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Everything posted by Liontamer
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OCR01360 - Final Fantasy VI "Deadly Promises"
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in ReMix Reviews & Comments
Awesome as fuck! Mike has made "Terra" his bitch. -
It's not "non-traditional". You can listen to something like NPR and hear their segments put together that way. It's a refreshing approach re: community radio here. I'd say keep the music clips at a minute, but lengthen them only when you need to pad the show, which doesn't sound like something y'all need to do.
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*NO* Chrono Cross 'Where Force Stood Still' *RESUB*
Liontamer replied to GrayLightning's topic in Judges Decisions
Whereas I think Bev's orchestral pieces need more work overall in the execution, her solo piano stuff tends to be stronger. I don't mind the timing being a bit off as it relates to my decision. Though I nitpick over it, it was nothing major overall, and, agreeing with Gray in conversation we had about this one, I also felt it lended humanity to the piece. Some quick fix things: There was an awkward note at 2:15. There were some unnatural aburpt note cutoffs at 3:20 & 3:24 that need to be smoothed out also. I felt much of the left-hand activity was simplistic enough where it didn't fill up the space much. Of course, the left-hand actitivy was gonna be a repeat issue since the composition was basically the same. My major issue with the piece though, which may come across as subjective, but which I felt ultimately proved too much of a detriment to merely be subjective, was that the texture was awfully sparse. Agreeing with DarkeSword's vote on the previous version, I could see how the relative emptyness of the composition could discourage other Js as well. The track may simply need more sustain going on to create a fuller sound in order to compensate for any thinness in the performance, although the bass levels were a bit flooded to begin with, so it's a delicate operation. I hope others have some good suggestions here on how to tweak the production on that level. I dunno why the track sounded thinner here, but comparing the new version versus the old, that was indeed the case. The arrangement and performance are certainly on point for me, but I need a bit more tweaking for the YES. I think making the composition itself more intricate would also help, but it may be an impractical suggestion at this point. No qualms whatsoever if this passes. NO (borderline/resubmit) -
http://www.zophar.net/gym/sonic2.rar - Boss (Robotnik Theme.gym) There was some noted improvement here, so pardon me for focusing in on the negative aspects. Some of the jerkier note movements were effectively smoothed out. Some of the instruments still sounded a bit too synthetic, like that wind instrument at 1:00. The new horn sample at 1:30 was way too loud and muddy. The sound of the sample itself was better though, and much more realistic. At 1:50, you smoothed out the notes a little bit on whatever the lead was there, but the timing was still a bit off. Again at 2:04 the horn was too loud and muddy. Not sure why it sounds so rough now. Moving back into the whatever-dat-is lead at 2:24, the sample sounded too synthetic and thin, creating too thin a texture as well. The quiet vox at 2:50 sounded really robotic, and was particularly exposed in its note-to-note movements. The strings on lead at 3:54-4:05 sounded really fake as well. Most of the problems here were still textural (on account of some thinly used samples) or with humanization (as some of the instruments were fixed up but others were still left sounding robotic). Indeed again, the lead at 4:09 had similar note movement problems. Actually, all of the leads until 4:33 had that problem. Also, the horn layered with your lead at 4:23 that steadily rose in volume ending up being too loud and blaring from 4:30 to 4:35. In particular, everything from 3:54-onward needs to be tightened up substantially. I understand you won't be able to work on this again until you go back to university, Bev, but I still can't pass this I'm afraid. If you end up resubmitting this again, I'd get a ton of outside feedback to make sure things are solid. I realize you were under time constraints, so I don't think you should let a NO dampen your spirits here. NO (resubmit)
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Well it could be interesting since I did use to give reviews in the WIP forum a while ago. Does anyone else think this would be a good idea? Very sparingly. Stick with people you know will actually finish what they've started. I'd keep the priority to mixes you feel confident could pass as well.
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Considering the disparate natures of the two, the comparison is completely irrelevant and inappropriate. Uh, I realize the interweb can be a poor conduit of sarcasm, but of course that wasn't a real comparison. The two mixes are nothing alike at all. I should have added something facetious like "(birdcussion™ Ari Asulin)"!
