Liontamer

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ewj - "Buttville ~ The Descent" (ewj-07.spc) Interesting enough beginning. Drums came in at :16 and they do feel a little bit trebly. Synth guitar at :24 feels too mechanical with the timing. Could have been a chance to add some personalization to the melody rather than playing it out stiffly and verbatim. Chorus at :58 and the subsequent followup until 1:15 was getting obscured a bit by the beatwork. Work on that balance. Yeah, Malcos is right about the treble. The cymbals needlessly sizzle a hell of a lot. Guitar wank at 1:32 is again buried by the cymbals and drums. Bassline could have been an asset there, but was also too obscured. Even that bassline followed the melody in too straightforward a manner. Coupled with the beats obscuring the lead and bassline in the first place, the guitar plays through so robotically and the synth has no meat on it. It makes the arrangement feel devoid of feeling and energy. Outside of the guitar stuff from 1:32-onward (which, again, was undermined by the production), the arrangement of the theme was too conservative. A decent base, but this needs a lot of love on the creative end, and some reassessment of the production end. Wish I could be more enthusiastic on this one. NO

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ewj - "What the Heck?" (ewj-02.spc) What a strange theme. One of the most odd experiences I've ever had listening to a video game soundtrack. It opened up with some MIDI-level orchestration, only to move over into the elevator music with completely non sequitur screams. How you were going to go after this one, I dunno. Probably only Mazedude or Shnabubula could arrange this with a method to their madness. Intro was a light sonic improvement over the original, and pretty much a purposeful throwback like Malcos also saw. Moves over at :34 into some breakbeats and a very simple piano part (the countermelody by itself until the lead eventually comes in). Rather than presenting that part in such a straightforward way, that was your opportunity to build upon it and interpret it by changing the rhythms, adding ornamentation/grace notes, and just integrating your own ideas to present a more personalized approach. The beats sounded a bit lo-fi like the piano part had merely been stuck over the top, plus the drums were indeed too loud. The drums' loudness doesn't cover up the fact that the other instrumentation was very synthetic sounding and very sparse. Malcos hit the nail on the head. I love it when we hit the same core issues independent of each other. The patterns changed up a little bit, but the overall feel was too samey the whole way through. Dunno if you were simply using various drumloops, but that's not at the heart of the issue. You're going for some dynamic contrast based on the intensity of the beatwork from section to section, but the dynamics could be more pronounced regardless. My main issue was the lack of interpretation with the melodic content coupled with the thin and artificial texture of the instruments outside of the drums. You really gotta flesh those sounds out and get the arrangement side more interpretive. Do those things, then scale back the drums to let the other instruments stand out better, and you'd be a lot closer to a winner. NO

http://www.queststudios.com/mt32midi/kq5_8.zip - "Bandit Camp" The disjointedness is actually in context, since the original sounds worse. It did get a little more interesting from 2:40-onward. But Vigilante's general point of view (i.e. "Lack of harmony, lack of variation, generic instruments, lack of direction") I agreed with, and those issues he mentioned are the killer here. Flesh this out. NO

http://www.zophar.net/gbs/zeldaoos.zip - Track 21 Some things just needs a little more polish on the timing. The rhythm guitar seemed a bit off when it was in there. While Kolesch was wailing away with the sax solo from :57-1:35, it seemed like the bass guitar timing was slightly off, which only seemed to throw off the perceived flow of Koelsch's stuff. During the piano solo at 2:13, it also seemed like the same problem was there, but I then realized that both the solos just needed to be performed a bit tighter. They're a bit too freeform and don't feel like they're synced up to the supporting players. Touch up the timing to really create some synnergy among the players. My main issue holding this back was the bass and rhythm guitar seeming so repetitive. After 2 minutes, I got the gist of it, so it could use some more tangible contrast as the song goes on. Right now, the supporting instrumentation has some good subtle changeups, but the patterns nonetheless sounded too samey and dragged the song down. Great mix so far, guys. The drumwork was pretty well handled overall also. This is pretty damn hot. I agreed with Vigilante's points with the production as well. Consider all of the criticisms and just touch some things up for the easy YES. We want this on the site, no doubt about it. Just push it over that last hump. NO (resubmit)

