anosou

Arrangement sticks closely to the source but the instrumentation is varied and there is enough original writing to outweigh that. I especially like that you used a marimba/xylophone, it's just not used nearly enough in any kind of music! I thought you pulled of such a high energy piece very well too! I thought the ending was anti-climatic but it's passable. I would really prefer that you didn't use the last two notes but it's up to you. However the tubular bell cut-off at the end, need a fade there. The lead violin sounded a bit dry when played really high and the piece seemed to lack some proper bass but it wasn't really a dealbreaker. Especially not so since the low bass frequencies doesn't play as huge a part in an orchestral recording compared to, say, techno. Otherwsie the production clicked with me, I'm impressed you used such a big orchestra and got it to sound cohesive and like.. well an orchestra. Overall, this is a very dynamic and energetic piece. It's great fun to listen to and you took your time with some original writing and additional parts. This really impressed me actually. Very nice and well deserving of frontpage glory. YES(conditional on cut-off fix)

Reminds me a bit of Soule's score for Oblivion in the beginning. Very pretty beginning, the harp + glockenspiel combo is one I often emply myself because of how pretty it sounds. Instruments sounds good in general but they seem to be lacking presence, may be the reverb or some strange EQ treatment. It's too bad because of the sparse instrumentation.. timpani's sound muddy too like Big Giant Jimmy pointed out. Arrangement seems a bit conservative to me but not enough for it to be a dealbreaker. For the most parts the instrumentation is good for example, it's the production holding it back not the arrangement. Nice sense of dynamics too. For me this is a really tough decision.. The arrangement is good but not stellar and the production could probably be touched up a bit.. Is it worth a conditional? *listens a few times* Okay, it's very pretty and it's just good enough, YES(borderline)

That's because Larry pretty much covered it.

Cool to see Mustin workin' that DS-10.

NOW, the vote. Larry nailed it when he said the samples didn't sound bad but the sequencing on the other hand did. The chants sounded out of place and kinda strange without any other good rhythmic elements to back them up. The drums are rigid and kinda thin. Overall there are a lot of holes in the soundscape while what's there is fighting over the same spot which makes it seem unbalanced and unfocused. Arrangement had some ideas but overall seemed like it stuck quite close to the original while often repeating itself. It's actually really hard to listen to the arrangement only when all the production issues ar right up front but in general it seemed without direction and too close to the source even though the idea with eastern instruments is quite cool. Overall this isn't there yet. You need to work hard on your production and learn how to make the instruments sound full. The arrangement could be more personalized and varied too. I thank you for bringing this theme to my attention though, it most certainly kicks ass. NO

Just popping in to mention that this is the Main Theme of Mirror's Edge, it's called "Still Alive" (horrible, I know, portal wtf is that!?. It was composed by pop-star-songwriter-guys Rami Yacoub and Arnthor Birgisson who's worked with Britney Spears and other horrible horrible artists It's sung by Swedish artist Lisa Miskovsky in the full version with vocals ( http://www.myspace.com/lisamiskovsky , "Still Alive" ). Found the information at DICE's (Digital Illusions C.E., the swedish company developing the title) website so it's accurate. Another thing worth noting is that there will be a remix album of this song released. I don't know the details but some names are Junkie XL, Teddybears STHLM and other bigshots. The theme is popular in other words and we should watch out for submissions that sounds like rips from this album in the future.

Best submission letter in a while, I give you that As previous judges said, very cool instrumentation. It might not be radically different from the source but it works very well. The flute sounds particularly good. Production in general is solid although I would like to see the flute take the front seat some more, it's now much quieter than for example the drum hits and strings. The arrangement is the issue here. Especially the chords and bell-line could be altered so this would sound less repetitive to the listener. You've varied the lead some with the flute, a good start, but straying outside the source's harmonic content is probably a good idea since it sounds very much alike the source at the moment. You have a good base to work from here though! Focus on the arrangement, while touching up the production a bit, and try to make it your own and this would be a great addition to OCR! NO(resubmit)

Agree'd regarding buy a PS2. It's the cheapest and most accessible way to play tons of fantastic JRPGs. This and BoFIV on PC since it's a JRPG for sure.

Truth. Also, constructive criticism is great but most negative reviews I see around here are mostly just crapping on a song. Constructive criticism together with what you liked (if any) is very very welcome imo. Keep in mind though, the really early remixes were submitted with a considerably lower bar and many of these remixers aren't even here, the review threads might've died too. Going there and start dropping negative reviews seems a bit.. unnecessary. Not saying you shouldn't do that but it doesn't really make a difference in any way for the most part Reviews for active remixers and recent remixes are always relevant though. Go wild! I'm the same when it comes to reviews since I've mostly already laid down my vote on the track. I must say I'm the other way around in decisions though. I tend to point out what I didn't think was good so the remixer gets something out of the judges decision EVEN if the track passes so the remixer can continue to improve his craft. It will probably be more relevant for the remixer to hear it from a judge too.. no offense! I think that's very important so people doesn't get stuck doing the same thing and just spitting out remixes because they have working recipe.. you know? Ah well..

