Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

Larry (and everyone else who replied after him), those posts are from August. They must be merely based on the teaser site. I know. But how does that make their comments any less ?

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FF9_psf.rar - 125 "Crossing Those Hills" Man, do I love the original. It's definitely a favorite of mine from when I first heard it while a friend played FF9 many years ago. In all honestly, unless someone used similar sounds to the original, it'd be hard for me to like an arrangement of it more than the real deal. Not that it factors into my judgement, but I just like the original that much. Interesting beginning. Definitely has that X-mas feel like Lee mentioned. Yeah, those drums at :31 didn't fit well at all here, and the source melody was pretty straightforward. Also an interesting changeup at :57, though I wasn't sure what was going on from 1:04-1:05. The energy level went up at 1:11 with the original section due to more going on, but yeah, the drums still didn't fit, and the guitar stuff up until 1:25 felt flat. Didn't seem to work as a good transition into the piano-driven section; I think it you had all the elements fade down instead of just that sweeping sound, it would have made the transition smoother. The piano stuff in 5/4 was definitely sweet. Conservative, but a better personalized section of the arrangement as compared to the beginning. Not sure what was up with the production at 2:08. That vocal part sounded millions of miles away and didn't really contribute anything. It just sounded like mud stuck in the middle of the soundfield. Too bad though, I liked how the vocals sounded during the fadeout at 2:30 when you could hear them more. Make 'em a bit cleaner and punch 'em up for that section. Transitions back at 2:37 to the X-mas style arrangement again, before ratcheting back up at 2:59 with original writing similar to 1:11's section before abruptly ending at 3:42. Thematically, there feels like too much disconnect from section to section; for someone listening to this for the first time, it's pretty damn jarring. Same with the drum tone not fitting. I got more adjusted to those issues with repeated listens, enough where I felt it wasn't enough of a problem to reject. Just reviewing this, there were so many spots where something could be touched up and improved (drums, vox production, flow, ending), but overall things felt competent and above the bar. Quirky choices, but not offsetting in the big picture. Give this a number of listens and see how well it holds up. YES

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FFX_psf2.rar - 118 "Besaid Island" Interesting source tune. It never stuck out to me when I listened to the FF10 soundtrack, but it's a nice understated piece. Arrangement-wise, you guys did a nice job on the interpretation front. Cool intro, though definitely swampy and overly reverby as was mentioned several times before, not only by TO, but in the WIP thread for the mix. Nice mallet percussion stuff to lead into the the drums at 1:14, though the padding effects in the back were a bit exposed and cheap-sounding. Vocals come in at 1:35, thankfully with some delay on 'em to flesh 'em out. No offense to DragonAvenger, but some of the vocals seemed a bit nasally. The delivery was a little too amateur with stuff like "Oh yeah" at 1:38. Otherwise though, pretty good stuff to start. Her voice is buried up under those bleh pads though. Bring it out a bit more. Cheesy, but smart lyrics. The changeup in the percussion at 2:29 was lacking. The drum tone really didn't gel with the e-piano and vocals and just felt out of place. I liked whatever part was added in the background at 2:50; very nice, though again, everything was suffering due to the reverb making things too indistinct. It's too hard to really hone in on the various components. Goes back to the original drum patterns at 3:11 and another verse o' lyrics. Good writing, but still the same production issues there. The changeup at 4:05 was much better than at 2:29; smoother transition, better textures. DA's vocals take center stage at 4:47 once all the percussion dropped out. The delay was a bit much, but only in tandem with the reverb being so over the top. Uh...was that a mouse-click at 5:31 caught in the delay effect? I have never used that emoticon in 4 years on these forums, and it deserves it. C'mon, y'all; that's just weak! It doesn't affect my decision, but hoo boy you gotta get rid of that. I've seen some complaints on the WIP thread about the vocals. I'll be honest in that when I heard the WIP when the vocals were bone dry, those were no good and not getting the job done. Hell, they weren't even synched up right with the music. Now though, the delay/reverb applied here helped add some needed depth to them, and the overall performance quality was passable to me. People are too hard on vocals around here. People were ripping up "Knuckleduster" for God's sake. It's as if some of y'all can't appreciate artists performing out of their comfort zone. The swampiness of this one is my main drawback here. Sure, it beefs up the soundfield, but it's overboard enough where I felt it needed to be toned down and the sound balance needed to be reexamined a bit. Tweak that stuff judiciously, and perhaps revisit the drums at 2:29 as well as the pads around 1:14 for a warmer sound. Good luck on the rest of the vote though. I'd prefer tweaks before this went up, but I don't have a problem with this passing as is. The production is on the weak side, but the arrangement gets the job done. YES (borderline)

