Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

Your ReMixer name: Troyificus Your real name: Troy Plain Your email address: Your website(s): troyificus.bandcamp.com Your userid: 24839 Name of game arranged: Ristar Name of arrangement: Ice Star Name of individual song arranged: Planet Freon - Ring Rink (Round 5-1) This was made for An OverClocked Christmas v.XVII, however for me it's a track several years in the (theoretical) making. I've always wanted to make a remix of this song, as it's my favorite from a criminally overlooked OST on a game that has mostly been forgotten, likely due to it releasing towards the end of the Mega Drive / Genesis lifecycle. Ristar is just a fun, straight-forward platformer and the music totally reflects that. There's a joyous, triumphant feel to every song on the OST that perfectly reflects the themed level it's assigned to. And to me, Ring Rink feels like Christmas (the sleigh bells help, I'm sure). So for years I've sporadically picked up this source and tried to do something with it, but never managed to make anything worth pursuing. Until this year when, for some reason, it all came together. This will mark the second time I've ever submitted a track to the judges panel (the first one failed, then was rescued by the wonderful Jorito and Chimpazilla for the Terranigma album. I was going by Trism in those days!) so I'm rather nervous as to how this is going to be received. Thanks for your time!

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Solid combination of themes; the tradeoffs provided some good textural and dynamic contrast. With such a thorough source usage breakdown, I just needed to quickly see that it made sense and then enjoy the production. Good meat to the beats here and a spacious soundscape throughout. You can just chill out to this. YES

Loads of great arrangement ideas in there; this never stays in one place and explores the source theme incredibly well. Production felt impactful, loads of good sound design, and the overall mixing was spacious and clean. Great job by VQ & Rockos! YES

Interesting synths to open up. The production feels very simplistic, but it could certainly go places. By about :30, I wasn't optimistic it was going anywhere. OK, some more percussion is added at :40 and the track's almost a third over without having gone beyond the introductory melody yet. Melody comes in at 1:09, and this approach feels so barren despite everything going on; unfortunately, there's no movement here, nor does the track feel melodious; prophetik had good advice on sticking with the source's melody as is, not altering it, until you figure out how to build synnergy with the underlying chords. Then at 1:49, things are repeating, albeit with a new sustained supporting/padding line underneath it. Minor differences between interations aside, this was relatively unvaried and underdeveloped. A good work-in-progress, Sean, it's just not yet a fleshed out and sufficiently developed arrangement; definitely see what more you can do with it. NO

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Fingers crossed you make it 5. EDIT: Send something in!

I'm reticent for a brief moment because Kris is a friend and it'll come off like I hated this and feel it's not able to be improved. Still though, the dagger goes in. The lyrics don't fit this, IMO, which is a dealbreaker. I can't explain it in theory terms, so maybe someone else can; for me, the lyrics almost never clicked with the instrumental. It's most obvious around 1:03 ("Let me be your love"), but to me it's pretty much anywhere when they're in tandem with the arranged VGM (the original section of 1:25-2:10 was not a big deal with the minimal source usage until 1:39, and I liked "'Cause we're gone" at 2:40). The sampled lines felt very shoehorned in due to not fully following the direction of the source tune. Not sure if you'd can auto-tune them to better harmonize/fit with the melodies of the instrumental. If this doesn't make it as is, it's up to you what direction you'd want to go in, whether that's going instrumental, writing original lyrics and getting vocalists to do something fitting, reducing the amount of these sampled lyrics to limit the awkward textures, or finding other sampled vocals (or just vocal lines) that work better. The arrangement's all good, and the sheen and polish of the sampled vocals sounded very pro. However, the combination isn't working, the synnergy isn't there. NO (resubmit)

Kicks at :20 are distorting and don't sound good as a result; they stand out less as you loop this and get acclimated, though the distortion point still stands. I want the lead at :40 to be cutting through more (rather than competing to be heard vs. the beats), but what's here is OK. 1:42 repeats the intro, then 2:04's a copy-pasta of :40 for the melody (though with original piano writing also supplementing it rather than just the bassline writing). Aw man, 2:25's also just a cut-and-paste of 1:00 until 2:48. Good ending section at 2:48 though. This is a close one for me, because the arrangement's very interpretive, but then the track structure's utlimately too repetitive. I do realize this is a beat; this still needs more variations used somehow from 1:42-on to have this sound fully developed as a standalone arrangement. It'll sound like I'm saying your previous mix is now the bar you're held to, that you need to employ the exact same tactics, or that you need to do something drastic to update this; having heard your BotW piece, I know you're fully capable of presenting that variation somehow. Whether that comes from writing variations, adding a vocalist or sampled vocals, adding or changing some instrumentation, I trust your judgement and abilities. To me, it feels like a pretty easy resubmission candidate. Great base here, Joe! NO (resubmit)

