Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

The lineup: * Biggoron - organ, keys; solos at 2:31, 2:58, 3:58 * newmajoe - alto saxophone, bari saxophone, auxiliary percussion, additional saxophone arrangement; solos at 3:18, 3:44, 3:58 * minusworld - guitars, bass, drumkit programming, arrangement, production My entry from "Franchise Fusion" month at Dwelling of Duels in June 2024. I was originally going to take a break from this competition because none of my fusion ideas really jumped out at me... until I was on an 11-hour drive without an audiobook to listen to. Left alone with my own thoughts (scary!), I had a revelation: Death by Glamour and Fight Against Smithy both used orchestra hits as a pseudo-melody and had basslines that would mesh well together. The part I kept hearing in my head ended up being 1:26-1:39 in this track. This kind of music isn't my bread and butter; I knew I would need Biggoron's help at a minimum. Even though it was the middle of the month and halfway through the competition, I reached out and surprisingly, he was willing! Biggoron suggested I contact newmajoe, who also came aboard! Biggoron and newmajoe are DoD's dance and funk legends and often come as a pair, so much to my surprise I was able to work with them both for the first time on this track. They were both awesome to work with (and just in general, awesome) and added a ton to the arrangement. Joe did extra aux percussion that I never planned for, and did all the bari lines as well as additional alto lines. He threw like 200% at this and it's better for it! Thanks again, Joe! A cleverer arranger than me (or one without twin toddlers 🥴) might have been able to weave the themes together in a more natural way, like jnWake's "Ambience of the Forest" from the same DoD month. I am neither, so to sketch an arrangement quickly I decided to make the arrangement a "versus", where one theme is featured, then the second, and finally a solo battle into a conclusion. In practice, this ended up being Mettaton with Smithy cameos, Smithy with Mettaton cameos, and then an all-out brawl until the end. :) I had to draw on the Armed Boss theme as well, since Smithy itself doesn't have much melodic content. Though simple, I'm happy with the arrangement outcome because I feel it celebrates these beloved VGM OSTs without straying too far from their identity. Here's the detailed outline: * Smithy organ intro * Mettaton intro, trimmed (I never realized how long the intro is in the OST!) * Mettaton A with Armed Boss cameo * Mettaton B into Armed Boss melody * Mettaton C * Mettaton loop point into Smithy bassline, Smithy orchestra hits * Smithy intro on bari sax * Smithy A * Smithy B with Mettaton B cameo * Smithy C with Mettaton A piano line on other instruments * Smithy D into organ solo * Smithy bassline vamp * Smithy bassline ramp with Mettaton A arpeggios into synth solo * Guitar solo over Armed Boss bassline (Smithy strikes!) * Alto sax solo over Mettaton A bassline (Mettaton strikes back!) * Guitar solo 2 (Smithy retaliates!) * Alto sax solo 2 (Mettaton counterattacks!) * Solo trades - (this was a freeform section for each musician, rather than something themed) * Mettaton C * Mettaton loop point into Smithy bassline Some notes on the solos. While working on the arrangement, we kept calling this track the "Walkoff" in reference to the scene in Zoolander where Zoolander and Handel have their "walkoff" modeling competition. Smithy and Mettaton are goofy villains and the idea of them competing invoked Zoolander imagery for all of us. I felt like Smithy might have been that kid who enters a high school talent show with nothing but an electric guitar and no backing band, which reminded me of the scene from Back to the Future where Marty McFly imitates Van Halen... so Van Halen ended up being my inspiration for the solo. I also tried to imitate the sound effects of Smithy's attacks in Guitar solo 2: Sledge at 3:36 and Meteor Swarm at 3:40. Joe wrote in the DoD discord that he used two references in his solos: The first solo references Hot House by Dizzy Gillespie, and the second solo uses a pattern of chromatically descending third borrowed from David Sanborn. And... why yes, you did hear MEGALOVANIA at 4:03 courtesy of Biggoron! :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy our take on these treasured VGM tunes! Games & Sources Undertale - Death by Glamour (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMDFhjpMTEY&list=OLAK5uy_l6pEkEJgy577R-aDlJ3Gkp5rmlgIOu8bc&index=68) SMRPG - Fight Against an Armed Boss - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9XiSaJbgVA&list=PLNvQcJ1tQe2RIkds3WWsOQ7LyKzMlewba&index=19) SMRPG - Fight Against Smithy - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O9Hcy8SVs4&list=PLNvQcJ1tQe2RIkds3WWsOQ7LyKzMlewba&index=57)

