halc

I wasn't as hot on the mixing; was a little weak in the lows and the stereo presence was a kinda thin, but nonetheless above the bar. gotta agree with the others on the arrangement. I was hearing a lot of references to the original in your original writing, but the source usage needs to be more overt. hope to see this one again soon! NO (resub)

having read the other votes, I'm inclined to switch my vote to a NO as well so we can close this out and get the artist some feedback. Matt, please take another look at this one and send it back to us- I want to see it on the frontpage!

cool arrangement; reminiscent of PR's 'Chemixtrixx' in style at first, but does more than enough to set it apart. I really liked the glitched out, chippy part halfway through. production-wise, it's a little unpolished; the more hi-fi synths and drum samples (esp. that clap) are on the vanilla side, and the lead could cut through a little more in the highs. gets a little crowded in the section from 2:35-2:50 with so much going on, and the drop-off transition wasn't great. the balance and clarity overall though, ain't too bad. despite it's flaws, I can roll with this. YES (borderline)

2:9 And when halc doth heard the garbage now become gold, and didn't know where it came from (but the servant who had delivered the remix knew), halc called to his adherents, 2:10 and said to them, "We hath been Rocked."

pretty solid. really interpretive but instantly recognizable arrangement, well chosen sounds, and the meter changes were fun, though there were a few awkward beats in there. I felt as if the low end was just slightly crowded during some of the busier sections, but overall this is really solidly produced. good transitions too, I especially loved the one at 2:40, and that section until the end. you got a great industrial sound going there. no qualms here, this is definitely some of my favorite work of yours. YES

nice arrangement. really capitalizes on the original melodies, and hearing it done in a few different styles throughout the piece was neat. good cohesion from part to part considering the somewhat major style transitions. piano in the intro seemed a little distant, but the strings and flute sounded nice. when things kick in, there's some unused space in the soundscape, and the drums are a little reserved in volume, but overall the sample quality isn't bad, and the sequencing and transitions are pretty solid. I really enjoyed the jazzy bit at the end. close call. I think some more polish in the mixing and samples could really set this off, but as is, I still think it's a pretty well-produced mix. nice work. YES

I dig it. between this and your 'Dancing Leaves' mix, Doc, you got some serious arranging skills. I didn't have any issues with the piano sound myself, it was nice and full, and I liked the twinkly high notes. good stuff. YES

felt really thin and quiet, and the constant static was annoying, especially during the quieter sections. the string and choir samples were kinda weak, but the playing/sequencing was all great, and the arrangement is just crazy interpretive. the production makes this a fairly borderline call but I think it squeaks by on a killer arrangement and good performance. nice work here. YES

gotta echo my fellow judges here. the bass is overpowered (and very mechanically sequenced), and otherwise the mix is pretty sparse, leaving a lot of empty space in the sound field, despite the relatively full instrumentation. arrangement-wise I gotta agree it's leans into cover territory but the added solos and little embellishments were nice. you got the playing chops, but you need to improve your mixing skills and arrange the original track a bit less conservatively. NO(resub)

I agree with the minor issues with the bass and snare, and your lead is a little bit 'nasal-y' sounding, for lack of a better work. but otherwise, I thought this was pretty cool. nice soloing synth. performances and timing are pretty solid and the source usage is obvious. overall, a very conservative mix (wow, even the original has a solo?), but it's well varied and personalized with new harmonies and countermelodies. YES (flipped vote, see below)

fucking awesome mix, guys. this is right up my alley. really reminiscent of Trifonic (one of my favorite groups ever), the way you've blended the DnB and dubstep stuff. very cool. tops your last collab in every way, and that's no easy task!