http://project2612.org/download.php?id=53 - "Good Ending" Well, the submission having the same title as the source tune is usually a good sign that it won't pass. I mean, how creative could the arrangement be? Pretty much sounds like a MIDI rip with deeper bass, nice strings on melody and some other minor embellishments. If the original were made with higher quality sounds, it would be similar to this. Brief guitar at 1:31 was good, but there for all of 3 seconds. Not gonna NO Override, but you gotta familiarize yourself with the submissions guidelines. This is not interpretive or substantially personalized. We don't want a pure cover, Harold. Do something more creative with the theme that adds more interpretation and unique ideas into the picture. NO

These guys love the project.

criticism? yes. constructive criticism? no How is this not constructive? Simply redo the song without lyrics, and it will sound better. A lot of other reviewers seem to feel the same. "You sang. I threw it in the trash." There's really no sense in trying to defend that manner of criticism as constructive.

Yes.

Yay! Thanks a lot! Now maybe more people will notice this and contribute to it! You gotta step up recruitment at some point, Dan. That's ultimately what'll get things moving here.

Pracitcally speaking, why is the WIP deadline during Thanksgiving break?

If a move back to Site Projects is what it takes to get your Arek Mojo workin', then I second the request. Nah. The reason why is because the project needs to display actual progress before it's moved back to Site Projects, primarily in the form of completed tracks. There were too many in-progress projects languishing and not getting anything done. I'm keeping the same standard for my own project. While the project (or any project) is in G-Disc, you're either gonna get things moving, or the thread will get pruned off due to inactivity. I would recommend not bumping the thread just to have it on page 1 of GD. Contrary to popular belief, that's not the most important thing in the world in terms of gauging activity, because most of the activity and progress doesn't take place on the thread. Work hard to recruit people and get things moving on this one. If need be, y'all can start a new thread.

The Devil's Lab theme is nearly everywhere here in this work-in-progress. I was actually surprised that more wasn't done in terms of playing around with the melody itself, which was pretty conservative. At the same time though, it sounds like this one could go for another few minutes. Unlike T-Management, there weren't many buildups or breakdowns with the instrumentation to really change the feel of the track at any point, so I'm interested to see what other ideas could be added into the picture to spice it up without changing the tempo. But yeah, I originally showed up just to say that I didn't think this was too far from the source material at all. So no worries there.

Are you familiar with the concept of improvising? Good God, people. I explained why, you filth! generally, the purpose of an improvised solo is not to "integrate" with the main melodic theme of the source. My solos in LftY, Silent Progression, and Flood Plain had very little to do with the original melodies, and that was never brought up as an issue. What I'm talking about is not simply having an wholly original section, but playing original material on top of the source melody and the two parts (in my opinion) not connecting/harmonizing.

Project Chaos is out, so this vote is released. Since we couldn't ask for one beforehand (at the risk of having the track kicked off the project by Snap , I'd like to stress the panel consensus for a resubmission. This is very promising stuff, Jefferson, so definitely revist it down the line.

In order to keep reactions to "Project Chaos" focused in one place, we encourage you to post your thoughts on the album within its Comments & Feedback thread in the Site Projects forum.

Inspired by the mix, up at DeviantArt: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/40975299/ Very well made art, you guys need to check it out.