Original Decision Artist Name: Zanezooked Howdy judges! Here’s a resubmission of my Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity remix. I put my original mix up on Youtube at the same time I submitted it here. It was well-received in the Marathon community. Hamish Sinclair even featured it on the Marathon’s Story site! That was surreal as I’ve been reading that site since my first forays onto the internet as a teen in the 90s. Your feedback here was largely positive about the arrangement but negative about the production and mixdown, especially the balance of sounds and general muddiness. I tried posting this revision to the workshop for feedback but got no replies. :( So I did my best on my own. I do think it sounds much crisper than the original. Changes I made in response your feedback: Re-mixed pretty much everything, and changed a lot of the EQs. Added more sidechain compression on the kick (there was some originally, but not enough) Took treble off the bass, especially when the guitar is present. Added a de-resonance step on the master chain Swapped the bass in the opening sequence for cello and bass strings. Prophetik found the synth bass there out of place, but I still wanted something in the low end to provide variety from the wall of pads and environmental sound. I really like the result! Changed some of the drum rhythms Fixed the wrong note pointed out by Prophetik Other changes: Shortened the song by cutting out the reprise of the M2 theme after the middle string section. It now ramps into the guitar rendition of the M∞ theme. Restored a high cosmic echo trail effect after the guitar parts which was supposed to be in the original mix but got lost when the plugin’s license reset I should mention that the goal of this remix is to capture a certain Marathon “feel.” It’s not meant to improve on or sound like the source Marathon songs, which are amazing as-is. It’s intended to take those themes and give them another showing, in a setting that’s different but still evokes what Marathon feels like as a whole — which for me includes not just the original Power of Seven (Psykosonik) music but also Craig Mullins concept art and the philosophical rantings of a rampant artificial intelligence intent on escaping the closure of the universe. I’m not going for a pristine sound, but a dense sound awash in spaciousness, layers, and grittiness that evokes cosmic vastness, ancient mystery, and aggression. Judging by the reception of my original version in the Marathon community, I think I did manage to capture the vibes! So I tried to retain that in this revision, while working to remove muddiness and improve balance. I hope this new version is up to OCRemix’s standards! Source Breakdown: The title of this remix is Lh’owon, after the planet on which most of the action in Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity takes place. It’s ancient homeworld of the S’pht, though it’s currently populated by a garrison of the Pfhor, who enslaved the S’pht a millennium ago. Its extensive ruins hide clues to the fate of a tribe of S’pht lost thousands of years before the Pfhor arrived. Oh, and the planet’s sun currently imprisons a Lovecraftian elder god of chaos which will devour the universe if freed. The first minute of the remix is about soaking in the ambience on this unspeakably ancient, largely ruinous planet. It starts with some literal ambience recorded directly from the game (and drenched in reverb, as if heard from within one of the rock-like structures you run around in). Pads and strings play the theme that the background synths play at 0:30 in the Marathon 2 source song. The strings fade away with an irregular loss of signal. Into this planet’s system comes the rampant and only possibly insane artificial intelligence Durandal in a captured Pfhor dreadnought; he sets about bombarding the Pfhor garrison from orbit and teleporting his pet cyborg security officer (the player) around, flooding an outpost with lava over here, saving enslaved humans over there, and then going on an extended archeological dig into the ancient S’pht ruins in search of a weapon that can give Durandal the dominance and universe-outliving immortality he hungers for. At :55 we start to hear the encroaching orbital bombardment, and at 1:25 the security officer arrives and starts kicking alien appendages. A synth grinds out the guitar progression from the beginning of the Marathon 2 title music, then a recessed guitar takes up the melody. After this, a synth bass plays the bass from :30 in the source song, before the cycle repeats. At 2:39 the strings return to provide a pause in the Total Carnage, playing the theme from Marathon Infinity. The security officer is discovering the oldest remnants of the S’pht civilization, far older than humankind—and some of it is still sentient. Though he doesn’t yet know it, the fate of the cosmos is at stake. At 3:45 carnage returns as the guitar plunges into the Marathon Infinity theme, while high strings and a buried choir provide a sense of spaciousness and age. Games & Sources Marathon 2: Durandal Marathon Infinity

Love this source, always glad for an excuse to listen to it! Right from the jump, I’m liking the genre transformation. During the chorus from :32-:46, the lead comes off very flat. The sound design and balance isn’t ideal, but it’s not awful. 1:20 would have been a great place to change the lead sound for more variety there. Dropoff at 1:36 that was super-barren but gradually built back up starting at 1:50; this needed something else to fill the texture out more without being too much. A bunch of cacophonous supporting writing from 2:00-2:08 and 2:24-2:32 that needs to be reworked; has no melodiousness to it plus the synth choices already feel old by this point, so, surprisingly, there's fatigue for me with this sound design even though a lot of time hasn't passed. At 2:08, the sound design and intensity are similar to around :56; it’s not really going anywhere new or dynamic. 2:32 messed around more with getting subtractive and varied with the presence of the melody. 3:04 revisited the style of the opening to bookend the piece, then did a little bit more original writing at 3:20 that wasn’t melodious and felt like a flat finish. I’m in the same camp as proph; there’s transformative ideas, but the track relatively too flat and repetitive in how it sounds despite effort given to varying some textures. Needs different leads, more filling (some gentle padding of SFX here or there), and smoothing out some non-melodious moments. The core of it is promising, so definitely worth revisiting to see what more could be done, provided the interest was there. You can have arrangements with a steady energy, but the dynamism has to come in other ways, and that’s not been pulled off here despite some tactics going in that direction. NO (resubmit)

