Liontamer

Hate to sound lazy, but there you go, because it bears reading again. Dry, sounds unnatural, and the encoding flat-out sucks. 160kbps? Should have just brought this down to 48kbps if it was just gonna end up sounding like this. NO

Very repetitive, and the second half starting at 2:39 just had wrong notes all over. No energy or proper sound balance here. Bring the melody up and add some meat to these beats for future ideas in this vein. Unsalvagable. NO

Not bad for a laid back approach. The ambient synth providing support was pretty dry and didn't fill up the space like it should have. Shakers never really provided any variation. When the unnatural-sounding wind support came in at 1:26, things mushed into the low end frequencies and crowded things up, so some separation is needed. The mid-range was almost non-existent, and there wasn't much variation or development in the structure. Drum ending was pretty anti-climactic. Some potential in the ideas at least, but a hell of a lot more to go. Dry sounds and a repetitive flow aren't gonna do it. NO

VG Frequency Spotlight: http://www.emory.edu/WMRE/submenus/other/spotlight/vgf.html Radio Link (requires RealPlayer): http://www.emory.edu/WMRE/wmre.ram AIM Chatroom (during shows): aim:GoChat?RoomName=VG+Frequency ("VG Frequency") Ormgas.com Forum: http://oc.ormgas.com/forum_viewforum.php?18 OCR Message Board: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24500 Webspace: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/loji It's almost that time again. VG Frequency returns on September 4th with episode #30 for another season of stupidity with a touch of video game remixes, or preferably the other way around. In any case, I'm looking for good bumpers from various remixers and artists, so any good ideas you'd be willing to contribute are welcome. Short and sweet, VGF is a radio show focusing on the music from the video game music remixing community. Check out the various links above for more information on the layout of the show along with information on past shows. We'll be doing the standard AIM chat again this semester, and a torrent system for the shows is also something I've been looking into along with Shoutcast and/or Peercast, so hopefully things will develop on that front. I'll be trying to do a show covering (some, I can only fit in some) of the good material I heard from this past summer. Provided I have time, that'll be a bonus show that I'll likely record on my own. We'll see, and I'll keep you posted. Thanks a lot once again to the OC Judges panel for selecting me to come on board! If anyone's been following my voting, I believe (but Protricity doesn't ) that I've been doing a good job on that front. My involvement in VGF, notably the summer Pimp Sections, was one reason why many felt I'd be a good person for judging, so thanks again to everybody who have made the show what it is & gotten me up to this point in the community. Hope to see you around as we get underway on the 4th!

3:07-3:20 was noticeably cluttered as two tracks merged, but other than that, solid work. The intro got condensed so it didn't meander around so much, some nice ambiance and subtle support additions were apparent throughout the track, and the beatwork was thickened up yet scaled back noticeably. A very nice revision that takes care of many of the issues. I would have preferred the segue into the piano at 2:19 to start crisp and gradually move into the more muffled/far-away sound, which I thought would have fit more comfortably with the imagery Circles elaborated on in his note to DS, but I didn't mind the sound of the piano since Jim had a good reason to make it that way. Excellent stuff, and I'm so glad you took some time out to check out the suggestions we had and use those to present a more balanced product. Everything works together much better, and I'm glad you came back, bro. YES I'm gonna have to get on the podium for a minute, because I had to say something about how glad I was to get this resubmission. People who have been rejected, most notably old-school mixers, have tended to vilify the judges out of pride/tenure on OCR/reputation instead of taking an fair look at their material and seeing what could be improved. It's not a new issue, of course; it happens periodically. But it's much better when people like Big Giant Circles take a more objective look at a rejected submission instead of seeing people like FFmusic Dj (a friend of mine) and especially Alexander Prievert (who literally got 4 borderline NOs) start immaturely posting & complaining about the website, the judges, or DJP when they could improve and refine their efforts. No one here's trying to shoehorn or homogenize anyone's work; if people would be willing to address the technical and/or structural issues with their rejected submissions and resubmit, I feel that the community, fans, and especially artists all benefit from the acceptance of a stronger piece of music. BGC has a resubmission that he can look back on in time and personally feel more comfortable about, and that's one important goal the panel collectively wants when a mix from either an established mixer or a borderline mix is rejected.

No. EarthBound = Mother 2. Anyway, like he said, the soundtrack is available at SNESmusic: http://www.alpha-ii.com/snesmusic/spcsets/mo2.rsn Good calls by Winter_Stardust on the how some of the areas of the mix sounded like other EB tracks. I could understand the stylistic connections there. The source tune "A Flash of Memory" is very short, but Rellik did a good job taking the one phrase of that theme and rearranging it, making sure to use his rearrangement of that brief material throughout most of the mix. The connection's gonna be tenuous with such a minimal source tune being used and overhauled, so I can see where people are saying "Earfbound??? Where be da Earfbound at?", but I'll vouch for it. Interesting interpretation and a very engaging track. Nice work, Rellik!