That bumper is classic crap. Makes me proud. So my bro Jiggles McPuff sent me a really nice PM a few weeks back talking about how he enjoys the MP3s of the show. I should get some more out there, though my time is/has been/will continute to be pretty limited. But I'll try and sneak some in. Been meaning to work on 'em.

Nah, the white man dubbed in an S.

Contact Info * ReMixer name: MarkShell * Real name: Markus Machado * E-mail: markusmachado@gmail.com * Website: www.purevolume.com/bandaorion *Sorry, I didn't know where to find my user id, but my user name is markshell =/ ReMix Info * Name of game ReMixed: Donkey Kong Country (SNES) * Name of Individual Song ReMixed: Aquatic Ambiance * Comments: This is a metal version of the song with real guitars, FL generated drums and bass. I decided to make this based on my band's style, to play it live and have fun with it, put some wild solos and stuff. ----------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=dkc - "Aquatic Ambiance" (dkc-08.spc) Kinda sad in that the guitar is live, as it's rigidly performed enough that it might as well be sequenced. The panning in the intro is really gimmicky and not thought out well. Perhaps you need something supplementing the soundfield that's playing equally in both channels to not make the panning seem so extreme. Picks up at :20 with some really beefy, grungier geetars joining in to fill things out. Drums are weak as hell, with boring/overly simplistic patterns, no energy, and are practically drowned out by those massively loud guitars. Your supporting guitars are so ridiculously overbearing that they were nearly drowning out your lead guitar as well. What the hell's up with that? I dunno how it sounds on a different setup, like your speakers or whatever, but on headphones it sounds like muck. Does a nice changeup to some more genteel stuff handling the melody at 1:48, but that was the only cool thing I really heard; all too brief with a poor segue to the next section. Back to the supporting guitars drowning out some freestyling by the lead at 2:14. Melody's brought into the background from 2:45-3:15 while continuing the original wank, before dropping out the source melody and instead referencing of the chords of the original on the supporting guitars until 3:59. Decent ending to close things out, but it was way too little too late. Among some other things, this needs more usage of the source tune compared to original material, usage of different sections of the source tune, more interesting drum writing, and WAY more reasonable sound balance. NO

Are you familiar with the concept of improvising? Good God, people. I explained why, you filth!

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FF8_minipsf.rar - 307 "Fisherman's Horizon" Some of those piano chords sounded off, I agree (e.g. :24, 2:00, 2:18). You acclimate to them over time, probably because they resolve OK; wouldn't know. Starts off at :02 (wha?) with some nice plucked strings and piano. Drums and bass fill out the track at :20. I agreed with Lee on the overall tone of the drumkit not quite feeling right. If the drums had been louder, then they would have affected the piece in a negative way. Here however, these bros left it at a low enough volume to simply supplement the other material, so I was cool with it. The bowed string arriving at :41 is the sexckz. Very emotive and it blends in extremely well with all of the other instruments. I like how Phil made the source tune much more melodious here, a quality the original frankly didn't have. Great change in dynamics at 1:01 by dropping the beats and focusing on the piano and acoustic guitar, before building right back up into the beats at 1:20, then going for the chorus again at 1:38 only with much more activity in the background for more intensity compared to the first chorus. Even though the soundscape was full, I could still pick out every major part here; solid mixing. I was admittedly disappointed by the key change at 1:56, hoping the arrangement would go in a different direction featuring new variations of the source. Nonetheless, good transition at 2:32 with the woodwinds moving toward Karl's piano close. Track cuts off at 3:05, booooooo. Nothing major, but perhaps meriting a fix. Loved the very personalized approach here for an otherwise conservative take on the theme, where nearly every sound seemed carefully selected. There's a synergy here with this collab that I haven't heard done this effectively since Lee and Karl collabed on Final Doom "Clairvoyant Elegy". Awesome job to both Karl and Phil. Even though I did judge the first submission of this way back, I unfortunately don't remember it vividly enough. What I do remember was that it was an awesome premise that turned out a swampy mess. I suggested a total overhaul, because I liked the concept and didn't wanna see it die. Thank the Jesus you didn't let this one go quietly. YES

