glad you worked on a real ending this time around, what you've come up with still seems a little preliminary to me. The second chord in the final cadence sounds hollow, as well as the unison section that precedes it. I think you should go back and read our comments a little more carefully. I'm glad you cared enough to visit the remix again, but it needs more work still, in my opinion. NO

Yay, congrats! We'll announce that on the show this week.

Andy and I have been splitting the editing for the last couple months, with the occasional exception when one person is unavailable. As for your question, Abadoss, here's a breakdown! Preparing the notes outline and organizing voicemail/report files: ~30 min Recording: ~1 to 2 hours File uploads/transfers: ~40 min EQ/Compression: ~20 min Editing: ~6 to 8 hours total (so half that for each individual host) Exporting/Tagging/Uploading: ~1 hour Shownotes: ~1 hour Total: ~10 to 14 hours And for special shows like the Anniversary Meetup, Video Games Live, 8bit Genocide, Otakon Panel, Episode #050 etc, it's of course much more. Even when we're not doing things directly for the show, we're always around checking emails, planning contests, and talking to you folks in IRC. VGDJ is more than a hobby, I'd say; it's a way of life! And you guys make it all worthwhile.

iTunes tells me 1.7 days, so yeah, that sounds about right.

Andy and I have been splitting the editing for the last couple months, with the occasional exception when one person is unavailable. As for your question, Abadoss, here's a breakdown! Preparing the notes outline and organizing voicemail/report files: ~30 min Recording: ~1 to 2 hours File uploads/transfers: ~40 min EQ/Compression: ~20 min Editing: ~6 to 8 hours total (so half that for each individual host) Exporting/Tagging/Uploading: ~1 hour Shownotes: ~1 hour Total: ~10 to 14 hours And for special shows like the Anniversary Meetup, Video Games Live, 8bit Genocide, Otakon Panel, Episode #050 etc, it's of course much more. Even when we're not doing things directly for the show, we're always around checking emails, planning contests, and talking to you folks in IRC. VGDJ is more than a hobby, I'd say; it's a way of life! And you guys make it all worthwhile.

Haha, this is fun! Are you Bert from Mary Poppins or something? Seems like you can play everything! This remix is a little schizophrenic, but I think you can definitely pull it off if you keep a few things in mind: The main problem here is your banjo part. It's sounds slightly flat, and is mixed with too much reverb, which makes it sound distant. With live recorded instruments, your goal should be to make them sound like they are all "performing" in the same space, at the same time. The guitar parts are tuned okay, but the performance itself is a little inaccurate at times: at 0:56 when you're going up the scale, for example. You need a real ending! Fadeout is a copout, as JJT remarked. Coming up with something original for that should help with the arrangement side of things as well. At the moment, it's a little too conservative for my taste. And finally, I would distinguish between your instruments with a little more panning. Anyway, I would definitely YES this one if you could successfully implement those suggestions, so I really hope to hear an update soon! NO, RESUBMIT

Nice arrangement! This source wasn't much to begin with, but the orchestral hip hop idea works surprisingly well for the theme you've chosen. That washboard sound effect is a nice touch, and the beats are more than decent... although they could use a little more variety. Still, I like where this one's headed. As the others have already pointed out, production is where this mix is suffering the most at the moment. I'm not quite as bothered as Larry seems to be in terms of the sample rigidity, but the piano sequencing is definitely pushing it. The strings are pretty stiff, but one could argue that that's sort of part of the hip hop style. Makes it sound a little more badass. I don't mind the strings so much when they're covered with beats, but in places like and 1:14-1:26, they sound very exposed... and not in a good way. In a section like 0:42-0:54, the piano sounds particularly dry and tinny. Once the bassline enters at 0:54, however, things start to fill in nicely. I like that effect a lot, but if you can't find a better pianer samp, I'd take JJT's advice and scrap it. (Not the part itself, since much of the arrangement is carried by the actual notes you've written for the piano, but replace it with another instrument!) I don't know if you guys have considered this, but to me, this mix is just screaming for rap vocals. If you don't know anyone, we have several talented artists in the community that could potentially do it: Just Us, Mythril Nazgul, D-Lux...to name a few. Just make sure to take mixing seriously if you decide to go that route; a perfect example of successful rap vocals in this style would be Sonic 3 'Memories Frozen in Time' by DCT and Just Us. And you can always seek advice from the folks out at Urbanizm Music. One last criticism: is this remix is a collaboration, or an arrangement featuring the talents of another artist? It's rather unconventional to have one name appear in parenthesis in the artist tag. If this is a collaboration, you should remove "[Damocles Remix]" from the title and credit both artists equally in the artist tag. But if it's an arrangement simply featuring another artist, the artist tag should read "Nathan Albert, feat. Damocles." Additionally, I suggest that Nathan Black either go by his real name or Damocles. OC ReMixers can only have one actual remixer name anyway. ^_~ Hope to hear an update on this one! NO, RESUBMIT

DAIN! He's gonna live forever, Baby, remember his name: DAIN!