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Artist Name: Alex Robinson This remix deviates a fair bit from the original but there are also a few other Metal Gear motifs thrown in at certain points ('Enclosure', 'Mantis' Hymn', 'Theme of Solid Snake - Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake' - as linked in Games & Sources) I was inspired by the mix of orchestral elements with a metal band as heard on certain tracks from FF7 Remake/Rebirth's OSTs ('The Airbuster', 'Midgardsormr'), so tried to do something in that style! Games & Sources This is primarily based on 'Escape' from the Metal Gear Solid OST: 'Theme of Solid Snake' from Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake: 'Mantis' Hymn' from Metal Gear Solid: 'Enclosure' from Metal Gear Solid:

You can pretty much take a Bluelighter arrangement timestamp to the bank, not that this was a complex source tune or melodically liberal piano arrangement. The piano sound was in the uncanny valley, a common issue with Bluelighter's solo piano pieces, but an issue that stands out more due to this performance style. The piano sample sounds noticeably stiff here. If the sound were more humanized instead of very much in the uncanny valley, this would land better. A drawback of the particular keyboard being used? If someone knows what to call this piano playing style and can link an example of one on a real piano, maybe it could help uncover ways to produce somthing like this -- for example, adding effects to mitigate the realism issues. The run from 3:24-3:51 with some flowing notes in the background sounds comparatively much better. This performance style and the dynamics of the arrangement aren't benefitted by the sample/articulation limitations. The bar doesn't need to be so high as to disqualify this, but the sample's very exposed, and the end result just doesn't hit the way it should or could. It sounds like I'm saying I hated this, when really I'm lamenting for what it *could* have been, richer-sounding and more humanized, to better do justice to Guillame's solid arrangement. YES (borderline)

Seemingly a non sequitur intro; not recognizing anything for a while until the melody at :59, but there's lots of runway here, and the string-like lead sounds OK, like it's blended with chiptune. Abrupt change in the SFX at 1:10; doesn't sound good when it's jumpy like that. Lone synth at 1:23 sounds awesome as hell, like VRC7 chiptune stuff, then it's joined by another line at 1:37. The sample voices are cheesy to me; not offensive, but not fully cohesive. The piano line's VERY stiff though. In contrast, the VRC7-like line had a vibrato-like effect on it that humanized it (rather than sounding like inhuman sustains for each individual note). That said, I really like the tone there of that chippy lead, and there's lots of room for expansion and variations. Wait, hold up. :'-( After the (abrupt) change in instrumentation at 2:42, things fell apart, IMO. Brass sample was very exposed as unrealistic coupled with a spooky-line that doesn't really mix with the gravity of the sampled voice work, then adding in some lonely-sounding kicks, then a change to a very mechanical-sounding organ line at 3:03 and some bizarre FM-synth writing around 3:08 that was kind of atonal. Sleigh bells added at 3:20, huh? Then very robotic-sounding organ and drums that both needed to sound denser at 3:28 and this texture is scattershot. Then a bubbly, brighter FM line's brought in at 3:39, then some castanets at 3:51 with machine gun triggering on them (no velocity variations) that exposes the sample, and just none of the sound design has synergy, no flow, no direction. Not sure what part that it coming in at 4:06, but the timing on that's also very quantized and devoid of any fluidity. At 5:01, I'm digging the more understated instrumentation, but once it gets louder and more involved. I also liked the electronic string sound from 5:15-5:24. Back to overly quantized writing at 5:43. Some sort of blippy percussion stuff added at 6:18 that doesn't have synergy with the string stabs, which aren't particularly melodious. Choir at 6:35 adds a lot of mud, not a lot of direction. Whatever buzzing line was introduced at 7:12 just cluttered up the soundscape; if it's meant to sound distorted, OK, but it comes off as messing up the texture rather than adding any stylistic flavor to it. The organ like at 8:05 seems like it's doubled by some sort of weird robovox-type lines, I'm not sure. Not sure what can be done here. Past a point, I didn't hone in on how well the voice clips fit because there's so much that's not working that it didn't need to be focused on. I can see why prophetik said they're overkill. Same for the source usage; I ultimately didn't need to track it or even grok it because it was a moot point due to these other issues. Even if this wasn't so stiffly timed, the instrumentation doesn't click or mesh together either. It really doesn't matter what the genre is, it can't be in state of musical rigor where everything sounds quantized, otherwise it's a non-starter. The only difficulty in offering this feedback is the possibility that it's taken on a personal level as opposed to assessing this piece of music. It's always offered in the attempt to lift you up to a higher skill level instead of tear you down. You often have good ideas, and have had plenty of arrangements you've helmed approved. I stand by the strong praise for your Lufia II album track, which was awesome. It'll sound like I think you shouldn't or can't make good music; it's a matter of understanding where your weaknesses are and instead actively playing to your strengths. To me, it feels like some of your work very much needs needs a governor in the form of a co-arranger/co-pilot focused on musicality, production, and cohesion. And, as I've said before to HoboKa, I don't believe your current pitch perception is where it needs to be to effectively executive very interpretive arrangement concepts; to stay effective, color more in the lines with melodically conservative approaches, and make your instrumentation, ornamentations, and sound design be the primary ways you personalize your arrangements. In the meantime, spend more time on your pitch perception, and study up on how to make sequenced music sound more fluid. NO

