Liontamer Judges ⚖️

February 4, 2005

I'm sorry if this is a bother, but I have the impression that my submitted remix fell through. I never recieved a rejection email or anything, and I submitted it in October. Plus, in January I changed hosts anyways to someone more stable.

Remixer name: Defiance

Name of game remixed: Commander Keen 4

Just reiterrating, it's the dopefish theme.

Thanks for your time,

Defiance

"Peter Mitchell" <defying14me@yahoo.com>

February 3, 2005

Hey Liontamer. This is a standard fallthrough request. I submitted a remix in October 2004 and received a submission confirmation email. It must have gotten lost in the shuffle or something because I haven't seen it in the queue over the past three months (the queue is shorter than that, right?). I'm still quite fond of it so I'd like to see it judged.

Game: FF8

Title: Maybe I'm a Lichen

Remixer: Dj Orange

Yes this is my first fallthrough request. Thanks.

--------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FF8_minipsf.rar - 408 "Maybe I'm a Lion"

The source tune is somewhat hard to get a grasp on, so I had to listen to both for a while. The sounds of the intro will be hit or miss with some folks, but I thought it sounded very fitting for FF8. The percussion work starting at :22 was SO dry and flat, it really didn't bolster the piece like it should have.

The drumloop that you sampled at :48 sounded so distant and muffled, it really detracted from the piece. Sounds very stapled in, so I really would have rather heard some percussion that was original in execution and crisp in production. Somewhat of an awkward change in tempo at 1:10 but one may be able to get used to that upon several listens.

The notes chosen from 1:33-2:04 sound odd as hell, but it works in a quirky way, so it was cool shit. 2:18-2:29, as part of your chorus-y sounding area, sounded a bit too muffled with those thump sounds you were using. Using those claps there was also a bit cheesy. Might wanna just take the level of the claps down a little bit so they aren't so loud.

Yeesh, a pretty ugly close at 3:14 going to the fadeout. Do you have to keep it like that? In any case, it's a surprisingly interesting mix. It doesn't really come across as having any particular direction or artistic story to tell; rather it feels like the mix stumbles around a lot with two left feet. And that's actually not a knock on this mix whatsoever. I think it works as much as some of the odder tracks in FF8 worked, like "The Residents".

Hopefully some others Js will have ideas for you to beef up/enhance the sounds you already have in place, Geoff, along with some other ideas on bolstering the production a little bit and filling up the sonic space a bit more. Maybe I just appreciate this more than others will, but it's close for me and I'd like to see a resub on it. I think it could be a good fit here as an unorthodox piece with a bit more work.

NO (revise/resubmit)

February 3, 2005

http://www.lemon64.com/music/sid/GAMES/G-L/Kung-Fu_Master.sid - Subtune 1/5

Heh. Same soundtrack as Kung Fu on the NES. Not a bad effort here, sir. After the intro, good use of the backing chords from the source tune coming in at :16 functioning as the base of your mix. Well played, Reuben. Liked the more familiar melody of the source coming in at :49.

Headed into original/freestyle territory from 1:02-1:30 while retaining the arranged backing chords from the source. Arrangement ideas stayed fresh at 1:30. 1:46-2:03 hit another original section, and then proceeded to another iteration of the source melody at 2:03 with some subtle changes and original expansion ideas working until the end. Sweet arrangement, IMO, for such a minimal piece.

So why am I going NO? Production. Hate to do it on those grounds, as I don't do that habitually and don't like doing it now, but the sound is a bit too imbalanced. Tone down the high-end, as the activity there is too loud and hissy and (really) distracts the listener from the more melodic work going on. And fill out the spotty mid-range, so this doesn't sound as rough and distant. The beats tend to drown out the melodic activity, but just tonining down the high-end would probably be enough. Check out the ReMixing forums here in case you need any help on that front. Simple resubmission to me. Hope to see it again really soon. I've seen your name around the Commodore scene and hope we hear from you again.

NO (remaster/please resubmit)

February 1, 2005

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/loz3.rsn - "Select Screen" (loz3-11.spc)

After having some NO Override stuff before, somehow he got markedly better-sounding samples now. Not bad for free stuff.

In any case, the arrangement is way too conservative and uninterpretive. Mostly a cover with some light string attacks and beats underneath, along with some areas of subtraction as well, before finally going into some actual rearrangement at 1:44. The arranged ideas aren't bad from 1:44-2:09.

