Liontamer

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/punchout.zip - Tracks 8, 20, 23 & 22 Though there were some good parts, I felt the drumming was too basic/placeholder-ish for the first section, but you moved into something less tap-tap-tap-tap-tap after 1:04. Doesn't have to be complicated, just has to drive the music along rather than create a metronome-like beat, so the changeup was good. Track moved into some majorly liberal freestyling and original material from 2:09 until the end. Well, you certainly didn't lie in the submission letter. Original material on acoustic guitar at 3:30 finally closed it. Guitar performance was fine, but didn't have enough edge to it. Vigilante would have a better perspective on it. The whole track lacks something to make it stand out from a merely being a reasonably-performed rock cover. Couple that with the second half being original rather than interpretive material, and I can't see a reason to pass it. Rearrange the material more creatively and make it the focal point of most of the mix, not just the first half. Look forward to hearing your future work though. NO

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff6 - "The Phantom Forest" (ff6-115.spc) Just listening to the intro, this sounds really lo-fi for a 160kbps encoding; sounds more like 80kbps. Gray feels it's the heavy reverb causing that perception, but I don't think that's what's making this seem so lossy. Track was absolutely piercing at :20, 1:12, 1:40, 2:15, 2:30, 2:50, 3:20 and 3:32 when you had the woodwind lead peaking. I later noticed my Winamp EQ was already at -3db. Man, I can't believe the track was actually louder than this. Ouch. You really have to reign this stuff in. I like the atmosphere overall, Bryan, but the construction is too simplistic. I'm not trying to sell you short, but this is essentially just a couple of ambient pads, string pads, ghoulish forest/nature SFX and the woodwind lead. If you're going a minimalistic route and slowing the tempo down, you still need way more interpretation and arrangement substance than this for a 5:00-long track. Perhaps figure out a way to arrange the original's rhythm section in here as well. Beyond fixing the sound/volume problems, anything that incorporates and interprets more of the source material would be a plus. NO

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=sd2 - "Danger" (sd2-19.spc) Ha! Before I listened to this source tune in full, I would have sworn it was just the first few seconds repeating over and over again. Never knew there was actually any substance behind it, or that it was 2:21-long. Honestly, when faced with the option of playing this or "Espergirl 2A03" on VGF83 (since I had so many of Sam's track lined up that particular week), I picked Espergirl, because it was a lot more pleasing IMO, both as an arrangement and as a listening experience. Don't wanna sound like I don't like the concept here, as I'm a fan of chiptunes and believe they're fair game when executed well. I also played one of Sam's "NESFM" originals on that aforementioned show, so he's capable of pulling it off well. Things were alright to start off with, with the NES and FM sounds constantly trading off for the first :48. Textures during :59-1:20 weren't working well at all, IMO. 1:20-1:55 was good on the writing but felt empty part of the time without strong percussion to drive it along. 1:59-2:42 had a lot of shrill/piercing bits to it that made it difficult to listen to, even though I felt the lead writing and sound choices were solid. Volume is way up there, and the soundfield simply felt too crowded with a shitload of different things going on in the background fighting for space. Next section at 2:42 was also really really good, IMO, but too loud, and 3:03 returned to the shrill sounds; not sure what makes them sound so piercing, but it's just hurting the ears when it should be making sweet sweet chiptune love to them. 3:25 works with another late section of the source, and the sound choices were really good, but the soundfield still sounded too loud and cluttered. Nonetheless, I was really liking the arrangement. 4:28 until the end was all well-written as well. The production was still bothering me; much like Figaro Chiptune, the volume really needs to be brought down. Obviously, the arrangement is hot and the energy is good. Frankly with the sounds being used here, some of the Js will crap on it outright, as they're just not pleasing to them and all sound low quality. "Fair enough", I suppose given that I think it's hit-or-miss. I don't 100% agree, but I could legitimately understand someone else saying that most of this doesn't sound very musical. Myself, I thought that this was falling somewhat short on sound quality, but not on account of the sound choices. There were some brief spots where I thought the sound combinations weren't clicking, sure. But I think lowering the overall levels and also going for a substantially less crowded sound where everything under the melody isn't fighting for the same space during the loudest sections is a must. At times, the supporting elements don't sound distinct enough from each other and it just sounds like wank that doesn't piece together. Well, prepare for quite an uphill battle, bro... NO (refine/resubmit) Side note, I feel like if you subbed "Espergirl 2A03", it would give the group a collective headache, but could possibly/Iunno/maybe someone won't chiptune-hate in that case/who knows pass the group. I'd try it personally. No reason to be afraid to sub it. If not, no big deal, but I like the controversial mixes.

