Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

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Wish the mixing was cleaner during the denser sections so that the different parts could be heard more distinctly (worst offender by far was 1:34-1:47), but despite the issues, the overall production was solid albeit not ideal. Too bad though, because I think the way the textures weren't clear undermined the strength of the arrangement, since it was more difficult than it needed to be to follow along with the source melody. YES (borderline)

Interesting adaptation to this style, but I felt it was underdeveloped. Mixing was cluttered as well, but I'll leave it to the musician Js to articulate what should be tweaked there. The bassline was good in terms of sounding like it had weight, but it's very indistinct. I liked the copious levels of rain SFX. Small thing, and another judge may be better able to explain why, but something about the finger snap SFX hit me the wrong way; they're so dry compared to the effects on everything else, so they didn't seem like it fit with the rest of the soundscape here. Not saying it's inherently wrong, but I wasn't sure what was up with the multiple uses of fadeouts and fadeins for sections while keeping the SFX going (e.g. :27-:37, 1:26-1:35). See what other dynamic contrast you can include alongside that idea. Dynamically, I understand that this is meant to be low-key, but there needed to be more dynamic contrast somehow. Once the beats/textures get their fullest at :36, that's where the track basically stays until the end at 2:23 aside from really brief drops. Very flat structure and repetitive backing writing with the beats and bass. This doesn't need to get busier or denser, but you need more subtle dynamic contrast through changes in the instrumentation/sounds and/or textures, and I think that's the crux of what's holding this back from sounding fully developed. Good base here, Theo. NO (resubmit)

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Soundscape was cluttered, which really stuck out as the track built at :24 and :36 with more parts adding in. Yeah, I'm not sure what's going on, but :48 when the melody came in, the lack of clarity here was just jumping off the page. The timing of the parts also felt somewhat robotic/rigid, but it's serviceable and works more with a Gothic-inspired style like this. The abrupt volume drop at 1:48 was jarring and made no sense. I like that you're trying to have dynamic contrast there, but you need to even out the levels some; the loudest parts need to be pulled back, and this quiet section should be a little bit louder. Nice arrangement stuff at 2:00 (though again, the rise in volume was abrupt); I liked the role of the vox supporting this, as well as the genteel piano afterward at 2:24, with a nice transition back to the organ at 2:35. Even if the levels need to be adjusted, I was digging your dynamic contrast ideas, Alex. Track became flooded again at 3:00, and then just a ball of mud at 3:12. 3:24 went to the verse again and aspired to get more intense for the finish, but the mixing was just a wall of mud until the close with the solo piano at 3:48. Oof. Really didn't like the final grandiose section at 4:00; really stiff timing that exposed the samples. The drums had a weird sound to them as well. It just didn't sound like something you'd hear from live instruments. I think you could end the track with the quiet piano and it would sound like a satisfying resolution. I apologize for not being able to articulate my issues better, but I'm sure the musician Js can hone in on what you need to do. Others may make a case that the timing was too rigid, and it's a valid point, but I think the overall sample quality and tone of things was reasonably good enough. Drastically clean up the soundscape, and make sure the volume doesn't jump up and down as drastically, and this would be solid. IMO, you don't need to touch the arrangement. NO (resubmit)

Transition at 1:05 seemed jumpy, so watch the timing there; you may want to just let the track come to a full stop, let it breathe, then allow it to pick back up. I agreed with prophetik's criticisms, and he's right that at :59 you have a distortion for a brief moment. That would be nice to have fixed, but the overall execution was strong, so I don't necessarily need a "fixed" version. This was fine as is, though some adjustments would be nice to have. These sources never jumped out to me despite my familiarity with the soundtrack, so props for creating something that really makes them stand out all the more. Beautiful, elegant work, Guillaume! YES

Somewhat flooded when the Fleet Foxes-esque chorused vox came in at 2:22, otherwise I dug this. Cool stuff, Michael! Not to undermine Emunator's vote, but I didn't see anything inherently wrong with the structure or subdued build. Arrangements come in all different forms, and everything was clicking here, no caveats necessary. YES