Some decent additive ideas here, but this still didn't take many risks. Interesting keyboard and beat work from 2:09-2:34. You're starting to finally pick up on some semblance of what a ReMix needs to be, but ditch the mere cover upgrade action and get expansive and intrepretive with some serious rearrangement. Everything here sounds too subtly presented as well. Push some of the more interesting support elements up more.

NO

February 1, 2005

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/smk.rsn - "Rainbow Road" (smk-12.spc)

B1itz Lunar's someone I had heard of back when VGMix2 started. I liked his SMW mix "Donut Grooves" enough to review it, so I'm glad to see him still kicking. That older mix was a lot less accessible than this one though, and "Pentagon Path" took a lot of strengths that I observed from "Donut Grooves" and applied them even futher. Excellent sound combinations here, giving off some truly jazzy vibes along with the racing imagery of both Super Mario Kart & F-Zero.

Some won't like the intro, but I liked how it suddenly blasted in, gave off a brief sound reminiscent of karts waiting at the starting line at :05 and used a nice phasing sound at :18 to move into the melody. I initially thought this was reliant on the crazy beatwork and so forth and didn't change up the Rainbow Road melody enough. I could still see some people saying it's too conservative even. But if you're gonna keep the melody essentially intact, altering up the rhythms is an excellent way to change and expand upon the source, which was what Dave did here.

The chorus switches back to 4/4 and could have been more interpretive there, but the arranged freestyle section strarting from 2:09-2:44 in 5/4 time absolutely sealed this, and I wish that could have been revisited as well. I also wish the track would have faded out at 3:35 instead of continuing on for a few more seconds, as that would have been a perfect ending, but I can't hate on that. The instrumentation was insanely spirited, well-seperated and clean-sounding. Cool as fuck with creativity to spare, it would make excellent in-game music for Rainbow Road with 200cc karts and the difficulty turned up to 11.

YES

February 1, 2005

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FF7_psf.rar - 318 "You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet"

Loud pops at :12, :19, :36, :44, 1:01, etc. Smaller, fainter pops elsewhere. Way too sloppy on the production to allow that kind of stuff, and it gets REALLY fucking annoying. If you can't fix glaring problems like that, don't send it here. Visit the ReMixing forums here and find out what's causing the problems there along with how to remedy them.

Not a rip, so I won't NO Override, but this is just a cover with very minimal additions, like the guitar work coming in at 1:58. The guitar was so quiet, it didn't contribute enough to the picture whatsoever either melodically or in filling the sound. Better luck next crime.

NO

February 1, 2005

http://www.zophar.net/gym/SK+SONIC3.RAR - 24 Sky Sanctuary

Played this one in the X-Mas block for VGF44, and it was a very nice fit. The arrangement was conservative, though I generally liked what I heard on that level; no problems there. The main thing that was an issue here, one I was affected by moreso than DarkeSword, was that the performance could be a lot more cohesive-sounding. On account of that, I felt the piece was lacking in places on an emotive level.

The tone of the piano sample itself was an issue with, as it made the presentation dry and plinky at times, instead of full and rich. If the performance was more polished, however, the tone of the piano sample might even enhance the piece, so (repeating myself) the piano tone could go well hand-in-hand with a more natural, flowing and cohesive performance.

If you listen to JigginJonT's two versions of "Live from the Yggdrasil", even there you can hear how Jon's performance on the VGMix version was much more practiced & internalized than the OC ReMix version, achieving a more effective product in his eyes. Ultimately, that's what I feel this piece here needs.

And that's not meant to be an insult like "this isn't OC material while the old Live from the Yggdrasil is", but I believe that some more attention to timing and realism would result in a much stronger performance. Excellent stuff so far, Bev. If it doesn't make it, I hope you can come back with a more masterful performance that shines.

NO (refine/resubmit)

February 1, 2005

Jerad PMed me yesterday at Ormgas.com after I mailed him:

Hey Larry,
I have been trying to contact you since I recieved your email but my email accounts have not been getting the message through so I came on the forums here to PM you.

Thank you for taking the time to write me an email instead of just saying no. I am sorry I did not leave a longer description about the song for you.

This song was written as a tribute to Yasunori Mitsuda. What I wanted to accomplish with this song was to create a warm atmospheric song that would put the listener into a relaxed trance like state by using the Xenogears song "Omen" as base and then building off it it by using other Mitsuda style Melody's and phrases.