Reviewed the old version of this way back in June '05 for VG Frequency. Glad to see a revised version here. Unfair or not, Joe's one of those guys who doesn't get his due on account of not releasing his material more widely: http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=sd2 - "Star of Darkness" (sd2-28.spc) Kind of surprised Gray didn't get to this first, given that he's arranged the theme twice, but I'll lead off. I already know the arrangement is solid, so this'll be more of a look into how Joe reworked the production. I won't lie in that I didn't get the Hamauzu vibe, but I'm mainly familiar with SaGa Frontier 2, so any piano-centric stuff he may have done, I'm not familiar with. Things sounds cleaner than the old version, and I do like the new piano sample even though I didn't have a problem with the old one. Great job taking a very militaristic original and giving it more finesse and energy. Some of the little bits from 1:06-1:16 felt too sparse/minimal, but was merely a bump in the road. Nice stuff on the delicate side from 1:54-2:21 to provide some dynamics, before going into the source melody again at a slower tempo and gradually building the speed back up. Good stuff at 3:39 for the simple close. Some of the fuller parts of the track still felt empty, as if the lower registers could have filled the space more and beefed things up, but it wasn't a major issue; could merely be a taste issue from me alone, but I would have preferred thicker-sounding production for the piece. Delay only fills out the track so much, and IMO it's barely (if even) getting the job done. In any case, the arrangement was personalized well, and the performance was good enough for me, though it's admittedly not a VERY solid stamp of approval. The relatively thin texture wasn't my cup of tea, but ultimately wasn't a significant enough issue to me. We'll see how the others feel though. Either way, how about your Front Mission arrangement from Splendid Performance next? YES

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes OST - 52 "VS Quadraxis (Long)" Gotta agree with DS for the most part. There was at least some effort put into adding more energy and meat to the source, but the overall structure and feel was too similar to the original. Not really enough to distinguish itself from the original besides some added beats & claps and louder vox. You need to really try and rearrange the theme, not just build on it in an additive manner. Most people simply can't pull that approach off and make it stand apart as a unique work. Plus, as was mentioned, the sample quality is pretty weak. The claps and beats are very generic, the vox is robotic, and much of the rest does sound like GM + effects to flesh it out more. Making the arrangement longer than an already-long original that doesn't have much in the way of substance in the first place also wasn't to your advantage. No reason you should be encoding anything this long at 112kbps CBR. Go for a VBR encoding to maximize the sound quality. Keep at it, bro, but apply much more creativity to your approach, explore obtaining better sounds for free via the ReMixing forum's resources, and consult the Works forum for feedback on future work. NO

