halc

gotta agree with the others; the slightly-off timing here is strange, and a little distracting. finale samples aren't quite cutting it, so hopefully you can re-tool this once you have some better gear. the sequencing is pretty mechanical too, especially those fast organ riffs and such. NO(resub)

the drums were super-muffled, and those string stabs were kinda cheap sounding. guitar mixing and performances were pretty solid though. mixing aside, you gotta do more with the source to make it your own; this is too much of a cover for OCR. NO(resub)

arrangement and performances are super-solid on this track (nice meter changes!), but the mixing/balance isn't quite there. the drums are kinda flimsy sounding, though well-written, and OA left some good critique regarding the guitar mixing. hope to see this one again! I enjoyed it very much, it just needs a production boost. NO(resub)

fun, detailed gating and percussion, but I gotta agree that the lead is problematic. wasn't digging the synth choice a whole lot to begin with, but it needs to be more dynamic/expressive. I also agree that some delay might help alleviate some of the dryness. your bass was also really quiet overall; definitely needs some more oomph in the low end. I thought the arrangement was alright, a little repetitive though. I can tell you took a few cues from Flickerfall's track. some cool stuff, but not your best work. definitely need to fix up that lead to put this on the right track. NO(resub)

gotta agree, this is a little empty sounding. needs another instrument or a more comprehensive EQ job to fill the space. I thought the sequencing was still a bit mechanical despite the details, and the pitch bends in particular sounded pretty unrealistic. arrangement is good though. it doesn't gain a lot of momentum throughout the track, but it's well varied and personalized. NO(resub)

thanks to all for the birthday love and pixelated cakes! t'was a good day.

oh hey, the music is finished. one hour and twenty-two minutes of adorable, sweet, marshmallow-flavored remix goodness. and a few kicks to the nuts.

+4 points for spamming sonic fx? am I dreaming?

'Ground Zero' source: The Soulless Villiage Bran Bal *for Fishy's FF9 project comments: FF9 has a great soundtrack, but most of it is in weird styles I have trouble arranging. Luckily I was able to settle in with the Bran Bal theme, which is probably one of the most accessible tracks on the OST for me, remix-wise. I would have liked to have had that world map tune, but some other fgt beat me to it. > This mix was somewhat inspired by AeroZ's 'Lore of the Ancients' from the first FF5 album, which I'm sorta referencing with the opening line that carries through the track. I didn't want to mess up Nobuo's beautiful melody, so most of the details are in the harmonies and backing track. Enjoy! ---------------------- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai4mbIP4vbM

the kick and bass are too loud (I'm also not a fan of that kick sample) and your leads aren't cutting through enough. the instrumentation was fine, but the mixing and balance kills it. the arrangement is also too conservative, mostly a genre adaptation. compare your mixing to some stuff by guys like Flexstyle and Jewbei to try and get a better idea of where the balance should be between your highs and lows, and try to inject some more original writing/interpretation into your arrangements. NO(resub)

OA and DragonAvenger already nailed it; the overall volume is too loud (especially hot on the highs) and the melodies are quite liberally interpreted for a lot of the mix making it hard to spot the source. dig the overall vibe and instrumentation, but these two things need to be addressed to put this over the bar. NO(resub)

gotta agree with the others; some solid ideas here, and creative slicing, but there's not a lot of cohesion between the percussion and synths. the track is also overmaximized which is causing some distortion. arrangement was cool, could of used a little more variety in the instrumentation, but the mixing is the main issue at the moment. NO(resub)

not much to say. takes the conservative-expansive route, with some well placed cameos. excellent production, good transitions. maybe a touch hot on the highs, but its probably a personal gripe. no qualms here. as for the time-sig, the whole song is in 3/4, save for a few spots where it switches to 5/4 for just a measure. wasn't hearing any 4/4, so it looks like you succeeded. YES