In the opening of the song I start out with a harp playing the driving theme of "Omen" accompanied by a warm drone and sweeping synths. I wanted the underlying backbone of "Xenosphere" to have the atmosphere of "Omen" but I did not want it to be as static so every 8 measures I changed up the harp and underlying Drones. At 00:34 I start up with some staccato strings and Darbuk drums to brighten the song so I could introduce the Brass at 00:51. The melody from the brass came from the Chrono Trigger song "Undersea Palace". At 01:08 I bring in some strings that are structured around the ones from "Omen". I use them to calm the piece. At 01:24 I sweep the song to back to its warm soft "Omen" atmosphere by fading out the strings and Darbuk drums. This is also where I bring in a warm ambient choir that adds balance to the lower frequency tones of the drone and the large tribal drum. I then hold the listener in this atmosphere. At 01:59 bring in an original female solo to enhance the atmosphere and the bring out the chord changes that happen every 8 measures. At 02:33 I added some spacey metallic percussion (which was a pain in the ass to write because the song is in 3/3 time). At 02:56 The female vocalist come to a climax and allow her to trail off past 03:06. At 03:06 is where I end the percussion and allow the song to fade off into 03:40.

>.< I am not quite sure why I said "Presentiment" in the first email because I meant "Undersea Palace"... lol It was really late that night and I must have not been thinking correctly when I sent you the song.

I checked out the profile and it looks great! Thank you, everything is updated including my website. If you have any more questions for me feel free to email me and ill get back to you as soon as I can.

Thanks again for the email and I hope this longer description helps.

Jerad Muller (Re mixer Oceanfire)

Excellent. So getting back to my vote...

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/Xenogears_psf.rar - 215 "Omen"

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ct.rsn - "Undersea Palace" (ct-3-08.spc) [:30 of the source]

Good handling of the "Undersea Palace" theme at :50. The first 1:24 of the track is absolutely excellent on the rearrangement front. I liked the vox in the mix starting at 1:25, but going to :59 of "Omen" and trying to see if the note patterns were similar, it seems as if the vox work was all original, and not derived from the vox work in the source. This relies on the harp to handle all of the arrangement of Omen, so change the vox here a bit to incorporate ideas from the vox in Omen.

I liked how Jerad increased the plucking on the harp from 2:32-3:06, with some arpeggiated activity though. That was more of what I would have liked to have heard on the rearrangement side. I liked the chord changes of "Omen" going on with the harp strings every 8 measures. Though they occured more frequently in this mix than in the source, those changes were also simply taken from the source nonetheless.

This mix was a good example of keeping the same vibe as the source, while providing very expansive and logical original additions. But I felt the handling of "Omen" itself via the harp was too conservative, and that's what the base of the arrangement here was. At the core of the track, the harp strings handling the Omen melody needed to go a slightly more interpretive route.

It's a hell of arrangement, and would easily fit as in-game music or on an arrange album, but again, I looked at the core component of it and found the harp (which is the only instrument even performing the source material from 1:24 until the end of the track) to not be offering enough on rearrangement. The other elements in this track sound excellent and are very Mitsuda-seque, but are all original additions not derived from the actual source material. After 1:24, if you took out the harp here, you wouldn't find a trace of the source material elsewhere; just stylistic similarities. I can't vote YES on mostly stylistic similarities.

I don't wanna seem as if I didn't take Jerad's detailed PM into account, as I certainly did, and appreciated his reply greatly, but I gotta go NO (borderline) . Personally, I really enjoyed the track, and perhaps no one else will have the same reservations I had on the minimalism of the arrangement post-1:24, but that's how I saw this one. Thanks again to Jerad for replying back to me so quickly, and best of luck to him on the rest of the vote.

February 1, 2005

http://www.zophar.net/usf/lozusf.rar - 57 "Windmill Hut"

Gotta love blind optimism from submitters. And it's not like I or other panelists enjoy going "OMGHAHAHA NO WAY 2 U!", but when you submit and your skills aren't up to snuff, you'd better keep the very real prospect of rejection in your mind (or lack thereof).

So yeah, fix the timing issues from :14-:33, as your drums don't synch up well with the other elements in play. The Windmill Hut melody at 2:06-2:21 also has timing issues relative to your beats, and I can't believe you wouldn't be able to hear the timing issues there as well. And name the track something at least: "Windmill" doesn't count.

Basically reverbed piano and some glassy synth playing the melody verbatim with da dance b33tz underneath it. Enjoyable track on some level, especially if you like the source tune, but you've gotta have something more creative on the table when it comes to the treatment of the source material; not just a straight playthrough with some quiet breaks and bustling crowd noise. So um, NO way...2 u...

