Vig

I listened to this a week ago...revisiting, my impression was right: This is an awesome concept that could have been better executed. The reversed guitars are an awesome idea. The lead guitar, however, sounds really shitty. It doesn't cut through the mix at all; it's drowning in room reverb that sounds really inappropriate given the rest of the mix's spacey atmosphere. You've really got to fix that lead guitar. Aside from that, the arrangement is a bit on the repetitive side, which is no good when the mix is only 3 mintues. Great idea, great atomosphere, but you really need to fix the lead guitar. NO

I think the track starts out with some great energy thanks to the rhythm synth, and the writing is pretty good, but it loses steam because it doesnt really change that much. The instrumentation and energy stay at the same level for the first half of the track. Then there's the drop. At this point, I think the lead ought to be a different instrument. Then when the electric guitar comes in, it finally gets that punch back. I really think it's a great track that needs a little more going on dynamically to keep the listener's interest during relatively repetitive passages. And fadeout endings are weak. Write an ending. NO

Interesting idea, but I think there's really not going on here to give it a sense of direction. The trumpet sounds really bad, I'd strongly consider axing it. Fortunately for you, you don't really have to get rid of too much of what you have here...all you need is more. More layers, more direction. Keep working on it. NO

I think the problem is not so much in the guitar performance, but the guitar part and sound. It's a bit thin, and the part is a little slow, so it kind of drags. I'd like to hear you give more bite to the guitar, and generally tweak the EQ. Close, though; please resubmit. NO

right off the bat, the strings have way too slow an attack for their part. it sounds really poor. piano swimming in reverb. Texture is somewhat thin. Follows the generic techno step-by-step manual. There's really not a lot of creativity presented here. Not bad for a first remix, but you could benefit from bringing this to teh WIP forum. NO

what's up with that snare? is it reversed? Hot intro. first hint of ff7 is at 2:00. The body of the song is clearly ff7, and the outro is not. okay. so we are saying the count is 40%. I take strong issue with zircon saying that noone should vote yes on this because it's less than 50% ff7. I happen to be reading the submission standards right now and it says Nowhere in there do I see anything about 50%. 40% of a song is substantial, especially when that 40% is the body, the main section of the song. If the 40% remixed material was the intro, I can see it being a problem, but we need to consider context. Painting ourselves into a black and white corner is ridiculous. And who are you to be saying how everyone else should be voting? Christ. That said, I'm voting NO because i feel like the original is not incoprorated ina particularly meaningful way..the melody is pasted onto what otherwise could be an original trance song. The track is very well-done, but I think the original needs to be more relevent, not necessesarily to the intro/outro, but the body of the song too. There needs to be a little more thematic relevance, considering how the track could stand on its own without that particular melody. That said, It's important to note that i'm NOT voting no just because I sat with a stopwatch counting seconds to compare against some arbitrary rule that doesn't seem to actually exist in our guidelines.

I feel you on the bitrate thing. Sorry that's got to be a hard rule. However....bitrate isnt really as big an issue on tracks with so much distortion...that bass is really overpowering. I would seriously consider bringing it back and making the soft bells more prominent. that bass is going to get really tiresome. then at 1:35 there's another harsh instrument panned hard right. It's fighting for space with the bass. There's almost nothing going on in the left channel at the moment, it's really wierd. You should balance out your stereo field. There's nothing wrong with hardpanning instruments, but there should be an overall balance, and you should make sure that therearent too many instruments competing for space. aside from that, the arrangement is on the repetitive side. Consider shortening the track. NO

Not bad at all. I'm not really feeling the fake guitars; the attacks are a bit slow, and they don't cut through. From time to time the soundfield sounds really thick, in a good way. (during the chorus, I suppose). I think the piano/pad parts could be a lot more interesting. use some interesting harmonies, get that piano a little more busy. Aside from that, I think you could use a lot more dynamic variation. Good start though. NO

Immediately repetitive as hell, and as shariq says, there's a ton of space that isnt being used. The track lacks body. You need something else in the midrange. This is largely just lead, bass and drums. dance music needs more thickness. NO