Artist Name: TheManPF Additional artists: Zach Chapman; Earth Kid; Triple B Music; Sean R. Hanson; Gamer of the Winds Hmmm what can I say about this? I did this originally for Pixel Mixers' Silent Hill album after Hashel invited me, I'm not too familiar with Silent Hill, surprisingly however I did play Silent Hill 4 a while ago, but I never actually finished it so I never got to hear Cradle of Forest as it plays in the credits. The reason this song wormed its way into my ears was thanks to none other than DoD legends Ailsean and Norg, back in 2021 when DoD had done its own vocal month https://dodarchive.dwellingofduels.net/21-07-Vocal/12-Ailsean%2C norg-Silent Hill 4 The Room-Nursery of Thicket-DoD.mp3 This interpretation made me fall in love with this composition, and naturally I dig it way more than the original, I've been singing along to it a lot since I heard it, so when I had the opportunity, it came to mind immediately to do Cradle of Forest. This version I did here is heavily inspired on Ailsean/Norg's version, though obviously, I added a lot of my own flairs to it. I was looking for something somewhat faithful, with a lot of emphasis on the slow hard rock ballady style of the song, while bringing out more colorfulness with some added flutes, organs and acoustic guitars. I also decided that a vocal duet would be way more fun and would make the whole thing feel more varied. I modified the structure of the song a bit to make it feel more like a slow burn and "earn" its length, as much as I love this source I always thought it was a bit long for a standard rock structure, and I wanted to play a bit more with that. I got a bunch of really awesome collaborators, this is one of my biggest collabs to date (tied with Rib Eye Rodeo), I don't usually arrange for big groups, but whenever I do something for Pixel Mixers they always insist, gather as many collabers as you want, so I rolled with it, and ended up with this truly incredibly talented lineup: Zach Chapman - Bass Earth Kid - Vocals Triple B Music - Acoustic Guitar Sean R. Hanson - Keyboards (Organ) Gamer of the Winds - Flute They all brought it, so they all sound great in this. The only one who fell short was me, funnily enough, I did the second set of vocals and all of the electric guitars (and arranging and sequencing and mixing), but I ended up dissatisfied with the mix that ended up on the official album (sorry Hashel ): ), so I went ahead and tweaked a bunch of the mix, redid all guitars, redid all my vocals, redid the drums, barely touched the others' stems really, they were all perfect already, but I needed to be a better glue for all of them. I am very satisfied with this arrangement now. Just like last time, I'm crediting the peeps behind the album this was featured on, Silent Hill: Monochrome Dreams, even if they're not featured on this version, just because they're cool people: Production - Hashel Mastering - Erika Richards Artwork - Leo Val Hope you enjoy (: Lyrics: There deep, deep in the forest night Children dance the waltz They laugh whispering hand in hand Just like children like to do Their eyes, what are they looking for White dress flutters the beat Their song starting to make some sense But only if you're listening Dance, dance like butterflies Shadows appear right before my eyes Sounds echo the absurd Hard to explain something that I heard Again see how the children play Red moon colors the trees Their feet, innocent rustling sounds Playful dream-like fantasy Dance, dance like butterflies Shadows appear right before my eyes Sounds echo the absurd Hard to explain something that I heard Now, hear the forest talking insects and birds Does the scent of soil and beast Bring the life in to the animal you hide It's a great illusion one never knows When you think you're really alone Feel the eyes of someone looking in on you Now, hear the forest talking insects and birds Does the scent of soil and beast Bring the life in to the animal you hide It's a great illusion one never knows When you think you're really alone Feel the eyes of someone looking in on you Hear the forest talking insects and birds Does the scent of soil and beast Bring the life in to the animal you hide It's a great illusion one never knows When you think you're really alone Feel the eyes of someone looking in on you Feel the eyes of someone looking in on you Feel the eyes of someone looking in on... Games & Sources Game: Silent Hill 4: The Room Songs arranged: Cradle of Forest (https://youtu.be/9f4aWcnUXbo) Original composer: Akira Yamaoka System: Good ol PS2 Year: 2004

Lots of room to get expansive and varied with this theme, so I'm interested to hear what direction Mike takes it in. Hell yeah, speeding it up's a nice touch, and taking it in an electronic direction; I'm down with this. And there it is at :30, some original countermelodic writing gets added in, then starts ramping up at :48. Yep, this is all a logical path to go down, I'm glad to hear Mike execute it so well. Bigger stylistic shift at 1:27 that sounds cool, but as soon as I was worried that the source tune would get deprioritized, the stuttering pattern faded back in at 1:47 following the chord progression, then the theme itself quietly started again at 2:06 and then featured more prominently at 2:26. This is a really fun theme, so I liked getting constantly hit with new and creative textural variations. 3:23 moved over into the effected vox sounds once again and was purely original composition, then the stuttering progression came back at 4:02 and the straightforward melody theme returned at 4:41 for the close. Knew this would be good; Mike is awesome! YES

