Liontamer

The intro sounded pretty awkward due to the notes from the plucked instrument. I thought the simple clap pattern didn't fill things out enough and had no synergy with the other instrumentation, so I was glad when it dropped out at 1:00. The quiet pizz strings at 1:00 sounded slightly behind the beat, but perhaps that's just me. The jerky, exposed string sequencing at 2:28 and 2:38 was painful to hear. The bowed strings during the verses were solid, but the articulations there also could have been refined. Not that the sequencing was terrible overall, but achieving more natural-sounding articulations for your organic instrument samples is something you need to work on. Aside from that, I thought the instrumentations and textures were solid, particularly the multiple cool percussion accents. Overall, Drew certainly gets the job done with this laid-back, very personalized interpretation. That said, this is a great start, and I hope we hear more from you stepping outside chiptune sounds, just to see where else that takes you. YES

Haha! Apple Lab.

Nothing but solid stuff here, even taking in mind the legit points on sequencing & panning brought up by the fellow Js. The fade at the very end cut off a little early instead of totally fading to 0, but that was also very minor. A great addition to The Root of All Evil, and hopefully an indication that Brandon's internalizing the level of source usage & interpretation needed to get a sub passed. Very relaxing. Put it on for your lady. Don't tell her what the title is. YES

Still waiting for answers to my previous questions. Can anyone answer them?

OK, I'm going to be that guy who disrupts things way after the fact, but after listening to this again with Vig's vote in mind, I really oughta revise my vote to a NO. Sorry, Josh, but I feel my original vote was way too lenient, and geared more towards the arrangement at the expense of the production. There's still a lot of good-sounding elements, yet while I didn't agree with Vig in full (I disagreed with this being a "standard dance adaptation"), the following really stuck out: From a sonic standpoint, indeed, there were just too many sections with average production & textures that didn't fully lock together. For every portion where something clicked, the next section would lack cohesion. When you treated the source conservatively and just gave it your personal sound, it actually managed to click better than when you got more interpretive. :00-:26 - Very generic sounding breakbeats & synths. :26-:39 - Better stuff with the piano coming in, even if the synths were a bit generic & grating :39-:52 - Really generic saw for the melodic lead; the melodic variation compared to the original was OK, though it sounded like altering the melody for the sake of it not sounding like a complete copy, rather than sounding like a cool melodic variation. :52-1:18 - Much cooler lead. The textures really clicked nicely here. The breaks were a little vanilla, BUT everything was mixed so nicely that the breaks and bass provided a really nice background role, locking things together without exposing the sounds. You had those same strengths from with a different (but also good) lead sound from 3:30-4:09 to finish the track. 1:18-1:44 - The boom-tss added here briefly seemed stapled on top, but as things moved forward, that too settled in nicely and enhanced the sound. 1:44-2:10 - The piano writing was somewhat meandering. And the saw with the melodic variation for the sake of variation, both seemed awkwardly written. Neither part was particularly melodious or posessing direction. 2:10-2:49 - The BOOM at 2:23 was pretty cheesy, but not a huge deal. The more conservative melodious take on the source there until 2:49 ended up sounding the best. After that, many of the past ideas and textures repeated, so that basically covers it. Ultimately, taking a harder look at this and having another good POV made this difficult to sign off on taking another look at it. Sorry, bro, but if my opinion changes with more information and better insight, I've gotta call it fairly and honestly. NO

This source tune certainly wasn't one of them. Once you've heard 30 seconds, you've heard it all. That said, Mitch, you have the right idea going for an expansionist approach, going for adding a lot of different musical ideas here and there to help evolve the piece. That said, you should do more to actually vary the repetitive source melody as well, not just the soundscape. The piano sequencing at :57 was very unrealistic, BTW. Anyway, this IS a good start though, bro. See if there are more ideas you can bring to the source tune besides the things surrounding it and resubmit to see how much you can improve it. NO (resubmit)

There was some call-and-answer stuff that I couldn't hear in the left channel, so maybe something's brokededs. I'll check into that, but otherwise it's awesome. Nice job with OCR's new biggest super collab EVER. Suck it down? YES

Totally not my speed, but very well done! Indeed, the source is all over this (:05-1:10, 1:34-2:40.25, 2:52-3:28 on just a cursory listen; way over). Brutal. Almost everyone will hate this. And I love that. YES

Gotta agree with OA. Definitely a very cool source tune choice that I'm glad you put on my radar. I thought the arrangement felt a little static as far as the overall soundscape. There were different sounds being employed here and there, but the production and sound palette got old as the track went on. The machine gun drumming swell at 3:56 sounded like it clipped/distorted at the finish, but it wasn't a huge deal. That said, I'm feeling what I'm hearing overall, DarkSim, and this was a solid expansive take on the original. Very glad to see yet another new game get some love! Hope to hear more great stuff from you. YES