Need to get the <6MB version once it's out; definitely won't be a flood by then... - LT EDIT: Sam PM'd me that he uploaded the <6MB version -Jon Hey Overclocked people! Forgive me for I have sinned, it's been eight months since my last submission. I've been trying to have a website. 'Herograw the great' gave me a domain name and a bunch of space, which I named after my grandfather and I uploaded a whole bunch of stuff.. and wrote a ton of new original material but then I noticed.. OH YEAH!! I HAVE NO WEBLAYOUT!!! Well.. that's still the case. I'm getting help though from "Less Ashamed of Self".. maybe by the time you guys receive this submission there'll be something here: www.arnoldascher.com other than the under construction sign. I think the Nofair theme from Metroid I is pretty awesome. I missed out on this game as a kid, I was too busy playing guardian legend and zelda to get to play as a spacefaring chick that can turn herself into a chrono trigger style roly poly to fit through cracks. When I did play the game, it was via emulator, and when I got to Norfair hahahah I certainly noticed the music. Immediately I had to stop playing and f!@# around on my keyboard. When you hear something exciting, it's an itch that must be scratched to take it to the piano. Anyhow... I had lots of fun with this one. Ignore the Artist info.. I'm still shnabubula.. I just used "samuel ascher-weiss" while it's on my site. I'll always be Shnabubula @ OCR!! Anyway.. as with all my other piano stuff, it's entirely improvised.. so there is no sheet music however... if anybody ever did a transcription I WOULD BE HUGELY HONORED.. somebody once did about half of anachronism... but they didn't finish ;( PS: the file size should no longer be 7.52MB by the time you guys receive this, but if it is, I will replace it with a lower encoded one. However temporarily I need the 192kbs version to be up for a few days though I doubt there'll be a flood before then. ----------------------------------------------------- http://www.zophar.net/nsf/metroid.zip - Track 4 ("Norfair") I kind of see where Vig was coming from when he called Figaro Chiptune "compositional cockwaving" or something to that effect. There were enough times where Sam just started going off on original runs (e.g. :12-1:10) that didn't really go anywhere or thematically connect with the source arrangement. Played well, but too far off the beaten path at the expense of the source and thus not my thing on a personal level. Nonetheless, Sam did some nice stuff coming out of all that at 1:10, harmonizing the arrangement of Norfair before going into some more genteel stuff at 1:38...along with "genteel cockwaving" by ornamenting the Norfair theme with a bunch of original stuff on top from 1:53-2:23. Started getting over the top again from 2:23-2:54, where it seemed the Norfair arrangement again took a back seat to the original material, but all was good from 2:56-3:22. Even better stuff from 3:29-4:22, placing more of a focus on arranging the Norfair theme, at least comparatively speaking with other sections. Strong, energetic finish at 4:40, throwing in some cheese at the very end. I'm certainly not against adding original ideas into an arrangement. I'd argue though that some of the original sections on top of the Norfair arrangement didn't integrate with the Norfair theme, which was why I had issue with those writing choices. Despite those criticisms, the Norfair theme is substantially used throughout the track. When it's the primary focus, Sam really comes through with some intricate, and stylish arrangement ideas that only he can think up. Will it be your cup of tea, brothers and sisters? I dunno. But can it be? YES

