anosou

Yeah this is a bit cluttered. The filtered synth playing the same pattern as the xylophone seems like it's got a bit too much resonance, it's almost piercing even though the high frequencies are cut. Like Vinnie said it starts getting seriously cluttered at 1:56ish, there it's just A LOT of stuff going on at once without any good separation. Synths are always hard to work with since the presets often occupy a HUGE chunk of the frequency spectrum and must be tamed with some EQ to really work. Larry's comments were mostly spot on so I suggest checking all issues he had out. The arrangement has some nice personalization. Still it sticks pretty closely when it comes to structure and melodies. Try altering stuff and not just adding stuff. It's a great start but I think it could be even better with some more TLC. I personally enjoyed the ending a LOT even though the guitar sounded quite fake. Creative take on the source albeit one that could be even more creative Absolutely a good start here, needs a bit of extra polish before it can go frontpage though. Keep at it, this was an enjoyable listen! NO(resubmit)

I'm with Shariq on this one. Also, regarding the complaint about your previous mixes getting posted, the standards are in fact constantly changing (although not by much to be sure) and new judges are voting. I've never voted on any of your mixes before so I'm just going to vote exactly like I would at any other submission. Because it's a pure-orchestra/chamber piece you need to go the extra mile when it comes to production! Equalization, reverb and humanization are all part of the production. Right now the strings are the worst, the longer notes pretty much keeps the exact same looping timbre and volume. It sounds very fake. This is especially obvious in places with advanced harmonies with notes that lie really close to eachother where the strings seem to clash a bit. The arrangement is great. No complaint here, but the production just takes away so much of the enjoyement of listening to this piece. With some proper humanization, depth and dynamic this would be so much more than just a good arrangement. My tip is investing in some serious orchestra libraries (East West comes to mind). Then take time to export your Finale MIDI into a DAW, work with humanizing the midis and use different articulations from the library. At the same time you should take your time to carefully add equalization and reverb where needed. You're obviously serious about your compositions (I've seen your going rates at your website, compared to my rates as a beginner in the world of VGM composition they're through the roof ;P). Kicking your production up a notch would make you much more attractive to pretty much any client looking for an orchestral score. I'm sorry but I don't think what you have now is cutting it for OCR. NO(resubmit)

Yeah I'm with Vinnie here, didn't feel this at all. A minimalist approach in setting is always ok imo but you didn't use any instrument to it's fullest potential (except perhaps the tubular bells and those you used a bit too much). The articulations needs some work, they didn't sound bad for the most part but the lack of dynamic contrast really hurt this. Also, for the record, harpsichord is played with two hands! Since a harpsichord can't really play sustained note eithers I reommend using thrills (is that the correct english term?) to give off the illusion of longer notes. In a near-solo-piece such as this you can afford to be a little more daring. I thought the rhythmic changes for the most part (especially in the intro) felt forced and unnatural. May be because of the hard quantizing. That almost never works for odd time signatures and when you put emphasis on uncommon beats. Some more varied interpretation of the source would also help this piece a lot. The ending cut off quite abruptly too, always check your reverb tail when exporting! Porduction-wise this had some issues too. Because of how sparse this is the production isn't the most important thing but damn there is A LOT of reverb. Pull that back, quite a lot. Keep working on your arranging and production skills. You've obviously got some know-how but now you have the get even more know-how. Try the WIP-forum and #ocrwip for some generally good feedback. Good luck! NO

Sure, but more than that the game kicked ass! Also, don't say SquareEnix's Project Sylpheed, they just published it. Game Arts (Grandia and more) SETA and Anima developed it. :3

Rest assured we're doing our best to make it six months ago.

Only one in a different time zone? >:3

1. I know no one. I live in Sweden! 2. I get the occassional quicky with Larry but that's it.

OCR is about complete prodcutions. We want the whole shebang, a good arrangement AND good production. If people wanted to listen to MIDI-quality arrangements they wouldn't really be on OCR, they'd be hanging around at vgmusic.com. I also believe it's near impossible today to succeed as a game composer without knowledge of computer based-music. I mean really, who can just go to a company and say "hey, I'll score your game! .. if you give me an orchestra to perform my score! Here's the MIDI!" Not saying that the music in itself is bad but you wouldn't really listen to a CD of Bach's St. Matthew Passion played directly from a Finale score with the built in instruments? It would sound bad and fake! Sound quality, recording and quality of instrument/performers is and will always be a factor in music that you're supposed to listen to.

The violin does sound fake with the slow attack. Potential easy fix depending on what samples you used. It's not horrible though, I think it was outweighed by the rest of the piece. Didn't have a big problem with the bagpipe intonation since bagpipes tend to be slightly off-key (although this was a tiny bit too much). The chanting near the end is also a bit rigid but it wasn't a dealbreaker for me since it was so short. Otherwise the production was clear and the other instruments (flutes, choir, piano and so on) sounds great. The arrangement is fantastic for sure and I'll leave it at that. (Fishy's favorite part is my favorite part too actually :3) You probably could've worked some more with your samples but I think the arrangement and otherwise good production outweighes this. Keep the points brought up here in mind for your next submission though, it's all valid criticism. For me though, this is borderline BUT it's borderline yes. YES(borderline)

Still not quite there. A little less kick/hat and everything Larry mentioned. Sorry to be so blunt but that's pretty much it. (still conditional)

I have a DKC3 remix to be posted :3

Deep. You won quote of the day.