LT: Aight bros, I saw this released on VGMix a few days ago with Nex giving Lightwarmth's piece the human touch, so I PMed Luke to hook this collab up with the resubmit. Here's the old rejection & Lightwarth's info: Remixer Name: Lightwarmth (Luke Nickel) Remix Performer: Nex (David Bradbury) Your Email Address: lightwarmth20@hotmail.com Game's Remixed: Final Fantasy IX Song Remixed: Nobuo Uematsu - "Dark Messenger" Remix Title: Lightwarmth & Nex - "Messenger in the Key of Black" Remix Link: Comments: Something I came up with a while ago - a bit far out (classical arrangement of rock song!) but I think it turned out well. Got rejected due to synth, so I here I am thanks to a recording by Nex (ocnex, Conexicon). Enjoy the Remix! ------------------------------------------------------------- Most NOs from the old decision liked the arrangement and thought it was where it needed to be, but also felt the delivery was mechanical. I've heard/kept the first version and played it on VGF way back. If I was on the panel back then, that would have been NOed by me as well. This collab version solves those problems with much stronger execution courtesy of Dave. I thought the reverb could have been toned down, and the piano sounds too far in the back at times, but otherwise great job Lightwarmth & Nex! I'm glad LW didn't let this one fall by the wayside. YES

Yeah, it looks like this one came out for several systems, including the ZX Spectrum. All the relevant game info in the submission letter checks out. No luck on seeing a MIDI anywhere. The Typhoon soundtrack from the Spectrum version is in .AY format. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some may have an issue with the frequent sample usage, arguing that it simply pads the track (as some of the samples chosen repeated too many times), but overall I had no problem with it and the samples did help to enhance the atmosphere of the track. I mentally tuned them out while evaluating the development of the music itself, so those were just something extra; the pilot communication samples do tie the spirit of the track to the game that was remixed though. This certainly sounds like dance-trance (as the ID3 tag implies) and it's not bad, but the overall delivery on this trance genre adaptation could have went in more interesting directions. The stripped down electrosynth section from 1:32-2:33 was a little but drawn out but I saw the merit in it after several listens. The softer area at 2:33-3:03 was a welcome change of pace in briefly changing the flow and moving away from a trance sound. Both areas displayed some good development in the structure of the track and streered things away from getting too repetitive before the Typhoon melody kicked back in at 3:07. This was somewhat cookie-cutter & subdued for trance and not really risky, but the source tune was handled perfectly fine. Areas like 2:05-2:33 & 3:39-4:11 showed very simple original sections that nonetheless connected well with the source arrangement. The mix wasn't my cup of tea personally and it took me dozens of listens to objectively gauge its qualities because the flatness/lack of spirit of the delivery was a huge negative for me. In spite of that, I felt this was a capably structured dance-trance remix even if it wasn't dynamic as a stand-alone trance piece. The Typhoon source usage was good, and, though the trance elements underneath were pretty simplistic and the percussion needed variation, things were full-sounding production-wise and got the job done. YES

http://www.vgmusic.com/music/computer/atari/atari/3D-Galax.mid - Title theme As alluded to in the ID3 tag of the mix, most of the credit should go to Oedipus, who sequenced the MIDI. This doesn't sound bad, but it's just a note-for-note instrumentation of the MIDI that doesn't even change the style much in the conversion. We don't accept these types of tracks here. NO OVERRIDE

Better enjoy the current Pimp Section over the weekend. Getting ready to head back to Atlanta on Monday, so this week's Pimp Section won't be out until after then. Lots of solid material for the prior week though, so hit it up.