Hi! This is my first attempt at sending a remix to OCR, and it's a short jazz/funk/fusion version of the NES Paperboy music. The theme was just screaming for some sweet rhodes chords! So to the details: Contact Info * ReMixer name: Rune Flobakk (I prefer not to use pseudonyms...) * Real name: Rune Flobakk * Email address: rflobakk@online.no * userid on the forums: 15651 ReMix Info Everything "administrative info" should be in the mandatory ID3v2 tags. Here is the original soundtrack in NSF format (not my rip): http://gilgalad.panicus.org/nsf/paperboy.zip I saw Mark Cooksey (http://www.ocremix.org/composer/id/48/ credited as the composer of the C64 Paperboy theme, and I have assumed he is also the original composer for the NES port of the game. The remix name is obviously a combination of Paperboy -> Steal My Paper -> Steely Dan -> Steely My Paper. As in ha-ha-funny So, I hope I've included everything necessary. If anything is missing, just contact me ----------------------------------------------------- http://gilgalad.panicus.org/nsf/paperboy.zip - Track 1 Thanks for linking to the original. Even kingshriek didn't have it, so I wouldn't have known where to get it. I don't think Mark Cooksey's the original composer though; he probably just did the C64 port. I like what you've got here. I'm glad the direct sampling of the source wasn't around any longer, or it would have been too much. Rhodes finally replaces the NES at :51. The drums didn't seem to fit; bit too punchy. There's something with everyone's drums not quite meshing well with their subs, but oh well. They're OK, though that one snare shot is so loud and droning, while all other percussion writing is arguably too quiet and understated. It's only until 1:59-2:11 where it's pretty audible and contributes, thanks to you upping the cymbal volume briefly. Liked the new writing accenting the conservative arrangement from :58-on, mostly with the wahs, drumwork, and brass writing. Good segue into the freestyling at 1:49-2:12, followed by going back into the source tune at 2:12 with nice brass writing until 2:21. Didn't like how it went back to the more straightforward coverage from 2:21-2:55, and then went back into the NES theme, just because it feels like a step down from the creativity of earlier. Nonetheless, it was creating notable dynamic contrast within the constant tempo, so that was a plus. 2:55 crossfades back into the original from 2:55-3:29 for the close. I think more things could have been done with the arrangement to move further away from the more conservative parts, which leaves me on the borderline. Still though, while the source structure was intact, the additions/embellishments and solos were substantial enough to put it over the top. Nice work. YES (borderline)

Hi ReMixer name: Xeeko email address: xeeko500@hotmail.com website: http://www.xeeko.com Name of game(s) ReMixed: Mega Man 2 Name of individual song(s) ReMixed: Dr.Wily's Stage It can be found at: Best Regards Xeeko ----------------------------------------------------- http://www.zophar.net/nsf/megaman2.zip - Track 19 ("Dr. Wily 1") I've posted this to the panel because you sound decent with what you're presenting. The sounds are a wash, but there's good power. Doesn't deserve the forum letter, at least IMO. Nonetheless... Swampy swooshes + basic beats and bass kicks + verbatim original + 0 interpretation + needless repetition = NO Please read the Submission Standards again before you send anything here in the future. You did nearly nothing to make this a unique interpretation and presentation of the source material. Simple covers aren't gonna cut it. If you ever come up with anything more interpretive, try your hand here again.

Original decision: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=36189 It's been another year, so here's another shot. I think with enough time I'll wear you guys down . The drums could still be better, but I didn't decide to be "creative" with this one and just mixed it normally. It has bass, it has piano, and it has that exciting little moment at the end. If there's still more to do, I'll see you in November 2007! * Your ReMixer name: Adam Dachis * Coincidentally my real name is also Adam Dachis * ocremix+catch@toasterdog.com * http://www.adamdachis.com * Forums: iioru * Games Remixed: Final Fantasy 6 * Name of individual song(s) ReMixed: The Decisive Battle * I think we all have had enough FF6 that I don't need to add any extra info about it Okay, so I don't really think I have anything much to say. The Decisive Battle has always been my favorite. I also like the piano. Decisive Battle + Piano + Me = This Mix. I don't do a lot of high energy music so I can always count on this one if someone every asks for something high energy (not that anyone has ever asked). Oh, one thing I can add is that all negative criticism on the first version really got me to actually pay attention to mixing things properly. I'm still not great but at least I don't suck anymore, so thanks for kicking my butt! Um...maybe if this gets on the site finally I'll actually manage to finish the Kefka remix next year . Thanks for listening! - Adam ----------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff6 - "The Decisive Battle" (ff6-124.spc) zircon pointed out that this was a really old resub, so thanks for that. I dunno how the old drums were here, but they at least seem a lot more sane now on the writing side. Why's the bitrate so low? Anyway, good stuff with the piano arrangement, even if the sound on it was a bit murky. The drum tone doesn't fit at all, though the writing on 'em is good. The production is definitely weak. Could just be the bitrate, but the drums have this nasty lo-fi sound that almost sounds like warping in some parts (e.g. 1:51-1:52, 1:56-1:57). Piano tends to muddy up too much during some of the fuller parts (e.g. 2:05-2:07). The other Js could better explain what's going on here, so hopefully they come through on that. Refine the drums, fix the production, and up the bitrate. Otherwise, the arrangement is solid to me. I feel like I'm rehashing the same crits as 2004, but IMO this could be an easy resubmission. Keep working on it, Adam, and use the WIP board for feedback. NO

