Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

Contact Information * CrackMasterK * Kenneth Boxall * KennethBoxall@hotmail.com * www.vampirefreaks.com/cimmarian Submission Information * Castlevania * Vampire Killer * I wanted to compose somthing for everyone....here is my first attempt --------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.zophar.net/download_file/8801 - Track 2 This went in a minimalist direction, generally provided by only two instruments at once at nearly any given time (three from 2:52-3:04), and altering the rhythms. Cool first effort, with some fairly solid sounds. The final section at 3:28 was a cut-and-paste from 1:18-1:42, which was a letdown. The very ending cut off in the middle of the last notes fading out, which was sloppy. Had there been more melodic interpretation beyond the rhythmic changes, I could have been down. The original writing additions fit fairly well here, but, as is, I still need some more arrangement substance with the melody, especially in the first half. Not sure if the other Js will be completely put off by the minimalism, but I thought it was a novel approach. See what more you do with this idea, Kenneth. It's a promising concept so far. NO (resubmit)

Original Decision: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17859 Hey judges, PrototypeRaptor aka Jonathan Paulsen here again.... so which one of you ordered the scrubbed up mix again? ...oh, right, all of you...(*backhanded*) I'll admit it, it was a pain to clean. BUT PAIN IS JUST WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY, and now I have a shiny new mix of phoenix wright that I hope does the source justice (haha). List o' changes: -Piano changed to a rhodes and humanized -Vinyl effect added to spots -mixing in general made less bass heavy -drum loops changed, more driving in verses -the awful string attacks are fixed and actually go in tempo with the music INFO: game: Phoenix Wright (original) source: Objection 2000! link: http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/ds/PWAA_Objection_v2.mid This is downtempo Trip Hop ala Massive Attack. It's dirty. It's low fi. It has a harpsichord AND a rhodes...and string stabs. The drums don't even try to be real. In fact, they mean not to. Did I mention the fuzz and noise? It's ridiculous. Unbearable. ...and I love it. thanks for listening, Jonathan Paulsen (PrototypeRaptor) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ha, the tone of the very first note in the intro instantly reminded me of The_Orders' "Jillian Goldin REMIX", so you ended up making me listen to that a few times instead of judging. Gyakuten Saiban Yomigaeru Gyakuten Original Soundtrack - (06) "Ryuichi Naruhodo ~ Objection! 2001" Definitely some substantial improvements. 1:31-2:14 was on the beefy side, and could be called cluttered, but I thought the separation of the parts was OK. 3:18-4:02 was cluttered as well, IMO. Wouldn't mind hearing better separation of those areas if it was something you'd be willing to revisit. The way the source theme was handed, it would play the first half of the verse, then do the second half in an ultra liberal way upfront. The harpsichord still played the straightforward melody in the back to keep things grounded, though it was fairly marginalized to me. Not a huge deal. Solid work, Jon. You've definitely made me flip, so nice work. You really addressed the issues here, and the arrangement was that much stronger as a result. YES

http://vgmdb.net/album/10507

Hello this is my epoch remix I called it 'Hypercorruptor' Contact Information Your ReMixer name glitshn (my account is edugeldres... Your userid 23998 Submission Information * Name of game(s) arranged chrono trigger * Name of individual song(s) arranged epoch ------------------------------------------------------------- Hyadain put me onto the strength of this theme, so I'm interested in what you got. http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Wings That Cross Time" (ct-310.spc) I could hear the arranged melody being used a bit during the intro, but it was so quiet, it was marginalized. 1:34-2:00 finally went into something more overtly melodic, but the lead was still extremely quiet. 2:00-2:28 used some generic drumloop, with the lead continuing to be buried. Push the melody more upfront. 2:28 finally hit the most overtly Chrono Trigger sounding stuff, with kind of a Phantasy Star Online vibe from the thick bassline. 2:54 went back to those drumloops, boo. 3:07-4:05 actually sounded really cool with some nice string accents; I could have seen Shna doing something like that if he took a slower-tempo approach. Too bad the mixing was so poorly balanced. Scrap the crappy default drumloops, ice some of the more nasally/abrasive synths and rebalance the parts porperly, and this could shine a lot brighter. Interesting ideas at the very least, Eduardo. Keep at it! NO

