Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

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

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/StarOceanSS_psf.rar - 134 "KA.MI.KA.ZE" I remember the old PRC WIP for this one way back, so I knew this would be solid once Blake finished it up. Certainly glad he got this one fully realized. Brass in the intro was a little fakey (aren't they all) but used well, alongside the other instruments coming together for the solemn-sounding intro. After consulting with Blizi about the pops from :41-:49 (and 3:43), he was able to mitigate the problem a bit, but you can still hear them. Might have to work more to fix that issue, but it's minor. DarkeSword had to fix the same issue for his recent Grandia mix, so he'd have the best info on how to fix it. The intensity picked up dramatically at :54 and set a nice tempo. The writing was nice and intricate and really personalized the arrangement approach despite a relatively conservative handling of the melody to start off. There's tons of great support work and ornamentation to bolster the source arrangement here, and of course Blake did a nice job of seamlessly weaving his other wholly original writing ideas with the source material. Good transition at 2:13 to the next section, though the fadeout of the cymbal crash at 2:14 (or whatever percussion that was) cut out abruptly at 2:19. Booooo! Despite that flaw, everything else was solid. Wonderful changes in the instrumentation in the following section kept the listener guessing with some vox, harp, and even a lone xylo note (or whatever it was, redux) supplementing the nice strings and woodwind work from around 2:40 to 3:10. Very nice variation on the source melody at 3:10 for a quiet but serious take on it, before gradually building it up to some more intricate instrumentation at 3:46. I was just impressed by how the piece continued to develop and evolve very naturally and sensibly. Practically nothing felt forced here. Soundfield got really cluttered from 4:53-onward though. NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Well the next section at 5:32 got rid of that, but still felt a little swamped at times up until 6:24. The very ending felt a little too quick and didn't really end the track memorably; adding more meat to that thin bell sample would have made it sound better. But overall everything here was excellent. Some tweaks would be needed to fix the lil' flubs in here like the popping or that one instrument fadeout that cut off, and I thought 4:53-5:32 was entirely too loud. But even then, this was still a very creative, personalized, dynamic and vibrant arrangement. Great use of the sounds, great textures, great writing, it gets the job done. YESs all over this. You should subtitle it "Kamikaze Variation." Strong work, Blake!

Yeah, I can see. Uh, I'll tell you want, lemme format these tags consistently, just to make sure everything is set. The URLs should have the project homepage, not just "www.ocremix.org." If there isn't a project URL already settled for (I didn't check, so just let me know) then I'll find out what djp will do and tag it up with that info. Plus there are a ton of minor inconsistencies, lemme just do it up tonight and host a copy for someone to grab and provide to the mirrors. Also, is there a track order, or it's just gonna go alphabetically? Right now, nothing's named or tagged with track #s, so I'm just asking. Also, Shael, what's up with "Blood on the Asphalt: a tribute to Street Fighter 2?" The A is capitalized, because the colon is separating two formal titles, i.e. the title and the subtitle. Whatever the first word is after the colon, even if it was "A," "An," or "The" after the colon, you capitalize it.

http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=mo2 - "The Floating Kingdom of Dalaam" (mo2-093.spc) Played this back on VGF68 for the Joe Camera, so I know it all too well. Well, to be honest the very intro doesn't give great first impressions, but it's only a brief thing. The beginning, around :05-:09, is kind of rigid, and the release on one of the notes at :08 seemed awkward. The way the track faded down at 4:12 also felt abrupt, like the last notes should have wound down longer. It's certainly a lot better than the original rendering of "Nayru's Lullaby/Love", which was just sloppy. Anyway, other than those minor things, it was smooth sailing. WHY? I will tell you why. Source tune drops in right at the very tail end of :39 after some very nice, delicate-sounding runs. The arrangement was pretty solid for solo piano, with some good supporting writing to compliment the arranged melody, plus the wholly original sections were woven seamlessly with the EarthBound arranged ones. All very solid stuff. The motifs here were repeated several times, but David took care to build more and more underneath his melodies with each iteration and present something dynamic and evolving the whole way through. That's just smart, sophisticated writing. Very relaxing work. YES

Someone PM me a copy to the project so I can also double-check the tagging. I'd also really rather prefer there aren't any inconsistancies. If not, Matt, just make sure you check through it like a hawk.