The source breakdown of the melodic stuff that I could make out was :00-:56.5, 1:24-1:26, 1:50.5-2:03, 2:04-2:23.5 or 88.5 seconds of a 2:58-long arrangement or 49.71%. There were a lot of original sections with a loose stylistic connection to the source that I love but don't count, and I was waiting for some of the source's backing patterns to show up in the original sections, but aside from some similarities it didn't happen. One reason could be that the patterns were really difficult to make out due to crowding. That said, I'm willing to give it a pass because of the Game Boy Tetris-style backing pattern from 1:37-1:49. Absolutely loved the track, Don. Whenever we get a ReMix that flips the original game on its head, I love it! YES

The opening piano sequencing doesn't sound terrible, but it should be more realistic. The electronic elements were pretty loud yet very lossy sounding as they took over at :20. As soon as things started getting kind of muffly and distorted at :28, I knew I was in for some trouble. At :41, the synth lead and everything around it sounded so lossy and lacking high-end clarity. At 1:08, we hit the main section with a very tepid lead and some generic saws. At 1:22, the sound were changed up with the saw as lead and the bubbly synth behind. Really generic vanilla sounds. There was also no solid-sounding percussion or anything filling out the background to anchor & drive the track, so the texture felt so empty despite the volume being loud. At 2:03, the sounds were still a bit generic, but at least you had a nice pad that filled out the background properly, and the gated synths did combne well with the piano (which still was too exposed unfortunately). The transition to "Dearly Beloved" at 2:30 didn't flow with the arrangement ideas before it, and neither did the return of Roxas's theme at 4:20. A rather awkward combination of themes for this music style. I couldn't disagree with OA more, the integration and flow wasn't there. It was just an ABA structure, and not a smooth one. Following the return of Roxas's theme at 4:20, the structure was basically a copy of the opening, only the deconstruction of elements rather than the build. You're definitely better than the average first time submitter, but there's no conhesiveness with the writing and the production was weak. Until you learn how to properly structure an arrangement and build a soundscape, you're at a ceiling as far as the music you're making. You've got a ways to go, Christian. Hit our ReMixing forum and get to asking questions. Keep at it. NO

The quotes the beginning were too quiet. Will had that meh snare drum he generally uses, but it's was only half-bad this time. Not a terrible fit as it has been in some past stuff. The rest of his stuff was gold. His influence on this definitely had a very cheesy feel. Pretty manic take on these themes, a lot of people will be feeling this, but it won't be for everyone. I thought the sequenced piano stuff from 2:07-2:19 was a brief but big low point as far as the execution. Way too fake and unrealistic sounding. Y'all shouldn't have let that slide, given how talented you guys are. That's all I gotta say. Good work, Pokemanz! YES

The main cymbals (first used from :11-:33 & :46-1:07) sounded like white noise, they were so loud and sizzling. That stuff should be pulled back. The other production criticism mentioned by the Js are valid, I'm pretty sure, but they didn't bother me. Other than that, this was pretty strong stuff. I agree with OA that some sections could have been condensed and that the shortness of the source was part of the reason for that. Nontheless, the arrangement really evolved nicely and the dynamic range that followed after the opening 90 seconds was a pleasant surprise. Nice job, Andrew, a lot of people are gonna be loving this. MetalvaniaX, this is one guy to watch! YES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffppQY6EviE - "Passing Breeze" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M2b2sPSlN8 - Stage 4 (Shinobi [arcade]) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKioo26jA_4 - "Magical Sound Shower" The fadeout of the druming/chanting SFX was a little too sudden at :29. Just a small detail. For the purposes of source usage, the intro doesn't count as part of the song, so I'm considering the track 8:15 long, not that the arrangement ended up being in question. I'm almost convinced the other gems on the OutRun soundtrack will never get covered (I pray for something new on VROOM). That said, "Passing Breeze" is my clear favorite on the soundtrack, so I understand why it gets this love. This is an example of doing a good job holding to the structure of the source and giving it your own personalization, and it works nicely. Nice soloing over the bassline progression at 2:31 & 3:32, though the bass was a bit quiet to hear. The brass & piano samples weren't the most realistic, but everything still sounded fairly realistically sequenced and humanized. The bass soloing in that section was solid as well. Oh man, when Dave posts this, he's gonna start smiling as soon as the bass hits that Shinobi cameo at 5:00. I was grinning like a cat, that is some classic Sega stuffs! Awesome! Oooh, "Magical Sound Shower" cameo at 5:37, followed by some very liberal arrangement of "Passing Breeze" on top of the MSS progression. Man, even that lae in the game, just more and more twists and turns, completely justifying the length of the track. Just more and more ear candy to enjoy. Again, even though the instrumentation wasn't the real thing, and lacked some sonic depth as a result, the overall execution was strong and enjoyable to listen to. On the negative side, the key change at 7:18 was sloppy sounding and not as smooth as it should have been, and the melody at 7:35 felt like the notes were a bit off as well. 7:41 proceeded to get the song refocused and in proper key for the finish. The fadeout was admittedly a copout, and that's speaking as someone who doesn't inherently have a problem with fadeouts. That said, a minor thing in the big picture. Nice work, Juan! Whenever time permits, we'd love for you to submit something again! YES