It's unfortunate that I can't speak on the arrangement, as I can't find a source, but don't need one. Percussion writing was flimsy and repetitive and didn't add much to the piece. Vox sounded robotic, strings sounded mechanically sequenced. Key change into the next section at 2:06 was OK, but again, everything sound rigid, robotic, and fake, with the worst offender being those strings again. Piano and drum usage at 3:23 brought my interest back up. There's a decent effort to providing variation in order to keep the piece engaging, but this just wasn't put together very well. Decent sounds in use, but poorly used; can't rely on the samples to carry this piece. NO

http://www.zophar.net/gsf/awars.rar - 06 "Andy's Theme" Heh. The quality of your slap bass sample is just as bad as in the GSF. On the arrangement side, this was a decent job slowing the tempo down and going for a much more relaxed feel, which was working ok conceptually. Unfortunately, there's not much texture to the instrumentation. Acoustic guitar is decent, but the distorted electric guitar-type part at :25 has 0 meat on it and just sounds very tame and synthetic. Percussion/cymbals are light, but loop too much, have a tepid tone and also sound very very fake. Brass sample at :58 was weak stuff as well. I liked the twangy guitar idea at 1:27, but the lack of organicness and realism hurts the piece dramatically. By 1:49 where you start doing some twangy guitar comping, the backing material is just dragging on for way too long. The pattern just keep repeating over and over and over and over again. 2:43 brings back the brass again. 3:07 with the slap bass, especially alone, was definitely a low point, and not a strong way to wind down the track. You sounds definitely aren't up to the challenge, and you don't have much in the way of a full, pleasing texture, or interesting enough arrangement ideas to merit 4 minutes. Cut out the fat and work on adding more variation to the piece. There are also better sounds available for free that you can explore by browsing the ReMixing forum. NO

http://www.zophar.net/usf/bcorpsusf.rar - 052 "Credits" http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/n64/Bcending.mid Strings do attack too slowly like Vig stated and sound very synthetic, and the rest of the instrumentation is too simple. Such boring, looping beat patterns really dragged the track down. Pretty much all of the real-instrument sounds in there sounded very robotically performed. The arrangement is nearly verbatim. Don't just take a MIDI and change around a few aspects of it. I'm letting it go because there were some other notable additive aspects especially later in the track, but even if the sounds were awesome, this uncreative arrangement would never pass. You have to personalize it more, and that typically means not using the verbatim structure of the original. NO

Yeah, this isn't even worth looking through the whole Silent Hill soundtrack in order to verify the originals. Next time you submit something, be sure to provide information on what original track(s) you arranged. Agreed with JonT that this was too beginner-ish. Instrumentation is too simplistic, sparse, and mechanical. Transitions were non-existent, and melodically the substance wasn't there either. Like Jon also said, this does have a bit of that creepy vibe to it, but other than that, there's not much to like. Indeed though, you at least display potential, so stick around the community, visit those forums he mentioned and try your hand at improving. NO

404-type recovery from awhile back. The song was only available from Soundclick in streamable form, causing the issue, so I finally got an e-mail copy from Brad. Don't have access to the original letter, so I'm just gonna give some basic info. If djpretzel still has a copy of the sub letter, we'll add it in. Artists: Level 99, The Prophet of Mephisto Mix: Final Fantasy 7 'Chosen' Description from Soundclick: This is a remix of Sephiroth's theme from FF7, featuring Stevo Bortz from VGMix.com. Heavy metal, with some electronica elements in there too. ---------------------------------------------------- http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FF7_psf.rar - 305 "Those Chosen by the Planet" I liked the lil' electronic blips and whatnot ornamenting the introduction. A little cheesy, but nice warbly stuff starting at :24 as well for the buildup. Synth vox though fading in at :30 sounded very robotic and devoid of emotion, even though it was going for an eerie/haunting feel. Guitar work and drums at :35 was supposed to sound intense and really beef up the track, but had no presence behind it. It sounded to me like you were trying to have those instruments provide the power, but the levels were too subdued the whole way through. There's really not much in the way of a full texture being created here most of the time; track feels like it has a lot of elements going on, but doesn't fill out the soundfield at all. Percussion writing is OK, but should sound thicker re: the production, and less rigidly sequenced. Synth vox and bells have no meat on them as well. You need something else helping to fill the track during an empty section like 1:34-1:57. Oooh, cheesy voiceover at 2:06. I'll admit it doesn't sound terrible, but at the same time it doesn't lend much to the music and isn't mixed in well there. It's somewhat indistinctly mushing together with the music at the same volume. This (arguably) works better for the voiceover at 3:05 due to the specific effects placed on it, but it's still an issue there as well. Some tips on how to mix the vocal areas from the other Js would be appreciated. Fadeout at 4:07 is WAY too abrupt. The arrangement is ambitious and has potential in terms of being a nice industrial rock piece, but the texture needs to be further developed, and the production needs some major work to bring out the best in the sounds you're employing. Decent stuff so far, Brad and Stevo. NO