http://www.zophar.net/gbs/metroid2.zip - Track 1 (SFX sampling) & 3 As usual, Jesse sums up my feelings in about 2 sentences, whereas I always take 22. The structure is ok, but too straightforward. Beats changed up at 1:24, but it felt like they went on for a lot longer. Thicker beats came back at 1:51 with a slightly different tone and pattern, only to go back to the same beats and straightforward arrangement from before at 2:18. Vig's right in that this is excellently produced. Just work on more melodic interpretation and variation within the arrangement to keep things from getting stale, and this will be nothing but solid. Really glad to see you submit something once again Nicholai. I've been a fan of "Oldschool Opening" for years, and I don't even like Terra's theme. Don't stop working on this one in order to show the people that you can still bring it. NO (resubmit)

I mean, if it looks cool, we can roll with any avatar idea. Be sure to make it in GIF though. You had a bunch of cool avatar ideas last time that were .jpg or .bmp

Limiting avatars to a preexisting selection simply offers a more uniform look for the site. We want the avatars to mostly be game-related (and to a lesser extent, anime, comics, and pop culture). It's also not up for dicussion.

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=sd2 - "Spirit of the Night" (sd2-17.spc) Couldn't have laid it out better. Read what DarkeSword said again. The drums coming in at 1:29 was basically the only dynamic change here, and quickly got boring through sheer brain-numbing repetiton. Brief break at 2:26, then choppa style, chop-choppa style, then right back into the same old shizz at 3:00, then choppa style again...verbatim...at 3:57. The arrangement's gotta be more creative than this. No need to say more other than... NO

http://www.zophar.net/gbs/zeldaoos.zip - Tracks 21 & 1 Nice source tune. Cool intro idea, but then OOOOH some bad vibes 'n shit at :24; very low quality. Supporting instrumentation is definitely weak here. The instrument combinations for some parts really don't sound good together; the drums sound way too busy for something like this piece, and the snappy tone on them doesn't fit here at all. Sax recording doesn't sound as sharp as it could be, and the performance needs to be smoother; keep practicing of course. Then you also have these parts where you have lower-sounding vox and strings mingling with high-pitched syrupy xylo-type stuff, and it just clashes badly. Cool shit from 1:31-2:08. Wish the piano didn't sound so fake there in the back, but it's not too exposed. These were much better instrumental combinations here. Liking the bassline, which may have been too subtle but could stay as is. BOO on 2:08 as a transition. Anytime you have that in there, scrap it and use something else that doesn't sound so MIDI-grade. Vigilante's right in that the Zelda theme at 2:30 absolutely doesn't fit over those chords as is. That's where this little thing called "interpretation" comes in. Please use some and modify the theme (if you're gonna keep the theme in here) so that the melody and background piece together nicely. Again, the sax performance sounds rough. Tacky as hell cymbal shots at 3:08 and 3:10. Weird note change in the vox at 3:23 (and 4:40...and 4:42), sounding totally awkward and egregiously exposing the sample. 3:47-4:49, same exact problems as :48-1:30 only lots of lame cymbal shots thrown in there as well. The texture here was just not working. The framework here is in place, but the devil's in the details. Attention to detail is sorely lacking, and your material's always gonna sound rough like this if you can't get a better ear for how all of the sounds here interact with one another. Good stuff at your current level, but if you improved a lot over the course of, say, 1 year, you'd be amazed at how much you'd find wrong with it looking back on it. NO

There will be no custom avatars. We prefer to simply use a standard size and won't deviate from that, so that the forums don't have avatars that wildly deviate in size from person to person.

