Liontamer

Thank you for being meaninglessly pretentious while claiming that the "gimmick" lyrics were needlessly pretentious.

Um...yeaaaah...

B-Unit!

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/metroid.zip - "Kraid" Copied with some minor additions from my VGMix buzz comment. Cool mix. Thought this wouldn't make it as is, I don't see what you shat on OCR in the midst of your comments ("I made a specific OCRemix version for all those stupid tags; but that was before I learned the OCRemix sucked.") Anyway, this was a decent mix. Cool atmosphere, though many of the sounds were generic. Heard some odd notes in your use of the melody. Not much creativity on the arrangement front until things got additive at 1:34 with the oboe, which was cool. The sounds were rather sedate overall. The beats that came in at 2:39 were also quiet enough to not really add too much to the piece, though they helped change up the flow a bit. Not bad, Tim. Certainly keep at it, bro. You've got a good deal of potential. NO

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/sd2.rsn - "Into the Thick of It" (sd2-06-1.spc) [:00-1:37, then backing chords until 2:11], "The Holy Intruder" (sd2-13.spc) [2:22-3:50], "Danger" (sd2-19.spc) [4:19-4:33], "Meridian Dance" (sd2-41.spc) [4:33-5:08], "Angel's Fear" (sd2-01.spc) [5:35-7:02] (Bah, I don't even know how the times really matched up beyond "The Holy Intruder"; arrangement's obviously fine though) For the bad: Light, crackly audio deformations at 2:05, 2:15-2:50 & 4:32. Probably some other places. Watch out for 'em. For the good: Not really gonna "waste" too much time on a analysis of the track, because this was awesome shit. My only significant exposure to progressive rock is from Dream Theater thanks to Jared Hudson as well as Mitch Owings, the first tech director at WMRE, but I'm a big fan of their material and this mix really does offer something unique to the community. Christian's always got some good material on this front, and bringing back Marc-André was definitely a strong move. Collabbing with ktriton was a great call. All of the live & synth instrumentation meshed together nicely, and I was really impressed with the entire package. Played the mix on VGF50 and had been looking forward to it hitting the panel. This definitely compared favorably to Dream Theater's material on the structure, performance and energy level. The transitions were SO good; definitely genuine to the genre and very stylish. At a hefty 7:17 with never a dull moment, I could loop this for hours at a time. While this obviously doesn't sound as crisp and clear as a professionally-produced track, I just have to also point out that the production was really strong and showed through very favorably despite such a relatively low bitrate (114kbps VBR). As long as artists can encode their material and keep it under 6MB without sacrificing sound quality, definitely feel free to go for lengthy pieces such as this one. Kunal & Christian are definitely two reasons why OneUp Studios' recent album, Xenogears Light, was a creative success, as they were an integral part of the performance process for most of the CD. The conception here was lofty, but the execution was up for the challenge. Do your videogame music-hating friends a favor and pimp this their way. Excellent job, Kunal, Christian & Marc-André; keep 'em coming! YES

http://www.zophar.net/gym/SK+SONIC3.RAR - "Chrome Gadget" The intro felt pretty weak, IMO, until some more substance came in at :38 in the form of some strings. The e-piano was alright. There were some odd note clashes around 1:23 & 1:33, for example. The minimalist section of 1:16-1:54 really sapped the life out of the piece, though I liked the strings. Decent stuff afterwards, with some tambourine work coming in at 1:53, but the textures here weren't very cohesive. The changeup at 2:14 featured some very pasted-on (and defaulty) synth drums, and the e-piano having no velocity variation was a bit too much of a negative, although I realize it's not meant to sound particularly realistic for this genre. Nonetheless, for breakdowns like the one beginning at 3:27, where the piano is the focus, the piano performance shouldn't sound that artificial and inhuman moving from note-to-note. The ending was fairly sudden & undeveloped, all things considered. Ideas were good, but the execution was lacking. The sound combinations never quite meshed at any point during the mix, which is where I felt the piece needed the most work. Feel free to work on it further and resubmit it. It's certainly got a lot of potential. NO

http://www.zophar.net/gym/sor1.rar - Round 7 ("Up & Up") The sounds were very default-ish. The texture was very sparse, yet there seemed to be a general level of reverb rather than individual parts being handled separately. Everything was pretty much at a loud volume level and fuller sections sounded crowded. The source didn't intro until :58, but of course the mix had a long time to develop. Decent cover-style mix with altered rhythms. It's already pretty cool on account of being derived from such a sweet original track. Get a switchup at 3:40, but the presentation was very flat and plain. About 5:30 in and things were retreading arrangement-wise. Decent ideas, but the sounds & productions are way below the bar, plus the arrangement would need to be more dynamic. NO

