Liontamer

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/kidicar.zip - Tracks 1, 2, 3 & 10 The track is slightly over the size limit [6MB (6,291,456 bytes)], and sounds fairly lossy regardless. Encode it in VBR to get more bang for the the buck (or I guess more mojo for the meg...or something). I'm certainly glad to see James back in the community again after not hearing from him in a long while, basically since I started getting serious about the community. This definitely sounds better than the WIP version, which was really thin, though the reverb is over the top and makes everything sound too muddy. I feel it can be more tastefully done, as this affects most of the track. Can't help but feel that the stereo in the intro felt too imbalanced toward the left channel, since the support work was much quieter on the right side; nothing major. Keeping in mind that the reverb/processing here really needs to be redone... Good transition to a subtler approach at :38 taking on another section of the first source. The transition at 1:42 was jumpy and non-existent; definitely a poor way to segue to the next movement. It sounded like the instrumentation simply skipped in at full volume. The tone of the drums at 2:07 sounded completely out of place, IMO. Transition at 2:24 was also strange in that the mood changed without much buildup or connection to the prior stuff. The drums at 2:54 again felt completely out of place in this setting, not to mention mechanically sequenced. 3:18's transition worked better, I felt. The sounds for the 3:18-3:47 section didn't quite capture the intense energy of the writing. The transition at 3:52, on the other hand, felt like you didn't know how to move from the previous section to the next with that horn letting out some sort of death squawk, then just pausing and moving to the new section. There are so many points where the transitions either aren't smooth or simply don't connect the sections effectively, creating that medleyitis I was talking about in the WIP thread, i.e. making a larger arrangement simply by covering several themes in a row with little to no connections between the themes. That wasn't the case the whole way through here. The last few minutes were alright (even though the final note cut off). The small orchestra work here is decent. You had some fairly good ideas for covering the original material, but then expanding the instrumentation/parts to give things some additional depth. Nonetheless you need to more judiciously use reverb and figure out how to flesh out the soundfield without swamping it, you need to build better transitions that don't make the tone change in such jarring ways, and also need to change most of the percussion sounds (i.e. that drumkit) to something that gels with the orchestration. You certainly have a good base in place; keep at it on this one, bro (and go for a more creative title for the arrangement). NO (rework/resubmit)

Why'd you keep saying "Ah-bey" for Abe's Oddyssey? NOT EVERYTHING'S IN JAPANESE, GIRL!!!! HAI!

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FF7_psf.rar - 201 "Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII", 301 "Cosmo Canyon", some others Instrumentation was indeed loud and harsh, and rigid in the performance. Coupled with the roboticness of the timing, the construction was relatively sparse leaving the track feeling empty and devoid of emotion most of the way. The arrangement isn't developed in any meaningful sense; the sub letter's misleading in that there's medleyitis going on. Nothing more to say other than to learn more and subsequently do more for future subs. NO

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/metroid.zip - Track 1 I see the Busta Rhymes/C64 analogies thrown in here, certainly. But Vigilante sums it up short and sweet. The first half was creative at the very beginning, but then didn't develop the melodies into anything more. Beyond 1:36, I also didn't hear anything remotely connected to the source. Track also sounded pretty empty, for example during the section at 1:52. Really could use a pad or something in the background to fill things out. You show potential, but yes, the construction was interesting but ultimately sparse, and the arrangement was way too liberal of an approach. NO

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=dkc - "Aquatic Ambiance" (dkc-08.spc) Rather needlessly loud, so I wouldn't have minded it being toned down a bit. I don't really think the encoding was the primary thing holding this back on the production side, as everything sounds too swamped to begin with. The ideas for the intro were alright but not particularly engaging. But the song was already more than halfway and it didn't feel like anything substantial had happened. The fadeout at 2:54 was way too fast. The whole thing felt like an intro to a much longer, more potentially evolving piece. Certainly some melodic interpretation here, but the track was short and aimless. Where's the beef? NO

How about no?