Theme kicks in at :28 after an original extended intro. Nicely expanded into light orchestration with lots of ornamentation. Nice turn at 1:11 just varying the instrumentation of the theme and then weaving it with other original writing dancing around it. Good switch at 1:32 into the strings handling the lead (note transition from 1:51-1:52 exposed the sample, but it's an overall solid sound given some reasonable body). Dropoff at 2:00, then "Song of Healing" showed up for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo from 2:09-2:16 before shifting back into the main source for further variations accented by denser strings underneath adding more tension. As always, Rebecca nicely presents loads of textural variations to play around with the source material, and it's a tried and true tactic for an engaging arrangement that lets you witness and subsequently enjoy the versatility of a VGM theme. Strong as always! YES

Artist Name: RebeccaETripp For many, the first moments of entering the Dark World in Link to the Past were nothing short of astonishing. I wanted to recapture something of the mystery, danger, adventure, vulnerability, and promise of renewal found only within the otherworld. Games & Sources Link to the Past - Silly Pink Rabbit aka Bunny

You definitely want this to go in some personalized, expansive directions, especially since this reconstructs some of the original's instrumentation. The sound quality's a bit denser compared to the source and then a basic beat comes in at :47, and now the soundscape's too loud and cramped, IMO, with the bassline barely registering for example. As soon as the synth arrived at 1:51, I was "Alright, now let's hear where it goes", so it might be a case where the latter 2/3rds is more interpretive. At 2:42, the electric guitar samples definitely feel tacked on, though it's well-performed; wished they weren't mixed in there in such a muddy way. The source also isn't going anywhere new aside from the guitar samples on top. Some organ-like keyboard stuff at 3:44, but it feels more disconnected than the electric guitar lines did (and those felt that way too). Then some sax & trumpet at 4:22, well-performed (though there's some sort of audio deformation at 4:43), but this also feels disconnected from the overall track. The various sampled lines seem cool in a vacuum, but there's no synergy there, so 2:42-on feels like vamping without direction and the overall level of interpretation feels notable but limited. Obviously, one gets more used to the flow of the extended sampled instrumentation lines upon repeated listens, so maybe the disjointedness is overstated in others' eyes. I'm feeling like without the extended drop-ins of these sample library segments, the overall expansiveness and development of this concept is limited. Maybe the added lines are integrated well enough that that's not a problem? To me, that's not the case, but I could understand being willing to consider that POV. Leaning NO and would need to be pursuaded, but I'm actually gonna see what others think about this first. ? EDIT (2/7/25): Yeah, revisiting this now, this just isn't a developed arrangement. There's too much leaning on the sampled instrumental lines, which feel stapled on top and not well-integrated, to provide the differences from the source to the arrangement in the latter half. This has nice heft compared to the original, but does feel like a cover with beats + sampled add-ons. I'm not expecting a revisit on this one due to being from way back, but anything that could add more interpretation while feeling fully integrated would help this stand apart beyond the beef-ups in the instrumentation. NO

The track's 3:57-long, so I needed to hear the source theme used for at least 118.5 seconds for the source to be dominant in the arrangement: 0:04-0:58 (w/gaps), 1:06-1:34 (w/gaps), 1:47-1:58, 2:28-2:40, 2:42-3:09 (w/gaps), 3:09-3:14, 3:16-3:22, 3:24-3:28, 3:30-3:31 OR 109 seconds (w/gaps) + 39 uninterrupted seconds Thankfully didn't need to get granular with the stopwatching! The source tune's in use most of the way, it's just different rhythms. It's viable source usage, though I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed it like this. Maybe personal preference, but the source tune is so basic that altering the rhythms AND making it more pointilist-style with the notes AND having it be second fiddle to the spoken word makes the source arrangement feel more marginalized than I'd prefer. From :35-on in the source, there were sustained notes following the chord progression that would have functioned nicely as an anchor here. Even for the big finish at 3:40-3:54, that would have been a perfect place to have the melody be played straight but aggressively. None of that factors into my decision. Anyway, those crits make me no different than any other VGM arrangement scene fan who doesn't get their itch scratched. I'm just a couch potato yellin' out plays, so no tears for lil' old me. :-D Lush opening. Vocals from :31-:45 had some delay on 'em but overall felt pretty untreated and like they were amateur/unpolished. Some flat spots in the vocals that came and went [:38 ("alone"), :42 ("with you")]. Once more layering and effects came in at :45, everything else sounded more stylized, spacious, and solid. The vocal delivery from 2:00-2:35 was definitely my favorite part, especially the swagger at the "height you won't summit..." area; such smart lyrics the whole way though, but this was my favorite little piece. Just listening to it like it was an original work, divorced from "Starjump", I enjoy it on that level more. :-) Despite griping about the arrangement approach not using the source in the way I'd prefer, it's definitely there and it's a creative concept piece regardless. Cool way to tribute the Madeline/Badeline internal dialogue from Celeste and take an extended journey in this personality battle within oneself! YES