Здравствуйте! Great to see a submission from Russia, but it's under some weak circumstances. The theme doesn't come in until 1:07, and it's just a remix of the theme song from the Rescue Rangers cartoon, rather than any original music from the NES game. Very liberal take on the source material anyway, full of generic dance-trance sounds & occasional drumloop samples. NO OVERRIDE

http://www.noderunner.net/~llin/psf/packs/FFX-2_psf2.rar - 101 "Eternity ~Memory of Lightwaves~" Been looking forward to this one. Played it back on VGF47 just after it was removed from VGMix (for being a revision of a previously released mix). I certainly encourage all of you out there to check out Fatty Acid's original version of the track to compare it with this and hear what revisions were made. Played the first version on VGF35 and sephfire managed to do a good job updating the track with some synth/instrument replacements, his own arrangement additions, and a bit more subtlety with the overall levels. If there's cool rhythm alteration, you know Joseph's responsible. Very nice additive synth work as well that blended nicely with the "Eternity" source tune. Interesting e-piano work with the relatively lengthy intro until :51. The flow kind of plods along for those of you listening at home, so don't get your hopes up that it'll break out into something faster. That's not to say it was a bad thing. I thought things were really laid-back. The synth percussion work was serviceable, but definitely could have used more humanization (it was practically the same intensity throughout) and variation (spice it up 'n shit). Going on a hypocritical tangent, one thing I've always found interesting about Dan's mixes are that he can neglect sample dynamics (in this case, the piano) and they still sound alright. There's definitely not enough velocity work done here to humanize that area, but I had no big problems with it affecting a track like this. The fade at 4:30 was also a little too fast. The volume on the percussion definitely should have come down. It was too loud and that prevented it from sitting well within the piece; hurts the texture. One could easily argue that it merely sounds pasted on top, and you just DON'T want that kind of criticism coming your way. Also, this could have employed panning more significantly to creating a more surround-style soundscape. Some Js might say the pacing and build was boring, but I got a very chill vibe from it. Must be my chill bias. In terms of working with the source tune composition, the arrangement was definitely up to par with me. So there were some "questionable mixing choices" (as I hear Shael yell from the back "WTF???) that I think undermined the performance; enough to snag some NOs or bring YESs down to the borderline. But ultimately, this was one of those tracks where The wingless could swoop in and say "i couldn't give a fuck what the problems are," and that's basically my take on it. The mix was definitely alright to me - the arrangement was certainly there, and the production was otherwise solid enough as well. YES

http://www.noderunner.net/~llin/psf/packs/FFX-2_psf2.rar - 112a "Leblanc's Got It All" I will say this immediately: pay extra close attention to time references Navid made breaking down how he chose to rearrange this track. The first time I tried to simply listen to both and compare, I got no connection. But then, getting the detailed breakdown above, I was pleasantly surprised with how well this was reworked. The rearrangement was out there and sounded extra liberal as a whole but connected back easily to the source tune when I examined the various parts. Excellent work giving us an overview of how you handled things, Navid. I played a slightly older version of the track on VGF50 and the production has been improved since then, along with some slight modification of the sounds. Some may criticize the drumkit opening things up, but I thought it was impactful enough, though it had less of presence here than in the older version. Production-wise, some might say this sounds too muffled. I would have liked more clarity in the sounds, but it wasn't a big detraction. While obviously maintaining things so the high-end wouldn't clip at certain times, boosting the high-end frequencies all-around would have sharpened the sound up without undermining the quasi-industrial/whatever-this-is feel. The instruments were seperated well enough and the overall texture was hot. I really was impressed by the combination of sounds; haven't heard a track like this in all my time listening to community music. The more eclectic guys like The wingless & Israfel or the straight up weird fuckers like Goolancer & T.M. Revolutionary that use interesting sounds and textures have never presented anything that's sounded like this. Quirky arrangement, solid results. Even had some cute Prelude (2:05) & Terra (2:11) references done 4 ME, OMG. The arrangement was well varied the whole way through. Some may say the whole thing was unwieldy and they couldn't be more wrong. Just another example of one of those tracks you just can't vote on after one or two listens. This better be the first FFX-2 arrangement we pass. Decidedly strange, but very creative arrangement and a reasonably put together piece. Definitely keeping this one. YES

