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Artist Name: Lucas Guimaraes ft. Ridleysnipes, Zack Parrish & JSABlixer Lucas Guimaraes - Arrangement, Chiptune sounds Ridleysnipes - Drums, Keys, Mix Zack Parrish - Guitars, Bass JSABlixer - Chiptune sounds I've blocked this track from my memory because of COVID and my dislike for Metroid Fusion and Aria of Sorrow's soundtrack, so I can't even do a source breakdown unless you all really need it. Rest assured, there is a ton of Sector 4 and Heart of Fire in there. Ever heard of the phrase "A monkey could write Shakespeare?" Well, what if your arrangement happened midway through by throwing water at your keyboard? Or accidentally setting your computer on fire before saving your next version? So, uh, funny story about this one. I joined GSM2 as an endeavor to practice my strong and weak points with music making and hoh golly. The first week of doing this I got COVID with coming back from MAGFest. So, that wasn't a great start. To make things worse, Matt (Xaleph) and Wes (Emunator) hopped on the tracks they wanted QUICKLY. So I got stuck with these... sources. I was swapping out a lot of different arrangements. At some point, Trevor (Ridleysnipes) suggested lowering the tempo and Zack Parrish agreed. I gave it a shot but wanted to leave the MIDI around for everyone to fudge with so they could see what sections they had an issue with it. I sent out two MIDI versions, one at 190 BPM and an updated one at 170 BPM. ...and then it happened. The first time ever in one of my arrangements. Zack already started recording at 190 BPM. I didn't realize he'd opened the older MIDI until it was too late. We were on limited time, so we stuck to that. So yeah, that's how my keyboard got water thrown at it midway. And what we ended up with was an absolute assault on the ears. Complete (controlled) chaos just ensued past that point. This arrangement goes balls to the walls all over the place. Taking influence from Yes, Tool, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Avenged Sevenfold and Deep Purple. Hoh my god. But that's part of what's been making VGM so much fun for me; taking music I love listening to and mashing it up with the games I love. Learning from my favorite artists on both aisles. I'll be sure to kill Zack's fingers again another time - Just not on accident. Haha. P.S. hey Shariq (DarkeSword)? I still hate Metroid Fusion. there ain't even a Kraid theme in there. Like what? Get outta here! Games & Sources Castlevania Aria of Sorrow - Heart of Fire Metroid Fusion - Sector 4

Gonna make it quick. The ending's flat, but it does resolve. The arrangement's creative, so I appreciate the approach. It could have been more dynamic, but it's transformative enough that I'm alright with it, even if I felt it required more time. Feels like there was more potential meat on the bone and that these 2-minute pieces feel unsatisfying. The transformativeness of the arrangement approach tilts it. However, if you take more care to fashion a meaningful resolution, it'd feel more fully developed and resolved. YES (borderline)

Artist Name: LXE I arranged this to be super minimal stripped down version of the tune that I thought might be heard at a some jazz club or cocktail bar in the wee hours of the morning. The bass is definitely the star here, walking all over the place and providing percussion, but the vibraphone helps fill in the harmony and give a contrasting timbre to the bass. Hope you dig it Games & Sources Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time - Super Nintendo

Just throwing a quick one due to being on vacation but wanting to not hold things up. I liked hearing the synthwave-inspired approach; definitely an interesting choice. It's passable, but the performance is still too stiff and not as expressive and fluid as it should be, e.g. the little flourishes at 1:15, the programmed drumming, which felt the most stilted, the synth at 2:51, which also felt too robotic, and just the overall pacing/flow. It's OK to be deliberate, and this is solid, but it's missing that extra level. Not sure what was going on from around 2:29-2:38, but I would have changed the notes there; something wasn't quite clicking there with the writing. I could understand if others have more reservations or want things improved more. Regardless, transformative, reasonably performed. YES