I'll make sure Noah (Escariot) contacts you shortly even if he doesn't see this.

Breath of Fire IV is avaliable on the PC and should run fast. Go!

Well clipping is the wrong word, sorry. The clicks are however very noticable to me, they annoy the crap out of me and it drags down the general production since it's solo piano and the piano has audible clicks at most attacks.. Honestly, to me it sounds like an old vinyl record in the background. The piano does not sound bad in itself, it's a bit muddy as I mentioned but it's the passable kind. However I still think the pops are just too much for me to be passing this as I feel the arrangement doesn't outweigh them. Sorry :/

you've got mail!

Just plug it into your soundcard and push record in Audacity. Pretty much.

And it's made out of pure awesome?

mmm.. sexomaphone.. Right at the beginning the production's iffy. The piano is muffled but clanky, if it's a sampled piano you need to find a better sample and if it's recorded you need to record it better. The sax in general sounded good but a better mic-placement to get rid of the key-clicks. Really bad clipping at 1:20 too. The arrangement is cool. I agree that the phrase at 2:37 was really out of place. It's okay to use notes that aren't in the key you're playing in but playing an entirely different scale from top to bottom just sounds strange. I'm also on the same page with larry with the ending. The piano chords are wicked but at 2:56 the saxophone kinda loses track of the chord and root note so sounds a bit too anti-climatic (and not in that "wow, awesome jazz"-way mind you ;P). I, like Larry, love the concept here but you need to refine it some more before it passes. Since you record live it's crucial to do a lot of soundchecks and post-processing to get things to sound at it's best. Taking some time to come up with some nice phrases together might also be cool. Especially something dissonant with a good resolution. A good base but needs some more work before I can comfortably pass it. Keep it up! NO(resubmit)

Interesting take on this. The drums definitely needs to be handled better. The kick has no low-end to talk about and there's a LOT of reverb on that loop which muddies stuff up like there's no tomorrow. In general the balance in this seems quite off, the quiet synthlead for example. I also thought some textures (synth lead, synth arpeggio) were on the thin, flat and dull side. I liked the transition into the tropical-style part. Thought it was fitting and an interesting take on the source. The flute was definitely too quiet here though. Some alteration of the percussion loops would keep them from getting repetitive too. I don't know what program your working in but in Reason you can just sequence the slices in a .rex file and in any program with audio you can cut and paste parts of loops. Arrangement lacked variation and direction. The only notable thing is the transition to the tropical-style part but that also got old quickly because you didn't change much when it comes to patterns and groove. I think this needs more work to pass. Variation is the key in the arrangement and my issues in the production still stands. Nice to see you tackling a non-remixed game though, you just gotta tackle it a little harder NO

Couldn't agree more. Sounds like Twilight Street from Shadow Hearts: Covenant! This has some minor issues in the production department. For example I thought the string attack was a bit awkward, the sounds blend together too much at times and the really high strings sounds strange when played that high. Arrangement-wise this is good. Larry and Vinnie mentioned the writing at 2:23 and I agree but I don't think it takes away too much from the piece. Ending was a bit anti-climatic like Larry said too.. Still, this is a solid ReMix. Arrangement is interpretive enough and the sound in general is good. Great atmosphere, like Shariq said.. Loads of judge-quotes here.. ah well. YES

You're no fun :/ I have it and it kicks a huge ammount of ass, that is all.

Since I'm the worst picture editor ever I urge someone else to tackle at least two of these: http://fallout.bethsoft.com/eng/downloads/avatars.html The Vault Boy-face especially. thankies! also is the size-limit still 32x32? I saw Shariq with this huge-ass avatar and I became jealous D':

Yeah, this is quite an easy pass. Arrangement is good, production is okay too. I think it lacks some oompf in the drums (where's them bass frequencies?) but it's not a dealbreaker even though it's Drum'n'BASS In the end the arrangement carries this one, like Larry said. I won't go conditional but I urge you to check the balance/mixing some more with your future works. Still, terrific work. YES

You make me cry at times :'(

Guitar ^^;;;;;;;;;

Damn Sam, loving this. This is like the Best of Shnab-track I never thought you'd do. Fantastic playing and my favorite kind of drums. I can't love this enough. Not enough words.

Since Dave's been talking about a separate "issues" forum I think it's best to wait and see how this will be laid out. Good idea otherwise since they're so different.