Danke.

http://project2612.org/download.php?id=36 - "Green Hill Zone" Yeah, the melody is off-key at points. z & D basically called this out for what it was, so I've got nothing to add. Gotta agree with the other Js and wrap it up. Cold blooded, I knowz. NO

This is from a Japanese 1996 Taito arcade game, so I can't find the source from my usual places. Can't believe that the title is right though, yeesh. You've got a good groove going, but where was the rest? I'd like to say more, but you didn't really give us more to work with. Variation and creativity are your friends. Develop and personalize the material more. NO

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff6 - "Tina" (ff6-201.spc) Not exactly the most creative name for this track. Cool intro. Hahaha! The volume is definitely up there. Percussion sounds pretty loose. The piano sample sounds very artificial. The sound balance is pretty poor the whole way through; arguably, nothing is positioned in the soundfield where it should be. About 1:00-in, and I'm not feeling that any workable texture with the instrumentation or cohesive direction with the writing. It's sounds too haphazard and random. The track barely sounds like Terra until some slight connection are (finally) made from 1:41-1:54. 1:54 finally brings in the melody, but the same issues from before are here. Some decent arrangement ideas, certainly. Section at 3:47 sounds decidedly lo-fi, with audible hiss and just a generally low-quality recording. If this was cohesively performed with more sensible post-production, this could be really cool. NO

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff6 - "The Decisive Battle" (ff6-124.spc) 2:05-long? I must say, this decision is almost over before it's started, but we'll still see where this goes. Short and sweet, the atmosphere indeed sounds messed up at times. The arrangement was somewhat personalized, but short and repetitive. Basically 2 playthroughs of the melody, then...over. You've got to offer more than this. Listen to zircon's tips. NO

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/ff1.zip - Track 1 Final Fantasy Vocal Collections I: Pray - (01) "The Prelude" Should encode this thing in VBR to get a better sound. Heh, that is an interesting opening. The vocals are directly sampled from the Risa Ooki track from the FF: Pray arrange album which to me is no good, but it at least wasn't used like a crutch. Too bad you didn't make those vocals yourself. Changes up at 1:56. Oh, wow, the quality just dropped SEVERELY. Wow. It's just, you had some decent textures going on in the intro, then you stopped and went into some really thinly-textured and generic-sounding trance. Everything sounds very unprocessed, the instrumentation choices are too generic, bland, corny, etc., and the track just sounds really empty until 2:48. 2:48 brings in the familiar Prelude melody on faux-plucked strings while a very robotically sequenced ethnic woodwind instrument doubles it. Another changeup at 3:34, with some decidedly more creative sound choices, but the soundfield still feels very empty. You need some pads or something to fill out the soundfield adequately so things don't sound so barren. Whatever you brought in at 4:23 in the background playing the source's supporting chords wasn't doing it. 4:44 starts fading in the sampled arrange album vocals for a decent touch. 5:09 goes back to the melody, but, much like before the writing, beatwork, and overall construction are too simplistic. Basically continued like that until the end. For a 7:17-long mix, the arrangement substance wasn't there, and everything was put together in a fairly beginner-ish way. Work on creating more complex and varied arrangement ideas along with more complex and varied textures; the basics. Obtain some feedback from the community first before you submit in the future. NO

Hahaha! I miss the classic Vig Overrides. So glib, so right. Like he said, we don't want a MIDI rip + beats. Anyway, since the submitter had NO clue about the standards, I link to them and quote a portion for his benefit. Read the whole thing before you try to submit again.

Well, that's certainly true, but it's also about what one can do with their existing stuff. Anyone else have an opinion on how well these particular sounds can be used?

It's abrupt in the sense that the bell fades out too quickly/unnaturally at 6:52, and should be fixed. Otherwise, it seems fine.

I dunno. I think I'm sticking with instrumental. It's better if the stages are all that way. It would be weird to have only 2 like that. You've never played Marvel vs. Capcom 2 or the Capcom vs. SNK series? Lyrics have been in fighting game stages for a while. The trick in this case would be to have them at a low enough level so that they didn't run over the character voices and making extending the track with some instrumental portions so that it doesn't get too repetitive.

Change it to JustChris. That'll be my new handle. CC Ricers is better.

Uhhhhhhh....

It's certainly there. You just have to be able to find it.

Here ya go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_on_the_Asphalt

Well, it's got a beat structure. But yeah, this mix is jiggy, fly, and awesome. Nice work, Don!

Hahahaha! Stinga!