Artist Name: tibonev Arranged this for the Pixel-Mixers 'Fairy Fantasia' Bravely Series tribute album. For my track, its a hybrid between electronic (borderline synthwave), but using real guitars and a real electric bass. Lots of different synth sounds, all kinda pointing to the early 80s, and lots of clean electric guitars with chorus/delays. The main idea behind the arrangement was see how much i could with a source that was a piano solo, and how much i could add, without losing the original characteristic of the source. I think i managed to craft a very unique feel while still retaining a bit of that sorrow feel of the original, but ofc, that is open to interpretation. Games & Sources Game: Bravely Second: End Layer Source: At that Time (the track is also called 'On that Day' on spotify, its the same song as linked in the youtube video below) Composer: Ryo Youtube Link:

Artist Name: moonove As a pure fan of Shinobi, the original game musics have always been a source of inspiration. Games & Sources Shinobi, original level 1 lo-fi cover. Original by Yasuhiro Mayakami

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The groove does get stale around 2:54, but to me the overall level of interpretation's just fine with me; this was meaningfully expansive and I enjoyed the rhythmic changes. I have no doubt that if we asked CJ to consider further developing this, he could do a good job, but I didn't feel it was necessary. Repetition and interpretation are important to weigh together, and this is a totally different feel than the original song. Never not a fan of using Streets of Rage voice SFX, though at 2:54, I'd have used something different there to vary things up. Mixing-wise, this could have also been clearer/cleaner, but aside from lacking some high-end sharpness, the instrumentation's weighty and impactful. MEOW WOW for the Cheetahmen! :-) YES

The track was 3:41-long, so I needed to identify the source tunes in play for at least 110.5 seconds to consider the VGM usage dominant in the arrangement: (:00-:15), :15-:47.75, 57.75-1:00.5, 1:01.75-1:04.75, (1:24-2:01), 1:44.75-1:49.75, 2:12.75-2:15.5 (Doom "E1M1" cameo), 2:15.5-2:46.75, 2:58-3:28, (3:31-3:41) = 107.5 seconds of overt source usage, plus the (drumming) timestamps, which were adapted from the odd pattern in the source, so that's enough to tip it over. minusworld, jeez. This bro started blasting. Mixing's not my cup of tea, but I can make things out, so let's go. YES

Yeah, this is a straightforward pass, fun stuff, Matt! :-) YES

Artist Name: Mattmatatt I decided to make a chill shred arrangement of the original tempo of the Balatro main track. It's a fairly straightforward arrangement but in doing so I also played all of the nasty arpeggios and leads at full speed on my guitar, and then added some additional solos at the end of the track. Games & Sources Balatro - Main Theme at the original tempo before its slowed down in-game. Composer - Luis Clemente LT Edit: Here's the in-game speed version as well:

Artist Name: jnWake Collabers: Jabo (on guitars), Ivan Hakštok (on bass). Another DoD passes, another remix submission... this one is from March 2024's HAL month and it's my take on the final boss theme from Planet Robobot, in my usual prog. rock/metal style. I've always wanted to cover Kirby music since it's super hype, which is especially true of its final boss themes. I was a little hesistant about covering this one since there's an incredible cover of it by GaMetal but I decided to go for it anyway... So, the final boss in Planet Robobot has you face the main villain of the game after he fuses with a supercomputer, hence I wanted my cover to kinda reflect the contrast between "organic" elements and "robotic" ones, which guided most of my sample/instrument decisions. The backstory of the main villain of the game also has some sad elements, which is reflected in the melodies during the song, and I wanted to keep some of that melancholy in the remix. The source is kinda long so I'll refrain from describing it, but I'll reference some timestamps when I describe the source usage of my remix: 0:00-0:18: Intro, the ascending melody is the main motif of the source, while the piano/synth duo plays the arpeggios from the source's intro. Here I used the piano/chiptune combo to reflect that organic/robotic duality I mentioned above. 0:18-0:42: This is a rock oriented adaptation of the section that plays from 0:18 to 0:40 in the source. Main difference is that I started on E minor while the source begins on C minor. 0:43-1:05: Adaptation of the section that follows from the source, the duality of the track is represented again by the change in leads and mood in this section. 1:06-1:32: Adaptation of the next section from the source, first in a similar style than the source and then as heavy chuggy metal. 1:33-1:56: Kirby fans will recognize this part as the Halberd theme from Kirby Super Star but it's actually featured on the source (2:03 to 2:22) so I had to feature it here on the remix! This section takes the first part of the melody and expands it (even more key changes!) while also adding a guitar solo. 1:57-2:26: Repeat of the 1:06-1:32 melody, which is like the main "melancholic" melody of the track. 2:27-2:52: Reprise of the intro! In both instances I added some weird sound effects in the background for that robotic feel. At 2:40 there's a brief synth solo! 2:53-3:16: Reprise of the main ascending melody from 0:18-0:42, first in C# minor and then in F# minor. 3:17-3:28: Second part of the Halberd melody, which I didn't feature in the earlier Halberd cameo. 3:29-3:52: This section uses the motif of the main villain of the game, which is referenced on the 2:33 section of the source. I expanded it to a larger section than in the source. 3:53-4:04: A cameo from a popular Kirby melody! Appears at 2:39 in the source, including the transition to the next section in both the source and my remix. I was a little hesistant to include this part in the remix at first since I wanted to focus more on the villain than on Kirby but I thought of a fun reharmonization and a fun timing variation for the second repeat of the melody so I kept it in! 4:05-End: Ending of the track, based on the ending of the source (starts at 2:47), I repeated it twice with extra melodies from dramatic effect! Aaaand that's all! This track actually won the month in DoD which was very cool. Hope you enjoy! Games & Sources Game: Kirby: Planet Robobot Source: Vs. Star Dream