I didn't think the production quality (as a result of mp3 compression) was below the bar by any means. doesn't have the shine of the album version, but definitely solid. Cain's breakdown checks out for me. I loved all the meter-changes and stuff.. downright epic arrangement here. assuming it's within the size limit, this seems like a pretty easy pass to me. YES

heh, really interesting take on the source here. sample articulations were pretty tight; seems like you put a lot of work into humanizing this. granted the creative shift in genre and detailed sequencing, I gotta say, for me, its just a little empty and boring.. there's not a lot of build-up or breakdown, it kinda just sits at the same energy level the whole time. feels more like a solid wip foundation, not a full, polished mix. as for some suggestions, I thought the percussion was pretty sparse and should have played a bigger role, maybe add another layer or two and give 'em some more drive. some lush pad or strings would help fill things out as the song progresses as well. really love the approach here, but I hope you can expand on this a bit more! NO(resub)

the rhythm guitars were pretty ugly, thankfully they're not too exposed for long. otherwise I enjoyed the textures here, I esp. liked your main synth lead. the non-stop kick and snare pattern gets boring- I don't mind me some 4-on-the-floor, but some more varied backing percussion would really spice this up. nice blend of source and original material. the arrangement is a strong point here for me- I really loved everything after the texture drop at 2:35; a welcome change of pace. fadeout ending was a copout, but oh well. this suffers from some minor, basic issues that Meteo even addressed in his sub-letter, but ultimately I think it's a pretty solid track with a great arrangement and passable production. YES

it shall be epic.

wow, I LOVE the vibe of this.. trippy, floaty soundscape, and a clever interpretation/blending of the sources. not a lot of melodic content at the front though, besides the mangled up piano line, and it gets repetitive after a while. seriously, I dig this a lot, but you're repeating the same groove on autopilot for pretty much the whole mix; try adding some more variation between sections and injecting some more melody, another lead instrument perhaps on top. really hope to see this one again. NO(resub)

thanks for the feedback, everyone! anyway, I'm happy to add that the special edition physical printing is now available, with new special edition artwork by ProtoDome, of course!: get it now on Amazon! fuck yeah!

can't speak for Elements, but I purchased Razor about 2 weeks ago and it is a beast, especially at such a bargain price ($80 US, for those curious). great interface too, probably one of the simplest and most fluid I've used.

ooh, killer source tune! considering your posted mix, this seems right up your alley. on to the mix.. boy was I right. arrangement does take the pretty conservative route for the first half, keeping a lot of the writing the same but swung and with some added embellishment. the second half makes up for it with good harmonies and counterpoint while keeping the general vibe the same. it's close, but I'd say this is interpretive enough to pass. I thought the bass was a little quiet at first, but on repeat listens, it's no bother. digging your bell and piano samples, and the mix definitely has a wintery vibe to it. I enjoyed this quite a bit. YES

gotta agree with my fellow J's, this is too liberal in regards to source usage. the main backing rhythm was present most of the mix, but melodically it sounded much more simply inspired by the original than an arrangement. production-wise, the bass and drums both felt pretty reserved, and the synthwork was rather vanilla. gotta agree with OA on the GM-sounding guitar too; seemed like a weird choice leaving that the same, which felt out of place with the synth-ier textures. NO

pretty expansive take on a somewhat minimalist tune, and you've adapted it well. I like that you kept the stuttering from the original more or less in-tact. cool stuff. this one doesn't feel quite as polished as some of your other recent subs, but still, real solid work. I think a shorter, punchier kick would of worked better here, but that's a huge nitpick. the hand percussion was a nice touch. keep up the good work, Mike. your remixes are always a joy to listen to. YES

not much to add; the bass writing and automation/processing was neat, but I gotta agree the drums were on autopilot, and the melodic sections were pretty much unaltered. nice transition into the underground theme btw. my main issue here is the conservativeness of the arrangement- you've got a good foundation with the bassline, but you need to inject more original writing/interpretation on the sources; altering the melodies or song structure, adding more harmonies and countermelodies, etc. NO(resub)

pretty sweet industrial-ish take on the theme- very fitting! the chiptuney breakdown left more to be desired, and your main verse section with the fx got a little boring after the first few times hearing it, but the melodic sections in between were really well-varied and helped keep the arrangement fresh. some of the synths were a little on the generic side but all the fidgety little details and LFO's give 'em some personality. I like it. YES