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/ninja_g2.zip - Track 1 [NES version] http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ngt.rsn - Fortress (ngt-213.spc) [sNES version] Accepted or rejected, Ashane, I strongly feel that you and your brother House should both consider submitting to OC in the future. Both of y'all have come out with some strong work that deserves to be heard & appreciated from the community here. Frankly, I think everyone involved in Dwelling of Duels & The Shizz should follow alongside other rock & metal artists like BrainCells, Darangen, CarboHydroM, goat, Ryan8bit and others who have submitted their material here. I played this mix to help kick off season four of VG Frequency on VGF44.99. This was definitely one of the more enjoyable tracks of the end of last year that I had a chance to check out. Off the bat, some people may have some issues with the guitar work sounding too delayed and/or distant, but I thought it was fairly emotive. I await the metalheads to kill me over my lack of knowledge, but I thought the backing chords reminded of the tone & feeling of the opening of Metallica's "Master of Puppets" for example, and that was certainly an interesting thing. Good freestylish arranged work at :15-:42, though I thought the lead guitar could have used a little more sharpness/clarity while the other elements could have stayed as is. Nice segue of the lead into the "Fortress" source tune at :43, along with a second guitar joining in on harmony at 1:00. Good melancholy feel. Things picked up the pace at 1:23, though the percussion was really (really) boring until we got some cymbal activity briefly in there from 1:50-1:55, followed by some more active drumwork at 1:55, which was very welcome. Make sure the percussion work matches the energy and creativity of other parts of the track. At 1:56, you went back into the Fortress melody, but the support work changed up, which provided some good variation. Nonetheless, the guitar on support was very low in volume and poorly separated, making its contribution difficult to hear. Making your support guitar work a bit more audible could have helped things before you launched into your huge freestyle section at 2:51. Good additive stuff at 2:51 that really worked well with the source tune coverage now functioning as the foundation of the track. Nice riffs from 3:29-3:34 that I would have loved to have heard more of. Ah, and there from 3:56-4:22 is exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for. I would have loved to have heard some more riffs earlier in the song just to change the flow up a bit. Also, during the last bit of riffing at 3:56, the performance was good, but the panning on your alternating guitars should have been a bit more distinct so they didn't mush together. I think other Js would have liked more variation for the foundation of the track from 1:22-3:56, and for some the production could be a negative hit for sounding too muffled; there's definitely could be an improved separation of sounds so one could appreciate all of the various instruments. For something like the solo from (2:51-3:34), I'm sure someone else will say that everything just kind of mushes together at times. Part of the problem was that the support instrumentation not having more separation from the lead work made the performance sound less complex than it actually was (drums notwithstanding). I think the production could be cleaner without undermining the feel of the track. In any case, I thought the arrangement was somewhat conservative and, depending on what you instruments you pay attention to, one may feel it's a bit monotonous. With the middle section going on for so long and retaining the same style, frankly, I almost forget about the introduction being so different in style itself until I listened to the track again. But the instrumentation and arrangement expanded the theme well and beefed the track up as compared to the original version, and Ashane featured several parts where he rearranged the flow of the original theme (the intro), added original composition on top (e.g. 2:52), and expanded the source's instrumentation (the entire mix). On that level, the track works much more in its intent as an additive type of remix, as opposed to reworking or overhauling the original composition. This one'll probably cause a debate, so I'm certainly interested in what Vigilante & zyko will say on this one. Looking at arrangement, production & performance as whole though, I think it's there. YES (borderline)

