halc

the guitar sample definitely sounds fake, and the overall mix feels a bit muffled. the drums were a highlight; could have used a little more snap in the upper frequencies, but the sequencing was solid and the various glitch effects were tastefully used. gotta side with Deia on the arrangement. I can hear the connection in the main guitar parts, but other than that this seems pretty liberal. suffice to say the original is just droned-out ambiance for the most part, the usage should be more overt. do consider hitting up the workshop forum for continued advice. NO

cool arrangement; only problem is with the compression which is causing some light pumping in the mix at times, but I think the track is solid, and the vocal adaptation was unexpected and well executed. YES

nice arrangement! It's pure awesome when the lead guitar kicks in. I love all the sonic variation and transitions; the instrumentation is always flowing and changing. the drums are excellent, and the mix overall is nice and crunchy. piano sample was a bit fake sounding when exposed (1:15 for example), but the sequencing is tight. I'm all for this. YES

I'm digging the intimate, live feel of this, esp. the hand-drums. Timing is off at times (as Deia mentioned, 1:55 is a problem point), and the vocals are eq'd a little high and dry and could use some more body. Not really catching the veldt theme in here, but Gau's theme is pretty clear and lends itself well to this style of arrangement. overall this is a solid track, and very close to a pass, but another look at the timing and vocal mixing/intonation (particularly in the lower register) would put this over. please fix this up and resubmit. I want to put my yes on it. NO(resub)

gotta agree that the lead guitar was a lil' buried at times, but the performances are tight and the mixing is clean. you got a knack for blending multiple sources into a cohesive mix. seemed a little random and/or lazy to fadeout during what seemed to be the climax, but it won't hold back an otherwise solid mix. YES

nice adaptation here, you blended these sources seamlessly. I agree with Palp though; the piano writing was kinda sparse despite being the main and only instrument for half of the song, and could use some more humanization, esp. in the note velocities. I also agree that the pad was a little too forward, and I think I hear some light distortion being caused by the piano and it's thick reverb. pretty easy fixes, I'd say. NO(resub)

LOVE the lead synth work. you're making my squarewaves look bad, ya chump! :3 I agree with Vinnie's points here. I can roll with the relatively simple instrumentation (drums are weak though) and the arrangement is sick. the bass needs more low end though, and some of the highs could actually be pushed back a bit; dunno if it's the lead or pad, but there is a constant somewhat shrill frequency from 1:28-1:57. pad gets a little hot at 2:20 and hogs the soundscape a bit during the next section (which is epic btw; nice drop ). I know by now you've got what it takes to really put this over the top, but I feel it is a pass as it stands, with a really strong arrangement and fairly clean production despite it's flaws. YES

nice choice of source, seems right up your alley. excellent arrangement and genre adaptation; no complaints with the writing. I didn't think the (pretty vanilla) synthwork fit in very well with the organic feel you have going. the sequencing was great, but I gotta echo the guitar and bowed string samples bring this down. there are some balance issues too; I think the guitar at 1:09 was too upfront (might not matter if the sample was better), generally the non-synth bass was too weak, and busy sections like 1:59 and 3:15 were a bit crowded. a few sample swaps and some mixing tweaks and I could definitely roll with this, because the arrangement is hot, and it's quite close as-is. I'll re-emphasize my opinion that this would be more enjoyable without the synths, or as Vinnie suggested, they should be pushed back and serve more as a accompaniment to the organic stuff, rather than a major element of the mix. NO(resub)

groovy source tune. I also like where you're going with the arrangement, but the mix overall is a bit muddy (seconding the lack of highs as well); it's a little tough to decipher those bass tones during the busier sections. the mix could use some more variation too, but bringing out the melodies more would probably help this flow better. NO(resub)

I really love the intro, and the pitch-shifting transition was really cool and flowed pretty well, although the second half kinda meanders a bit imo. it's hard to say. I think this is close, and the production is passable, but I gotta agree with OA that this needs more dominant source usage. I'm not hearing any until the pizz-ish sound from :48-:59. I think the bells at 1:05 are supposed to be the first four notes of the song, but it's loose. even from about 2:00-3:00 when the melody is at the front, it is heavily modified tonally. cool track, but the source needs to be more overt. NO

intro was very promising, but I wasn't digging the weak reverbed bass at :55, though by 1:15 you couldn't even hear it. I didn't think the drums fit very well with the loose, ambient feel you have going either, and were mechanically sequenced (esp. the snare rolls). by 1:25 or so when everything's firing on all cannons, the mixing gets a bit muddy too. the booming reverb in the background at 3:40 was kinda overdone and detracted from the rest of the arrangement imo. I don't wanna sound too harsh here because I like the approach to the arrangement and a lot of your pads and piano sound really great, but I think this has a host of issues holding it back from a pass. it seems like you drowned everything else in reverb in an effort to make it more texturally cohesive, but I think that's working against you in this case. loosen up those drums, pull back the reverb and try to thicken up the lower end of the mix. NO(resub)

pretty standard proto-fare. I thought the drums could be a little punchier, but otherwise I was digging this track. nice arrangement rocking a new key signature, addition of vocals was a smexeh touch as well. u did gud son YES