OK, I'm enjoying the silliness of the chiptune-style opening. The guitar sequencing so mechanical-sounding and exposed from :48-1:19; it's a pretty big quality disparity compared with other samples. Good new variations and original section as a break from the chips & beats until 1:50. Back to the chip lead at 1:50; I would have liked the chip writing and then the brass writing at 2:14 to not get cut-and-pasted like this, because it made the track feel underdeveloped and repetitive, when it would have been easy enough to provide writing variation of those leads somehow, rather than just interplay them with each other. I do appreciate the transformation of what's there with this theme; fun energy, and the overall mixing sounded good. I may be pushing for a revision that can't happen given the age of the track. To secure my vote though, Zack, we've gotta improve the realism of the guitar from :48 and vary up the lead writing from 1:50-2:40 to meaningfully differentiate the writing and/or instrumentation there somehow. NO (resubmit)

It's Black SeeD, so I'm making two assumptions: 1) the musicianship won't be in question and 2) at some point, the mixing's going to be flooded enough that it'll make me question it. Beautiful opening with Freya's theme delicately performed on acoustic guitar, which was combined perfectly with the rain SFX. A synth line got added in the background at 1:49 and initially didn't sound right; some of the sustained notes on it briefly seemed pitchy/off, but not a big deal. The instrumentation and soundscape suddenly changed completely at 2:35, which got my attention (and Chimpazilla's too) for the sheer abruptness. IMO, the melodic lead still definitely should have stayed clean and upfront, because we're left with a kind of quality disparity when it comes to this piece's sharpness, but I'll live. Back to the acoustic at 3:21, but sounding distant like the way 2:35's section was produced, since there was no bright melodic lead on top of the soundscape as with the intro. OK, we're halfway through and I haven't gotten an extremely cramped metal section yet, so I'm waiting for the othe shoe to drop. 4:29 definitely sounded lossy/muddy, but it cleared back up some in stages starting at 4:40, so I'm OK with it. At 5:14, the melody returns, and things have a distant/lossy sound where machine-gun drums are in effect, but it's nothing where I can't get past the mixing choices. Things switched back to cleaner at 6:45 for the finish, and I genuinely don't understand why the track can't be mixed in that manner the whole way through. That said, the mixing choices aren't ideal, but they don't harm the track; being a "get-off-my-lawn" old man about some metal mixing, I didn't have any major problem with this. The arrangement and performances are excellent, and the mixing's solid enough despite my personal taste for sharpening up the more distant-sounding areas. I'm happy to be wrong about my assumption here. YES

I've had pieces that I didn't fully appreciate until after they were posted. It'll sound like I'm saying I don't listen to ReMixes to enjoy them; lots of times, the role of a judge is more analytical and detached from pieces, determining if something meets our arrangement and production standards. Now that I've had the opportunity to really loop this, I'm just blown away by this piece's atmosphere. It's a crystalline gem of an arrangement. Absolutely beautiful work, Peter, this is a treasure.

Not that it has Hamauzu's sensibilities in there, but I was getting some Hamauzu-adjacent vibes from this Mitsuda composition. Very cool source tune choice! The bowed strings aren't majorly dinging this, but had a noticeably stilted sounded. The drums and kicks seemed a bit too loud, but it's just a nitpick. Where do I recognize that subtle sweeping SFX brought in at :31? Mega Man X? In any case, loved the bassline presenting that anchor to the source tune at :31, allowing you to riff and build over the top of it until 1:10. Loads of good sound design things swirling around with this one. I do wish the bassline cut through more at 1:44, because that writing's very good and helps give the piece more movement. Great dropoff at 2:03, followed by some grungier guitar at 2:21. At that point, I'm feeling like a confident spy's breaking in somewhere and easily dispatching evil people getting in their way. Then they spot a tricky hallway at 2:41 and collect themself before the action gets going again at 2:56. I could entertain myself all day setting VGM arrangements to movie action. The stiff-sounding strings interfered with the intended tension and energy of 2:56-3:22's section, which had some amazing guitar soloing. Another strong dynamic shift at 3:22, just a textbook example of a 10-second change that serves as a great energy reset and transition to another intense section with different textures. The leads started feeling too distant and the soundscape messy from 4:06-4:45. Nice closeout idea with the plucked strings from 4:45 and the final ethereal effects. I like the variations on the theme throughout; very creative way to get mileage from this one! YES

You deserve a moldy orange for these brass, string, and choir samples. And who farted at 3:57? Other than those more minor things, it's hugs, kisses, and an acknowledgement of a strong fusion of themes for the arrangement and great guitar work. YES