I'm cool on the arrangement, though I think you could trim out some of the repetition of the main melody. the string section was a great touch, but the long attack and heavy reverb didn't feel natural, and the writing could have deviated a little more from the piano writing with solid performance and sound quality (aside from the string sample), I'd say this is over the bar. might not be the most interpretive arrangement of all time, but I don't think it's a dealbreaker. YES

hot damn dude, this is awesome, and super trippy. the narrative aspect is impressive. I really love the bit from 2:30-5:30 where she falls down the rabbit hole and drinks the size-changing potions.. so good. great job man.

happy birthday!

thanks for the comments, I'm glad you guys are enjoying it! a huge thanks as well to everyone who has donated. the proceeds will be put to good use.

http://albums.halc9bit.com/album/pixel-perfect-lp Hello again everyone! I have just released my next original album, Pixel Perfect LP! At just over 20 minutes, it's technically not an 'LP' on it's own, but is an 8-track continuation of the EP that can also be enjoyed as a standalone album. Please check it out, and if you enjoy it, please spread the word! This means hitting the like button on the page, sharing to twitter, facebook, telling your friends.. whatever! Any publicity I can get is more than appreciated. Download for free by clicking 'Buy Now' and entering 0. All donations are greatly appreciated and will go toward more free music; this means new software, gear, various things to help improve my craft. That stuff is expensive. I've already got new stuff in the works, and for my next project I'm going to try and do something a little more focused in terms of style. Anyway, please check out the album by clicking on the beautiful cover art by ProtoDome, and let me know what you think!

awesome chippy work reminiscent of WillRock's style in terms of sound and partwriting (killer soloing, dude!). arrangement is easily recognizable with lots of great added personalization and variation. mixing for what its worth isn't perfect, but this is probably your most solidly produced sub yet, and definitely above the bar imo. great work here. YES

really nice, crisp production. the arrangement was plenty personalized, imo, and the orchestral stuff and chippy drums were unexpected, but added a great, subtle touch to the instrumentation. I thought the mix was really lacking any kind of low end, which worked well enough for the floaty first half, but started to hurt the mix a bit once the lead guitars finally came in. by the last climax the track can get a little grating at high volumes because of how focused it is in the upper-mids. other than the lack of bass, this is an emotive, well-produced piece. nice work! YES

+1 best friend vote. conflict of interest? I think not. I don't have any problem hearing the source throughout this, but the arrangement is, I dunno... repetitive? compared to your usual, this one just feels a little phoned in. there's not a lot of sonic variety throughout the track, so the chiptune bit at the end was a welcome change, but the fadeout ending was weak. (yes, I'M calling YOUR fadeout ending weak. ) production-wise, well, it sounds good on laptop speakers. okay, it's solid. nice and thumping. the sounds and textures aren't the most creative, and your main chiptune lead underwhelms, but I dig the percussion and background elements. again, it gets by, but it doesn't have the clarity and balance of your usual mix. I know this vote reads as me comparing everything to 'your usual', but that's just because this isn't as good. it's aight tho. YES

I'd say this new version is one of your most polished works yet. great job cleaning up those timing issues. YES

I really love the direction of the arrangement; the intro in particular is great, very Tears for Fears-esque sounds and writing (a very good thing in my book ). pretty unique treatment of such a happy source. wasn't digging the meandering so much. 1:46 was a big momentum killer for me; I think you could have literally jumped straight to 2:43 or 3:05 and left out everything between without sacrificing any buildup. I just get really bored during that section. Will's leads feel a bit buried until 2:43 as well, and the drums are a weak point too, though the writing was fine. tough vote. I can see where the yes's are coming from, but personally I'm not comfortable passing this as-is. I think the arrangement needs to be condensed, and aside from the intro, the mixing still feels unpolished. sorry, bros. :[ NO(resub)

pretty conservative arrangement; kind of a sound upgrade, but with some added layers and embellishment in the writing. gets a little boring for me by the end because of the lack of evolution in the instrumentation, but otherwise I thought it was okay. gotta agree with Deia; the sounds are thin and leave a lot of empty space in the soundscape. try adding some more stereo spread to your background instruments to fill things up a little better. balance is also off. the bass is really quiet and the cymbals are quite loud. some of the leads can be a little grating on the ears as well in the upper mids. NO(resub)

don't forget to wear an OCR t-shirt.