Cave Story - (02) "Gestation" That's pretty much how the original goes. Suffice to say, I wish there was more interpretation going on for the first few minutes. Good drum patterns during the intro. The patterns were somewhat basic, but got the job there nicely. Had some fairly strong expansive cover-style arrangement going on for the first two minutes. Interesting change of pace at 2:08 with the piano- and string-focused foundation. Feeling the flute action at 2:19. Didn't quite like the tone of the drumwork joining in at 2:39. Felt like the volume on those should have been pulled back a little to note sound so overbearing, but nothing major there. Barren section at 3:05 with those drums. The patterns sounded way too exposed there up to 3:25, and I thought it was a bad idea to go that route. If you're gonna go that route, the drumming has to sound more natural and less rigid. Nonetheless, I see how you were trying to create some contrast once the source arrangement kicked back in. Another iteration of the source tune arrangement from 3:25, now only with different drums underneath. Vary the drum patterns a bit more. They're so familiar by the end of the section at 4:27 that it got too boring and repetitive. You're not using preset loops, I hope. Let's not go there. Moves over into a more rock style section at 4:29 with the flute doing some crazy trills 'n spills and whatnot over some rocked out drums and guitar. Another iteration of the melody at 5:30, the melody now doubled. Everything sounded pretty crowded at that point. Everything sounded too loud the whole way through and could use refinement on the sound combinations, but the effort is there and the track manages to vary things up well enough over time. Rather disappointed to hear the major arrangement section repeated twice more in the track only with different drums underneath, but the expansionist ideas here helped offset those issues. Still could be a better track on both arrangement and production, but that's neither here nor there at this rate. Some reservations, but I'll throw you the YES. This was IMO the best track on the Cave Story Remix Project. Best of luck with the rest of the vote, Bryan. YES

Not gonna search the soundtrack for this, since there's no GSF rip for it and it has nearly a hundred tracks. Please help by providing an audio sample of the source material in the future. The samples do need some more meat on 'em, but are used decently. There's some lo-fi warbling/lossyness going on with the production that needs to be removed. It's pretty noticeable during 2:09-3:11, but is around in other areas of the track. A VBR encoding could help you there, but maybe another judge has some tips. Drums at the foundation at 3:22-4:00 sounded too looped, and the tone on 'em was no good. The transition at 4:00 felt a bit awkward as well. The instrumentation and/or dynamics could use more variation as well. Beyond the 4-minute mark, everything in the arrangement sounded too samey and didn't engage one's interest. I felt like I had heard it all before; I'd suggest development that less subtle than this. Finally moved into something more intense (compared to the prior material) at 6:00 for some contrast moving into the finish. Samples were still pretty weak, especially the drums. All the sounds tended to mush together throughout the track and could use some more separation, especially the brass and the strings. Ending at 7:03 was way too sudden and weak; it felt like a copout as nothing developed towards the finish. Work for something more substantive there. Not a bad sub, but it needs more polish. Keep on it. NO

http://www.zophar.net/gbs/ffa.zip - Tracks 9 & 10 Good expansionist ideas here alongside the personalization and interpretation in handling the melodic content. Low string-esuqe dealie starting at 1:39 felt too dry. Same with the section at 2:09, where I also felt the bassline was briefly too loud and invasive. Nice addition of elements at 2:06 to make things more intense though and thereby provide dynamic contrast. Always stylish stuff per the usual Jimmy. Always glad to hear material from you bro! YES

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=dkc - "DK Island Swing" (dkc-03.spc) & "Forest Frenzy" (dkc-14.spc) Yeah, this was pretty loosely performed for the intro. Nothing wrong with a gritty style, though a tighter performance would have helped. Segued into some acoustic stuff at :32 before the "Forest Frenzy" melody came in. The soundfield felt pretty empty, as those three sounds weren't enough. Poor/sudden addition of some extremely plain & boring drums at 1:23. Same with the tambourine added at 2:02. The instrumentation doesn't mesh well at all and sounds really imbalanced. Pull the tambourine back, for example. The screeching SFX thrown in here merely disturb the track rather than add to it and seem to have no point in there. Vox at 2:43 could have been a cool idea, but again doesn't mesh well with the other sounds, especially at 3:57 with that electric guitar coming in. Arrangement, as the others pointed out, wasn't very interpretive, and the performance lacks finesse. Ambitious, but ultimately not concerned about being thorough on the details. NO