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OCR01357 - Final Fantasy X-2 "Under a New Moon"
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in ReMix Reviews & Comments
Not to diminish this track making it, especially since I enjoyed it myself, but how we took this and NOT Joseph's even hotter "Matoya no Fuuketsu" is beyond me. Man, what a mistake y'all. -
OCR01366 - *YES* Mega Man 6 'Flurry of Frozen Fury'
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in Judges Decisions
http://www.zophar.net/nsf/megaman6.zip - Track 2 ("Blizzardman Stage") This one was pretty chill, and the audience for VGF56 were definitely impressed with this one when it hit the air. Megman VI had a really good soundtrack. Not quite up there with MM2 or MM3, but it was a welcome change of pace from the lackluster themes of MM4 & MM5. Cool opening inspired by the source material, and some piano handled the rearranged melody nicely at :19. Already pretty stylish at the outset, I just knew this was gonna be solid. Some very dense strings joined in harmony with the piano at :34 and the soundfield was nice and dense. Nice acoustic guitar section at 1:10 to change the mood of the piece; it worked well to create some dynamic contrast without even changing the tempo, followed by the chorus at 1:27 on strings. I liked the sax work arrived at 2:03 in a nice original section, before sexin' the ladies down at 2:41 with the Blizzardman melody once again. Later some airy female vox handled the chorus. The instrument variation presented here was a huge plus for the track. DarkeSword pointed out that he felt as if many of the notes were too punchy, though I disagreed with that as an issue. To me, the performance style was impactful, though for others it may strain realism too much. At times, it felt like the track had a bit too much reverb, but overall everything was pulled off with skills. The arrangement was very engaging, and I'm glad Don decided to send it. Vurez has been someone I've been aware of for awhile at VGMix, as his multiple Megaman VI mixes initially caught my attention. He had a close call with his Ys VI remix, but I really hope that's resubbed as well. I hope Don keeps us in mind for future submissions, including his other MM6 material, and his Ninja Gaiden mix "Basilisk Run". Nice work, bro. YES -
OCR01366 - *YES* Mega Man 6 'Flurry of Frozen Fury'
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in Judges Decisions
Yeah, I checked it out and Don mistakenly linked to his Tomahawk Man mix "Silver Setting Sun". I fixed the link in the submission letter. -
*NO* Star Fox 'Sergeant Zim's Starfox Squadron'
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in Judges Decisions
http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/starfox.rsn - "Sector X & Sector Z" (sf-17.spc) Yeah, I remember this one here. I played the PRC version of this one on VGF54. If you didn't link to that MIDI from Doulifee's space though, Lee, I would have spent hours listening to the SPCs to figure out what you tried to mix. We'll see if anyone else agrees, but I found this to be another overly liberal arrangement; not enough recognizable parts of the original were in here, I felt. The sounds were fairly basic, and not very cohesive at times when the groove stuff kicked in. I finally heard the first section of the source tune recognizably rearranged at 1:39. The groove was pretty basic, and I felt that the soundclips were too much of a gimmick. Some were too quiet and even the louder ones were somewhat undecipherable. The huge disparity in volume between different soundclips came off as too amateur unfortunately. I liked the string stuff at 2:22, but it was still too liberal. Nice wind instrument layering at 3:50 for the finish. Most of the material felt "inspired by" rather than "derived from", I'm afraid, so I can only go NO. -
*NO* Sonic the Hedgehog 2 'Stormy Night at the Plant'
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in Judges Decisions
http://www.zophar.net/gym/sonic2.rar - "Chemical Plant Zone" This isn't anywhere near acceptable vis-a-vis the standards. The source tune melody was essentially taken verbatim the whole way through, and the synths playing it were basically the same as the original. Beyond that, there was nothing else alongside the source tune but some drums and quiet strings. The whole "Stormy Night at the Plant" motif only applied to the SFX from the first 60 seconds and nowhere else in the track. 6 minutes for this? Nah, there's just no point dragging it out this long. No significant creativity in the actual arrangement whatsoever. Not quite an Override-able submission, IMO, but you definitely need to read the standards more closely, bro: NO -