I promised I wouldn't take so long to get back to ya'll again ;) And with ANOTHER Lena Raine remix too. Here's a remix of Starjump from Celeste, which was originally created for and featured on GameGrooves' G-Sides: A Nerdcore Tribute to Celeste! I produced it & wrote and performed the vocals, and all vibraphone parts were played by SQORE! About the Remix: The thematic heart of Celeste is the struggle of self - coming to terms with all aspects of you in order to grow as a person. In the game, our hero Madeline has her darkest and most intrusive thoughts made flesh - taunting, mocking, and sabotaging her journey up the mountain. This track remixes Starjump, which happens during the Chapter 6 Intro cut scene. There, Madeline meets with her antagonist ~Badeline~ overlooking the Northern Lights & calmly (and misguidedly) expresses the need to move on from this side of herself. This enrages Badeline, who even breaks through the game's dialogue window to sneeringly mock her, saying: "you think you can just leave me behind?" This track was built out entirely from the themes of this cutscene. It takes the POV of Badeline - the bad habits, the intrusive thoughts, the addictions, (whatever part of you that you wish could just vanish from the equation) - in that moment where you THINK you've overcome them. You haven't. It's a bit of a dark song - and the parallels to toxic, abusive relationships are intentional. It's also a bit of a silly song, theatrical and evolving and hopefully fun to listen to~ Enjoy! Lyrics: Leave Me Behind I guess this is it. I guess we’re through. Now that you’ve seen me alone. Now that you’ve seen me with you. I can be ok with this. I think I have to be. You will go away a bit. That’s cool. That’s cool. That’s cool with me. Cruel. You think you can just leave me behind? That’s unfortunate. I don’t think so. Nice try. You should just lay down and [die]. Let entanglement strangle your “rise and shine” away again. See, you and me? We’re intertwined. A knot. A friend forever and ever inside. Forever cruel inside. It doesn’t add up. You know it makes sense. Every year you blame me. You should blame yourself. You’ve been holding me at a Height you won’t summit, right? We both plummet though life. There’s no cushion. it’s tight and soul crushing. inside is so cozy, always rosy, never stress. never lonely. Why would you go? Cruel. You think you can just leave me behind? That’s adorable. I don’t think so. Nice try. You should just lay down and [die]. Let entanglement strangle your “rise and shine” away again. See, you and me? We’re intertwined. A knot. A friend forever and ever inside. You think you can just leave me behind? Games & Sources Celeste - Starjump (music) Celeste - Chapter 6 Cutscene (lyrical motif / theme)

Opens up pretty conservatively (definitely sounds like the source audio itself being sampled), and then some vox lines are the main additive component. The soundscape has good energy, though the sounds around :23, :34, :39, and :45 sounded lossy or distorted somehow, kind of a low quality feel to it, like it was a low bitrate encoding. No connection to the source that I can make out. Anyway, more good energy at 1:08 with the beats coming in; the pattern is mixed in a way that prevents it from being easily and immediately identified, but it's the "1-2-3 4, 1-2-3 4, 1-2-3" timing/pattern taken right from :00-:55 of the source. The electrosynth lead stuff is just so much louder by comparison though, so it's being drowned out; the mixing makes it a viable criticism to say it's not a "dominant" enough referencing of the source material relative to our submissions standards, so I would make that component louder. By 2:05, I was wondering where this would evolve into something else because the build felt overlong; not a dealbreaker, just a personal preference thing, as this feels like a well-constructed piece of music. Beats dropped off at 2:16 for a more synth-focused section until the beats returned at 2:39, where the lead feels like it lacks high-end sharpness, not that that would be a dealbreaker. Good transition at 3:25. From 3:25-on, I wasn't recognizing anything arranging the source, though this was good original writing, arranging/interpreting past original compositional ideas Seveneyes included. As far as source tune usage, this was hard to wrap my head around, so I could be undercounting this by a lot and am happy to be corrected. The track was 5:32-long, so I needed to be able to identify source usage for at least 166 seconds. I didn't count the direct audio sampling of the source from the first 20 seconds because that wasn't arrangement, just an FYI. 1:08-1:29, 1:31-1:52 (beat pattern, :00-:55 of source); 1:54-2:15 (barely audible beat pattern), 2:17-2:28 (:06-:11 of source, two notes repeated twice), 2:39-3:25 (:31-:55 of source, with beat pattern from :00 of source underneath until 3:02) = 120 seconds or 36.14% overt source usage Alright, let's summarize. As a standalone track, well-developed compositionally, good dynamics, creative sound design. You're already got something here that easily clears the production bar here. IMO, the mixing could stand to be cleaner/brighter; maybe it's a stylistic thing, but there's a lack of high-end clarity that makes it not ideal, just nothing that would make me be close to saying NO on a production level. I agreed with prophetik on not needing the sampled intro, but as long as the track arranged the source tune in a dominant and identifiable way, I wouldn't care about a few moments of the directly sampled audio being in there. Our Submissions Standards say "The source material must be identifiable and dominant", so I look for arranged source material to make up over 50% of the length of the arrangement. If we're missing something on the arrangement side, definitely clarify with timestamps how section A in the original is referenced in section B of the arrangement, and I'd be glad to revisit this. As best as I can make out though, this doesn't reference the source tune enough in the arrangement. Of course, don't change the track into something you don't want it to be just to fit the Standards here. What's there is strong though, so if you'd be willing to revisit this, there's plenty of ways to get this above 50% source usage. Hope to hear more from you, there's definitely a spot waiting for you on the front page, Alex! NO (resubmit)

Wish it had composer credits!