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The arrangement and level of personalization in the re-instrumentation, new part-writing, and performances were easy passes, so no issues there. Cool source tune choice as well. Everything holding this back seemed to be on the production and performance sides. The mixing of the bass from :01-:1:09 made that part mostly sound like indistinct droning, which was a huge disappointment. Not sure if that can be fixed with mixing tweaks or if it would need re-recording, but hopefully another J can better clarify the issue there. Accordion brought in at :35 was flat and unexpressive (a regular complaint re: your accordion, Reu), and that overly tight timing doesn't mesh at all with the flow of subversiveasset's sax. The sax work was OK overall, yet lacked some power and control -- prophetik as a sax player could better speak to that -- but I still it should have been mixed more upfront based on the role it had. I really wanted to like the interplay between the sax and TSori's trumpet from :52-1:10 more, because the idea is great, but the sax should have been more prominent than the trumpet, IMO; right now, you're not getting that synergy. The drumming also sounded relatively flat, even though it's a decent sound. I hate to say it, but JammingInMyJammies' guitar work in the back sounded like flat and unexpressive noodling and was an even bigger mismatch from 1:26-1:49; I'm not trying to be an asshole, but it sure as hell doesn't fit with the other parts. In genuine seriousness, Reuben, did you run the finished track by the collaborators and no one had feedback? Or was it not run by them? The tone of what I'm saying doesn't and can't translate over text, so let me be as clear as I can be: I'm not being patronizing or facetious, and I'm NOT trying to needle you or put you all down with my comments. I'm sincerely wanting to know what happened here, because, Reu, you're SUCH a talented arranger -- still learning and growing in your craft, of course -- but there are some very legitimate holes here that are holding this back from being as strong and cohesive as intended. I say this to artists all the time, but I can see you looking back on this in 5 years and recognizing a lot more of what's not clicking. This is a great concept, you folks are all talented, and I really want to see this posted in some form. But the performance and mixing issues need to be tightened up to a meaningful extent before I could get behind this. Please don't be discouraged, and I hate to be this critical and come across as if I somehow dislike you guys, but there is a lot of unrealized potential here. NO (resubmit)

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The arrangement was conservative yet personalized, so I'm OK with that. But a lot of smaller realism issues made this a tougher sell for me. The sampled vox really got exposed (e.g. the note changes from 1:12-1:20), and I felt the instruments were more in uncanny valley in this piece, so proph was on the mark with his reservations; guitar, tabla, vox, organ, all of those parts stuck out at one point or another. Some more TLC on the sample articulations and this is solid. If it passes, I won't be mad, but I'm constantly noticing a lot more smaller detail work not being there. Hope to see this posted in some form! No worries on the extra silence at the end, we can always remove that. NO (resubmit)

Opened up extremely cover-y but crossfaded into some chippy stuff. Really basic textures though at :10, so I'd hoped that things would flesh out further. Picked up some more at :32, but there was a lot of empty space, IMO. Always recognize those string samples at :42 and 1:04; Tim Follin used them a lot in the Lemmings PSP soundtrack, although he made them sound more realistic and couched in his soundscape, which didn't expose the sample as much as it was exposed here. The switch back into the chip section at 1:30 was good, but the backing writing was so scant and it made the track feel too minimal. Really nice switch into the woodwind taking the lead at 1:51, but VERY exposed strings dropped in at 1:58 & 2:09 that didn't sound realistic at all; I disagreed with Emunator's POV that they got the job done. The backing writing was definitely too minimal and had a weak sound that didn't drive the track forward, and the string samples strained for credibility. The arrangement was ambitious and creative nonetheless, so now you need to ensure the production side is handled well and that the backing parts sufficiently fill in the space and lend enough movement to the piece. Cool stuff so far, Dewey! NO (resubmit)

Not meant to be discouraging, but in all of your tracks with accordion, your accordion always sounds way too flat and stiff with the timing; you need to find a way to bring more energy and realism to that part. I thought the harping on the kazoos having some brief off-notes -- which I didn't really think stood out -- was silly. It's a silly instrument and it's meant to sound goofy, which it does well. Don't even listen to those crits about the kazoo performances. You do you. That said, definitely keep the mixing and drum-writing critiques of the other Js in mind. I agreed with them overall, but I also felt that the mixing wasn't a dealbreaker, and a more developed arrangement with more dynamic contrast would easily be over the bar even in the mixing wasn't ideal, since I could reasonable make out all of the part-writing and wasn't thrown off by the balance among the various parts. Cool concept and one that I hope you'd be willing to tweak and send back. Improved accordion and increased dynamics would be the main things to address. Really awesome, fun base here, Reuben! NO (resubmit)

Someone synthwave this up. What’s the hold-up???