*NO* Legend of Zelda 3 'Sixty Feet Under'
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in Judges Decisions
http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/loz3.rsn - "Sanctuary Dungeon" (loz3-15.spc) Played this one back on VGF52 and knew this was gonna need some work from the get-go in order to get it up to snuff. Decent intro, though the SFX being so grainy was kinda weak. Piano & drum intro was somewhat sparse, but a pretty unique way to build things up. The source tune kicked in at :59, but I felt it was too conservative and reliant on reinstrumenting things to change the feel without much of anything else going on. Ha! Go Go Godzilla at 1:39! Still pretty conservative stuff with the arrangement, but I liked the quiet vibe there thanks to the new instrument choices. The synths arriving at 2:11 had some really jerky not-to-note movements and the tambourine needed to be quantized badly. There were some supporting elements there like a harp and some vox that you could barely hear at all, so I'd suggest bringing those up a bit. By 2:56 the synths on lead were really straining. You may want to change/alter the lead sooner in order to not let the track get monotonous during that section. Same problems with a lack of performance realism with the wind instrument introduced at 3:04. Same jerky note-to-note movements. Heard some Super Metroid at 3:31; nice yo! The laughing SFX was a decent touch but the sound quality of the sample being so low prevents it from sitting well in the track. Perhaps use some additional effects on all of the soundclips to disguise the lower quality. The soundfield was pretty sparse from 3:04-3:55, and may need something subtle added into the picture to further fill things out but disrupt the relatively quiet setting. Source melody returned at 4:08 on strings, which comparably sounded much better than the synths and wind instrument pointed out earlier in terms of performance dynamics. The issues were still there, but were much less noticeable. The velocities of the piano at 5:02 sounded nearly the same for your close. The subtle strings in the back should be brought up in volume and then faded down just like the rest of the instruments. Good arrangement ideas, but the execution needs refinement. Not sure when you'll be able to get to this in order to rework it, but keep at it, Bev. I feel like this one needs more texture to the sounds, and refinement in how you're using your samples, but ultimately those have been recurring issues that you've been able to tackle in the past. This one needs a substantial bit of work, but I'm sure you can swing it. NO (refurbish/resubmit) -
OCR01368 - *YES* Bust a Groove 'Bust This Groove '81'
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in Judges Decisions
Vig & I both surmise that the source material is probably in the clear. With the soundtrack being from 1998 back before the licensing boom in VGM started, and the source tune referencing in-game stuff, I'd very likely say there's no issue. I may check further with Kaleb Grace and crew, but otherwise I'll take responsibility for it. -
http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FFXI_psf2.rar - 211 "Airship" Ya damn right this kind of stuff is discouraged. Don't even put your name on something like this where the differences are so negligible. If anyone outside the panel compared these two tracks, they'd ROFL. As a posted mixer, I realize you have one conservative track on the site, but this here was absolutely too much like the original. NO Override
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Kingdom Hearts - 101 "Dearly Beloved" http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ct.rsn - "Chrono Trigger (part 2)" (ct-1-02b.spc) Oy, MIDI-rippish beginning for the first 36 seconds with a terribly harp-like synth. Total sound downgrade going for a minimalist approach. Some string pad entered in at :26 to at least add something. Some breakbeat style stuff entered in at :57 and this track is still barren. Finally some new ideas at 1:26, but it was just a slowed doen version of the Chrono Trigger theme thrown on top. Some phasing synths faded in at 2:00. Just seems to be the addition of a new sound every few seconds or so. Too bad the sounds are so poor, and that foundation of "Dearly Beloved" has been taken verbatim instead of rearranged in its own right. Not really gonna keep track or any further additions. Admirable for a first try, but a very weak track otherwise. Head over to the ReMixing forum and figure out how to score better sounds for free, then rearrange the source material in future efforts. This additive approach as is just doesn't fly. NO