That's a cool source tune; hey hey! Gonna have to check out the rest of this soundtrack at some point. Kid Icarus wasn't the most iterated upon franchise, so I have 0 conception of what its audio signature, so to speak, would be. From the sound of it, neither did Nintendo; never would have thought a track like this would be in a modern Kid Icarus game. Has a semi-stealthy vibe, so I'm interested in what jnWake could do with it. Arrangement opens with pew-pews and the foreshadowing that this was going to go in a jazzier direction. Rocks out and Fs with the time sig at :30; a subtle yet cool curveball. The overall style approach has a great deal of swagger to it. Always down for some FM synth spices sprinkled in there, even if it's just a little bit. Nice energy to the geetar at 2:05, giving more energy to the source melody compared to past iterations and interplaying well with the brass. Not gonna play-by-play the rest, but smart stuff per jnWake's usual. The intelligence of the arranging will make you feel smarter, it'll get the brain juices flowing. OH SNAP, sax solo at 3:19! Don't hurt 'em, newmajoe! Jabo, Aarek, Joe, a tip of the cap for bringing Wake's wildness to life. :-) Bruh, this is FUN. YES

What the heyyull did I just hear? 4 days??? Man, you had to have cheated somehow. Probably AI'ed all these "collaborators". :-P Seriously though, a bit more cramped than I'd prefer, but that's a spicy musical chimera y'all got there. :-D YES

The original's an amazing example of energetic sampled organic-sounding instrumentation with electronic stuff, so I'm so glad Wake, who's also great at that fusion, is tackling this theme. His take sounds awesome. The beginning of :46's section had me smiling. Love the organ cameo at 1:13, let's go! The percussion writing is so good as well. Oh man, amazing dropoff at 1:27 gradually rising to include the source melody with the menu cameo, then it just turns on a dime to some loud synth soloing at 1:41, wow! I feel like I'm getting so many cool moments where you'd love to hear fuller arrangements extrapolated in those respective styles. At 2:12, the rhythm of the piano line from the source also reminds me in a way of Streets of Rage, so now I wanna hear Wake arrange that too. OMG, another great moment, the brief filtering effect from 2:42-2:45. DUDE, this is such fuckin' creative, smart, and engaging arranging all the way through. You're a legend, Wake! YES

Some rumbling to start, eh? Oh shit, some carnival-style stuff fading in... sets an interesting mood, I'll give it that. Cool idea for this intro. Stays pretty steady as I'm about 2:00 in, but it's a heck of a transformation. Some subtle changes around 2:26 with some light strings added in; could argue this doesn't develop enough by the halfway point, but we'll see. At 3:00, the glassy warbling was briefly becoming piericng. The SFX of fireworks and a crowd around 3:16 wasn't mixed in poorly, but felt stapled in and didn't provide any synergy; feels more like random audio came on a pop-up ad in my web browser, it's that disjointed. Anyway, at 4:00, things quickly got subtractive and went back around to the rumbling audio SFX as a bookend. Wish it did more, sure, and the interruption by fireworks was poorly integrated, IMO. None of that makes me say it requires further work from Rebecca. It's a mood piece and it works. :-) I didn't read the submission comments before voting, but I dig and appreciate the inspiration and concept. Heady stuff, this music thang. :-) YES

Opening sounded a little odd with the higher strings feeling out of place, but it was brief; the tremolo later was a nice bit of tension. Oh shit, rocking it out at :31, OK. Didn't like the guitar being so much in my right headphone. I'll live, but the panning doesn't need to be this wide. Wish the mixing had more high-end clarity, but not a big deal by any means. Lots of darkness with the 1:28-1:44 section, though the brass arguably shouldn't have been so subdued; it's fine serving as something to pad the background at times, and it stands out more in other segments. Love the overall forcefulness here. Aside from wanting more high-end clarity, this sounds like an epic arranged version for a New Game+ battle for where the difficulty's been ramped WAY up! Great pressure-cookin', tension-ridden energy from TheMan, Zach & Shea! YES