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ff4.rsn - "The Prelude" (ff4-01.spc) Had this one included in the VGF50 set, so I was familiar with it. I think Chris does a pretty good job here, although his synth work could use more fine tuning to sound more realistic. There was one track in particular on his CastleVania 3 remix album, "Unchosen Paths" where he used a bunch of synth work (mostly strings) mixed with his usual metal stuff and the synth stuff just sounded incredibly fake. All of the synthy parts (winds, brass, strings) could certainly flow a lot more naturally and sound more impactful. Nonetheless, it's good to see though that goat's not timid about doing a piece where synth work is such an important focus, as the performance here came together a lot better than "Emerald Ruins," and showed a lot of improvement on his part. I'm sure Chris is aware of shortcomings he has on that level, so I certainly hope Danny B & Gray break out some orchestration advice that would help things out for future works in the same vein, because if this were just a sequenced orchestration piece, it would have a lot harder time passing. Looking at the big picture, I was definitely feeling the arrangement. There were so many well thought-out variations done on the Prelude, I was really impressed. Definitely was feeling how nicely the original sections tied together with the source arrangement. The transitions were interesting and generally functioned very nicely, though there were spots like at 2:05 where, for example, the horns could have sounded more powerful in order to create better tension and escalation. Doing a brief breakdown of the track beyond the intro, some gentile orchestration gave way to the more militaristic original section at 2:05 before launching into an almost triumphant variation of the Prelude at 2:40 (beautiful ideas with the strings on support from 3:22-3:28). Another creative original section was worked in from 3:36-4:32 as the tail-end combined Chris's orchestration with his telltale guitar work and went for another go at the source material. Nice shift at 4:18 with the pizzicato strings moving to the guitar. 5:28-6:33 had another energetic original section to head towards the finish before closing with the arranged harp. Just a very intelligent composition all around. So anyway, keep improving your synth work, Chris, and keep the hits coming. I'm sure goatess thought this was a wonderful piece, and of course I'm looking forward to anything you've got coming with Unchosen Paths and the Dwelling of Duels. Solid work. YES EDIT: Glad you liked "Toyota Disco" so much. Everyone loved it.

This is taken from my VGMix review of the track. I know Dustin was disappointed to read my review of his mix, but that was my honest assessment. Honestly & objectively speaking, it was all potential and not execution, which is why my review unfortunately has nothing positive to say. I appreciate anyone being willing to give OCR submissions a shot again, but just because the panel has changed over time doesn't mean it'll necessarily be an easier ride. You've still gotta be able to adequately bring it with arrangement, performance & production, and on that level it really doesn't matter what the make-up of the panel is. Sorry, bro. Gotta swallow your pride and keep improving. Looking forward to hearing more of your stuff, though, Dustin. I thought your Kid Icarus & Punch-Out!! mixes were a lot stronger, but this felt like a step backwards. NO

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/sd2.rsn - "A Wish..." (sd2-16.spc) Certainly not a bad track. I played it back on VGF44.99 and it displayed a lot of skill and potential. Paragon's definitely an up-and-comer to watch. Check out his Zelda 2 mix, "Rupees in the Ivy," which was rejected but also was a prime candidate for a resub, as well as his Metroid remix from the Dwelling of Duels: Metroid competition, "Fallen Stars Tell No Tales" (beg him to post it to VGMix or send you the file). The beginning started out pretty nicely. For some of the way, the sparse construction of the track worked well, much like another Secret of Mana mix that (unfortunately, in my opinion) ended up being removed, Brad Smith's "Mystic Invasion." Around 1:09, as the track picked up in intensity, I felt as if the composition needed to go in some other direction to keep things fresh, rather than retreading what came before, since the mix is relatively brief. There was a little bit of new instrumentation added to the second iteration of the source theme to thicken the sound up, but otherwise it was indeed a very conservative arrangement. There's nothing inherently bad about the piece, but at the same time, it's very limited in how interpretive it gets on account of the source tune being so straightforward AND the arrangement being so repetitive. The way the guitar work didn't synch up with the percussion was a little odd, but I'm not bashing that. It worked most of the way through, though around 2:09-2:38 you added some harmony guitar work that threw the timing off a bit too much at times. The ending at 2:43 was pretty sudden/I-give-up-ish there, though I like how it faded out at 2:50. I would have used another cymbal tap like the one at 2:44 again at 2:46 - just a small suggestion that might make that sudden ending a little stronger as a resolution. In any case, I don't feel like you need a huge contrast in the energy level to tap its potential. Keep the mellow feel, James; you definitely pulled off the sad/desolate mood well in my opinion. But the composition does need to avoid the mere retreading route and bring some more pronounced interpretation and development to the picture. Keep up the good work, and resub this one if you're interested. Personally though, this one fits the bill as more of a cover-style piece and doesn't need to be altered, per se. If you're actually up for rearranging it more thoroughly though, I'd certainly be up for it. Really looking forward to the eventual resub of "Rupees in the Ivy." NO (resub)