http://project2612.org/download.php?id=95 - 01 "Magical Sound Shower" Didn't really get a huge funk vibe from it. I see what you were going for, but the execution definitely isn't there. I did like the steel drum in there, but throw it into almost any mix and I'll like it. Bassline sounds cool, but was way too understated. Arrangement's definitely not interpretive enough. Sample quality is pretty low, but the way things were put together was at least enjoyable. Too bad it's more of a sound upgrade than a rearrangement. Goes for too long with minimal interpretation. Sub it to R:K:O to at least get some pimping for it, but this is a NO-go here.

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ffmq - "Battle 1" (ffmq-07.spc) Wasn't a big fan of this soundtrack, but the battle themes in it were pretty solid. Good choice to arrange. Weird opening, but a good change of pace. Melody came in at :24 via electrosynth. Yeah, gotta agree with zircon in that I'm not feeling the slower pace. The arrangement has also managed to deemphasize the original and made it less melodically driven. The melodic lead tends to take a complete backseat to the percussion, supporting electrosynths and massive effects in play. Drums at 1:30 were too basic and didn't drive the track along; combined with the fairly thin pad in there and the soundfield sounded empty. You need to spice the drums up to prevent boredom, bro; they're the foundation of the track. Meanwhile, read everything zircon said again, because he was on point with a lot of issues I agreed with on the production, the mechanical usage of the synths, and the wrong notes. The track lacks a great deal of finesse. Keep trying, Charles. NO

http://www.zophar.net/usf/lozusf.rar - 68 "Gerudo Valley" Read the submissions guidelines. Throwing in some brief references (2:08 & 4:52) or sections (3:03) with Zelda music admist a nearly wholly original song is a violation of site guidelines and NOT what the site is about. The only reason this is on the panel is because the performance isn't bad and you deserve some critique on it. Vocals sound a bit green and untrained, but are otherwise pretty good. Good harmonization when in play. The drums could stand more variation. Vocals were buried under all the instrumentation from 3:27-3:52. Sounded like an intentional choice, but not one that really benefitted the mix. More video game music arrangement like 3:27-3:52, otherwise stuff like this will never pass under any circumstances. Look forward to possibly hearing a real game arrangement from your next band. NO

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ta - "Water Stage - Critical" (ta-21.spc) Awesome source tune. Pretty interesting soundtrack. Disappointing that more people haven't attempted to tackle it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, Jeffrey. The melodic content in the SPC is all from the bassline and pad, so I'm interested in hearing what you did to arrange it. Nice fade-in for the intro. Mix is a bit on the trebly side. Piano coming in at :45 sounds fairly synthetic and robotic in the performance, though the sample isn't bad. After 1:00 when you seemed to move into a new section, I realized the piano was just too low in volume to begin with. You should have either had it louder the whole way, or punched it up at 1:00 leading into the next section for some dynamic contrast. Beats coming in after 1:00 were really flimsy. There's lots of effects attempting to flesh out the sounds here, but the soundscape is really thin nonetheless; none of the samples that are meant to sound organic are cutting it. All of the melodic content in the mix doesn't cut through the supporting instrumentation enough, so fix the balance there. You need to learn how to better flesh out the samples you're using. I also agreed with the others about the lack of direction and lack of melodic hooks here. The arrangement doesn't really go anywhere. This needs to be addressed both with your sound balance as well as the arrangement structure. Keep on improving, bro, you are indeed getting better. NO

For the longest time, this mix was accidentally cut off. You didn't think Zeratul would just end the mix halfway, did you? Y'all should download the complete song now and enjoy.

Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty Original Soundtrack - (01) "'Metal Gear Solid' Main Theme" I threw this up here because it was better than form-letter quality, but the other two summed this up. Not substantial interpretiation, plus a simliar style to the original only with weaker sounds is a straightforward NO. Read the submissions guidelines before you submit a track in the future.

http://www.zophar.net/usf/lozusf.rar - 57 "Windmill Hut" Some of the samples are hurting, no doubt about that. Brass in particular sounded very flimsy. Drums at 1:09 are VERY empty. Ken did a decent job attempting to flesh things out, but the sounds here still lacks energy and depth; things are still too dry, IMO. Stuff like the strings needs more work like Jesse pointed out, but the brass was the main offender for me personally. The note movements in some places were a bit too rigid; somehow in "At the End of All Things" you were able to achieve a more organic sound despite the timing, but this here wasn't a similar case. The arrangement is ok, but did feel like some motifs repeated too much. 4:30 was supposed to sound like a strong close, but merely let me down because the theme was being arranged basically the same way yet again. Refine things and resubmit, bro. Good base so far, but not yet ready for primetime. NO (resubmit)

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/megaman2.zip - Track 19 (Dr. Wily Stage 1) http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=dkc - "Gang-Plank Galleon" (dkc-21.spc) Didn't like the percussion during the intro. Flimsy sounds, plus the guitar timing didn't match up well with it. The drums during the melody are decent though a bit annoying with the rapid fire nature of 'em. But the cymbals from :07-:16 for example sounded out of place; that's a nitpick, but over the long-haul it became more of an issue. I think you could make the percussion sound less rigid and pasted underneath the guitars. The patterns varied up nicely though. Cool interpretive section at 1:29-2:04, then following into the meedley-meeeee wank at 2:04 and soloing over the foundation of the original. Not sure why the DKC section from 2:40-3:27 was there at all; didn't lock together at all with the previous material, with poor transitions and no logical piecing together back to the Wily theme. Agreed with the others NOs, the execution is weak and a killer. zircon's right about the various levels being off. Put the guitars in the front. Work on the production, tighten up the performance and think of how to work the "Gang-Plank Galleon" section seamlessly into the rest of the arrangement and you'd have a much better chance. Decent so far, at least. NO (resubmit)

http://www.zophar.net/gbs/tetris.zip - Track 3 On a personal taste level, some of the shriller sounds here bothered me, and I'm not really a fan of the genre, but the arrangement here was pretty good, and I appreciate everything that was done here. The melodic content at 1:37 was straightforward to start, but everything was dressed up nicely with expansionist ideas and varied instrumentation. The rest of the track more than qualified in terms of interpretation within the genre adaptation. The production was pretty damn beefy without being needlessly loud and overbearing; very solid. Indeed, like Vigilante, I actually felt like this had enough potential to develop for another couple of minutes, which is a huge compliment given how often we hear mixes in this genre that overstay their welcome. Nice work, Ian, and welcome aboard. Genuinely looking forward to hearing whatever you've got in store next. YES

http://project2612.org/download.php?id=36 - "Green Hill Zone" Spot on call from Malc. The arrangement attempted to be personalized, especially changing the rhythms a bit and adding some new supporting instrumentation, but simply wasn't particularly interpretive. Good section at 1:33 as was pointed out earlier. Then at 1:46, you went back into the straightforward melodic arrangement while drastically souping up the pot with some excellent new supporting writing that really played right off of the original and took it into a new, expansive direction. So the arrangement certainly shows some serious potential. The sounds did clash a bit though like Malc was saying, which undermined the presentation. Wish the sounds weren't so tame overall and devoid of energy. They're half-decent, but honestly undermine the arrangement. The drum tone in particular is pretty lacking and doesn't provide any punch. Anyway, if you were making this stuff 5 years ago, hopefully you have some killer stuff in the works as of now. Hope your skills haven't gotten rusty. Keep at it, and I look forward to hearing something new from you in the future. NO

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=sf2 - "Chun-Li Stage" (sf2-10.spc) Agreed with both sets of criticism from Malcos and zircon. Some decent ideas, but the sounds are pretty weak, the arrangement dragged on after a while due to the sections being too long, and the mixing of the various instruments was imbalanced. Decent potential; you could be putting out some good stuff in the future provided you keep learning more about the music-making process. Cool first sub, yanagin. Keep improving. NO