Nice lil' grandiose glow-up of the original arrangement with this opening orchestration. Vocoded vocals from :33-:40 were being suffocated; I know the original would do that sometimes for contrast, but that didn't click here. Male vocals at :40 by TheManPF are kind of bland as if they sound low effort in less processed spots ("Your girl is quite fair, oh she's an anomaly"), but the processing's OK, and they feel more stylized the rest of the way. At :56, the female vocals sound good, but the instrumental underneath feels hollow and thin; strings are extra quiet and there's some guitar that's also mixed like it's trying not to wake a sleeping baby. Clap groove from :33-1:41 is so meh; feels barren like it's just a WIP placeholder for the REAL beats that'll be worked in later. It quickly gets boring while also mixed in a way where it's louder than quieter-yet-more-interesting supporting instrumentation. Vocals from 1:48-1:56 are muffled. Again, the mixing's weird: vocals were quieter, you hear the bland clap groove more -- the xylo accents are alright. Transition section from 1:56-2:03 felt empty as well. At 2:03, the clap groove feels like a metronome, so placeholder-like. 2:48, the piano's in the uncanny valley. There's string and orch stab stuff later, but the textures just don't glue together well; a lot of the backing orchestration just feels like it's thin and incohesively, indistinctly mixed. Except for the clap groove, the writing's more sophisticated than you'd think, you just don't hear it well due to the mixing. I literally don't know shit, so I can't tell you how to fix it, but the potential's there. String accents from 3:48-4:03 feel too exposed and the lower sustains are also in the uncanny valley. Loved the brief guitar & synth soloing from 5:03-5:19. The vocals from 5:19 are arguably pushed down too much, again understanding that it's following the original arrangement, so I can live with that. The vocals are cool, both PF's and EK's, thanks to some creative and stylish effects. The integration of the numerous SMB themes is nice to take the arrangement to a conceptually higher level. I wasn't put off by the track being longer and felt the flow was fine. I'll definitely sound like I'm making the perfect the enemy of the good: it's a great concept, still needs another production TLC pass. Bland clap groove needs to be killed with fire and there's overall mixing tweaks that could clean this up and not make the backing instrumentation feel so thin, like it's an afterthought. I can definitely understand the overall strength of the concept being approved as is, and I tend to lean for ambitiousness over production. None of this is poor, and it sounds like I'm bagging on TheManPF's abilities and talent when y'all know I love his shit, including this re-ReMix concept. The overall production though (clap groove and imbalanced mixing with a hollow feel) is messy enough that I feel this could shine way more with another pass at it. Not ready yet. NO (resubmit)

Well, ain't this a relaxing theme! I appreciate you introducing me to it. :-) Alright, going for jazz, then. Saxes are extra honky. At :34, the saxes are even more exposed when they're not in unison. Yeah, the tone's not steady enough or strong enough. Piano at 1:45 sounds so blocky and the programmed drumming's OK but has an uncanny valley feeling to it in some spots that I can't better articulate. Vox at 1:53's an odd fit as well; probably just shouldn't be so robotic-sounding. The mixing of this doesn't make sense for me. I really like the organ-style part-writing, but the (well-written) bassline's more indistinct than it should be. Seems to lack some Lucas will think I hate him; the sax performances are a non-starter and only really serviceable in a sketch capacity. Sax is back at 2:43 and it's just honk-honk-honk... honkhonk honk-honk-honk. Need a sax assassin to critique you and get you refining your playing techniques. Conceptually, this is solid. This would have crushed it 20+ years ago around here, and I like what i hear in principle. However the sax performance is gonna need another pass. Another stab at the mixing would be worth it too, but if the live performances and articulations were on point with mixing like this, I would have passed this in a heartbeat. A fun arrangement, but if the saxes can't rise to the occasion as the leads, then this is hobbled, as much as I like the arrangement in a vacuum. NO (resubmit) EDIT (11/8): [/reads proph's notes now...] - YEP!

Cool original; very lush initially. Interesting opening to the arrangement, with lots of tension. Piano cameo at :20 was too bright in tone to work as transition instrumentation; totally out of place. A choral of Azmodea's vocal lines come in at :42 sounding dry and pitchy, and mixed too loudly; they chorus half-decently, but you hear a lot of wavering, and then you hear some lines drop out as others' notes hold longer, which feels sloppy and disjointed. The tone's actually not terrible, but often sounds squawky. The vocal blending at 2:08's section sounds noticeably smoother, but it's a matter of degrees because the same overall issues are still there; loud, dry, pitchy, different voices noticeably dropping at inconsistant times. Vocals ended at 2:50 and the track basically bookends with more orchestration of the source. Arrangement-wise, it's straightforward, but I could get behind this concept as interpretive enough. The instrumental's solid to me even though prophetik's critiques make sense. The vocals pull it down. I'm not sure their tone fits this piece, but it's not produced well enough (or with enough attention to detail) to bring synergy to the piece. The original has one voice, and while this doesn't need to mimick that approach, you could probably get more out of less with fewer layered voices and be able to smooth them out and/or mix and match the best segments. Agreed with proph at the potential here, Moebius, worth continuing on with it. NO (resubmit)

I've only heard the updated version in terms of forming my vote, but I did have the initial sub, so I heard the minor issues and am glad they got smoothed out. Sounds fun right off the bat. CLAPS aplenty for some spicyness! For me, the mixing felt a bit bright but I'll live. Solid instrumentation tradeoffs to keep things engaging. Hell of a fleshing out of the theme, y'all! Flute solo at 2:05 was indeed fun. Fun theme choice, good personalized execution, solid mixing where every element could be appreciated! YES