I'm not a huge solo piano buff, but this was arguably one of my favorites tracks off Threshold, and one of the most nostalgic of the bunch imo. very moody, reflective arrangement. nice stuff. YES

this one doesn't have quite the crisp clarity of some of your other mixes. the bass is a little dry, and the low-end in general is a bit muddy, but otherwise things gelled pretty well, and your synths were well chosen. unfortunately, Palp and Larry are right about the arrangement. if you can pack some more source into this and get it above the 50% mark, you'll have my vote. NO(resub)

I was cool with the arrangement on this, though everything was treated fairly conservatively with some general expansion/nooding on top. most of the transitions worked pretty well regardless of all the different sources at play, save for 3:48, which suffered because of how muddy that buildup was. the whole mix was pretty muddy but the busy sections in particular (parts around 3:40 and 4:45 for instance) were just way too washed out in reverb. I can appreciate the ambitious approach to the arrangement, but it'll probably take a good deal of EQ and tweaking your sounds/effects to get everything to sit right. NO(resub)

haha, that source vid. was somewhat painful to watch. ;D anyway, the lead doing all the glissando's has got too much reverb, and your leads in general are a little hot on the upper mid/highs. I liked the little chiptune nuances and the drums, though the patterns got a little repetitive and that snare was definitely weaksauce. there's not a lot to the source, but I could hear it in the bassline and supporting instrumentation. you've changed the key and it seems like some of the intervals as well in order to make it a little prettier (good changes ), but all the melodies seem pretty liberal. I feel the production flaws make this a NO, but a source breakdown to clear up any misconceptions about the arrangement could be helpful, in case we're missing something here. NO(resub)

mixing felt a little hot on the highs to me, but overall the production is strong, the conversion to ska feels natural, and the individual performances are great. you guys do a great job of making your songs sound cohesive regardless of everyone having to record their parts individually with different gear and recording setups. great mix, keep it up. YES

no problems here production wise, the mix is nice and crunchy, the live drums were great, and all the guitars were really well performed, but aside from the solos, this is really conservative. I'm leaning towards a no, but seeing two other yes's is throwing me off a bit. there are a couple little embellishments on the main melody but just adding solos doesn't seem like enough to me. gonna go with a resub, but I'm curious to see what the other J's think. rocking track nonetheless. NO(resub)

I thought the piano sounded nice, that opening arpeggio was really pleasant. the guitar was fine too, but the strings and flute articulations were pretty washy. arrangement wise, I agree that it's too conservative, though the instrumentation is changed up, you need to inject some more original writing and interpretation for it to be passable. NO

nice arrangement here, I thought the transitions were fine, and the cameo themes were pretty seamlessly blended. I'd say you definitely need to beef up that kick, and the lead guitar sample is weak. you should take OA up on his offer. really close, please fix it up and send it back. NO(resub)

you should do that. it would be slick. to answer your questions, I just kinda went with what felt best to me, while still demonstrating a variety of different styles the album has to offer.. It's extremely hard to choose just 5 tracks when to me, all of them are amazing, though I'd be lying if I said that Bubble Junkie, Under Construction and Subsonic Sparkle weren't three of my personal favorites.. glad you enjoyed the track, it will show up on the frontpage eventually.. as will several others I hope.

the timing/sequencing here is a little weird as OA mentioned, the acoustic kit in particular is whats clashing the most timing-wise. the violin and the sitar-ish lead (1:50) samples aren't so hot when they're really exposed. the arrangement here was good- really liked the breakdown to the slow section. overall close, but would like to see the timing and lead instruments fixed up before calling it a pass. NO(resub)

arrangement-wise, Rexy killed it. she always sneaks so many neat cameos into her pieces. this mix in particular is an unexpected change of pace given her previous works, with some nice original writing and solos by Brandon as well. excellent. production-wise, this cuts it close, I'm generally digging the performances (although there are slight timing issues at times) and the samples were pretty good despite being slightly mechanical sounding. and as mentioned, the rhythm guitars could use some more bite. I know Brandon could probably take this to the next level with his current skills, but I think it is still above the bar in it's current form. the mixing doesn't have any vital flaws (though it has it's share of minor ones), and the arrangement is stellar. positives outweigh the negatives for me; nice mix. YES(borderline)

alright, breaking it down.. opening-:57 - main theme intro 1:04-1:36 - :33 of the main theme 1:37-1:40 - :48 of source, x3 2:22-2:40 - rhythm guitars play background choir part at 1:28 of source 3:23-3:53 - 2:26 of source 4:23-4:54 - starting at 2:02 of source 4:55-5:23 - 2:26 of source approximately 186/325 seconds, or 57% by my count. could be missing some stuff. I think some of the details of the source were lost in translation, and some of the melodies are loosely connected, but I feel this is a pass. solid production. nice work. YES

echoing the others; you gotta change that piano sample. the arrangement is tight (nice medley!) and the sequencing (playing?) is pretty solid. you got good chops man, but I've already told you that. ;D send this back! NO(resub)