anosou

The build-up really left me waiting for more, it sounds like you were going for a real club anthem. What came after left a lot to be desired though. The drums are really weak here, no punch and quiet mixing. The vocoded lyrics are very hard to make out, even though they were a nice gimmick like Larry pointed out. The synths all sound really thin. The piece lacks any hint at advanced harmony and sequencing, it's basically the same pattern and chords repeating. I think you can guess where I'm going. NO (I had fun though)

Skrypnyk's back! :3 Yeah this is neat. You truly are a master of percussion and it really gets the track to new heights. The production is solid and the deep bass drum really sets a great mood for the piece. This reminds me of the band múm a lot. As Palpable and Larry both pointed out, it's a tad liberal but it's not liberal enough to reject. I thought the source was present most of the time and when it wasn't the track still referenced to the original in terms of chords and mood. Nice harmonization and interesting instrumentation. Skrypnyk, you're a hero for bringing this to OCR. YES

Pretty cool piece. I didn't think the drums were too loud but I'm generally in favor of loud drums. I did however think they would benefit from some humanization and more variation in the sequencing. The piano sequencing is also very stiff, especially the fast playing at 2:04-2.14. Human error is your friend. I do agree with larry that the guitar playing sounds a little mechanical. Try to get some feeling in the riffs, make use of vibrato and variation in your playing. This is pretty minor though. The production is pretty sweet even though it could be EQ'd better, especially some more high frequencies. The arrangement is above the bar too. YES

Uno's up there but it's not "up there".

NEVAR! I have Burnout revenge (got it for $5, cd only) but I'm far to busy playing Puzzle Quest and Mutant Storm atm. Best. XBLA-Games. Ever.

Amazing processing of the tablas too, that really impressed me and helped kick up the production. Otherwise the instruments aren't the most fantastic but they work. I think the mixing could use a tiny bit more work, I would have liked to hear a less roomy clavinet and some finetuning of the levels. Some panning is quite confusing in headphones but works great on your home stereo, try it people! Took me ages to find the source, can't play .miniusf it seems The arrangement is on the liberal side but not liberal enough by far to NO. Clear use of the source and great soloing over the chords. All in all, great ReMix from a great musician! Moar plz! YES

As the other judges, I'm not to sure about the saxophone but I'm happy to hear you were playing it yourself. It does kind of make me enjoy it more. It could probably sit much better in the mix with different equalizing to fit the rest of the instruments. Nice orchestral adaption of the source, you really toyed with the harmonies here. Very dramatic, dynamic and with a pleasing instrumentation (except maybe the saxophone ;P). Solid arrangement and good enough production, thumbs up. YES

I for one did not like the drums. They felt a bit weak and could definitely use some compression and reverb to mesh the sounds together. There's some clipping at the drums that is very audible the last few seconds that's probably a result of pushing the volume of the drums to hard, take some time to explore a compressor and this should no longer be an issue for you. Cool synth usage, especially the pitch automation and soloing. I did however think the synths were a little on the bland side. I agree with Larry that the arrangement structure and feel is too similar to the original, even though you have some original ideas. I recommend visiting #ocrwip on irc.enterthegame.com for some live feedback for your tracks in the future. Nice, helpful people. Good luck with your next submission! NO

Interesting and quite simple use of instruments, works very well and gives the track a unique feel. This track is full of some fantastic creative effects. The panning, gating and filtering are all tastefully used. It really keeps the listener interested. Nice adaption of the two sources. 2:13 and 2:20 did sound quite off in my ears, but they weren't wrong per say. I would've prefered a different resolution, like Larry said. Otherwise the arrangement is terrific, filled with details just like the production. All in all, great ReMix. I'm especially impressed by how I never, for a single second, got bored with anything. I can listen to this tons of times and always find new elements I enjoy. You deserve this, YES

I can absolutely feel the chord progression from the source. When I hear this I hear Maridia. While Larry's breakdown is probably accurate to where the source is dominant, the rest IS built upon the original chords of the source. The voicing is not enough to keep the chords from being recognized, at least not to me. Instead I think this shows excellent musicianship, a wonderful adaption of the source and last, but not least, a fantastic representation of a genre that's way too often reduced to just a ride pattern. THIS is jazz, this is an arrangement and it's damn good too. now fix the clipping YES (conditional, clipping)

I picked mine because it looked extremely happy and kinda reflected my supreme reign of smiley-typing. It's gonna get changed soon though. Gooey from Kirby 3 to reflect.. eh.. nothing in particular

I made a few sprites of Gooey from Kirby's Dreamland 3 for SNES by HAL Laboratory. Now add them so I can use them ;* LT: I don't like the 3rd one with the tongue sticking out, but make the backgrounds of the other 3 transparent and we can run with them. If you like, you can pick one to be your custom/exclusive avatar.

fix'd don't forget to add more people. I don't have enough time to find 'em myself

FINALLY! I've been waiting for this. Powerful, a bit cheesy and with a terrific arrangement. Good work people and welcome to OCR Steppo

Fantastic arrangement, very dynamic and with pleasing instrumentation. I, like Shariq, really enjoy the piano/harp combo. Very happy to see some good use of timpanis, even if it's a bit unnatural to have them change tone this fast and often during a piece. Great build up during the middle of the track and. The ending really sends a chill down my spine, beautiful ending to a beautiful piece. The productions is clean and well separated too. My only issue is that the strings in the left ear might be a bit too much panned, otherwise it's solid. All in all, this is pretty damn sweet. YES

