halc

wow, what a nice soundscape. piano seems a touch too loud at times in comparison with the rest of the sound, and the low end could have had a lot more oomph. I agree that the drums weren't entirely meshing, and definitely felt too dry and the writing spastic at times; breaking down into some slower, less rhythm-heavy grooves would have been a nice change of pace. as far as the arrangement is concerned, I thought the Path of Repentence usage was much more engaging and personalized, while the latter portion was more cover-ish.. however on the overall, I'm down with it. definitely a few minor issues adding up in this one, however I'm not sensing any dealbreakers personally, so I'll let this one squeak by. I think another coat of polish could take this up another level, but it's a pretty nice mix as it is. YES

I'm gonna have to side with Larry here. the arrangement is good to go and the performances are fine, but the mix just feels lifeless to me.. the EQ seems dulled down, not much brightness in the high end; generic synths/samples, and very mechanical drum writing. I'd like to see the mixer take another crack at the production with our feedback in mind. this has the potential to be a great remix, but it's not quite there yet imo. NO(resub)

it's a zone only playable in 2-player mode; the stage itself is much smaller than your average zone and plays out in laps as opposed to a having a beginning and an end. it is however a legitimate 'zone' as far as this compo is concerned. to be more specific: http://info.sonicretro.org/Azure_Lake_Zone

just checking in - I still don't have anything yet, but it's on my to-do list.

bwahah. I'd of had that on my list as well if I didn't have plans to remix it for my own purposes. can't wait to hear your take(s) on it.

and likewise. <33

sorry, hope ya don't mind if I edit my list a tiny bit. these are my picks. Collision Chaos (Sonic CD JP) Tidal Tempest (Sonic CD US) Oil Ocean (Sonic 2) Mushroom Hill (S+K) Sky High (Sonic 2 GB)

Collision Chaos (Sonic CD JP) Tidal Tempest (Sonic CD US) Oil Ocean (Sonic 2) Mushroom Hill (S+K) Sky High (Sonic 2 GB)

real chill, contemplative stuff. y'all should definitely check this out, especially if you're yearning to hear what this man is capable of on his own.

the brass was definitely pretty darn weak, and opening with them fully exposed kinda puts a sour taste in the mouth right off the bat, however aside from that and the other instruments being somewhat simplistic, this was pretty well produced, and has a ton of charm. really solid work here, and I'm definitely happy to see you expanding more into producer territory. keep up the good work! YES

well I'll be the guy to point out that some of the dblue/grossbeat stuff going on in here is totally obnoxious, but to people who don't write music/aren't familiar with such software might still find it pretty cool. ;P gonna also say that I don't like your lead synth at all, it's pretty plain and lifeless, and kinda has this nauseous detuning/phase on it that bugs me. however the rest of the song has plenty of merit, the arrangement is pretty creative, and overall well executed. YES

man, your production quality has come a long way in the last year or so, noticibly improved even from your FF1 tracks. as the others have pointed out, this is a solid mix. sources are blended together naturally with good transitions, the playing is tight and the mixing overall is pretty clean. really liked the guitar/synth interplay around 2:00, awesome stuff. the slow bit starting around 3:00 felt a bit sparse, or a little less inspired than the rest of the track. that's remedied at 3:47, and the rest of the track is jammin. nice work here man. YES

running out of things to say about all these mixes of yours brandon, you've definitely reached a level where your stuff is pretty consistent in arrangement/production quality. arrangement here definitely checked out fine, performances were good and the mixing was pretty solid. really nice outro, unexpected, but a nice change of pace. good job. YES

I thought the non-live/sampled stuff in this was pretty subpar, but the song as a whole gelled pretty well. nice guitar performances and soloing by Brandon, and a very strong arrangement, as I've come to expect from any Rexy mix. nice work fellas. YES

nice artwork dude

having read the other judges votes, I'm gonna go ahead and flip my vote to a NO (resubmit) so we can get this feedback back to the artist. hope to hear a revision soon!

love the genesis/FM feel of the bass and drum kit. can't say this is your most sophisticated mix in terms of sound design or anything, but it's pleasant and bubbly, and the arrangement rocks out more than sufficiently. YES

I love the arrangement, compositionally. I think it was a bit dominated by a variety of somewhat plain sawtooths and though this was a stylistic choice I think the song could benefit from a broader sound palette. however, there was some pretty creative processing and manipulation of the synths, and good attention to space. all in all, I was digging this one, and any personal complaints I have with the mixing/instrumentation are outweighed by a crafty arrangement. nice work. YES

definitely suffering from a lot of generic sounds here, and the fact that they never change really makes the song feel repetitive. there are some nice flourishes but the arrangement just feels too sparse and uninspired. sorry to sound negative here, at face value nothing is terrible, the execution is just amateur. keep practicing and look to our workshop forum for more advice. NO

indeed, nice work. YES

not much to add to what the others have said, you've got a solid concept but this feels like a work in progress to me, despite the length. adding a melody or something would really drive the track along better. however I will mention that I really liked the soundscape a lot, especially the intro. reminded me of Trifonic, one of my favorite indie outfits. hope to hear this again sometime. NO(resub)

haha, indeed she was. I'd have picked her to win personally (her costume was fantastic), but I suppose Portal is a bit more relevant at the moment.. the portal chick's gun was pretty nifty though. I also got an great pic of the resident evil couple:

did anybody else go to VGL last night?? it was fucking awesome. if you went, you saw me onstage at the beginning reppin' OCR as (coincidentally) a judge. a cosplay contest "judge", anyway. ;D

gotta agree with the others here, great arrangement you have going, but some more polish on the samples/sequencing would really take this one to the next level. take OA up on his offer, you won't regret the decision. ;D NO(resub)

yeah, Deia's comments on the arrangement were spot on. however I feel that the overly-generic synths, repetitive percussion, and some really off-sounding notes/harmonics were just as problematic as any lack of direction in the composition. hit up the workshop and keep building your chops. NO