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Really phony choir and cruddy wind instrument material opening things up. I'm afraid I don't have the original in front of me, but Gray might come through with recognizing the source tune and the level of arrangement. The composition itself was somewhat engaging. BAD lowering of the note pattern of the support instrumentation at 1:36 and again at 2:04. The choir was really muddy and poorly positioned at this point. I liked the direction the composition went after 2:30 though. The execution was lackluster giving how the inhuman the vox and instrumentation sounded, but I liked the ideas there. Head over to the ReMixing forum and get more knowledge on humanizing your sounds before attempting to submit again. As long as the arrangement ideas were there, feel free to work on this further and try again. NO
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OCR01382 - *YES* The Human Race 'Bando alle Seghe'
Liontamer replied to Liontamer's topic in Judges Decisions
http://exotica.fix.no/tunes/archive/C64Music/Hubbard_Rob/Human_Race.sid - Subtune 4/5 You've gotta listen to 3 minutes' worth of the source to hear all of the sections used in this one. Played it back on VGF42 and knew it was solid. I talked to Slaygon, creator of SLAY Radio, about this track and he said the title loosely translates to "Everybody Stop Wanking". Awesome. This one was a fairly conservative but expansive take on the original material (which was pretty sparse). The drumloop derived from Enigma's "Sadness, Pt. 1" (but not created by Enigma) was recreated by Carlo and beefed up compared to Enigma's own. Good opening up to :09 very loosely derived from the opening 8 seconds of the source tune. Some chanting-like vox rhythms, a phasing synth and ethnic percussion joined in soon after that to fill out the track further. The Enigma drumloop, the bassline, and the source tune on light string pads joined in at :47. Good power in the sounds. The source tune melody entered at 1:26 along with some light acoustic guitar in the background that I wish was more prominent. The atmosphere could be cleaner and more seperated for my tastes, and the lead felt like it had too much reverb, but, overall, the soundfield was full and the energy level was good. Pretty straightfoward coverage going up until 3:00, followed by a move to a new section of the source at 3:12. 3:12 tackled another section of the original with a wind instrument solo, with the bassline joining in at 3:31. I liked the shimmering SFX thrown in there at 3:02 as well. The drum sample at 3:50 cut off too abruptly moving back into the source melody though. Nice rearranged ending section at 4:48 wrapping things up with the bassline, string pad, and phasing synth. Pretty nice overall. I love well done Commodore arrangements that add lots of body to the original SIDtune. When a genre adaptation is well done, it can upgrade a sprase but compositionally strong track by giving it more musical "identity". In other words (i.e. me making up terms), the original track sounds plain and genre-neutral while this arrangement was a great Eurobeat track. djp could articulate my point much better than I could. Definitely glad Carlo submitted this one to further represent the Commodore/European scene, and I thank him again for helping me contact N-Joy to submit his Stormlord mix "Seneca's Marble Pack Edit" to OC as well. I'll continue doing what I can to encourage more Commodore scene submissions from the Remix64 community as there are a lot of stellar arrangers there who have yet to be heard as far as OC goes. YES -
OCR01371 - *YES* EarthBound 'Battling Organs'
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in Judges Decisions
http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/mo2.rsn - "Battle Against a Weird Opponent" (mo2-029.spc) This one played it pretty close to the tempo and composition of the original. It certainly made the source material more energetic and eccentric, but that was on account of the synth and production choices, not any melodic rearrangement. The style was too similar to the original, but most of the ideas were additive, attempting the expansive arrangement route. I liked all of the additions in there though, and as much as I was inititially inclined to flatly go NO. There were several creative support additions, and other parts were absolutely gold, like the wholly original melody from 1:20-1:41 on top of the chorus. Most of the additions felt true to the Earthbound style, though some stuff came across as too random and not working in tandem with the source tune melody, for example 1:02-1:19 and 2:06-2:25. On the plus side none of the additions were repetitive except for the additions on the chorus at 2:26, which was fine. Loads of variation