Just gotta get the guy to drop that n00b 07 stuff from the name - LT Remixer Name: Willrock07 Real Name: William Harby Email address: will.rock@hotmail.co.uk Userid number: 24181 Game Arranged: The Legend Of Zelda: Links Awakening Songs Arranged: Tal Tal Heights Mountain Range Legend Of Zelda Main Theme Name Of Submission: Mountain Of Dreams Own Comments: The Legend Of Zelda: Links awakening was the first game I played and completed so this game is very important to me as far as games and remixing game music goes for me. The loved the music from the game, but the stand-out track for me was tal tal mountain range, probably my favourite video game tune. When I started remixing video game music, I started with the tal tal mountain range, and this is my second attempt at the theme. It took me a month to get it right and I hope you agree it was worth it. I decided to call my remix 'Mountain of Dreams' I hope you enjoy this arrangement guys! ------------------------------------------------------------ The GBS set never works for me now, but I know both sources well enough. http://www.zophar.net/download_file/8106 - Tracks ? Definitely a marked improvement versus your other subs. The synth first used at 1:01 was piercing at times, and should have been pulled back. Moved over into "Tal Tal" at 1:16 with a fairly straightforward take, but some good personalization of the theme. Around the 2-minute mark, the main beatwork was plodding due to the repetition. I think if the volume was pulled back somewhat or tone of the beats was different, the repetition would have been marginalized. The break section from 2:20-2:33 felt aimless on the first listed, though it's not bad. Interesting call-and-answer style stuff from 3:32-3:44. The ending phrase at 4:21, I would have resolved differently at 4:27; what was in place now took a lot of steam out of the ending; I can hear the higher note that would have worked better in my head. The ending also cut off during the fade at 4:35, so that has to be fixed. No hate on the arrangement. IMO, the core beat pattern introduced at 1:11 overstayed its welcome, some melodic ideas could be tweaked to improve the flow, and some of the supporting instrumentation was marginalized, but the overall ideas and execution were both creative and solid. Dunno how the others will feel, but I definitely enjoyed the ideas here. The overuse of the core beat pattern hampered it, but otherwise very good stuff in terms of the melodic interpretation. I'm definitely looking forward to your continued improvement. YES

Of course not. That would mean it's video game music or something. In any case, the debate really should be about whether being able to articulate theory is critical to being a good musician. Good musicians have an intrinsic understanding of theory regardless. Not being able to articulate or understand theory literally limits the ability to communicate, but that's not part and parcel of being able to make good music as an individual.

Well, the way the argument's structured is intentionally and needlessly divisive. Music theory is excellent and a great tool, and also isn't mutually exclusive from enthusiasm, so it's not like they can't and don't coexist. That being said, you don't need to know or be able to articulate music theory to create good music, and I've heard music theory "experts" put out boring material. If you had to pick one, then enthusiasm wins, but I think it's short-sighted to, as your opposing POV implies, disregard the benefits of one side just to make the choice for the other. Especially if your choice is theory, which is the wrong choice. The moment one points out a successful composer without theory knowledge or the ability to write their own sheet music, your argument doesn't hold.

Original Decision: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17593 Remix: Yggdrasil Speaks To Me Remixer: Meteo X (or Meteo Xavier) I am resubmitting my remix of Valkyrie Profile's EPIC POEM TO SACRED DEATH and REQUIEM FOR A PREDICAMENT which also contains a leitmotif from THEME OF RENA. I have literally pushed my computer to its limits (in terms of memory and processing) to fix this as per the judge's suggestions and I think I got most of it down. The only part I'm not absolutely confident in is the string section using THEME OF RENA. I used every string instrument I had and that's the best I could come up with. Again, the central idea for this remix was to envision a mission of Valkyrie Profile where Lenneth and her Einherjar needing to find Yggdrasil in a forest surrounded by evil. She and her warriors get chased by the many evil spirits as she makes her way through the forest, getting hopelessly lost and starting to panic when, lo and behold, she stumbles onto Yggdrasil (marked by the change to REQUIEM FOR A PREDICAMENT). Therefore, again, this song is supposed to be a dark forest theme and I listened to a lot of Yasunori Mitsuda and tried to keep a lot of Motoi Sakuraba's signature song stuff (loud strings, loud crashes, overemphasis on dark sound and reverb and such) intact. I left the song trailing off from there to signify the end of a chapter. Thank you again for re-judging my re-submitted re-mix. --------------------------------------------------------------- I was OK on the arrangement before, so I'm not planning to say much on that level here. Nice work on this resub. Some parts felt a bit abrasive with the high end, but, overall, things were refined very nicely. The relatively rigid sequencing of the plucked string was positioned so that it didn't draw much negative attention from me. The writing and mixing from 2:23-2:49 could stand to be refined, as the timing seemed slightly off and the soundscape was too murky IMO. It's OK for the sounds to bleed together somewhat, but I thought it was a bit much there. Nonetheless, everything after that for the final section closed things out fine. The ending was anticlimatic, IMO, not for the fade, but just the overall energy and direction, but I'm more than cool with the overall package. Not quite seeing why this shouldn't make it, but if it doesn't, I think you've got things in place for an easy resub. Good luck with the rest of the vote. YES