Thanks, debeerguyyyyy!

lalalalatotallyawesomemixlalalalalalalalala

No, but Larry already covered the other things I wanted to say about the piano. I talked a lot about the vocals because he called for my "expertise," as it were. If you read closely, you'll see that I spoke just as much about the lyrical problems as the voice itself. Besides, I also reiterated the hissing issues, mixing of the vocals, and pointed out some clipping at 2:07 that he didn't mention. Those are all grounds for a NO.

Your MOM'S more of a soft setting!

Hi again. I've got a reworked version of my Crazy Motorcycle remix for OCR submission. Previous judge decision -The "popcorn synth" borrowed from the source material has been replaced. -The intro has been reworked. -The Advent Children reference in the string stabs has been replaced with a reference to FF7's battle theme. -Other subtle changes have been made in areas I felt should be improved. Hope it makes the cut. Thanks much.

We compress our voices and those of the report and voicemail crew, but not the music itself. For background music, we custom slide the volume around according to the piece, but featured music usually goes untouched. ZOMG show at midnight tonight!

Hmmmmm... Come to think of it, our background music *has* gotten softer lately. Not really sure why, but we can fix that, although it might be too late for this coming show.

A pixietricks appears! I wanted to get to this last night, but I didn't have a chance. Anywho, the vocals are a little rough for several reasons. Before I proceed, though, I wanna make this clear: I know how personal vocal criticism can feel, as one's voice is not just their instrument, but a part of their physical makeup. So I hope DragonAvenger won't take any suggestions I make too personally, because I'm trying to help the best way I know how. ^-^ That being said, she has pretty good pitch, so that's definitely a start. Whether or not the use of straight tone was a stylistic choice or a technical boundary in this case, the result was a very dry sound. If DragonAvenger can use vibrato, I would encourage it (within reason). If she can't, however, there are still ways to produce a beautiful, warm tone! This ability depends on the shape of the mouth on the inside, and the direction in which the air is produced according to that shape. I'm hearing a lot of spread in her singing. I won't go into all the boring, pedagogical details here, but if you'd like to know more, DA, feel free to PM me. Otherwise, working on things with a professional teacher could go a long way. Aside from the actual tone of the voice, there were also problems in the execution of the lyrics. I can't make a lot of them out, for starters, but that's equally the fault of the mixer as the performer here. I wish you had provided us with the text, because it would make the following explanation much easier: "Blaaaaah blaaaaah blaaaaah... The shooooore on anoooooother worldBlaaaaah..." That's what I hear. The first phrase ends with the words "shore on another world," but there isn't enough time for DragonAvenger to take a breath before she starts the next phrase, so it begins at a very disortienting place in the lyrics. In order to make the melody work in this case, you would either have to stretch time before the second phrase, or change the lyrics to reflect one, long thought. The same can be said for all the following stanzas as well. It sounds choppy as is, and prevents the singer from being expressive with her voice and text. Larry already covered the hiss stuff, but did he mention that there's also clipping at 2:07? You two are off to a good start here, so I wouldn't throw in the towel just yet! NO

Haha, here's the best part; my most recent submission was rejected by a vote of 3 No, 0 Yes. Guess which three judges? We didn't plan that, but that IS pretty LOAL~! <3 to you!

Aw, we would have been perfectly content reading the email itself, but you confused us with all those voicemails/mp3's/emails! VGDJ hosts is dumb. (Or just too busy to piece together the puzzle. ^_~) Anywho, this week's show's gonna be shweeeeeeet! You'll see why Saturday.

Spunkle's right. It's just that most of the entries have guitar as the lead instrument, because it's popular. ^_~

Episode 060 of VGDJ has been released, and is now available at www.vgdj.net! Our official foray into the month of October, we've got a big ol' episode for you tonight. Be sure to listen in if you submitted an entry for our episode 059 contest, because we've got the results of that up in HERE!

You're still beautiful, Larry. The wrinkles add character. Hear, hear!

D: Come on, guys, let's not make a big deal about this. Whether or not zyko was reacting emotionally in his vote shouldn't matter. I'm of the opinion that judges shouldn't vote on their own mixes, regardless of their decision to YES or NO it, but we can discuss it elsewhere... preferrably when tensions aren't so high. (Hehehe, donkey... See? Donkeys are funny. Let's talk about that.)

ellywu2: Mufasa. Listener: Oooooh... *shiver* Say it again! ellywu2: Mufaaaasssaaaa... Listener: *shiver shiver* ellywu2: MufasaMufasaMufaaaasssaaaa! Yeah, it's kinda like that. (Okay, I know, it's been a long day...) You're really milking the style here, and I gotta commend you for it. The arrangement may be a little on the repetitive side, but because you're imitating a film composer's style, I'll treat it like a film score. In that sense, you've certainly accomplished the mood you were going for. I'm quivering with feeeaaahhh! Production's quite solid. Much moreso than some of your previous works... including our lovely Schala collab. ^_~ Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I see no reason not to pass this. YES