in the additions, but none in the foundation of the track. If this was back in the day, this wouldn't be a problem for me, but I feel like there's gotta be more to it. Does it compare favorably to relatively recent past material where the source tune style and tempo has been kept verbatim yet the composition has been substantially expanded, like Mark Vera's Laser Squad "Mission Recalled" or Makke's Lost Patrol "In the Air Mix"? To me all of the additive elements clicked there, and they don't all click here. That's definitely not because the source tune you chose was "too strange". The track abruptly cut off at 2:51 as well. Anything that could be done to make some of the most prominent additive ideas work more closely (and I suppose I should say logically) with the source would push this over the bar as an additive-approach arrangement. Even "Treehouse of the Ancients" had a great original breakdown that pieced together thematically with the source material; maybe bring in an idea on that level? Damn, really don't wanna do this again. Chris is a hero in the community, no lie. Sorry, man. :'-( NO (borderline/resubmit) -
http://www.zophar.net/nsf/smb3.zip - Track 2 ("World 2 Map") Pretty cool opening, though I didn't like the opening synth appearing at :11. Just a subjective thing, so it's not a hit against the track as far as the vote is concerned. The arrangement itself was alright. The strings at :30 were a decent touch but were way too synthetic sounding, the decays in particular. Some of the compositional ideas with the strings, for example :46-:54, were a little too spastic, but that's fairly subjective. Besides, you had the right idea in general and most the ideas there clicked. New section at 1:17 and I'm hurting a bit on these inhuman strings, because they're seemingly meant to be used in a realistic sounding context. The tambourine was a bit too loud compared to the lead here. Pull it back a bit, perhaps. The drum pattern was a little plodding at 1:35. Good key change at 2:10. Heard what felt like an awkward note at 2:32, and the drop in key at 2:36 was abrupt and sloppy. 2:56 sounded like an unpurposeful skip; if it was intentional, it didn't work well. The foundation of the arrangement was too repetitive (yeah, I know how the original sounds), but overall I felt the composition was definitely over the bar. Just need some refinement on the sounds. I know stuff like Final Fight CD "Adrenaline Rush" got passed a while back having the similar issues as this, but the bar's moved higher than that so I need more refinement here. I could definitely see this getting YESs as is. Good job so far. NO (refine/resubmit)
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*NO* Banjo-Kazooie 'In the Darkness Lies'
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in Judges Decisions
Too bad Joker's link to the original 404'd. Common sense says the source tune is "Mad Monster Mansion (Interior)" but I also hosted the Exterior & Aquatic versions of Mad Monster Mansion on the FTP for anyone else who's interested. A piano playing the source started things off at :07, followed by a basic beat and some (cool) SFX at :26. The strings in the back filled the space a bit, but it was pretty sparse nonetheless. Production was a bit dull. A VERY thin and inhuman-sounding string joined the background at :46. The percussion/beatwork was still pretty bare. Despite other sounds and effects attempting to fill out the background, the atmosphere was still a bit empty, but it tends to work for the style. To me it sounds like it needs some minor addtions but nothing drastic. The changeup at 1:44 with some xylo axction, I was feeling. The piano chords at 2:02 didn't really harmonize with the xylophone initially, but I needed to listen several times in order to get more accustomed to it. At 2:41 the string sounded really fake again, though I liked the extreme delay on it. It's the same sample Sefiros used in Final Fantasy 8 "Everything = Nothing", so I can definitely say I've heard the sample used more realistically. More than 3 minutes into it, and the heavy string section was a decent change of pace, but the track dragged a bit from 3:20-onward. On the whole, the lead material was lacking heading towards the close; fairly repetitive. The whole thing sounded pretty unwieldy and unfocused on the first go, because I didn't listen to the source first. Give it several listens here to get used to things and take in the atmosphere. A kneejerk reaction to this would be a huge error, so don't make that mistake. The strings were a bit too inhuman and the overall track sounded too sparse and relatively repetitive. Sparse is a subjective description, and for the most part it works for the track anyway, but again, I need a little but more going on than reverb. A little more could be done with this compositionally to keep the end from dragging, but the arrangement was a pass to me. You're definitely right on the line to me, Dave. Scary Res Evil-style shit here; I'm liking it so far, but need a tiny bit more. No problems if this passes whatsoever, as my issues may be too subjective and not shared by the group. Best of luck on the rest of the vote. NO (borderline) -