Jredd is one of my favorite new mixers. I love his mario mix, and i really love his DKC mix that didn't pass. This track is enjoyable, and the solo in particular is pretty sweet. As stated, the length hurts, as there's so much more that could be done. Aside from that, I think the spectrum is a bit low-heavy, and you could clear up the bass a bit, and maybe balance it out with some brighter highs. NO

Solid stuff. Overproduced, tons of texture and density. I'm never one to complain about liberal arrangement, and this has undeniable merit. Full spectrum, and lots of ideas presented. Very little to complain about. YES

wow. Dark. Atmosphere is great, but the musical elements are lacking. This wouldn' be a problem if you took an uber-minimal approach a la CotMM, but you have some pretty thick beats, and the octaved lines are really akward and incomplete-sounding. I think you've got a good vision in terms of the atmosphere, but you need to do either more, or less, musically. NO

The strings are bugging me, mainly because of the attack, but they do sound rather dry, and the brass is really harsh to listen to. The composition is pretty well-done, but There's nothing groundbreaking about the arrangement, and in a situation like this where the sound quality is hurting, the track really needs to have something special to make up for it. NO

Good stuff. First the bad: The bass is a bit boomy, and there could be more punch in the drums, particularly the snare, but the drum sequencin is good. Good dynamics. Sorry it took so long to vote on this crudz. YES

can we call this one?

Nice Work

Really nice remix. Hadn't heard the original before. The remix has strengths in its texture, dynamics, and layering. The harp + xylophone sounds great, and the backing synths and groove compliment nicely. Great escalation around 1:25. Only criticism I have of the arrangement is the fairly lazy ending. You could have done a lot more to actually wind down the song...make a real tag or something. Oh well. YES

I'll break teh shit down for you as soon as I finish my two final projects.

Just because "Prayer" and "Final Summoning" were direct posted does not mean they do not count as precedent. Of course we can't make the claim that any track as good as any previously posted OCRemix ought to be posted. No one is saying that, but it's a valid opinion to have that a tune this liberal can be an OCRemix. I love a lot of the more liberal remixes from Wingless, et. all, and I have no problem with it. If you think songs ought to be more conservative, that's a reasonable opinion too, but don't make it sound like we voted YES because we're lazy and haven't heard the source tunes. It's insulting for you to insinuate that our opinions are by nature invalid and were reached though indifference/incompetence. It's great that you do so much work to keep this place running, but don't let that confuse you into believing that your word is law with regard to posting standards. You're still just a noob to me.

Don't listen to Zircon or Liontamer. They are just panel n00bs. This probably has more to do with it.

The intro piano is really mechanical, almost silly, and the transition is crazy jarring. The spectrum is bottom-heavy, esp. in the mudrange. The dynamics are flat and the sound is lifeless because the guitar doesn't bite, and the bass is too boomy, especially for a metal track. It may be the encoding, but the drums in general sound really grainy and dull. By the end my ears are kind of tired. NO

Oh man. It's pretty tight. The guitar solo is kicking. I'm almost inclined to pass it in spite of coverosity. But I can't. Here are a few things you can do to tighten it up, without getting into arrangement stuff: lead guitar is too soft. Doesn't cut through. Needs more bite. Try compressing, EQ, and just plain cranking the volume. The snare is too compressed, no bite. eh. Cutoff ending should be fixed. NO

Really harsh instrumentation, with some interesting production techniques. Stutters, panning, etc. are cool, but in this case come across as gimmicky, mainly because the composition isn't there. The ideas seem really underdeveloped and spastic. Try for some softer textures, and more harmonic subtlety. NO

Alright, right off the bat the instruments are harsh. The bass is boomy, the strings are dry and grating, and the lead synth is harsh. A lot of the attacks and releases are mushy, whether because of hte sample or because of delay/reverb. The delay on the piano is just too much. On the plus side, the arragement has some interesting ideas. The original is recognizable, but often secondary to original material. Unfortunately, the arrangement is very repetitive, crowded, and suffers from akward partwriting. NO

Fails to ignite? Maybe. I'd call the track 'understated.' I think the concept is very well-executed; the piece is fantastic as a soundtrack-type remix. The energy never kicks your ass, but unlike so many underdeveloped tracks, there's plenty of development here. Sure, it's a background track, but there are plenty of changes in instrumentation and energy throughout the track. The vibe is subtle and evocative. I think the original is used very well. YES