Dear OCR Staff, Lasercat I here. I believe that it was fall of '06 when I first stumbled upon the thriving online community that is Overclocked ReMix; I instantly fell in love with the site. It wasn't too long before my friends and I formed a "band" with the intention of becoming a well-known contributor to the OCR archive. After a few months of busy high school schedules and procrastination, I feel that we've finally gotten our act together and are ready to truly become part of the site. Recently, we adapted the aspiration to create the first accepted submission for /Super Mario Galaxy/. The song in question is a mix of the /Battle Rock Galaxy/, entitled /Geo Logic/. It was made exclusively with Logic Express 8, but in the future we plan to use a combination of other programs (FL) as well. We hope that this will help The Lasercats make a good first impression on the rest of the community. Hope you enjoy it! Trevor Burch Lasercat I of the Lasercats ---------------------------------------------------------------- Super Mario Galaxy Original Soundtrack Platinum Version - (111) "Battlerock" The claps brought in alongside the beats at :42 sounded very flimsy, and the beatwork ended up sounding pretty basic and repetitive over the long haul. Develop the percussion writing some more. Don't mimic the original, but keep in mind how much more interesting that kind of drum writing is and spice yours up with some occasional deviations from the straightforward groove you have here. If you want to retain this groove, it might be as simple as adding in another supporting part to handle some fills. Wasn't feeling the sound choice of that warbling synth line in the background used around 1:23; it was OK relegated to the back, but didn't sound good upfront, IMO. Good use of volume and panning there though to really make it travel around the stereo field. A dealbreaker negative here was that the mixing was also very cluttered from 1:26-3:24. The ideas you use to play with the dynamics were good in principle, so look at doing more detailed EQ work to better separate the parts. 2:06-2:24 was particularly bad, and things didn't completely clear up until 3:24 when you dropped some elements out. The string articulations at 3:37 were flat out awful, and I say that as someone who enjoyed the potential of the piece. You can't let details like this slide; the strings didn't sound realistic in the slightest. Sour note from 3:41-3:42 as well. The strings didn't sound any more realistic at 3:50, but, by playing sustained notes, they functioned like a pad, downplaying the lack of realism. The sequenced acoustic guitar at 4:05 also sounded like MIDI-quality; again, totally unrealistic. We're not looking for uber-expensive sample quality, but you've gotta out more care into the velocities to at least sound realistically sequenced. The piano also could have been improved, but was less of an issue. Nice organic percussion stuff tastefully accenting the finish. A subtle touch that worked very nicely. Again, nice use of panning there. In principle, good instrumental variation ideas that freshened things up for the finish. I don't think this needs a major overhaul on the "Battlerock" melody, given the other efforts at personalizing the arrangement, but more melodic interpretation would definitely help this as you played the melody pretty straight the whole time. Also, spice up the percussion pattern and clean up that messy soundfield. You're clearly paying attention to some fine details, but that's not extending to the entire presentation yet; you've gotta focus like laz0r and get it to that level. Keep at it. NO (resubmit)