Got a complicated one with the eligibility of this doujin game; I'll try to sort it out - LT Sorry if this is too long. I'm new to the whole "submission" thing, so I tried to be exhaustive as possible. Only read the parts you want to! Your ReMixer name: Justus Johnston Your real name: Justus Johnston Your email address: cyberludwig@yahoo.com Your website: http://www.justusjohnston.com Name of game: Perfect Cherry Blossom Name of song: 無何有の郷 ～ Deep Mountain Information about this game: Perfect Cherry Blossom is the 7th game in the "Touhou" series, AKA Project Shrine Maiden. This series is, for the most part a series of vertical shmups set in Gensokyo, a sort of "far-East wonderland" inhabited by various magical creatures out of Japanese mythology. They are a very particular brand of shmups known as "danmaku", or "curtain fire", where instead of dodging relatively few quick bullets and enemies, you must weave through a tapestry consisting of an insane number of relatively slow bullets. Project Shrine Maiden is part of the growing Doujinshi (indy) software scene in Japan, but is still sold for money. An English wikipedia exists for this series, and can be found here: http://www.pooshlmer.com/touhouwiki/index.php/Touhou_Wiki This game (like all others in the series), are created by Shanghai Alice, a group that in reality consists of only one individual and a couple of play testers. This individual, who only goes by the name of ZUN, single-handedly does the programming, scripting, level design, graphics, art, story, sound, and yes the music too. His website can be found here: http://www16.big.or.jp/~zun/top.html The first five games in the series were only made for the NEC PC-9801 personal computer. The rest of the series, including this game, is exclusively for Windows. There is a fanmade English translation of this game available (though these games' stories really don't translate well at all). It can be found here: http://www.pooshlmer.com/touhouwiki/index.php?title=Perfect_Cherry_Blossom:_English_patch Original soundtrack: The original in-game music can be either recordings or MIDIs. The recordings are hardly better than the MIDIs though, since they're really just the MIDIs recorded using an Edirol SD-80 synthesizer. I'd rather not share the entire recorded soundtrack (besides, it too is sold separately in doujin circles), but I've uploaded the original recording of the song this remix is based on here: http://www.justusjohnston.com/temp/th702.mp3 I've also uploaded the entire original MIDI album if you REALLY want to listen to it: http://www.justusjohnston.com/temp/pcbmidi.zip Just let me know if you need more. The mix: I actually threw the notes together last night while taking a break from some paperwork. I impulsively decided to record it after work today (I work at a recording studio, so it wasn't that hard a decision) The arrangement calls for 4 violins. In this case, I just overdubbed myself 4 times, so all 4 are me. They were recorded with a Shure SM-81 mic'd from 2 feet above, off-axis, in our main isolation booth. Everything was recorded and edited in Pro Tools via a DIGI001 (using old-school AMR preamps). Honestly, not much real production went into this. No compression, no EQ (I moved the mic a few inches closer for the lead part to help its harmonic content stand out). I panned the parts out a bit to make things more interesting, and added a convolution reverb (Lexicon 960L using a "Large Church" sample). I didn't do any pitch or time correction, even though I really really wanted to. So, it's a pretty raw recording of this arrangement. Artistically, I really liked my performance, though it could have been tighter technically. The instrument used is a 1844 J.B. Villaume (family heirloom), with a 1932 Marizot bow. No, I don't do it justice. As for the music of the arrangement itself, I'm quite pleased with it. It's been a long time since I've tried anything "classical", so it's kind of nice to discover that I can still do it after all these years. The harmonization is reminiscent of the neo-classical style, a la Prokofiev (or Koichi Sugiyama even, for that matter). Even though many of the actual chords used are the same as in the original, this arrangement manages to feel