http://sonicveg.digibase.ca/creative/midis/gba/sadv/gba_sadv_sac01.mid - Ice Mountain Zone Act 1 http://sonicveg.digibase.ca/creative/midis/gba/sadv/gba_sadv_tk03.mid - Ice Mountain Zone Act 1 We don't want this kind of stuff at all. 1:49-long is too short/underdeveloped, the track is repetitive, and it's just a copy of the original. Read our rules before you send us submissions, please. "You're too close!" [chokes Wyclef] NO
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OCR01370 - *YES* Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening 'The Sad Fish'
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in Judges Decisions
http://www.zophar.net/gbs/zelda.zip - Track 47 I recalled this one from VGF59 and was glad to see it make its way to djp's inbox. The source tune entered in at :25 on a delicate French horn, and yea it was good. I'd like to see Gray in particular assess how well the execution was pulled off. It could use some refinement, but I don't need to tell Nicolas how to make his material, cuz his catalog of stuff has been pretty strong overall. All of the arranged material was well-varied and the atmosphere was very relaxed. 1:46-2:42 dragged on a bit, and could have had a bit more going on in terms of the composition, but maybe y'all will love it. The piece as a whole was a bit too quiet for me, but you know how I am, right? Needs to be drastically overcompressed to even be listenable. Seriously though, nothing against the volume as it fit the style and the genre. Though I heard some light popping there, I liked the flute trill at 2:48. That was a nice little touch there before...Oh ho, what's this? That was a VERY pimp transition into some incredibly catchy string, drum & piano rearrangement at 2:58. Wow. Way to breath a lot more life into the piece for the finish! I felt as if the arrangement could have been more active and intricate at times, but had no big qualms. Good enough for the YES. -
http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FFXI_psf2.rar - 111 "Rolanberry Fields" Played this one back on VGF60, so I've been looking forward to critiquing it. The opening was pretty conservative with the steel-stringed guitar. Mostly heard additive elements here as opposed to any liberal rearrangement, but this was a nice conservative approach with some personal flair. Some other synth strings came in at :42 but sound very muted and muffly. They're supposed to sound lo-fi but the loud, trebly beatwork was just obscuring everything, so the sound balance needs to be adjusted. The whole track lacks sharpness and clarity, so you better get tips from the ReMixing forum or the VGMix Conservatory on what to do about that. Nothing wrong with the bird SFX, though it ain't birdcussion and it's a bit too loud without serving much of a purpose; sounds like something that should be a lot less prominent. 1:12 reached the chorus and had some decent genre adaptation work. Some trumpet stabs or whatever you would call those were brought in from 1:28-2:10. A bit gratuitous there at points, I think those should have been used more judiciously. The soft pizzicato strings starting at 1:49 didn't always seem to be playing the right notes. By 2:00, the arrangement of the chorus was really dragging. Trim the fat there. The following section at 2:32 with strings had some serious problems once it reached 2:53 as the pizzicato strings, twinkly notes and bassline did NOT harmonize properly up until 3:14. Need a theory guy to help clarify the issue there. Good ideas for rearranging the chorus at 3:36, though the guitar notes generally had the same intensity from note-to-note, which doesn't sound realistic at all. Humanize the performance there. Things got a little too busy at 3:57, bringing in those poorly harmonizing elements on top and around your strings until 4:18. Position the strings more in the forefront and pull the supporting elements back a little there. I really liked the stuttering and fadeout of that synth from 4:17-4:49; perhaps use a similar idea like that earlier on. Reminded me of Fatty Acid's style; maybe y'all should collab sometime. Good ending as well, though fade it out more cleanly, since it doesn't even fade out all the way. You could really trim the fat off some of this, Paul, cuz the arrangement was too long and couldn't support 5:25. Refine or remove some of the needlessly crowded sections (i.e. 2:53-3:14 & 3:57-4:18). Tone the trebly percussion down a bit, and figure out how to get a cleaner atmosphere here and fix the sound balance among your instruments. I kind of joke to myself that Paul sure has the ReMix titling schema down pat, but just needs to the get the rest above the bar. This guy's one to watch though. Once he refines his composition and learns more about production, he has the potential to be a solid contributor. Keep working at it, bro. NO (rework/resubmit)