February 1, 2005

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/sm.rsn - "Brinstar Red Soil Swampy Area" (sm-20.spc)

I'm certainly a fan of the source material, but this was too straightfoward of an arrangement to me. The sounds were nice, but it seemed reliant on the samples to do the brunt of the work. 1:18-1:43 seemed to have something going on the arrangement side, until things switched back to the source tune melody, only at a louder volume and some military drumming. Somehow though, the track didn't pick up any real steam, since the samples still seemed to have the same attack style despite the volume increase.

I liked the vibe hear, but any rearrangement ideas were really underveloped, and while things came off as airy and laid-back, none of the louder parts carried off the intensity or fullness it sounded like you were going for in the second half. It's a keeper for me though, so I hope to hear more from you as you flesh out compositional ideas further and articulate your sounds more.

NO

February 1, 2005

I <3 Larry.

You stay away from my girlfriend, Karl with a K!

January 31, 2005

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/Megaman8_psf.rar - 06 Stage select

The theme in question is a 12-second loop. Surely, you could have done something more creative here on the arrangement side. The potential was there, since I at least heard some small expansive ideas being put into play, but otherwise this was no more than a cover with a dance kick at :57. No dice on that front. Besides, a 64kbps/22khz will never pass anyway. Meh all around. Shake shit up next time.

NO

January 31, 2005

No need for the source tune here.

The piano was GM-ish and very unnatural sounding. ... Those are some butt ugly synth guitar tones. Ass ugly.

Some of the screeching noises in there almost sounded like pure feedback, which I didn't think was possible working with synths. Hope to God that wasn't real.

Um...yeah, that's enough honestly. Should have snagged the form. Improve your hand at everything please.

NO

January 31, 2005

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ed2.rsn - "Final Battle" (ed2-207.spc)

I'm already very familiar with the source tune, since it was mixed by Arkimides in his excellent VGMix "Ticking Clocks", which I bugged Jaron about submitting, but it looks like we'll never see it. In any case, I'm definitely a fan of the source tune.

Terrible plucked string sounds along with the drum programming and synth choices. No sound balance here as the source melody is totally obscured, though I wouldn't have wanted to hear it louder based on that awful electric guiar synth chosen for it.

Whereas Ark's take on this theme was mostly a cover, there were lyrics and original section as well to provide expansion and interpretation. Unfortunately there were no creative or interpretive liberties taken on the arrangement whatsoever, and the added instrumentation was awful. Doesn't have a thing going for it.

NO

January 31, 2005

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/ff1.zip - Track 1

Nah. It's the Prelude played in a straightforward manner on piano with some light drums, strings, as well as some like guitar and winds. I don't hate it, but it brings nothing interpretive to the table and isn't expansive enough. The sedate/laid back vibe was alright; somewhat enjoyable and the light guitar work reminded me of Ailsean's stuff on some level. Not bad though. Go for rearrangement in future submissions. And, you know...name the damn thing next time.

NO

January 31, 2005

please remember... he's doing that in his sparetime for "us" - it's not like he's getting paid for that.

Everyone pay me $. Often.

On account of the DJ training scheduled for this past Saturday being cancelled, I've decided to run that stuff from 5-8PM Monday night. Gotta put the station first.

I'm definitely gonna be physically spent at the end of all that, since I'll be up for a while with no sleep, so I figure I have a better shot going for Tuesday, when I know I'll be well rested. So I'll be shooting for Tuesday at 6PM EST for VGF46. (Rescheduling always equals excitement.)

January 30, 2005

If y'all have a more workable suggestion for tomorrow's time, lay it on me, sirs and/or madames.

January 30, 2005

Sorry, sorry. Won't be a habit. Monday / 4PM EST.

January 30, 2005

http://www.zophar.net/nsf/castle~1.zip - Track 2 ("Bloody Tears")

So fucking sick! Played this back on VGF43, and yea it was good. Just a nasty metal arrangement going full throttle with a good amount of energy and some welcome turns in the performance at 1:57 & especially at 2:14 going for the chorus and 2:46 with the arranged freestyle work. If you're not a VGMix regular, you're really missing out on Dennis's shit.

My main gripe for this one was that Dennis's vocals were too soft compared to the music. Maybe the instrumentation is intended to take center stage here, but the vocals should have been louder to really pimp out the lyrics, not to mention the POWER! While this song played on VG Frequency, I recalled someone commenting that doing metal vocals doesn't require any talent, so someone's bound to say that in a review on this, but you try belting these lyrics out yourself and not destroying your vocal chords. It's not easy.