Pretty much in line with OA, nice work. The build was slow, just like the source, but the backing 8-note pattern that's the foundation of the source was in play the whole time, and the further expansion and melodic references were solid. Good stuff, Ty! We definitely don't get enough subs from you. Great work, and it's wonderful to hear another side of your music! YES

131 seconds of source usage was needed for 50% source usage and my pass on arrangement. I heard the theme in play from: :33-1:05 (:16 of the source) 1:05-1:17 (:56 from Morrowind) 1:21-1:37 (:43 of the source) 2:42-2:57 (horn at :42 of the source) 3:13.5-3:42 (:16 of the source) 3:47-4:00 (:56 from Morrowind) So I had 116.5 seconds or 44.47% source usage. As far as the arrangement goes, I thought the opening backing was a bit cliche, that kind of Last of the Mohicans style string writing & rhythms. That said, I personally liked it, I've just that style enough times before. The melodic usage was conservative, but I thought the writing was personalized well enough, considering that the genre was basically the same. The original writing from 1:37-2:42 was good and fir like a glove with the arranged parts. Very strong use of the samples here for a pretty realistic sound. Overall, a pretty strong product. There just needs to be more "Reign of the Septims" in play so that the focus of the arrangement is primarily on the source material. Indeed, if there's something else we're missing, let us know, but the responsibility goes to the artist to be very explicit with what material is being arranged, which wasn't the case this time or Morrowind would have been pointed out in the sub letter. That said, I'm essentially going to close this out. Great work so far, Scott. If you're willing to revisit this, you could add some more Oblivion into the backing parts of the large original section to push the source usage over the top. But either way, this is very well put together music and you know what you're doing, so I hope we hear more from you! NO (resubmit)

A little rough in terms of the mixing. The sound was definitely very clean, don't get me wrong, but some supporting instrumentation that used the source definitely got buried during the verses. That said, this was a great example of rocking out a source in a pretty conservative way structurally but completely personalizing the arrangement and making it yours with new part writing and expressive performances, and cool bends and grace notes with the main melody to add some flavor. Strong stuff. The piano at 2:58 will throw some people off, but it was an interesting touch just to make sure you're still paying attention. Awesome first sub, Anders! Keep 'em coming! YES

This needed 92 seconds of source usage for 50% source usage and my pass on arrangement. The initial breakdown I had was :23-:44, 46-:59, 1:01-1:06, 1:09-1:24, 2:10-2:14, 2:17-2:20, 2:25-2:28, 2:32-2:56 for 88 seconds. Then I heard the opening pad again (:00-:22) and realized it's a stylistic take on the random whistling in the background that's heard from :00-:10 & 1:03-1:14 of the source. That was actually a pretty smart, creative usage of a concept from the source, not even counting the rest of the arrangement. It's also brought back during the breakdown from 1:24-1:54. The most direct connection there was 1:32-1:39's similarity to the whistling of 1:07-1:10 of the source. Having that was enough for me to weigh that with the 88 seconds of more overt source usage and consider the arrangement a pass. I agree with the piano stiffness being an issue, but it wasn't problematic enough to derail this. The arrangement was sexy, smoove and very creative. Total win and another great track from Joe Cam's project that he should have officially released since the complete material was album length. YES

Hold your horses, it'll be back. (I've been sticking up for it's return too.)

As Wes pointed out, the URL is the album for all the individual ReMixes, so I don't get why iTunes wouldn't sort them with that as 1 album. Elaborate? Practically speaking, what's the benefit/functionality of doing this? I mean, doing that for every track wouldn't take me more than a few minutes, but can anyone explain what that actually does? Would be helpful for http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20433

Eww. Couldn't disagree more. The intro was relaxed and chill. This song is low-key, I don't know what the hell you were expecting from the intro. Sounds to me like you just don't get it. [/shakes fist]

You must caption that McRib CPU!

Will claimed there was some Sonic 3 "Angel Island Zone" in there. He can clarify what if anything he used from it, i.e. "I had a brainfart, and based on that you should never trust what I say again" OR "I used it as backing at X:YZ."

"FUCKBOOYAH!" to YouTube haters with little-to-no musical standards that whined about OCR for daring to reject the original version of Will's mix: Unlike a lot of people with no ear for music and no objectivity, we don't just puff up egos with praise when the music needs work, we help them become better musicians through legitimate criticism. This version of "Above the Sky" definitely took things to a higher level of refinement and quality once Will was encouraged to tweak it, and that kind of improvement serves the artist not just for this track, but for future tracks.

Coolio. Yeah, let's go for it. Sorry I missed Ben's PM on doing something official for Essence of Lime. He wrote me a PM last December basically asking if it's be cool to do it, but then basically backed out of it in the same paragraph in a self-deprecating way saying he wasn't sure it was good enough compared to the standards here, because he was involved in some many of the tracks. He never followed up and I was in the middle of busy season (end of the year is the busiest time of year at all non-profits), so I never had a chance to talk him out of being a self-deprecating doofus. Let's not make that mistake twice!