Remixer Name: DJ SymBiotiX Real Name: Fernando Chorney E-mail: djsbx@hotmail.com Website: http://www.djsbx.com Userid: 15925 Name of Game Arranged: Megaman 2 Name of Songs Arranged: Intro, Boss Battle (Not sure if those are the actual names, but its easy enough to figure out which ones I mean). Link To Song: Comments: Alright, well at first this was just supposed to be a dance mix of the mm2 intro for an anime convention that my friend was DJing at. After working on it for a while, I really enjoyed where it was going and decided to add more of myself into the mix. One day, out of nowhere I decided to throw in a bit of the boss battle music which I think came out really well. This remix was definitely the most fun to make out of any I have done before, and I really hope you guys enjoy it. (also note some sweet ass megaman 2 sound effects around 2:25 ). Happy Reviewing ---------------------------------------------------------------- I won't be very eloquent about it, but I'll try to articulate what wasn't quite clicking here. http://www.zophar.net/download_file/9114 - Tracks 1, 2 & 14 There's 4 seconds of silence at the beginning that you need to trim off. I thought the track was mixed too loud overall, mostly 2:54-on sounding a bit grating on the ears. The strings in the background were marginalized during the intro. The tempo gradually increased at :52. Some notes seemed off-key at 1:05, 1:06 & later at 2:08. Moved over into a fairly straightforward genre adaptation of the second source at 1:11. The SFX from 2:47-2:48 was too loud. I liked 3:19-3:44, though I wish there had been more melodic interpretation. Moving back into the first source at 3:44 for the finish, the take on it was too generic for the genre, IMO. Some portions of the track were already moving in the right direction in terms of interpretation and creativity, but other areas (e.g. 1:11-1:50, 3:46-4:10) felt like bland covers given how conservatively the melodies were used. That approach works better when the other components formed more interesting textures, like 2:40-3:18. A lot of the sound choices and production techniques felt generic; stuff like the saws were a good example (e.g. 2:15-2:40). This is a good base so far; some parts are fine, but others comes off lacking. You can make this even more interpretive beyond the genre adaptation, and more creative-sounding with the production. NO (resubmit)

Contact Information * ReMixer name: Suitmonster * Real name: John J. Brandon * Email address: jjbrandon@gmail.com * Website: www.suitmonster.com (Nada y nada mas at the moment.) * Userid: 24383 Submission Information * Name of game(s) arranged - Chrono Trigger * Name of individual song(s) arranged - "Secret of the Forest", and a leg from the "Chrono Trigger" main theme. * A link to the file: * Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site) I'm sure sufficient information exists at OCReMix.org, but the original composer is Yasunori Mitsuda. * Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site) - Available through OCReMix.org, if by some chance there are Philistines who are not already intimately, nigh-sexually familiar with it. * Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc.- I've always enjoy the source song, but I did not set out with intent to ReMix anything. This work started by writing an original piece, and while fiddling on the ivories I found that "Secret of the Forest" fit nicely, so I adapted, pushed and shoved until I got a terrible, horrible, stinky remix ready, and then asked for advice from the WiP forums. After months of reworking it and many emails from supportive ReMixers (huge thanks to everyone, and Mustin in particular), I managed to come up with something vastly superior to my original shameful effort. I'm pleased with the resultant mp3, which I feel is (hopefully) an enjoyable and clever ReMix of one (or two) of the most well-loved songs of the Chrono Trigger discography. I have dubbed the aforementioned ReMix "Forensique a la Forêt" because I enjoy alliteration, and also because I grew tired of trying to think of something more clever. It should be mentioned this is the first submission of my first ReMix ever, which I hope is a first-step in the right direction. I look forward to your responses. -- John J. Brandon ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Secret of the Forest" (ct-111.spc) & "Chrono Trigger" (ct-102a.spc) A little cheesy with the SFX at :19, but no big deal. The drums brought in at :26 were too upfront and didn't fill out the background well. The patterns were pretty vanilla since the snare dominated over the other stuff. Much better stuff with the cymbals as the focus at 1:29. Some "Chrono Trigger" usage on top of "Secret of the Forest" at 2:20. Arrangement-wise, the structure was fairly straightforward, but the melodies were embellished with some flourishes and personalization. A bit conservative for me, especially due to several aspects of supporting writing being used fairly verbatim as well, but still a reasonable approach. I thought the finish at 3:24 wasn't strong at all; I didn't mind the SFX afterward though, that was a fine touch to come full circle with the intro. You really need to refine the mixing here, as everything sounded lossy, distant and not well separated. I'd have never realized the encoding was at 192kbps based on what I heard. For the sections with the beefy snare going on, I think you need to scale that part back a little and perhaps add in another supporting part to adequately fill out the background. Re-balancing and cleaning up the track would already do wonders in lifting it up. Good first sub, John. I hope you continue to improve and that we hear more from you! NO (resubmit)

Thanks, Aubrey!