I was initially borderline, because the arrangement ideas were hot, but many little things stuck out as problems. The piano intro was decent, except for that noticeable pause at :13. Timing could be a little sharper there, but it was fairly good. The brief strings coming in at :52 didn't sound natural enough as I heard some very flawed/exposed movements from note to note. The transition into the rock area at 1:31 bothered me and I couldn't tell why, until Danny B cleared it up. I've seen sudden transitions work in other tracks, both mixes and game music, but the key change was too jarring and that's why it didn't sit right. What was going on with the melody/countermelody combination from 2:08-2:20? Really ugly. The basic-level percussion patterns didn't really accentuate the material like they should have; just too many annoying claps and hats that detracted from the flow at some areas. And at 3:47 with the very hot guitar solo, the bassy type support underneath sounded all wrong and didn't accentuate the solo. The only saving grace for that problem was that that support was so low and subtle. With a decision like this pointing out all these holes here, I don't wanna take away from the loads of great ideas and positives other judges have pointed out. This is some really creative material from Mattias, but there were a lot of smaller problems I had that altogether pushed this below the bar for me. Nice work so far, but I agree with Dan that this comes across as more of a late-stage WIP than the refined finished product, and needs a bit more work to tighten up the weak areas. I gotta join Dan in dissent. NO

I agree with Vig on the nature of the guitars but didn't mind it as much. Whatever that was coming in underneath at 0:55 (sounded like some bootleg wind) sounded pretty gimp. Slight timing issues, mostly from the countermelodic guitar, wouldn't have bothered me if things sounded more realistic. Even when the wind instrument was supposed to be the lead at 3:13, there was no energy behind it and it didn't stand out in the foreground. A little too dry there. The light ambiance throughout the track was ok, but should have been brought up a bit more. A little directionless at first glance, but it functions well as background music, so I'm not docking points for that. Might have been able to shave some time off this since it's repetitive, but I liked it for what it was, even though I wouldn't objectively pass it as is. Refine the sounds and bring up the ambiance a bit. Don't know how it compares to the original, but this was actually pretty chill at some areas, so if it's good on the arrangement side, I'd be down for a resubmit. NO

http://www.zophar.net/gbs/ffa.zip - GBS Tracks 7 & 21 (should have just said that in the e-mail) Intro's a little too drawn out. Would have loved the sounds to have been a little bit stronger and more impactful. The groove is already pretty good. The synth lead and drumwork starting at 1:28 were both somewhat flimsy-sounding, with the lead sounding a little too generic (although it was ok). Would have also loved to have heard the thicker drums take the forefront just for that 2:23-2:50 break section only with slightly less reverb. Pretty cool ideas, but I'm with Vig on this one. Fairly solid genre adaptation work, but not quite there. Wouldn't mind some more ideas thrown into the mix. Follow whatever advice here that you may be open to and definitely come on back, Jim. Won't take much more to snag a YES with me. I could see this possibly getting some YESs. Just needs a little bit more. Very solid stuff and one I personally enjoyed after more and more listens. NO (resubmit)

Opening horns are decent. Not great. Intro's not too bad though. The synth lead and windsynth support are pretty flimsy. String choices aren't too bad. The quick horn support at 2:22/3:18 piercingly topped out the mid-range frequencies. Drums in the back at 2:22/2:55 sounded too artificial and were quiet enough that they didn't really add anything either. Not the right formula for an epic piece. And, WOW, that trite little ending at 3:23 was absolutely criminal in every way, shape, and form. Just not the way to end something like this. Not bad in an arrangement sense though. Nothing I personally liked because I hate how severely overmixed the source material is, but that doesn't affect my vote. I think the arrangement itself is passable and not too repetitive. However, the execution of the sounds was only decent and definitely not epic despite the intent. Beef up the melodic stuff into the foreground so everything isn't at the same level & get things sounding more realistic for a resubmission. NO

I didn't get mentioned either but I'm the new guy...and I don't make music. :cry: Beef up all the melodic sounds (strings/horns/piano) with some power and the structure with some uh...epicness! Timing felt slightly off with the strings coming in at 1:50, and they were too obscured anyway. Moving into the last minute with the horns coming it, they sounded really flimsy, and the overall package has no real build or escalation like Vig pointed out. Pretty promising stuff though. I'm sure we'll hear from ya again, Ravi. Not bad at all, yo. NO

Thanks a lot for providing the MOD, Jouni. Yeah, I gotta agree with Gray though. The arrangement's not particularly different or greatly improved at all. You really need to overhaul the sounds and feel to make it work, and the drumwork doesn't do enough alone to make that happen. Not a bad update when compared to the original, but I would have changed some things around, particularly that bell-like lead coming in at 0:31 and saw wave at :48, which I felt clashed with the additions you made. The vox coming in at 2:24 could have used some reverb on it for some depth. Sounded really tacked on and exposed. Doing another iteration of the melody at 3:36 showed there wasn't much relative development going on at all. I loved hearing this take some turns with the stronger melody at 4:25; could have used that a while ago, as opposed to the flimsier stuff earlier. Play around with some more ideas. Even shaving off 3 minutes I not sure I would YES this, because the delivery wasn't too strong. I've heard better cover-style mixes from Mark in the past. In any case, he's had some hits and misses with the submission process with these SC2 mixes, so I don't think he'd mind this not making it as is. He shouldn't as he's had a lot of high-quality stuff posted from the Ur-Quan Masters project. Sincerely can't wait for the next one. NO