I learn something new every day. Actually, it's one of those things I knew in the back of my head anyway, since my twin brother used to play the bass clarinet back in the day. Thanks for the reminder, Shariq!

With my computer currently MIA, and me having to use an iMac & QuickTime Player, I can’t reference specific times in the track, so I’ll have to go for the broad overview. From a listener standpoint, I certainly like the track. Played it back on VGF47 and was feeling it. Frankly, this is more of a genre adaptation rather than our typical thorough rearrangements, and taking too conservative of an approach was a problem with Robbie's previous submission covering the Eternal Champions introduction theme. There could have been a change in the overall dynamics at some point via a breakdown or two, and the composition started getting repetitive - it felt repetitive enough where you'll either snag some NOs or get some complaints from reviewers about the track not going in any new direction after a while. If anything, it could get NOed for a lot of the same reasons B1itz Lunar's Super Mario Kart remix, "Pentagon Path," was rejected. Arguments could range from it's close to the source tune, arrangement gets repetitive, there's a lack of dynamics, and the sounds and their texture may not be appealing. Ending was sudden & poor, and could have trailed off a bit longer for a better close. I don't like how even some of the supporting elements of the source tune, such as the strings were simply copied & reinstrumented (yet given more volume/presence in the mix compared to the original). Despite that, you put a good deal of work into the genre adaptation; there were good textures and different rhythms here along with brief but observable liberal rearrangement sandwiched in between some of the more straightforward sections. I certainly noticed that some of the sections in the source tune were left behind in favor of doing your own thing instead. Haven't heard this many orchestral stabs since "Unleash the Beast," although in this case I didn't feel they were very cheesy. Indeed, they could have been punchier. The robot voice actually didn't grab my attention in any particular way, but at the same token I had no problem with the usage. Like Dan has said, the execution feels very authentic given the style, which is why a lot of the potential criticisms on the piece (repetition/dynamics/texture) feel like non-factors to me. Like Izz, I certainly appreciated the performance. Though I genuinely liked it (like I had said earlier), it's also not my thing personally. I really would have been sold on the track had it possessed more of a comprehensive & interpretive approach on the rearrangement, but otherwise it's just over the bar for me. It could have been a lot riskier and could have taken the actual composition in bolder directions, but what was in place here was interpretive though conservative. Looking forward to more from you, Robbie. YES (borderline)

Bah. Might not get the comp back in time for Saturday, but we'll see soon. (Hate being behind schedule.)

Maybe because those here have better musical listening skills and taste, here. Almost the entire song uses the bass lines and the main lines from the original, reworked with many different instruments in different parts of the song, and extrapolates the main part and the bassline all over the song; sometimes together, sometimes seperate. But I probably lost you the second I typed "bass lines". I'm guessing you never paid attention to that when you played the original game. Stepping aside from the flaming here, there is absolutely no question about the level of arrangement here. Like Joseph Collins here pointed out, and it's certainly something I heard on my own while judging it, the usage of the source tune is perfectly recognizable throughout the major majority of the mix. Even voting NO on it myself, that kind of conclusion isn't even close to true.

Looks like the laptop's AC adapter connection area is being a ho. Gonna have to get it repaired, and hope to get the comp back on Thursday. VGF's cancelled for now, with hopefully a makeup coming late during the week, perhaps Friday. Apologies to everyone, especially Bladiator (Happy Birthday!)