http://smproject.supertux.com Yeah, dunno what was up with the orginal page being deleted but we'll link to the other instead.

Why would See Sixty Funk be on The American Album? The original composers were Japanese. Need to fix in the shownotes at least. Lots of New York vs. Boston (i.e. sexual) tension there, which makes for good times. Andy, punch your mic up a little. Nice site, Chad.

Can thank VGDJ #37 for having this one at random via the Roulette. Nice beatwork and bassline especially. Wasn't feeling some of the more freestylish EP stuff, but really appreciated how the supporting instrumentation arranged the source material beyond the melodic content. Surprised this doesn't have more reviews. Poor Frogger.

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/zelda2.zip - Track 2 ("Overworld") I voted in FLMC1 and this was easily my favorite entry of the bunch. Nothing against Prophecy, who won the contest, but I felt this was a clear winner at both rearranging the material and showing what could be achieved under the contest's limitations. I think DarkeSword would agree that this track is a nice testament to what default Fruity is capable of in skillful hands. Played this back on VGF82 and also featured it on my finale show VGF84.99 as a personal favorite, so I'm already really familiar with the track. Adam let me know that he just had to tone down some piercing frequencies in the FLMC version before he submitted it here, and it looks like everything's in order now. Simply put, I'm a big fan of the arrangement, which was very creative, and loved the sounds and processing involved. Very well put together. With the writing, crazy beatwork, and tempo, I felt like I heard more of Shnabubula's influence in the piece than Mazedude's just from my own familiarity with their material. Infectiously energetic. Great stuff, Adam. YES

http://www.zophar.net/gym/SK+SONIC3.RAR - 22 Lava Reef Zone 1 & 23 Lava Reef Zone 2 Certainly showing some improvement bro. The percussion patterns were decent, but the tone on the snare was pretty weak, the whole set didn't sound like it was in the same place as the sax, and also sounded fairly robotic in the performance. Live sax performance was decent, though not as smooth/fluid as it should have been, which can only be done through practice. Volume on it could have been toned down relative to the other instrumentation without losing much impact. The woodwind-style after 1:45 sounded very mechanical too, IMO, making things sound jerky rather than smooth. Decent inclusion of Zone 2 from 3:07-3:27 shortly before the close. Arrangement was relatively OK, but I was a bit put off by how closely the source melody was followed most of the way through; aside from more interpretive stuff from 1:26-2:04, this was more of a genre adaptation and tempo slowdown than a major interpretation or expansion of the source material. The personalization in the arrangement is noticeable though. Everything here is structured so rigidly that the piece loses a lot of emotion. The other Js would be better able to offer advice on making the sequenced material sound more fluid, but the ReMixing forum would offer advice there as well. Texture also feels sparse at times, but I hesitate to offer any specific advice on that as a more natural-sounding, smoother piece may lock together better and fill the soundfield better. Needs some serious fine-tuning, but again this shows some marked improvement versus your previous submissions. NO