Well, FL demo won't allow you to save so that might be an issue if you DO get inspired honestly though, just set up some goals or a project. You can't force inspiration but playing some really good game, listening to a fantastic piece of music or whatever might help. Good luck ;P

Much love goes out to mechafone who e-mailed me the source because Audio Overload don't play .miniusf.. Yay Mac ^^;;; Anyway, arrangement here is a keeper. Some very smooth playing and personalization of a rather static source. Makes me wanna make sweet sweet love to.. well, god! And I'm an atheist! Though you can't blame me with an arrangement like this. Bottom line: killer arrangement. Production could be handled better. Larry mentioned the organ presence which is spot on. That baby needs to be right up front. The piano is a bit so-so sample wise but I think with some more attention to the production I could live with it. In general it feels like the mix is lacking some high frequencies (like my fellow brown judges said) and some slight compression on the final mix would also help. Piano and rhodes could be EQ'd a bit better. This is a great arrangement but the production needs to go up another notch for this to achieve it's fullest potential. Listen carefully and compare to other songs in this "genre" to get an idea how to get everything to really click. But please, for the love of god (lol, pun) please resubmit this when you've fixed the slight issues. OCR needs this. NO(resubmit)

Woo, Reason 4 + keyboard. That's my setup! Pretty nice arrangement we've got here. As Palpable said, some subtle differences that really helped keep this fresh. The piano especially is very pretty, again so sayeth the Palpable. palpable –adjective 1. readily or plainly seen, heard, perceived, etc.; obvious; evident: a palpable lie; palpable absurdity. 2. capable of being touched or felt; tangible. 3. Medicine/Medical. perceptible by palpation. 4. Skilled judge with attention to detail and the stamina needed to maintain an even flow of YES's and NO's on submissions for the not-for-profit video game arrangement community OverClocked ReMix. He also likes bad-ass electro. Now with that outta the way, Vinnie's pretty much got everything right here. Production DOES hold this back. 0:43 to 1:13 is a weak link. The guitar doesn't really sound like a guitar and because of it the mix loses a lot of clarity. Orkester soundbank-strings are so-so and I never use them because of the lousy articulations. The lead was a bit weak compared to the rest (especially piano) too. Still, overall this is a great first submission. The arrangement is effective and beautiful and the production, while it has some way to go, isn't bad at all. You just need to give it that extra polish to make it shine. Go for it! NO(resubmit)

Keep readin', I often make killer jokes! Also, I like both sound design and standard sounds used in an effective way. That's pretty much what makes a good song :3 When we're talking trance, if the sounds are standard but the arrangement is killer, now worries. Although the other way around is less common (and often kicked in the ass since this is about the arrangement) getting some serious sound-sweetening skills WILL often help you as long as it's not tasteless. ..kinda Also yeah, Larry should tattoo: EGO SUM TEH PANEL! on his back.

INNO RITE!? made me cry.

We're still voting on your stuff, don't worry :3 Larry's looking for a job and thus it's okay for him to slack off!

I'm currently composing the music for some XNA titles adn actually getting paid. I'm able to do this pretty much all because of OCR. This is a great place to grow as a producer and composer. While there isn't much composing involved the arranging is so extensive you WILL become a better composer. So I suggest improving your skill first and foremost and this is a good place to start. When you feel confident about your skill I suggest getting some contacts and hanging around independent developer forums or stuff like XNA. They're a goldmine even though the games aren't always the highest quality. Great experience for sure. A porfolio is great to have. Not to show which were performed live or not (honestly, that doesn't matter as long as it sounds good) but to show what you're able to do. Therefore it's also best to get into a lot of different styles. While a certain style might be your forte many developers might not want that and then you miss a job opportunity. I say learn as much as you can about different style but if for example guitar-based music is your forte, try adapting styles to fit your own skills and so on. I do electronic salsa for example

Needs more every-track-I-like-that-didn't-make-it D:

Word up. Hells yeah.

No, you play the song and record it via the headphone output. Still good quality.

Wait, what?! So, arrangement-wise this is really cool. The concept is fantastic and your voice works very well here. Suffers a bit from the production and it wouldn't hurt with an additional (original) counter-melody like Larry said. Still, I think this is a solid arrangement that really works. Production-wise you have some issues though. Your voice needs to mixed a bit better, you can't really hear the articulations here. Some EQ that enhances the natural frequencies and clearness of the song would help ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_frequency might be good for you.. check it out! ). Piano and strings sound quite fake. To hear this with some great sounding samples would be fantastic. Larry mentioned a lot of valid production crits and I agree with all, especially the distortion around 3:13. Some more separation is also needed for this to sound it's best. This still needs more work before I can pass it though. Cool concept is brought down by a mediocre production. Try getting some advice in #ocrwip and work hard before you resubmit this again. Looking forward to a more polished version for sure though! NO(resubmit)

No wai, Justin made a remix!? Never heard this one before so you get a pair of fresh ears here. Intro sounds cool although a bit heavy on the high-frequencies. Drums sounds strangely squashed and noisy, might be the result of some strange processing or other effect, doesn't sound very good though. The guitar is way in the back, which is too bad because it's a nice element otherwise. Interesting guitar tone, not bad but a bit flat. Strings are mostly good but some mechanical sequencing is holding them back from being what they could've been. Arrangement was wicked. It seems that was already a given so I won't go any deeper than that. The major gripe I had about this was the incredibly strange sounding drums. The rest of the production definitely needs to be a bit better but the drums really ruined it for me. I know it sucks and if you don't wanna re-visit this for a while I understand (I do that all the time). Maybe give it a break and work on some other stuff? Then get back to this with fresh ears! Would like having it on OCR though NO(resubmit.. again)

Bought a copy yesterday (yes, I BOUGHT IT!) and it kicks major ass. Sound quality is superb as long as you don't use the DS internal speakers (duh). I like the modulation options and the touch-pad performance pad with user definable scales is wicked. The only thing I'd REALLY love is midi-sync but that's apparently not possible :/ Ah well, still a solid buy. You should all go get this and show your support for this kind of app.