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Nice source tune choice; I appreciate you introducing me to this! Sounds lossy to start, without high-end clarity. Heard a light pop at :28, just FYI. Source's melody kicked in at :42, and this mixing's pretty rough. The kicks sound upfront and dry, louder than the lead guitar and too metronome-like. I'm glad the bassline's nice and audible, and the keyboard part at :42, while blocky-sounding, had a good throwback tone to it. From 2:11-2:25, the texture opened up, but the sampled sustained strings were super exposed and sounded pretty poor; earlier from 1:11-1:42, they're still audibly lacking humanization too but it's less in your face vs. when all you hear is the strings. They fit better in the texture as a less audible supporting part afterward. A sampled choir line came in at 2:54-3:22 and also sounded robotically timed and artificial, just like from :21-:35 when it was first used. Too sudden of an ending at 3:23; with such a quick decay of the final note, it felt rushed and abrupt. If the final note can have a proper trailoff so that it breathes, that would be a nice-to-have. I'm in line with the others than the arrangement's melodically conservative but has an interpretive presentation, so I'm cool there and there wouldn't need to be any changes. The timing & sound of rigid samples (e.g. choir, strings) needs to humanized, and the mixing needs another pass for a clearer sound and more cohesive texture. Good base here, Hunter! If you still have the source files available, this is certainly worth putting some additional time into it to see how much further you can improve the production. NO (resubmit)

The water & bird SFX lasting until :32 was tasteful and well-integrated. That 3-note padding line first brought in at :38 almost sounds like a very low-key choir. There's also added original writing at 38 that wasn't in v2 of this WIP. Considering that you retread the theme at 1:06 and 2:04, you could have held that additive original writing until then to give you somewhere to go dynamically (if you're going to have a longer arrangement). Overall, it's a solid, chippy sound that feels meaningfully personalized. Keep developing and evolving this!

Sean C Sean Conner Burga https://soundcloud.com/sean-conner-69491080 ID: 38764 Game(s): Donkey Kong Country Song Title: Water Monkey Songs Remixed: Aquatic Ambience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5rAjOjTGtc Hi, as you can probably see I'm really new to this website. I sent this song to a friend and he said maybe I could try submitting it to this website. This looks like a fun community and if nothing else I'm sure it's a great place to get feedback and connections. I tried to touch on this song because when I sent another song to my brother he kind of figured out I was using the same notes from this song but it was from a more hard-driving synth-rock kind of song, but it made me think maybe I can see what I can do with the actual Donkey Kong Country song. I just kind of thought...how could I make this even more ambient and minimalistic sounding?

Contact Information Joe November Joe Thomas SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/AGRPw; Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6RfNW5CQCqkdgYZXOpyZ1W?si=PN0aqW-WSRW2pors2aczAw; Bandcamp (Music | Joe November (bandcamp.com)) Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile 34557 Submission Information Mega Man 2, NES What's the Rush, Man! Quick Man Stage Original Composer: Takashi Tateishi. System: NES. Release Date: December 24th, 1988 (492) Mega Man 2 (NES) Music - Quick Man Stage - YouTube First of all, I wanted to make a beat that someone could rap to; so, keeping the BPM between 80-100 was key (it's 94 btw). Second, I wanted to interpolate elements of the Quick Man stage without jacking the audio sample in its entirety to make my beat unique, and third it was important for me to play it a different key from the original. Plus, there is a story being told based on my early experiences playing Mega Man 2 on NES back in the day. The intro depicts excitement and wonder as you enter Quick Man's stage for the first time. I interpolated the main rhythmic lead from the actual Quick Man stage, and you can hear it in the very beginning of my beat. It was important that it persisted throughout the entire song. I started playing chords with the Rhodes and when the root composition came together, I kept hearing Kashmere Stage Band's “Picture of Innocence" horns in the intro. Then, when Quick Man does his signature taunt move before the stage begins, it motivates you even more to beat him (thus the verbal taunt in the intro). The first verse is an alliteration of playing the stage with no knowledge of how to beat Quick Man. Once you arrive to his boss room, that’s when you hear that “Quick Man!” clip as if it’s like “Yo, there he is!” (it’s a sample from Ren & Stimpy’s Powdered Toast Man character going “Quick man, cling tenaciously to my buttocks!” LOL) The first chorus depicts the grueling battle itself, but since you’re not really equipped to defeat him then unfortunately you die. The scratching you hear in the chorus (“too-too-too-too-too quick”) is from DJ Quik’s “Get At Me”. I used synth pads to interpolate the chorus from the Quick Man stage in my chorus to build tension. I bridged the chorus with the interlude using a drum break from Jamiroquai’s “Just Another Story” along with the intro drop from the Mega Man 2 theme song. The interlude you hear next is saying, “I just read in Nintendo Power that Quick Man is vulnerable to Air Man's Air Shooters, and I just acquired them!” That’s why you hear the pause sound in this part, to make sure it’s there and you’re ready to rock with it. I also wanted to interpolate some of the background music from the Air Man stage by using piano in the second verse as sort of an echo to the weapon you have in your back pocket for this boss. Now you’re equipped with the Air Shooters, so into the chorus we go but this time the outcome is different… you are victorious! (thus, the signature death blow sound you hear) and then the sound when you leave the stage after beating the boss. The vocals you hear at the end are from a British group called AZUR (off topic: the bass player for this group was the same bass player for the early Jamiroquai’s albums, Stuart Zender). The feeling I wanted to invoke with the sample was “Hey, I did it!” as you’re off to the next Mega Man 2 stage. And... fadeout!