-------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff6 - "The Magic House" (ff6-310.spc) Opened up with some very thin, synthetic sounding strings and bass. Harpsichord coming in at :15 sounds really robotically handled as well, and the arrangement isn't very interpretive besides playing with the rhythms a little bit. Beats/kicks coming in at :32 were really sparse and basic as well. Synth vox at :48 with the source chorus doesn't sound too bad, per se, as I appreciate the attempt to create a different sound with the effects you used. But there's definitely no sense of fluidity in the performance from any of the instruments used, from the bowed strings, to the bass guitar, to the pizz strings. You're certainly trying to create some texture here, but aside from the part with the vox, the soundfield sounds very sparse. You certainly have the ambition to get various sounds to compliment each other and fill out the soundfield based on your submission letter, but you're definitely only as a beginner level. Work on creating a more interpretive and personalized arrangement (primarily not keeping the melodic content nearly the same), as well as creating more fluid performance dynamics so the flow sounds more natural, and creating fuller textures with the combinations of sounds you're using. The ReMixing and Works forums will help you work on improving your material from the ground up and getting feedback on your progress. NO

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff6 - "Awakening" (ff6-103.spc) Yeah, definitely with Jon and TO on this. The arrangement doesn't even have a different title. Sounds just like a MIDI-rip of the original with guitar on top; pretty much all the parts of the original are right there. The production makes everything sound too murky. Had some brief freestyle guitar wank in there from :50-1:04 before that dropped out. Undeveloped in every way, the guitar work was the only thing saving it from an Override. NO

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "The Day the World Revived" (ct-2-06.spc) & "Sara's Theme" (ct-3-06.spc) I felt like I was hearing a different piece than the others in terms of potential for resubmission, but at the same time their votes really hit the nail on the head. I didn't even read theirs until I wrote my own and we're pointing out the same issues. "The Day the World Revived" section was rather plain and annoying with that simple lead. The scratching and beeping-type sounds were annoyingly piercing, and when you take those sounds away, you're not left with much arrangement substance IMO. Go for the better texture of sounds here, but at the same time build the arrangement ideas first then the soundscape. Not enough here IMO to be interesting for 5:30-long, though the "Schala's Theme" arrangement first used from 2:45-3:06 helped balance it out. Still, after 3:45 when you layered the two themes, everything was really cluttered and messy. It's a decent start that could lead to something more fruitful with more work. NO

http://rayman2.ubi.com - "Main Theme" (High-Speed Connections -> Downloads -> Goodies -> Rayman's Music -> 1) http://c9.servage.net/~sc19031-ZCPG/usf/sets/prelim/Rayman%202%20-%20The%20Great%20Escape%20-%20Parasyte/Rayman2-FixedTimings.rar - "Level 12 - (P2) Riding a Chair" & "Robotpirate Fight 1" (or almost any version of the 12) I at least found a 35-second clip of Rayman 2's main theme from the game's official site to compare with this mix, so excuse me if I'm only making partial connections to it. Besides the similar "Riding a Chair" (which Ben pointed out to me; thanks, Ben), the preliminary USF rip I got didn't seem to have the actual main theme anywhere, hence the holdup. Opening of the mix didn't have much to do with the source there, although there were some liberal connections later. Melody of this song came in at :23, seemingly having jack to do with the original. Synths played with the Main Theme's rhythms at :42, while the pizz strings at :55 referred to it more straightforwardly before segueing into a shot of Yankee Doodle from 1:11-1:19. Main Theme wasn't overtly referred to until the pizz strings played it on background for the sitar from 1:28-1:43. 1:43 transitioned to the "Robotpirate Fight" theme playing rhythm along with having the synth woodwind double it for a while, later followed by some cool metallic/industrial-type sounds until 2:15. Original melody from :23 returned at 2:33 before returning to subtly referencing the Main Theme from 2:49 until the end. He used variations of the Main Theme in a few more background places I didn't bother to mention. Basically play-by-played it with my vote since things were already good. Nice use of the chosen sounds, and solid production per Ben's usual. YES

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=mo2 - "Sunrise & Onett Theme" (mo2-017.spc) Nothing really much beyond the original with some synthy and distorted sounds, some beats, and the occasional light SFX underneath. Arrangement has 0 changes in structure and tempo from the original, and the track is only 2:26-long. It's only a few seconds off from the original because you simply didn't use the original's intro. You didn't even give the arrangement any type of creative name. You tried to at least personalize it somewhat, but it's an obvious NO OVERRIDE.