# ReMixer name : Eien # real name : Alex R # email address : sashokr@hotmail.com Game: Final Fantasy 6 Track: Terra Artist: Nobuo Uematsu Comments: I am a Trance and House DJ/Producer and a long-time FF fan, which is why I decided to make a Trance remix of one of my favorite songs. The title is "Eternal Earth." Enjoy! ----------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff6 - "Tina" (ff6-201.spc) 7:04-long mix, so a long buildup was expected. The bassline was clearly arranging the source to start, but it wasn't very audible. The overall groove was very repetitive, but there were some dropoffs and buildups to provide a dynamic curve. Rather lonely plucked strings sample handling the Terra melody at 3:02-5:57. The melody itself wasn't interpreted beyond the instrumentation choice, and went on for quite a while, which ultimately dragged on. Nonetheless, there was some subtle escalation from more parts gradually coming in. I liked the overall mood, Alex. I've heard a billion Terra variations, but none going for this kind of style, so that was good. Provided the Terra melody on the plucked string had actual interpretative substance, and the arrangement evolved a bit more substantively rather than using the same parts and just adding/subtracting them, I could get behind this. But you need to take it to the next level; that's definitely something I think you can do without disrupt the subdued take on the theme here. NO (resubmit)

Your ReMixer name: XenoCross Your real name: Alexander Choeng Your email address: choengalex@yahoo.com Your website: n/a Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: 8117 Name of game(s) arranged: Final Fantasy XI Name of individual song(s) arranged and sequenced: Rolanberry Fields I used to play FFXI online for about 3 years under the name Oreh (taru paladin yeahhh) on the Gilgamesh server and rolanberry fields is one of my favorite tune. I was disappointed to see that this track was not selected for the latest piano collection in the final fantasy series. Therefore, I decided to arrange this piece for piano myself. I've enclosed sheet music along with the piano arrangement and the original version. --------------------------------------------------------------- "Rolanberry Fields (piano solo)" isn't a creative title. C'mon man, hook it up with something unique. http://tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FFXI_psf2.rar - 111 "Rolanberry Fields" The sound was on the muddy side; I'd argue that was a bit of a negative coupled with the piano sound not being as rich/realistic sounding as possible, but still listenable. Arrangement-wise, this was well adapted for piano, but the adaptation could have stood to be more interpretive, IMO. Perfectly fine for Final Fantasy XI Piano Collections, but no-go for me in relation to the standards. The second iteration of the source was comparatively stronger in terms of interpretation, but wasn't enough to carry it. Though I enjoyed this overall, dynamically, this could have been more interesting; as is, this basically had 1 gear and ended up plodding. Some of the dissonance (e.g. 1:45-1:50, 2:44-2:53) sounded pretty off-putting, and I'm not sure how that would enhance the performance in any way. Perhaps an artistic choice, but it didn't work, IMO. If you'd be willing to spice this up with more dynamic contrast and even more interpretation beyond adapting this for the instrument, Alex, this could shine. NO (resubmit)

Man, you must hate your mom then. I could not resiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiist!

Remixer: HoboKa Source: Belthasar's theme Game: Chrono Trigger (of course ) Remix name: His Last Invention Link: Hey there Larry, Shariq and whoever else is reviewing my crap . I've got you guys a new mix to evaluate. I tried harder to be be more logical in my progression (plus I stuck close to the source's progression to make life easier). It's definitely a conservative remix with my own personalization. I wish I had better samples, especially for my choirs, but this is the best I've got. Try to enjoy. Until next time! --------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Sealed Door" (ct-307.spc) The lead was too quiet compared to the other instruments. The beats brought in at :28 were decent to start, but one eventually realizes that that was basically it for the core percussion. The textures were decent but not cohesive yet, and I'd argue 1:09-1:37's section was too sparse. 1:37 had some particularly odd stuff going on with the low strings that seemed to clash with the rest of the song. The textures needed more depth and needed to lock together better, that was the main issue. As far as fixing those clashing areas, well, you need to keep training your ear to even pick up on this stuff, that's all you can attempt to do. Keep at it. NO