extremely different from the original. Listening to this recording I've made, I think it sounds kind of chilly in comparison, which I suppose is appropriate, given the time of year, and the story of this particular game (Winter didn't end when it was supposed to, and local magicians go to investiage). I think people can enjoy this arrangement even if they've never played the game. Well there. I hope I did this right. - Justus Johnston Director of Education, Academy of Recording Arts My latest horrible musical experiment: http://www.justusjohnston.com/Music/MP3/Vesper%20Voyages.mp3 ------------------------------------------------------ I must say, this is an interesting submission. The doujin game here is definitely valid enough for OCR in terms of being popular enough and "professional grade". ZUN is one of the more known doujin VGM composers out there and also has professional credits under his belt unrelated to music. My bro CHz confirmed that the source tune is indeed from the game soundtrack. Legit props to ZUN for being one of the really successful doujin game makers out there while also being a pro in the industry as well. I've heard of ZUN for a little while now, though to be perfectly honest, I've disliked nearly everything I've heard by him. The sound quality tends to kill off his songs entirely, even when the writing is good. Generally though, I haven't even liked his writing either. Nonetheless, I'm not an expert on ZUN's discography, and don't mean to say he sucks. Hearing this source tune, at least from a compositional perspective, was enjoyable, so I'm glad this breaks "the streak," even if I wasn't amazed by it. Perfect Cherry Blossom (Game Rip) - "Paradise ~ Deep Mountain" The arrangement here was particularly melancholy. The 4-violins gimmick ("gimmick" not meant as a negative) was used fairly well here, although there were some spots that felt very shrill. I felt the brevity of the arrangement was a distinct negative, a lot moreso than Select Start's Frog arrangement (since that one had 3 notably different variations of the source theme). Yet the new writing involved underneath the conservative melody in adapting the piece for 4 violins helped offset those concerns. There were good changes in the texture at :42 and 1:23 for the iterations of the verse and chorus respectively, which helped things not feel repetitive. I wish there was more time given to this one, but what's in place here is more than solid enough. I thought you just did MIDI work, Justus, but "Vesper Voyages" (I recommend y'all check that out) and this piece definitely illustrated otherwise. In any case, an interesting approach with a unique result. YES EDIT (3/9): Way back when, BGC wanted some more clarification and play-by-play on why I passed this one, so I'll finally get around to elaborating. This mix is more of a case where the personalization of the approach carried the track, much in part to the original and rearranged writing of the supporting instrumentation. After being iffy when I first heard the piece, a side-by-side comparison of the source vs. the mix gave me all the confidence I needed to pass this one. The slowed tempo and less busy feel of this compared to ZUN's piece (which was beat-driven) was a plus. Immediately at :01, the new countermelodic and harmonic writing trading off underneath the melody was apparent, and continued that way for the rest of the track. The countermelodic stuff from :45-:54 mimicked :20-:31 of the original, so that wasn't as interpretive. After that though, I liked how Justus altered the backing rhythms of the original (e.g. :45-1:11 of ZUN's piece) with the quick backing bow movements of 1:03-1:39. The original ending at 1:46 added to the tension, resolving the track nicely. Looking at the submissions guidelines ("Changing a piece's genre, adding original passages, solos, harmonies, and counter-melodies, as well as altering instrumentation, dynamics, and tempo are all ways of making a ReMix your own unique creation, and are techniques best used in conjunction."), the genre change, original harmonies & countermelodies, and the altered instrumentation, dynamics & tempo collectively sealed the deal. In short, a decidedly different animal than the original.