Liontamer

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

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

The arrangement was interpretive primarily due to the very hefty instrumentation, coming off to me mostly like a sound design demo (not in a perjorative way). Really nice dynamic change at 1:18 for the chorus by initially stripping things down. Soundscape was obviously too cramped from 1:33-1:49 (booooo!), but it can slide only because the rest of the track was mixed fine. Also not sure of why the chorus notes were essentially half-randomized from 1:49-2:20, as it didn't sound melodious or like it truly clicked as a technique, even after giving it several listens and acknowledging that it was more orderly from 2:04-2:20. Not totally my cup of tea, but solid nonetheless (and it ain't about my personal preferences, now is it? ;-D). Fun take, Dakota! YES

Not a close one for me. Great variations throughout. prophetik laid out a lot of the interpretive aspects of the piece that really shouldn't be undersold; this is a different genre, lots of additive writing including original countermelodies. I'd even argue that the areas referencing the "on Yoshi" drums aspect of the source aren't even copying those patterns, so it's like getting wholly original writing inspired by the Yoshi drums. Gario had a valid point on the repetition of the melody from 1:54-2:39, sure, but it wasn't long overall and that part was really a brand new rhythmic idea after everything prior to it; really, the offending repetition was only from 2:16-2:39; some doubling/chorusing of the lead there and/or varying the beats more from 1:30-on would have been a subtle way to differentiate from the first iteration at 1:54, but it was brief, the repetitive section was already meaningfully interpretive, and it's a nitpick. Sure, more could be done with this, but nitpicks aplenty aside, when you look at the big picture at how interpretive this is of a 16-bit theme vis-a-vis rhythm, tempo, instrumentation, additive writing, and dynamic shifts, and how full the production sounds, I don't know how this is a close call. If this gets rejected, I'd argue the bar's just too high. YES

It's worth noting that the droning background notes are more directly inspired from the classic Genesis version of the theme (rather than the Sega CD version) and provide a lot of the glue making the arrangement constantly reference at least some aspects of the source, so I'd consider this an arrangement of both versions together. That said, this is an excellent expansive take of the Flashback theme, and I enjoyed the ride. The arrangement's an extensive gradual build at a slow tempo, and nothing but ear candy with space for the listener to breathe and appreciate the details. Nice work, Ernesto! YES

Man, this theme kicks ass. Don't dig the chorus as much, but the verses are really the hook. Really beefy sound for 16-bit. Checking out the submission here, the opening immediately sounded cluttered once things were adding into the picture at :15 and became even more crowded. I can make out the melody but it's nonetheless pushed behind the beats, so IMO the mixing is imbalanced; there's too much high-end and the melodic lead needs to be more upfront. prophetik had very thorough production comments to keep in mind as well This has good energy, but at 1:55, you essentially have a cut-and-paste going on all the way until 3:07, starting with :29's section, which left the track underdeveloped and overly repetitive. So it's not just the beats being repetitive, it's everything just being rinsed and repeated wholesale for an extra minute; some changes in the leads, textures, or beat-writing would have allowed this not to drag on. Great foundation here, Kris. Between introducing more varied writing and improving the mixing, this definitely has what it takes to be raises above the bar and get passed in some form. Loads of potential here! NO (resubmit)

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There's an audio hiccup at 2:41 with the sax recording that should be smoothed out if possible, but it's not a dealbreaker. Hearing the clacks of the bell keys is an acquired taste; I think they get in the way of the presentation, but they're not annoying so I'll live. Smoove arrangement, featuring Brad with the melt-'em-up sax, and this was very well-executed in a minor key; nice work, and really glad this was submitted! YES

Melodically conservative, sure, but more than personalized enough with the extremely varied instrumentation, ornamentation, and textures. Some of the samples had a noticeably stilted sound, particularly the sustained strings, but, in the big picture, that wasn't enough of a reason to hold this back. Nice work, Rebecca! YES

I really disliked the abruptness of the theme transition at 1:53. Less so at 3:54, but the structure's got a medleyitis feel in places because there's not more effort put in to make the different themes stitch together like a unified idea. Other theme transitions were smoother though, so it's more of a mixed bag where the structure squeaks by. Small thing, but the thunder SFX distorted at 5:08 & 6:31, so it doesn't sound good. Would love to hear a tweak to fix that. Critiques aside, the musicianship was still solid with a straightforward rock arrangement. I felt the piece could have been more dynamic; the energy level's essentially in one gear with a similar level of textural density, but maybe I'm influenced by the tempo being slower and more deliberate, so I'm definitely willing to hear out other points of view. YES

Cool source tune choice. Seeing it's by Hideaki Kobayashi, I immediately heard the Phantasy Star Online vibes from the instrumentation and composition style. I dig the lo-fi approach, and just needed to be sure there was sufficient development of the concept for such a short piece. IMO, you could argue either way on this being underdeveloped or sufficiently developed. I'm not a fan of the core beat here, because the pattern just clacks with the same repeating stuff going on, but you do have that contrasted with the constant subtle textural changes going on by addition and subtraction as well as instrumentation changes. I think what's there squeaks by in terms of development, but we'd need a version where the ending doesn't cut off. YES (borderline/conditional on ending not being cut off)

The pops are definitely an issue, but if there was no re-render available, I wouldn't go conditional on this vote; the minor pops there wouldn't preclude me from passing this as-is, so it's very important to keep that thinking in mind when applying conditional YES votes. If the track simply can't be passed as-in without tweaks, only then should you go conditional. No matter what, we should still try to get a version sans pops, but nothing's holding this back from unqualified approval, IMO. This was a well-structured medley, and I enjoyed both the flow of it and the story behind this special all-women collaboration. Nice work, y'all! YES

I'm having a hard time identifying how all of the source tunes are referenced here. I realize several things are just cameos, but if someone else is more familiar with these FF7 Remake and FF7 themes, I'd appreciate anyone chiming in with some timestamps. Sounds good otherwise, and will await more information. EDIT (2/3/23): OK, I'll do my own! :00-:05, :16.25-:20.5 ("Main Theme of FF7") :38.5-:51 ("Jessie"/"The Look on Her Face") :53.5-1:15 ("A Broken World"), 1:15-1:24.75 ("Return to the Planet"/"A Broken World"), 1:24.75-1:59 ("A Broken World"), 1:59-2:27.75 ("A Broken World" - 2:59) I didn't recognize the "Opening - Bombing Mission" theme cameos, but some keen listeners can go for it. This presents like more of a cinematic cue, and that's just fine with me. Sorry for the wait, Sara, and welcome aboard! YES

The arrangement is conservative but reasonably personalized in its presentation. The instrumentation lacks body/depth/realism, so I would have liked more effects in place to not expose the samples; an arguement could be made that what's here is serviceable, but with a more intimate sound like this, it would have been a stronger product to mitigate those issues, particularly the piano if nothing else. Good adaptation to the new instrumentation, but it's really dancing on my borderline of being passable on production, and I could justify a NO (resubmit) on the piano alone. No strong issues if this passes as is, but I feel this needs one more pass at the production/mixing to give the piano a less mechanical sound and thereby lift up and place the overall piece on more solid ground.

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

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

Props for having a great uncle with great musical taste.

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.