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*NO* Doom 2 'Into Sandy's City (Shotgun Mix)'
Liontamer replied to djpretzel's topic in Judges Decisions
http://www.dongrays.com/midi/archive/game/d2/d2map09.mid - "Into Sandy's City" Aight, so we have a trance thing going on with some stock sounds. Not particularly groundbreaking, but let's see where it goes. :46 had a decent original rhythm preparing the listener for what I assume is gonna be the intro of the source tune soon. Really not liking the choice for the lead from :46-1:38, as it was in my face 'n shit, but that's generi-trance for ya. 1:13 had some claps enter the background along with some subtle strings. The buildup was quite long for this 4-minute piece but finally the melody arrived at 1:39. Unfortunately, some muddy vox managed to crowd up the soundfield and actually muffle the melody. Those hats gradually getting louder starting at 2:06 were really annoying. Very generic sounds still by 2:35. Nothing very interesting. Sounds like something a beginner Commodore scene arranger could think of, in that this was just a straightforward trance adaptation of the original. Adapted capably, sure, but not very innovative or even interpretive. NO -
http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/Chrono_Cross_psf.rar - 104 "Time's Grasslands - Home World" The opening synth was a bit shrill, but was an acquired taste. Some weak drums entered in at :19 while the stuttering sound supporting the lead synth took over. Very boring transition section from :20-:42. You gotta cut the fat out of this mix and scrap that kind of stuff. At :43 the melody kicked in. The bassline was alright, but the beatwork here was a bit spartan. The beatwork changed at 1:01 into some snares, but they were too simplistic to drive the mix along. There were some good phasing/buzzing sounds in there though to fill up the space a bit more. There was that grating synth on support at 1:22. The instrumentation was still pretty sparse and weak, though I'm glad some effects were present throughout the mix in the attempt the thicken up the atmosphere. Not enough mind you, but certainly a step in the right direction. The chorus arrived at 1:40 and more of these beats and snare shots surrounded the music but didn't gel with it, preventing them from adding anything meaningful to the arrangement composition itself. The really flat transition at 2:21 detrimentally dropped the energy level. Guess it went into a minor key. Change that into something new, please. Nah. Definitely a NO-go. The sounds were thin, and the beatwork here had no texture or power. The arrangement of the actual melody was pretty simplified and conservative. The ending section at 3:28 was a weak way to abruptly end the piece (mostly the fault of that awful synth at 3:40). There weren't many instruments or sounds in play at any given time, leaving the soundfield pretty empty most of the way through. The sound combinations here took some getting used to, but after a few listens the supporting elements in particular sounded a lot more structured and less haphazard, so don't listen to this only once and get thrown off. Truly, it takes a special mix to sound thin but still feel cluttered. Reminds me of the Robo theme mix ambient made a while back that had similar problems. If Majin'll be pissed, he'll just look back on this one way later and wonder why he thought this would genuinely make it as is. You're cool with me of course, Majin, but after getting shit from you about the site recently posting several "shitty" mixes (Shael/Mythril/Fat Man/OverCoat/DCT), I'm surprised you and ambient subbed something that's clearly lacking in a lot of areas and doesn't even compare to the material you yourself criticized. That attitude contrasted with this submission is laughable. All talk if you guys can't bring your A-game. For Majin especially, whom I've heard some excellently made music from and played on my show, I'm kinda surprised considering what he's capable of. Y'all both keep working on your material, though I'd call this a done deal and move onto something else. NO