Liontamer

Yeah, opens up pretty stilted, so we'll see if this goes anywhere with that premise... 30 seconds in, it's not. 45 seconds in, it's not... :59 finally brought in Freya's theme in combination, but yeah, this approach isn't working at all, it's way too static, and there's definitely no live band feel. Then there's JoePRT with some silky sax at 1:37. Then back to the same stilted stuff at 2:06, only with sax accents, but not much else going on conceptually or interpretation-wise. Didn't get out of first-and-a-half gear either, which wasn't wrong in-and-of-itself, but it was dynamically flat. "Freya's Theme" was creatively integrated here, but "Sazh's Theme" didn't have much interpretation. It was basically an 11/8 copy of "Sazh's Theme" with a lot less expressiveness, which won't get it done. There's some interpretation, but ultimately not much; you'll need more, Will. I also gotta have more variation, more expression, more dynamics, and more cowbell. NO

I will say, this v2/"now with less bass" take did ease issues of the string sequencing sounding super-duper fake and mechanical, and 1:25-1:43 & 2:29-2:41's sections seemingly sounding flat/out-of-key, so those were both good things. I needed to identify at least 121.5 seconds of overt source usage for the source material to be dominant: :06-:57, 1:25.5-1:43, 2:14.5-2:45.75, 2:47-2:50, 3:29.5-4:03 136.25 seconds or 56.07% overt source usage There were some other more liberal usages of the theme I wasn't stopwatching in there, but I didn't need to break it down, since the source usage was well over 50%. Definitely enjoying the creativity of the arrangement approach, and there was no questioning the creativity and interpretation behind this metal take. The strings & brass kind of died from :30-:54, poorly mixed & buried under the guitar and drums. Then it was WAY worse from 3:29 until the finish, where it was just a wall of mud and the orchestral writing was either steamrolled (strings) or basically inaudible (brass). I could live with the first section I mentioned, but that ending was super cramped from 3:05-on, which made no sense. If you address/fix THAT, I can pass it, but as long as it's just crowded mud for the final section, that's too problematic for me to look past, and it drags the rest of an otherwise strong arrangement down. It's a great start, and may make it as is, so good luck with the rest of the vote, Jon. NO (refine/resubmit)

Once the track picked up at :37, I wished the bassline wasn't quite so similar to the original "Present" track, but the overall arrangement was unquestionably personalized substantially, so it wasn't a big deal. Not that I'm looking the other way, but it's understandably difficult not to just roll with that bassline fully intact, since it's so swank. Nice chiptune and piano spices, as well as extended freestyle-ish sections. The Genesis-style chippy intro and outro were huge ear candy, nostalgia-inducing highlights. On the minus sides, the piano timing was stilted in places, but nothing beyond a passing comment rather than a big hit against it. Agreed as well re: the compression being a bit much; you SHOULD have eased it back some, but at the same time it didn't bother me at all personally. Nothing but strength on this one overall, and an awesome component of Temporal Duality. In 2012, I said Bev was showcasing more well-rounded execution with Mega Man 6 'Synthesize This!'; even with the flaws in that one, the potential was clear. Lately, there's nary a meaningful seam to be found. Her stride. She has it. YES

The dynamic curve was flatter than a pancake here, which already killed this dead; this is always just loud and thick with no dropoff of the beats or even subtle changes in the energy level. I like high energy, but you need some sort of builds/drops/instrument changes to create contrast, otherwise it's just taxing. [reads Chimpa's vote...] HA! Yeah, we thought the same thing. Arrangement-wise, you did personalize the sound here with higher energy and different supporting writing, but once you've gotten to 1:06, you've heard it all (aside from the key change) because you just do another loop. I disagree, but mainly because of what I bolded ("just barely"). IMO, the instrumental changes and original writing definitely do not get the job done here on interpretation. There's not really much development or evolution of the ideas here after 60 seconds, which ain't much to begin with, especially given the conservative treatment. 2 short loops of one idea doesn't cut it. There's also 0 ending here, the track just closes up at 2:10 with no resolution, which was like giving up. C'mon, bro, this is a standalone track; resolve it somehow and do it properly. Needs more dynamics, more interpretive arrangement ideas, and less untapped potential, Ray. Be more, do more. NO

Great praise & criticisms by both Chimpa and Nutritious that I fully agreed with. Co-signed. Verbatim repetition can be permissible in relatively limited amounts within the big picture, but it's often done at the expense of development of the arrangement. Do something different with 2:01-3:18 to offer some sort of variation, dynamic contrast, or further development, and you'd be more likely to have a shot at passing. Great concept and one I think you successfully personalized despite the conservative structure of the arrangement, but don't make the final section of such a relatively short piece an extended copy-pasta when you can offer something more substantive. Awesome stuff so far, Morgan; definitely don't give up on this one. NO (resubmit)

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