Not very different from the original track. Same feel, similar chords and even instrumentatin is very much like the original. The brass plays some nice counter-melodies but the slow attack on them (and the strings) makes the mix seem even more slow-paced than it is. The drums doesn't really add much to the track and could also benefit from some better samples, there are good free ones out there. The mixing is a bit muddy, the first melodic instrument sounds like a very muffled and reverb-heavy theremin without much character, the samples are ok but aren't used to their fullest potential. As Shariq said, the final whistle is very out of tune. I wish you would've evolved the piece some more. If you're going for the same feel as the original track and sticking this close to the original I was really hoping for some superb writing, interesting guitar playing or something cool in terms of production. It was still quite an enjoyable piece but that's pretty much because the original also was quite an enjoyable piece Good luck with your next submission! NO

I will try to upload your refill to my websapce soon enough, now I'm tired

In his defense, now that I think about it he might've meant Home, Sweet Home (Arranged Version) from the album Final Fantasy - N Generation. It's in 3/4 as the original and it has (horrible, horrible) lyrics on top of it. so, if he meant something like "I, personally, would've liked it if you stayed closer to the original feel of the track. Especially the arrangement with lyrics from the 'Final Fantasy - N Generation' album." sure, by all means that's a valid opinion that we would've understood. Now you were tripping over words and people who did not know about this album thinks you're an idiot who was talking about some random lyrics I understand this is not everyone's cup of tea since I completely changed the feel of the original. Just trying to sort things out.

The main issues has been pointed out already, I especially advise you to always listen for bad notes when you expand an original melody as that is always a turn-off. Otherwise the arrangement was pretty uninspiring. Very much like the original and it doesn't seem to have any direction either. Still there are some neat little drum fx here and there that does kind of spice things up. The instrumentation is, as Vig said, poorly chosen. The SID-like bass just doesn't have enough power to carry the track and many of the instruments are really thin. The lead sound is very flat and lo-fi too. I would advise you to start looking through the ReMixing and Works in Progress-forums for some ideas, inspiration and helpful tips. Good luck with your next submission! NO

Feels like everything has been said.. Pretty low-quality samples, quiet mixing and not much arrangement to speak of. Work on really expanding the original instead of just adapting it. Try adding original harmonies, change in chordal structure or changes to the original melody. Then start looking into production and maybe even searching for some new samples. There should be free ones better than some of these. Good luck with your next submission! NO

I wholeheartedly agree about the compressor issue. Remove it and balance the levels first, THEN think about compressing/limiting. Also there's these strange crackling artifacts on the bassline 3:11-3:21 and 5:55 onwards. Sounds like digital distortion or something.. I talked to Fishy about this and he said you could try soloing the individual tracks and bypass the processing until you find the error in the signal chain. Could even be something with the synth patch. Otherwise it might be the enconding. The mix overall is very loud and muddy especially when it feels like every instrument wants to own the entire frequency range EXCEPT the lead melody. Put that lead in the front and tone down some of the obvious background stuff like the pads and saw sounds. Also turn down the bass on some instruments, very cluttered there. Not everything has to be in the middle either, distribute instruments across the stereo image to make it less cluttered. The arrangement is tops though. Awesome breaks, nice energy, great melodic content and truly an expansion of the source. A minor thing I was kind of put off by is the "tear"-sound. To me it sounded like some skipping sound in the mix, I would prefer a better sample or to leave it out entirely. Not going to affect my vote though. Still, I feel this one really needs another go at the production stage before I want to let it on the site. First, sort out the issue with the crackling. Then start mixing without effects, set the levels right (not everything has to be up front) and then work with dynamic processing without over-compressing. Then for the love of god, resubmit! I really want this on OCR. NO (Please Resubmit)

I'm looking forward to it man luv ya

Fantastic blend of instruments. Fantastic arrangement. I love the jumpy synths coupled with the acoustic drums and guitar. I'm jealous man, you've really found your style! The mixing is a little odd, the guitar sound is very compact and seems to lack some important frequencies The drums are really great and you're getting closer and closer to human-sounding drums but the sound of them isn't the best. I'm also going to echo Vinnie's problems with the production since they're all valid points. Work a bit on the mixing for your next project, compare it with commercial music and try to find out what's missing. Honestly though, this is good enough to YES as it is now , good jorb.

You've definitely evolved the original, great arrangement this one. Fantastic attention to detail, especially in the drums. If only it had been sequenced a bit more lifelike and with a less dirty kit. Still it works like a charm here. The piano at 0:20 wasn't the most beautiful piano and the delay further boosted the clicky sound, but this is still minor. The acoustic guitar sounds unnatural as Vinnie said, but not enough to be a problem. He also mentioned lack of bass frequencies and I agree. The rest is all good, life's well, Andrew's improving like hell and here's yet another YES

This certainly is personal. First and foremost the arrangement is superb, especially interesting to see it written for such an unusual trio.. The performance isn't a problem for me. It's very loose and personal but it works for this kind of arrangement and sounds intentional once you get past the intro. The writing is excellent, the harmonies at 0.57-1.10 are just great. The solo is superb too and it certainly gives the track an edge. Some EQ could've helped to really separate the instruments, boosting the frequencies where the 'sound' of the instrument is and lowering the same on the other instruments just a bit. The guitar is almost inaudible, many times you can only hear the slide between chords. I think it should've been given a small boost in volume. The main bassline could've been much "closer" in the mix to help establish the groove. The panning did help a lot to separate the different instruments though, even though it was unorthodox. Another thing is what zircon pointed out about how quiet it is, and I agree. If you're unsure how to fix these issues I would be happy to take a look at it, I use Logic Studio myself. Right now there are too many issues with the production and to me they keep the track from being what it could be. While I probably could YES this solely based on the arrangement and just not give a crap about the production, it just wouldn't feel right. This arrangement is both interesting, challenging and good so it deserves the best treatment before we release it onto the eager crowd. Now go fix that so we can post this bad boy NO (Please Resubmit, and soon!)