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Hey, my favorite SF2 series theme! Interesting and creative take on it. The very beginning sounds like I'm listening to something on the Amiga. The buildup of the intro felt overly long into the melody at :53, but perhaps that's just a personal taste thing. Theme's verse came in at ;55; mixing felt muddy, but the track does have personality. You could trim some time off of this by condensing or icing the original beat section from 1:18-1:45 and/or the comping-style section from 1:45-2:09. That little string of notes at 1:55-1:56 felt out of place, and I'd argue the comping-style stuff until 2:09 wasn't really melodious and didn't add much to the picture. That's not to say it's poor, it's just unfocused IMO and doesn't have enough substance to justify all of that time. I liked the dynamic contrast of the chorus at 2:35; creative beat-writing behind it as well, and I liked the supporting writing gradually fading up along with more parts coming in to fill things out until the transition to the final section at 3:26. Enjoyed the chippy winddown section at 3:26. There's a lot to like here. I thought the arrangement approach was unique and I like a lot of the sounds and production techniques. Good bassline; maybe others will think it's too heavy, but I thought it was fine. That said, it's definitely right in the vein of what we post, so I'd certainly consider submitting this to be posted onto OCR as a featured ReMix if you're interested. Hopefully you can get some more feedback, because I think there's a lot of potential here. Good stuff so far!

Interesting approach to get mileage out of such a short source. Small things, but I'm not sure what's up with the "OK" voice clip; it just sounded awkward each time it was used. Also, be careful with the timing of the transition at 1:54; the next section started too early. As far as the major things, dynamically, this was very flat. The main thing holding this back is pretty static/plodding timing; the more organic-style instruments like the piano and wind samples are noticeably rigid and lack humanization, but really everything else is pretty locked to grid, which ends up being a major dealbreaker. I felt the textures were too minimalist, which isn't inherently a problem, but doesn't work when the timing of everything is so rigid. Good start, but needs more fleshing out to thicken up the textures or at least more humanized timing. NO

Good energy, albeit a crowded soundscape where the leads didn't cut through at all. Spirited and expansive rock cover though. For the second iteration of the verse at :51, the leads were at least more upfront. Laughed in a good way at the brief machine gun drums at 1:12, this is going all out. Then the djent-style chugs at 1:28 continued to pack a lot of textural contrast within such a short piece, but it was important that something so short didn't have any wholesale repetition and it ticks the box there. The ending was purposeful, though it did feel like a cop-out with no real resolution. The mixing's not ideal and lacks highs, but it's still reasonably solid and I could make out all of the parts. A little short, and the ending was definitely disappointing IMO, but that's not enough to discount the strength of the rest of the performance. It's an apologetically balls-out expansive rock cover. We'll see how the other Js feel. YES (borderline)

Weird change in the rhythms from :12-:14 and again at :20-:22. Lead at :28 was way too loud. Melody arrived at :35, but the mixing was too cluttered. Not sure why the instruments cut off abruptly at :49 to make way for other parts, but make sure the departing instruments fade down instead of suddenly dropping out entirely. The dynamics were relatively flat here. When you just click around the track, you basically have the same core beat patterns used throughout and the same energy levels. I also thought the mixing was too bright and cluttered, but let's see what other judges say. Though the melody was interpreted, it also felt like it essentially had one arrangement/presentation style for the main verse that was just repeated throughout without further substantial variations. It's moving in the right direction and a cool usage of SAC for sure, Lauren, but it needs clearer, more balanced mixing, more variations of the theme, and more dynamic contrast to develop these ideas further. NO

Had a cool sound to it to open things up, albeit basic writing. Once things picked up some at :22, I was waiting to see what else would happen with the buildup. :37 brought in the melody, but :57 then simplified the theme, all while having relatively basic beats. Same at 1:24, the melody's simplified into chord progressions until 1:47. There's a lot of potential here, but I felt like the melody got sidelined a bit too much, and the beats were in one gear, so Emunator's right that the overall presentation was flat and ultimately felt repetitive and underdeveloped despite the clear creativity with the glitching and timing of the sounds. See what else you can do to interpret the melody, and create more areas of dynamic contrast. Not saying this needs to swing super busy or super minimal to make drastic changes, but more textural and instrumentation changes and tradeoffs would help this not feel so limited. Good base here, Jérémy, and you can really hear the potential; hope you're willing to tweak this and see what more you can bring to this promising arrangement. NO (resubmit)

Classic club stuff. Great energy and a great collab by Danny and Haroon!

Pretty chill stuff.

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Structurally straightforward but transformative enough given the different instrumentation, textures, and original ornamentation throughout. Count it. YES

Good stuff. Closing it out. YES