In case anyone needs it, http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FF7_psf.rar - 413 Judgment Day Prot's got it. Same tempo, note-for-note. The sounds used here weren't even bad. Fairly nice sounding cover. Hope the samples weren't pirated. Might as well say "Nobuo Uematsu & some patches - Final Fantasy 7 Judgement Day". Not even worth renaming the title, I see. NO

Well, once you figure out how to use some effects, this and any other tracks you make will be much more solid. The countermelodic support under "Chrono Trigger" wasn't bad at all. The lack of a transition into "To Far Away Times" at 2:03 and the awkwardness of the change hurt this one. Overall though, the sounds lacked the power and intensity that were meant to be conveyed. Gotta beef up everything here. If you don't know how to use effects to strengthen and embellish your sounds, your material's never gonna meet the standards to make it on here. NO

Not incredibly bad. Pretty laid back. Instruments are flimsy as hell, so those really need to be strengthened. Very weak and awkward transition from Metalman's theme to Plantman's (1:28). The take on Quickman's theme near the end was more of what I was looking for in at least making one of the themes feel different, though the overall attempt was there most of the way. The MIDI lead on Quickman's theme didn't contrast well with the guitar or piano though. 56kbps/22khz??? Nope, I'm good. No excuse for not encoding it at a higher bitrate. Execution was like a poor man's "Rockman X" arranged album. NO

Wow. Production needs a ton of help; so much clipping you'd think it was going out of style. No sense of separation whatsoever or a reasonable attempt to place the melody in a prominent position. The vox was kinda of cute. Not much development here either. Just sloppy as all hell. Licensed by Square Enix? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NO

Decent job at at least setting a mood, so some OMGKronofanficzpendium fans will ultimately like this if they hear it. Not a bad idea in principle with the merging of tracks, but there's not enough development for the 5 1/2 minues. Virtually no progression of ideas until 3:16 finally broke up the monotony. 3:55 then goes right back into the exact same thing as before. This could have been 2, even 3 minutes shorter. Got really boring, and there was minimal arrangement here besides the melodic layering. Pass. NO

I was wondering where this would be going for the first 50 seconds. Tone down the percussion. Besides, there's no uniqueness to it whatsoever. Some original ideas beyond that would have been nice. Not too much rearrangement going on here besides the occasional light countermelody. Just a weak genre adaptation of Topman's theme that doesn't add a single new dimension to the source material. NO

Thanks for providing the MIDI. Unfortunately, there's not much here aside from the MIDI, as there isn't much beyond sped up, straightforward arrangement and some bland additions. Certainly did a good job of sounding cleaner than the original. Percussion was weak, and there wasn't much development to speak of. Pretty quasi-energetic. Not much else to say. NO

Though Chris tried to make the mix carry emotion and feeling, I felt it didn't achieve the melancholy atmosphere it was going for. It succeeds part of the way anyway, mainly because of the rain samples. I recognize the piano synth from plenty of other mixes, but I've heard better dynamics and more emotion. Right now it sounds dry and unemotive. The claps coming in at 1:20 didn't seem to fit well, and the drums at 1:44 were somewhat too prominent. Percussion wasn't always a detriment though, like with the area from :55-1:12. This is pretty downtempo and doesn't actually need much in the way of radical development, but there was virtually 0 development to be found regardless, thus it was pretty repetitive overall. I thought there was certainly some potential here, so I wouldn't mind this being refined and resubmitted. Some more natural-sounding piano work would help this realize more of the intended emotion, along with more complimentary percussion choices, and a more noticeable development over the three minutes. NO

http://www.alpha-ii.com/snesmusic/spcsets/mm7.rsn - Freezeman Not bad, but I absolutely love the Freezeman theme, so I'm pretty demanding here. The ambiance isn't half bad, and I like some of the sound choices, although this sounds like the SPC slowed down without the arpeggiated notes (i.e. some channels/voices turned off) and with some ambiance added. Production's not too hot. Percussion was inoffensive, but didn't really add anything. Liked the sample at the end. Couldn't tell if it was kids playing or seagulls. I'm leaning towards seagulls. (/boredom) The overall ambiance was nice enough where I don't feel like NO Overriding, but changing some instruments around isn't enough. The Capcom Sound Team deserves more credit for this, since the source tune's so good and the structure is practically the same. Gotta do a lot more than what you got here to have even a shot. NO