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/megaman2.zip - Tracks 13 ("Wood Man Stage"), 19 ("Dr. Wily Stage 1") & 22 ("Ending") Played this on VGF78. Quite the overhaul from the first arrangement attempt Frank did on this, "Deep Forest Dance", which was restricted to arranging just "Wood Man Stage" and featured all the way back on VGF29.99. The piece has come a long way, and I appreciate the added work. I have to admit, I rather liked the simplicity of the first version, but certainly appreciate the new ideas in this one. I didn't mind the string samples quite as much, though the complaints were valid on it; sounded too synthetic with the note-to-note movements in places, but was fine in the big scheme of things. Beats coming in at 1:02 were too loud the whole way through and could have been brought down a few db, IMO. Definitely good fills going on with the percussion work to keep things energetic and interesting. Also agreed on the Wood Man lead at 1:26 sounding rather tepid, but there was some good subtle freestylish doubling of the melody going on underneath. Good brief change in the flow from 2:13-2:24. Good reference to Wily's theme at 3:23; very stylish writing there and the lead synth there seemed to fit a bit better going for a shriller sound. I actually thought the transition at 3:43 to the "Ending" theme was really abrupt and should have been handled more subtly. As it was, it was too jarring of a move. Arrangement there was pretty good. Heard some odd-sounding piano chords at 4:15-4:16, but it may just be me. Glad to finally have the beats drop out at 4:41 for the piano-based closed. The strings and piano could sound more realistic, but were otherwise handled capably, plus the arrangement was strong. I didn't think this was quite as catchy as FFMQ "And He Returned Home", but a solid addition nonetheless; good going, Frank. YES

Covered by the others. Basically a copy of the original + lame beetz; texture was really sparse. No meaningful arrangement value to speak of. Listen to the other tracks here and observe how they offer creative reinterpretations of the source material involved. This has none of that and is inferior to the original. This track was a good example of a fadeout ending being a sign of having nothing left in the tank creatively. And don't fade it out and leave 24 seconds of silence at the end. Apply some originality and creativity not just in the instrumentation approach but also the writing in order to take whatever ideas you may have to the next level. NO

http://www.zophar.net/gym/sonic2.rar - "Mystic Cave Zone", negligible other bits This is 2:04-long; there's no way some undeveloped megamedley is going to pass. The effects and whatnot are decent if not overly simplistic, but there's no substance here whatsoever in terms of the arrangement. Write more varied beats, and develop the arrangement ideas more instead of playing briefer than brief motifs from several themes on top of the Mystic Cave bassline. NO

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Corridor of Time" (ct-3-04.spc) Starts out pretty cover-ish with some beats and lil' strings in there. Would have have had more of a chance in the old days back when there wasn't too much emphasis on rearrangement so much as personalization (see: "Island of Zeal"), but even so the track is still fairly lacking. The beats are repetitive and need to vary more, plus the texture is really thin/sparse and the pizz strings are used very poorly. You used a Reason default for the beats? Too bad yo, write your own beats and offer something more creative. Decent additional warbly sounds and pads in at 1:34 for some new ideas, along with some piano as well, but the same tired beat pattern came right back in at 1:46, lasting practically until the end. Decent beginner effort, but not much of a rearrangement. It's only working with the extreme basics right now. Needs more development and more of your own original ideas introduced into the track, along with a more solid texture via more elements in play, less repetition/looping writing for both the lead and supporting instrumentation. NO

What's the consensus on the analoq-endorsed Grado headphones? Are they too impractical due to being open-eared? Aaron mentioned the sound quality was pretty good.