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=fz - "Big Blue" (fz-02.spc) You were hesitant on submitting this? You crazy ass foo. Hey, what are you doing at :32? You got up and started plucking the piano strings or something? Whatever it was, I wish it was louder. Cool idea; too bad boosting it up would have probably made the hiss too loud, but I like it. Source tune kicked in at :54 with a nice piano adaptation of the source, holding to a pretty conservative but personalized, flamboyant-sounding and nicely expanded arrangement. You notice a nice increase in energy and additive parts/embellishments at 2:10. Chorus at 2:36 felt pretty smooth except for what sounded like a slightly sour chord at 2:45. The 3:09-4:11 section dragged a bit, especially the left-hand, but once Jon moved away from that into another delicate variation of the source at 4:12 to finally break that up I was feeling it again. There's a pop at 3:38 that needs to be fixed. Nice segue into original material at 4:43; pretty smooth change there that positioned things towards the finish. That ending at 5:18... "Pff?" Thump and then...it's over? :'-( And that last chord at 5:14 was fading down so nicely. It doesn't hurt the song overall here, but it did kill off the potential strength of the ending. There's also a little noise at 5:19 that should probably be shaved off. The performance does feel a little rough, but it doesn't substantially undermine the strong arrangement ideas and overall solid execution. Yeah, we DO need more pieces like this. Where are the live piano guys to KEEP IT REAL??? YES

Gonna have to get the pimpage/plugs out of the way before I discuss Martin's mix. We have a project going on for VGM composer Tim Follin, who announced a few months ago that he was quitting the video games industry since he can no longer make a steady living off of it. How this man can't make a steady living off his skills, I don't understand. Regardless, myself, Kaleb Grace & CHz have banded together to organize an OC ReMix Site Project dedicated to Follin's work to show our appreciation. When complete, it will be the first non-commericial VGM arrangement project dedicated to a composer rather than a company, game, or game series, eventually located at http://follin.ocremix.org. The project, "Dirge for the Follin" was named by Dwelling of Duels co-creator, Crimson, and will feature tracks from across the game arrangement community. So far, we have completed tracks from Ryan8bit (Solstice), Xoc (Magic Johnson's Fast Break & Super Off-Road), Binster (Ghouls'n Ghosts), Romeo Knight (Bionic Commando), and Makke (Qix). We're looking for anyone else interested in honoring Tim Follin to join the project. ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.exotica.org.uk/tunes/archive/C64Music/Follin_Tim/Ghouls_n_Ghosts.sid - Subtune 10/11 This is the third completed track for "Dirge for the Follin", and it's already been very well received by the Commodore arrangement community, reaching #2 on Remix64's All-Time charts. The arrangement is pretty conservative in terms of altering the structure of the original. Where the track really excels is the personalization and creavity put forth in expanding the source material, much like bLiNd, McVaffe and Mark Vera have done in the past. Short and sweet, I thought the production was excellent the whole way through and that the arrangement displayed great dynamics to retain the listener's interest. Martin not only worked towards creating his own interesting sounds and textures, but substantially built upon the framework of the original with his own additional writing to fill this out and ratchet up the energy level. It's a genuine pleasure to have this track representing "Dirge for the Follin" and I'm sure those in the community will feel the same way. YES

http://www.zophar.net/usf/sf64usf.rar - 15 "Sector X" Yeah, I remembered this theme from a little while ago, since TO's also mixed it, albeit with more Starship Troopers samples in there. I liked vibraphone used in the intro, displaying a similarity to the instrumentation of the original. Picks up at :34 with a fairly straightforward arrangement of the original. Samples aren't that hot or realistic, but they're put together reasonably well. 1:15 brought something new and more interpretive on the arrangement side, though the effects on the vibraphone are mudding up the track. Moved over into some strings handling the arranged melody. Don't really like the brass at 2:21 sounding relatively dry compared to the nice delay on the others instruments, as it made them seem like they weren't in the same spacey atmosphere. The brass at the foundation of the 2:49-3:21 section REALLY sounded like it needed more body/richness, and didn't fill out the track adequately. The writing tries to sound powerful, but the brass doesn't have the processing on it to get the job done and have it translate to the listener. Better stuff back to the vibraphone lead at 3:22-3:39. Adan pulls off a fairly simplistic soundscape well, not leaving things bone dry and empty, but at the same time allowing the simpler construction here to provide genuine contrast with other sections of the arrangement. That's the right way to go about it. 3:39-4:53 had several short sections, featuring some good periodic instrument changes to keep things interesting before amping things up for the closing section at 4:57. Ending cuts off suddenly at 5:25, so we need a fix on that. Much like Adan's first mix here, the samples and production leave something to be desired in terms of realism. A richer feel for some of the more synthetic-sounding instruments could have been cool. There are any times here where a denser soundscape would have been more appealing, and dare I say substantive, but the minimalist instrumentation approach here was handled pretty well regardless. The arrangement here was pretty sharp, doing a lot of creative, interpretive things with the "Sector X" variations, making use of a lot of good instrument combinations, and developing well over its 5+ minutes. On that level, this piece gets the job done. It sizzles, but it doesn't suck. YES