ReMixer: BlazingDragon Real Name: Trevor Crookston Email Address: Pianoman_tc@yahoo.com Website: http://www.blazingdragon.newgrounds.com UserID: 22108 Game: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Songs: Song of Storms (aka Windmill Hut), Serenade of Water Comments: This is my first time truly delving into the realm of ReMixing. I have always been a fan of the Zelda series and video game music in general. I also have slight experience playing the piano. Someone recently wrote that the "Song of Storms doesn't mix with Classical music". Upon reading this, I made it a personal goal to convince them otherwise. While this arrangement isn't classical in the stricter sense of the word, it is a piece for solo piano that has minor "classical" elements. I was very liberal in my arrangement of the source material. The original chord progression in "Song of Storms" was essentially thrown out the window and multiple other elements have been significantly altered. The genre, instrumentation, rhythms, tempo, and dynamics have been modified. Furthermore, I took the liberty of adding my own harmonies and transitions. While the piece itself is fairly simplistic, I did put a great deal of effort into subtle details such as dynamics and tempo changes. For the intro and outro, I utilized a rather unchanged segment of the "Serenade of Water". The entire song was mixed using an FL Studio demo. As such, I had to arrange this without ever exiting the program or turning off the computer. The piano sample was a free Direct Wave file I found on the internet. Everything was done was free software and my ears. The file is attached to the e-mail. ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.zophar.net/download_file/12209 - 63 "Serenade of Water" & 57 "Windmill Hut" From moment one, there are a ton of light audio deformations all over this encoding that make this a NO-go. Arrangement-wise, seemed reasonably fine, though the slow pacing made me feel the arrangement could have been further developed. The production could have used an improvement. Fairly solid, though the rigidness of the timing was apparent, and the overall piano sound could stand to be richer. Some suggestions on improving both would be great from the musician Js. Solid piece, Trevor. A good rendering untainted by pops could potentially pass, but the post-production needs work to achieve a better quality sound. Sounds like you better pony up for the full version of FL Studio. NO (resubmit)

Contact Information * xela89 * Alex Freniere * awfreniere@sbcglobal.net * www.myspace.com/windinthedreamcastle * userid: 9279 Submission Information * Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time * Spirit Temple * First remix! I have always liked static, almost droning backgrounds so that's where I started with the cello. I used delay in post production to spice up the guitar track. With only two instruments, I found myself needing to fill up a lot of sonic space, and the delay did that. Rig: Gibson Les Paul->Mesa Boogie Rectoverb->SM57->DMP3 preamp->Audiophile 24/96->Cubase --------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.zophar.net/download_file/12209 - 69 "Spirit Temple" Some bad distortion at :45, exacerbated by the delay effect; similar issue with a click/pop at 2:11 doing the same thing. The 8-note cello melody doesn't sound like anything that's explicitly from "Spirit Temple", so that's out. It's the guitar work that's supposed to provide the connection, and I hear some similarities, but that's basically it. With a source like that one, it's really easy to just do something that sounds "inspired by" rather than doing an overtly arranged take on it. Cool track, and an enjoyable listen, but the arrangement is too liberal to be recognizable and the idea isn't developed regardless. No dice vis-a-vis the standards. NO

