Liontamer

Katamari Fortissimo Damacy - (15) "Katamari Stars" Yeah, unfortunately, this feels like an oversimplification of the original. The beatwork dragged on after a while. The rigid sequencing actually seems purposeful here, but merely drags the track down because the piece doesn't evolve or develop. Arrangement/structure is given pretty conservative treatment and fails to really tread any new territory as a result. Rearrange the piece with more interpretive ideas earlier on. The section from 4:18-5:33 was a good example though of at least giving the arrangement a different enough feel while playing with the rhythms and structure a bit more. Some nice potential here; keep working on it. NO

What's causing bad notes around 2:30? Sounds to me like the same groove's been going on for a while, and I never heard anything dramatically change, so I don't know what part you were talking about. The stuff at 2:15? The swirly pads at 3:20 (numbers reversed)? In any case, I really can't say I heard anything bad. Track's getting better and better per the listen. Smooth bias.

Ha! I'm slippingz!

Still a little ways from being passable, but he's on the right track and needs feedback to continue moving in the right direction, IMO. This was enough of an improvement from the first version where I was willing to post it direct to panel rather than reject the resub. ------------------------------------------------------ Original Decision: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=78366 http://www.zophar.net/gym/sonicspn_fixed.rar - "Toxic Caves" Piano intro seems OK. A little awkward at first, but it's fairly solid. Percussion coming in at :30 is fairly good; good sounds, and more importantly good writing at the outset. Seems like the piano velocities starting at :39 are really similar, but someone should confirm that. Most of the notes sound like they're at the same intensity. The sequencing there still sounds very rigid and mechanical, which is too bad. Every time you repeated the melodic stuff from :46-1:02, it sticks out. Spots like 2:20-2:42 show off some decent refinement, before going right back into mechanical mode. Sax sample at 1:02 still sounds bare and flimsy. And too fake. The solo on it at 3:17 just exposes the synthetic quality even more, even though the sample is an improvement. You need to do something with the production to give the sound there more depth/body; it's not filling out the soundfield. Short bit with the bass basically alone from 1:10 was decent. The sample is weak, but better than last time; you're making it work for you somewhat. Using some effects/processing to get a thicker/richer sound on it could help. Watch the percussion writing over time. You're throwing in a very nice amount of fills and subtle variation, but overall it's still too plodding at the core. Maybe it's just me, but the main beat pattern dragged out for a long time. 1-2, 1-2, 1-2, ad nauseum. Someone can explain that better, but that's the gist of it. Things still sound barren on the whole. You sound like you only have 2 or 3 elements going on at any particular time, and the bass and sax still need meat on them badly. I would think another supporting instrument/part would help fill this out, but you really wouldn't need to add anything if all of the existing material sounded richer. Arrangement is fairly solid, and the execution is improved substantially from the first time around. The ending at 4:11 is too sudden. Extend the last note or do something else in to let the ending trail off somehow. Use the Works: OC ReMixes and ReMixing forums to get more feedback from people before you attempt another resubmission, and to go for more info on refining the sax and bass samples you're using to achieve better tones. Please don't be discouraged, Tom. You show some great potential, and at this rate your work will gain the polish necessary to have it sounding its best. I look forward to hearing this sub or any other future submissions. NO (resubmit)

Nah, I wouldn't want to do that. Just reviewing some old stuff that hadn't been commented on in a while. Page 29 of ReViews is a lonely place.

Never really paid this one any mind before, but the arrangement was very strong. Possesses a great deal of personality and variation. The percussion stuff coming in before 1-minute mark was rather bleh for part of it, but the changeup at 1:27 was a great idea, and the track evolved quite nicely from that point on.

Glad we have this mix here. Thanks go out to Ariel Asulin, the originator (and king) of groove bias.

Not much love for Life Force it seems. What's this doing on page 29? Doesn't deserve that at all. Great stuff from Vinod, who's a very consistent arranger who I wish we heard more from. Adds a lot of energy to the source material with a fresh approach. Glad it passed, although I didn't feel it was a borderline case myself back when I read the decision.