I could have went for something new on the lyrics at 3:18, but the composition was nice and cyclical regardless; very nice structure and excellent ideas. Love it or hate it, it will kick you in the face. Not for the weak at heart. Always a pleasure talking to Dennis, and I hope this isn't the last mix we get from him. Keep 'em coming!

YES

January 30, 2005

Well don't I look like a braggart. So the afformentioned ice storm managed to cause a lengthy power outage over at my apartment as well as much of the Atlanta area. So I didn't have time to prep a show. Let's do a late lunch tomorrow, as we do VGF46 at 4 PM EST. Hope to see j00 there.

January 29, 2005

6Y please. I'm not opposed to it passing, but don't wanna hear bitching about it without an extension.

January 29, 2005

U so hawt, Filk [sic]. But what's not so hawt? A 1 1/2-inch ice storm! Atlanta is covered in ice, so everything at Emory is cancelled...EXCEPT VG Frequency since I'm the fuckin' man. Tune in at 10PM EST for some radio show by some guy with some music. I heard it's good!

January 28, 2005

Sounds to me like we can freeze this decision until he gets us a better version; he said himself that he would like to fix some things. If that's the case, then we shouldn't pass or reject anything unless we get his new version.

True he'd like to fix things, but he also needs help on doing it. Not that we're a referral service, so I don't mean we have to direct what he does next, but what's to be done with the mix in the meantime? I suppose we could withdraw it if Jean wanted to, just post the votes that were there, and wait for a resub. Stuff's been withdrawn from consideration before.

January 27, 2005

http://www.ttlg.com/other/jukebox/ss2.htm - MedSci1: Science Sector (:09-2:00), Operations D (2:11-2:45), Hydroponics B/C (2:34-4:03) & Engineering A: Coolant Tubes (4:03-4:37)

Played this one on VGF39, so I was waiting for it to come our way for a while. I hate to come across as flippant and mean Dain zero disrespect, since I thought this was a good track for what it was, but this had absolutely no chance to meet guidelines as is, from my view.

The arrangement was way too conservative and suffered from total medley-itis here, as this was nothing more to me than a stylized cover most of the time. Not creatively expansive enough with the additions and certainly not interpretive enough with the source material whatsoever.

Not gonna bitch much about the sounds as they're weren't so bad, but it could definitely get grating at points. Gotta go beyond a mere genre adaptation, especially give the similar style of these originals; hell, you know that. I'm sure you feel this track went beyond that, but in all honesty, I'm not sure why you'd feel this could pass like this. Sorry, bro. Looking forward to whatever you've got next however.

NO

January 27, 2005

Though the guitar synth will grate on some people, I had no big complaints on the sounds. I felt 2:22-3:18 was a little too gimmicky and felt somewhat sparse, relying on the voice to fill things out, which it didn't quite do. Small problem, ultimately. My main complaint was on the level of arrangement and the source tune usage. I'm gonna cobble together my observations from #judges with some additional thoughts.

I didn't even hear the original in most of this. 2:22-3:47, I recognized the source use; the rest seemed 95% original/inspired by the style of the source tune. I would have thought I chose the wrong source tune somehow if Jimmy hadn't sent us a low-bitrate version of it himself.

I tried to look for very liberal arrangement in there. I didn't find it, though I heard some notes from the opening of the source borrowed in a couple of places and placed in the back (:33-:35, :40-:42, :54-:56, 1:01-1:03, 1:08-1:10, 1:22-1:24, with more uses in the fuller section going until 2:22 though you can barely hear it at that point). In regards to the first 2:22 of BGC's mix, I listened to both the mix and the original and didn't hear one track's ideas present in the other.

2:22-3:18 of the mix compared right to 1:11-1:54 of the source; you can easily hear the connection there at least. Same with 3:19-3:47 to 1:54-2:44. Conservative arrangement for those sections yet pretty expansive in my opinion, which basically falls under the style of Jimmy last two OC mixes.

I was just very confused as to where the overt source usage was for the opening 2+ minutes; I was looking for liberal arrangement as some sort of way to justify the first half here, and the connection just ain't there like it should be. If it's even there, it's not overt enough. Find a way to identifiably incorporate "Go Down" in the first 2 minutes of the track and resubmit.

NO (rework/resubmit)

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