Original Decision: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=18170 Rozovian ad.rozovian@gmail.com #21613 "Eat Your Own Dust" F-Zero (snes) Red Canyon This was a track I've had on my mind for a while, and had worked out the melodies months before inspiration struck. When it did I pieced the whole thing together in a couple of days. Then it took me a lot of tweaks and exports (mostly exports), and then... NO (resub) x3. And a few days of tweaks alter, here it is. Again. I got some crucial feedback on the #ocrwip channel, Tensei-San deserves a particular mention in the submission letter, as do the Js that either judged it or helped me out beforer I submitted it. For anyone needing help, music critique, or general feedback, use the channel. -rho --------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=fz - "Red Canyon" (fz-03.spc) Now, I can't be around to pre-evaluate everything, but I would have hollered if I were you, because IMO this was resubbed too quickly. The soundscape was less murky, but some elements in the intro still felt like they were stepping on top of one another. That great gated synth at :03 got buried at :48. It was OK that it was no longer as loud, but it didn't sound like it had its own space. I liked that added sound at :35; good touch with that synth choice. I mentioned to scale back the murk, but I think you moved too far the other way and made the lead synth and beats way too dry like your older WIP, which exposed the relatively weak/thin quality of those samples. The beats from 1:37-1:50 were very thin/exposed; 2:05-2:46 had a similar issue, downplayed a bit by the other activity going on. You've still got to find that happy medium where the sounds you have. Nice synth pad first used at 1:36 though playing that single note every few measures. Once the amount of padding picked up at 1:50, the soundscape sounded better. I appreciate the efforts to spice up the electric guitar-like synth. Watch the EQing on the harmonized leads at 3:25; they were very shrill and need to be toned down somehow. The lead at 2:04 a lot less so, but that was also slightly piercing. Would definitely appreciate some second opinions on the production. Really, it's just about tweaking stuff to not leave some of the sounds too dry, because I'm feeling this despite laying out a bunch of criticisms. There was no need to majorly re-critique the arrangement, which was fairly good before and has some added minor embellishments that improved this. I'll go conditional YES, but I just don't think the overall mixing and production is quite ready. Hopefully you can get this sounding its best. YES (conditional)

Remixer name - Theory of Nonexistence Real name - Dustin Lagaly userID - 19501 Game remixed - Super Mario Galaxy Song remixed - Battlerock Galaxy Composer - Mahito Yokota source: remix: I recently bought and beat Super Mario Galaxy and was blown away by the soundtrack...so of course I had to at least attempt a remix of my favorite track from the game. The instrumentation is definitely really weird with a really verby guitar/vibe combo for the lead most of the time and in 7/8, but I like it. Uh...I'm not really one to comment on a mix in extensive detail, so I'll let you guys listen and figure out the rest. enjoy ToN ---------------------------------------------------------------- Super Mario Galaxy Original Soundtrack Platinum Version - (111) "Battlerock" Great source tune choice. I didn't care much for the military drums in it at first (I warmed up to it), but the string work was gorgeous. Yeah, pretty verby, but the result ended up sounding lossy to me, which I don't think you wanted and I don't believe works. Wasn't a fan of the beats at :15 either; as is, they sounded lonely in attempting to fill out the track. You had effects in play, but the soundscape felt too sparse. You seemed to have some padding in use, but it's practically a non-factor. 1:38 repeated with the warbly synth supporting 1:01's section, which seemed way too soon to be repeating it. The belltone/vibe-ish sounds used from 1:55-2:27 cluttered up the soundscape; you need to re-EQ this and better separate the parts there. The bass writing from 2:25-2:40 would have been good, except that the notes being played were both quiet and indistinct, so they didn't lend movement or textural depth to the piece. The notes should sound plucked rather than gliding, and they need to resonate more to fill out the background properly. The lead at 2:54 was aight, and I don't really have many comments on the rest that don't echo previous production issues. The dynamics of the arrangement were a bit plodding. I felt like this had only 2 gears: one with beats, one with no beats. And that's OK in principle, when you're going for a deliberate pace like this. But the core beats should have used more variation rather than using basically 1 pattern (outside of that one jazzier section from 2:25-2:40). You don't have to do anything drastic with the beat patterns, just a little something different to provide more variation, e.g. the slight beat variation for the ending section at 3:26. Solid, promising base with some creative treatment of the source theme, but the end result isn't cohesive enough yet. If the other Js have other crits on the arrangement itself, you should definitely keep them in mind. But I felt the biggest flaw here was the production. Even with the arrangement left as is, this would sound leagues better with the parts properly balanced. Reiterating, you don't need to drastically alter this in order to get this passed. Don't overhaul what's it place now, Dustin, just get judicious with the details. NO (resubmit)

ICO ~melody in the mist~ - (11) "continue", (04) "Castle in the Mist", & (02) "coffin" Nah, I would say too liberal. The "Castle in the Mist" sampling wasn't an automatic dealbreaker for our standards & guidelines, but original audio sampling is heavily discouraged when it's relied on as the primary connection to the source material. It's OK to embellish a track with direct sampling, you just can't rely on it. Given the lack of overt connection to "continue", however, I'd argue that that's the sampling was leaned on too much. Fun track, I definitely enjoyed it. But the "Continue" source was altered beyond recognition. And I don't even know why "Coffin" was mentioned as a source tune when it's just wind ambiance. Better luck next crime. NO

That's pretty much the end of that discussion. If you can't do a song in a totally new style, it closes off a lot of possibilities that many fans will respect and enjoy.