What a goddamn weirdo. Anyway yeah, it's repetative and one finds oneself losing interest as a result, but the arrangement ideas here are good overall. Certainly lends a different flavor to the source material. Nice work adding some original material to interact with the melody from 1:48 until the end. Good stuff. Somewhat disappointing that this guy was only a one-shot mixer back in the older days.

A decent enough remix if you're not demanding. Really just drags on as soon as the melody comes in. Everything after 2:36 has almost nothing to do with SoR except for that siren. It's just not well put-together. If this is the "Short Edit", then don't put me anywhere near the full version, sorry.

Rather disappointing due to the length, as it's merely 2 loops of the source and it's over before it starts. Yeah, a very cool piece if you just want a conservative playthrough of the original material. When it comes to SoR2's music, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Only thing that saves it from it's near-complete MIDI-ripness is Pat's guitar performance of the melody. If you set that aside, it's brief and enjoyable for what it is.

In a way, this was a nice case of substance over presentation. I could see where the "syncing problems" of the intro were, but don't believe that was an actual problem. Sounds/samples used here aren't that good, but they're put together very nicely and cohesively, and Dan's arrangement was excellent, aside from that awfully spotty writing for the Rhodes. A very underrated ReMix.

Kind of surprised I never saw Mustin comment on this one, but maybe he wasn't feeling it. This would sound great performed (and further arranged) by The OneUps. Great arrangement, Gustav. Volume was a little too subdued, but the ideas and execution are solid. Definitely an overlooked favorite.

Nah, that's not a dealbreaker for me. I'm actually glad it didn't have those, if at least to differentiate it from the source material, since the two songs are structured so similarly. Rather conservative (per the usual), but personalized well-enough. The mix does a good job upping the energy level compared to the original.

Doesn't do anything interesting with the theme at all, but it's got a nice minimalism to it. Can't help feeling though that after about 30 seconds, you've basically heard the whole thing. Mike's got some much hotter works here.

Pretty chill during the intro. The beats coming in later weren't really my style, so I wasn't really with the groove, but everything was put together well nonetheless. I simply enjoyed the more ambient parts. Dunno why this never got more recognition beyond a MIDI-ripper like Eccles (or for that matter why Alexis never bothered titling his stuff).

Both classic and classy. That is just some sick (and slick) rearrangement. Dunno why I never gave it its due before. [/shrug] Very nice stuff.

Need a 32x32 version of this avatar, currently in 40x40:

I'd like to request updated versions of several avatars. The Breath of Fire 2 sprites all need to be brightened up: Need transparency on these: The Street Fighter Alpha 3 fan-art avatars suck, IMO. Can anyone make some good ones with either all transparency OR all with added background colors from these? http://www.sfgalleries.net/art/sfa3/series2/ Or simply crop appropriately and make ones based off these, provided they don't look bad with a resize: http://www.sfgalleries.net/art/st-gba/portraits/ SF3:3rd Strike or Alpha 1 anyone? Colored background would likely have to be added for 3S: http://www.sfgalleries.net/art/sf3/sf3-3s/series1/ http://www.sfgalleries.net/art/sfa/series1/

http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=74141

No headaches, just expressions of "Ok, what the fuck is that?" Wow I was expecting a response, but not THAT fast... And not with that size font!

No headaches, just expressions of "Ok, what the fuck is that?"

Ha! Nice shot with the accordian. Supporting synths coming in at 1:23 weren't my cup of tea. Simple as hell, but the lead instrumentation there was an excellent choice. Nice break at 1:54 as well to keep things fresh, along with the second changeup at 2:04. Nice groove overall, Stefan. [/groove bias]

Could have used more activity overall rather than this spartan approach. Beats coming in at 3:47 dragged this down, but aside from that, this was surprisingly impressive on the interpretation side.

Did you mean "Elven Tears"? I would like to know since I would rather tag the track with your title than djp's; since you're the artist and all. Yeah, that's clearly what he meant, so we'll hopefully retag it when OCR01500 rolls by. The tone of the arrangement here's not a favorite of mine considering how much I liked the original tune. Wish the percussion patterns were more interesting and that all of the instruments were more powerful, but as Alex mentioned way back, he felt the sounds he used were lackluster anyway, so it's a moot issue. Also wish this theme got some more coverage in the community, even just in the C64 arrangement community.