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/sd2.rsn - "Spirit of the Night" (sd2-17.spc) I let this one marinate for a little bit. The somewhat dry (though reverbed) nature of the beatwork didn't really engage my interest for the first few listens, but I got more into the track as I gave it time. Good opening with the belltones, acoustic guitar, percussion sounds and electronic work. Everything combined very nicely; the textures were very relaxing. After going for rearrangement right from the intro, the source tune melody recognizably kicked in at :54. There were tons of additive goodies in there while "Spirit of the Night" played in a pretty straightforward manner. Excellent work switching the flow up at 1:35 with some sweet rearrangement ideas for the lead, along with some brief stuttering and more creativity with the percussion patterns. I thought one of the fuller sections became cluttered, from 2:15-2:32, so make sure everything doesn't mud together too much for loaded up sections of your work in the future. Heard a little bit of tinkering around with the stereo field but could have gone for more activity there. Take further advantage of panning tricks. The ending tapered off fairly well, although that last low string hanging until 3:09 didn't sound good. Even going for a delicate approach where things slow down and various instruments drop out as the piece winds down, the ending should have possessed a more satisfying resolution. Overall though, very nice work and a pleasure to listen to, Brandon. Good work creating some dry yet purposeful and satisfying percussion work, a relaxing atmosphere, and some well-executed arrangement ideas. Good choice for a source tune. "Spirit of the Night" is a favorite of mine from the SoM soundtrack, but it would have been easy to create something that attempted to coast on the strengths of the original composition and thus ended up being bankrupt from a creative standpoint. Keep up the good work! YES

Can't figure out what this is mixing from the NiGHTS soundtrack, since I'm not overly familiar with it. Certainly carries some of that vibe here though. From the looks of your VGMix release comments, Andy, it looks like you're done with this one, so I'll just make/iterate some basic points. Vig, per his usual, nailed most of the salient points: -this lacked dynamic contrast the whole way through -the composition/arrangement was very plain & somewhat repetitive -the mallets were playing some bad notes (didn't affect me too badly, but I definitely heard them) -the sounds/samples were generally weak (punch them up with more processing/effects) -the production was also way too muffled and messy; sharpen up the sounds and create a better balance amongst your foreground and background elements It's not terrible, but, at the same time, this would need a ton of work to get it in any kind of shape. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised the production was this poor given that your FFX-2 mix was released before this one at VGMix. Perhaps this was an older project. In any case though, definitely apply yourself more on future stuff. Looking forward to the next submission. NO

Couldn't find any telltale sign of the source tune amidst the VGM FTPs I normally check out, so thanks for including the MIDI. Was waiting for something to take hold during the intro. Finally got some beats in at :42. The mix lacks a bit in the high-end frequencies, but that's probably just personal taste. The percussion & bass work were both pretty sedate sounding. I hear the attempt at "ghetto," but I live in one, and I'm not feelin' it here. There was no real presence or sharpness in the sounds. The trip-hop influence was certainly there, but it felt like the track meandered and plodded along. The source melody was pretty spartan in its usage until 2:26-2:46 switched to a piano solo-type section. Things picked up at 3:22, but we got some um...odd...notes choices until 3:32, then more of the same old groove from before with some slight additions. The string usage at 4:02-4:26 sounded too artificial. Note-to-note dynamics were non-existent there. The performance generally came off as dull and monotonous, and that's not on account of the genre, as there is a lot of badass trip-hop out there. Keep at it, bro. NO