Nutritious Justin Medford NutritiousMultimedia@gmail.com http://NutritiousMultimedia.googlepages.com 16520 Donkey Kong Country 2 Stronghold Showdown This song is part of the Donkey Kong 2 project (yeah, I'm on WAY too many projects... something like 7) As soon as the DKC2 project was announced, I worked quickly to try and get a WIP together to join up. There are some great mixers on the project, so it was a good opportunity. There were only a few remaining available tracks at the time, but I didn't know which to choose. Fishy recommended I give Stronghold Showdown a go. Admittedly, Bahamut and Taucer were a little wary about my initial WIP, but I was able to refine it a bit more and get on the project. At :22 seconds, the source tune is a very short piece to remix, so I tried to utilize as much as possible. For the intro, I was going for a kind of John Williams/Indiana Jones feeling, then followed by some variations on the main melody of the source. In the next section, I used a much more complex version of the repeating pattern that plays in the original to form a bass for the solo trumpet playing the main melody line. For the rest of the song, I tried to get some good contrasts between large/full passages and smaller, lighter sections; eventually leading into a very big ending. Hope you guys enjoy it. EDIT (5/16): Assuming you got my PM that I wanted to put this one on hold for a while to fix some issues. I reworked the section at :51 a lot to bring it more closely in line with the OST. Hopefully this makes the connection more clear. Justin ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=dkq - "Stronghold Showdown" (dkq-26.spc) Even with the revisions here, the arrangement feels too liberal. Obviously there are parts where the source connection is pretty overt, but there were other times where it went off the rails. The track was needs 263 seconds, so I needed more than 131.5 seconds of overt source usage for the arrangement pass: 32.5-:38, :39-:49, 1:20-1:28, 1:32.75-1:44, 1:48-2:00, 2:11.75-2:33, 2:37-2:53, 3:32.5-3:37.5, 3:57.5-4:06 = about 97.5 seconds That's all I could recognize overtly. There were areas like :00-:29 & 4:06-4:20 that seemed very loosely based on :15-:21 of the source, but sound too liberally interpreted. As far as the strings and mallet percussion at :51 & 3:15 being a more complex pattern of the strings at :00-:04 of the source, I isolated voices 6 & 8 of the SPC just to check the string patterns of the original, and the notes and patterns in this arrangement are too different despite a stylistic similarity. So that just knocks out a bunch of what's supposed to connect this to the source. You may have reworked it to sound more like the source, but it definitely doesn't to me. The track sounds great, and the arrangement sound very sophisticated, but in the effort to add more complexity and variation to the original, I think you've made some choices that make the majority of the track not tied to the source tune. I'm definitely open to more POVs on something I may have missed, but based on where I could actually make overt A-to-B connections, I've gotta go NO.

I checked it out, and Kris is cool with having this posted. All blessings to Adam Fudge, wherever you are. Hi Larry, Frankly I am flattered you even remember me. I kind of left the scene with a whisper when all my friends disappeared one by one (I still haven't heard anything from Mr. Alexander since that day although I keep in touch with Robert Guinn). Yes that is mine and for what is worth, it was the last song I produced some two years ago. I actually think some of the other songs from the dead mod project are better in quality, but I guess that is for you guys to decide. You have my permission to post it on OC ReMix if that is what you were looking for. Hell, you can review the entire "soundtrack" if you like although I think "Defection" fits the OC ReMix mission statement better than some of the other songs (i.e. it is a bit more of an rearrangement). God knows it is way less sloppy than the Halo remix I have on there (talk about a shitzophrenic song). -Kris (Krispy) Haha, of course I remember you, bro. Yeah, it's not too often that we get unsolicited submissions, especially regarding artists I know, so I went ahead and paneled it. We actually passed it, and I wanted to make sure you were OK with even having it posted, as we wouldn't do that without your explicit OK, so thanks for that. If you'd like to submit more from the PD: Source soundtrack, we'd definitely be down. When I have some time, I'll take a listen to everything and let you know if I think you should consider submitting more stuff, which would always be a good way to pimp the project. Hope you're doing well! - Larry