This track was our submission from one of the monthly Pixel Mixers' contests in 2023 - the theme was Genre Twist. We figured what could be more different than twisting the classic, peaceful Kakariko Village theme into a jazzy bop? Short and sweet but a blast to play! This was definitely a co-op arrangement where my sister and I would send the Musescore file back and forth to iterate on. Neither one of us have much of a jazz background beyond being put on alto and tenor sax respectively in high school jazz & marching bands (which was many, manyyyyy years ago I assure you) so it was a huge style change from our usual works. However wowee zowee did it come out fun! I can't listen to the original anymore without wondering why it's not in 4! Major props to Serrin's Toes for turning the hot mess express that was our mock up drum part into something rad with not much more than "well think big band but more like a smol band with our doots" to run with donut (18387) (Warp Whistles Music 18604): clarinets, bass clarinet, arrangement, mixing lobby (18603) (Warp Whistles Music 18604) : flutes, arrangement Serrin's Toes (18635): drums As usual, I can rerecord clarinets/bass clarinet and tweak basically anything in the original Reaper project as needed. Games & Sources Zelda: Ocarina of Time (and A Link To The Past) - Kakariko Village not sure which game you all want to slot it under

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Panning's odd right from the get-go. Yeah, on headphones, this is all too wide, and the elements here all just sound lossy, and I can't explain why. Absolutely bizarre to have the track mixed this way, then have it finish saying "Reset" and having it centered and clear. :-D This'll seem like I'm disgusted or felt this was really poor mixing; in 22 years of evaluating VGM arrangements, I've never, not even once, heard a track mixed in this way and can't explain why it sounds like this. Whatever approach was taken, it doesn't create some kind of synergy in the overall stereo combination, it actually saps color & personality from it, and I'm unsure if it's just from panning wideness. I haven't read any other decisions before making mine, but I'm hoping a musician J can spell out how panning should work and what approach works best to create noticeable tilt on either side while not sounding so lossy and lacking clarity. A minor thing, but the snaps at 4:34 were too loud. Looking at Chimpazilla's comments now, I wasn't bothered by too much going on, just whatever frequency cuts or panning decisions ended up harming the clarity. This may even sound fine on monitors/speakers, but I'm primarily a headphone listener and the way this has been mixed sounds lossy, imbalanced, and lacks clarity. I'm a NO strictly on production, but enthusiastically on board with this otherwise; writing-wise, this is the coolest Lufia arrangement I've ever heard, flat out pro-grade Japanese official arrangement album energy, and I can understand YESing it. The sound design's otherwise creative (chips at 2:06 were cool; nice gradual rise & fall in the lil' vocal bits from 3:01-3:28), I love the textures and dynamics, the beats are impactful, and the arrangement is fire. I'm hoping some sort of switches can be flipped to undo this overall effect and restore some sheen and sharpness to this. NO (resubmit)