Just wanted to give Liquid Neon some brief judging feedback on the other submissions that fell through. Perfect Dark "Supermans In Chicago": Reliant on the vocal sampling (in this case, Eminem) and definitely a guidelines violation. Music is absolutely distorted and the arrangement is very obscured. SoM "The Likeness Of Death": Same issues as the previous. Timesplitters 2 "Frozen West": Don't have the original to compare to. Melody at :41 was very obscured; sounds need cleaner separation as well as some more attention to the high-end in the EQing. Strings sound fake moving from note to note when you can hear them loudly. Decent production. Composition changes enough where it might not be a rip, though it would have to have a good amount of the source tune used and interpreted here of course. I'd be willing to fallthrough that one to at least give it a proper vote. http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ct.rsn - "Corridors of Time" (ct-3-04.spc) Heh. Nice thick beats introing things. Then some downright unwieldy shit comes in at :19, and again at :32. Wow, the sound balance is ALL over the place. Everything's EXTREME and in yo face nigga. Wow, all of sudden everything dropped out at 1:10, only to pick back up at 1:36. Reaching 2:00 of this 2:54 mix, so far only the first few chords from the source have been riffed on. Gotta throw a bit more substance on the arrangement side. 2:14 there is some serious distortion/clipping going on with one mo time fo da bass. Certainly a big detraction from an otherwise interesting track. This is cooler than a lot of people are gonna give it credit for, but in any case, it doesn't use the source tune enough and doesn't do anything particularly interpretive to it, the sound balance/production needs to be overhauled, and the I'm not trying to squash your style, but you do need to place more focus and direction in the piece at times. It can be disjointed compositionally (e.g. Marsland Brotherhood's Speedball "Speedy Guitar"), but the various parts basically need to individually hold up to the standards here. NO

http://www.noderunner.net/~llin/psf/packs/FFX-2_psf2.rar - 101 "Eternity ~Memory of Lightwaves~" Ah MAN. Why's it gotta be a straight cover? Damn. Then it basically repeats after the halfway point. Well, fuck. Popping sound at 1:05, along with other light pops along the way. Good atmosphere though the overall sound could be sharper, as it's a bit muffly and I'm hearing some light (not bothersome) hissing. Get some higher frequencies into the picture. Got to 1:41 and we're basically just retreading. The drums in here sound a bit too artificial. 2:23, still essentially the same composition as the PSF. Not saying it's just a rip or anything, but get interpretive too. Even the album version of the original only goes for 2:37, so if you're going for a 3:28-long mix, bring some further creative interpretation to the table or you won't make it. That's not a real ending at 3:17 either. Bring a resolution into the picture. Anyway, my girlfriend liked it, so she'll be hanging onto it. This was a really unique offering relative to all other music I've heard in my time in the community, but if the arrangement hits auto-pilot it's all but over. Give your production and the level of creativity on the arrangement a kick. This had the potential to be a very well-received mix, Niels, but you need to put more work into it. Come on back with it. NO (resubmit)

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/megaman3.zip - Track 8 ("Sparkman Stage") Pretty cool ideas on the sound effect intro. Not really connected to the music start, but ya know, Sparkman and all so let's have some sparks. Decent groove here. Fairly basic sounding; pretty simple and straightforward sounds, but the overall vibe was well put together. Cool arrangement ideas from 1:16-1:41. Nothing particularly liberal, but some good ideas adapting the Sparkman theme to the genre and adding a few personal touches. 1:41 changes the flow with some very random electrosynths with some phaser-type effects. The note patterns on them sounded really bad when they were alone until 1:55. It was better when some other stuff joined in and obscured those sounds. The source melody at 2:07 sounded really shrill and there weren't too many liberties taken there on the composition side. With well-layered but otherwise basic electronic/trance instrumentation going on in the additive sense, I'm also looking for the source melody itself to have further interpretation on it. Hits a freeform section at 2:59 that really doesn't come together well. Relies on the same phasing synths and so forth that I referred to before with the iffy notes. Better use of variation on the bare bones of the source tune at 3:50. You have some very good rearrangement ideas in there so far, especially stuff around the end (4:15-5:07) but that simply retreads a lot of what you had earlier (1:16-1:41). Keep thinking of additional variations to bring in to keep the interpretation creative and flowing before you throw in wholly original section or retrace your steps compositionally. Wonder why it took so long to resub. In any case, you need a bit more creativity on the composition to keep things interesting/engaging for a 5 1/2 minute mix. I'm sure other Js will have some production comments as well, but overall I liked what you had in place in those regards. Certainly interested in what zircon & analoq would have to say here. Loads of potential, bro. You should probably move onto a new project (in case you were thinking of resubbing again), but still a good effort. Don't forget the WIP & ReMixing boards, keep honing your skills and keep 'em coming! NO