DragonAvenger

*for the sigma fortress project* EDIT: a small reminder, this should be credited as Sir_NutS feat. Usa Hello there, NutS here with another track. This is a remix of Izzy Glow (Shining Hotaronicus) stage in Mega Man X5 and Sigma's Fortress (Palace Ground) Stage in Mega Man X. So this is a glitch hop remix of these two themes. It's always a challenge to mix two themes in any sort of EDM genre, because not many are melody-oriented, and there's quite a lot of melody to implement when fusing two themes together. However in Glitch Hop you have certain liberties with your arrangements that lend to songs with plenty of melodic content. This song is heavily influenced by the likes of Haywyre, who do a lot of funky/jazzy glitch stuff while adding tons of solos and structure variation. For this remix I used Bitwig and every sound is of my own making, except for the piano which is sampled. 90% of the sounds are made with a single synth, Serum. I created my own wavetables for some of these, a couple out of chopping up kick drums, even. Usa (Daniel Lippert) helped me by performing the solo at 2:22, for which he used his Andromeda A6 hardware synth and his amazing talent. As far as the arrangement goes, it's mostly Izzy Glow, but I managed to intertwine the main melody of sigma's fortress in the melodic parts, and the harmonies in some of the backing sections. I changed the focus of some of the instruments, for example, the original guitar riffs were translated and modified into the piano harmonies, then those were also translated, modified and chopped into the various different synth bass sounds and... well, stuff, that make up the drop. The second section of the original received the same treatment later on. For Usa's solo I had to modify and add some extra jazzing-up to the backing parts, bass and the drums to keep up with his insanity. This remix was originally made for the Sigma Fortress Remix Gauntlet 2015. ------------------------

Man, love the vocals here! Really makes me think of an opening of an anime. Unfortunately I'm going to agree with Mike here that the mix doesn't hold up under the strength of the vocals. I'd love the vocals to sit in the mix just a tad more, and the synths need some work to be a little sooner as well. The arrangement itself is close to the source, but I think there's personalization in abundance with the vocal addition as well as the stronger feel of the arrangement.for me this is really a production issue. This would be a great track to bring to the WIP forums and I really encourage you guys to sick with this one. I really want to see this on the front page! No (resubmit, please!)

I think this track is pretty solid. There's a lot of emotion throughout despite there not being many changes to the soundscape. The two sources fit together very well, and without knowing I wouldn't have guessed they were from two different games. There's a subtle build that really add some good anxiety towards the end of the track and makes for a good conclusion. I'm on board! Yes (changed below)

I like the changes you made to the melody, like using a version in major at one point. Small changes but they definitely change the feel of the piece. I do think you achieved your goal, I felt pretty invigorated and ready for an adventure! I think the use of the quote is overdone, and using it maybe the first and last time would have been better, but it's not a dealbreaker here. I also think a breakdown might have been nice to give the ears a little bit of rest, but I didn't feel overly taxed by the end, just would have been a nice addition. The balance is pretty strong, and I like that the leads change around to give a different feel. Nice work overall! YES

previous decision Contact: · ReMixer name: Mahrellon · Real name: Andreas Flodman · or · www.youtube.com/Mahrellon · User ID: 23451 · Game: The Legend of Zelda – Wind waker · Name of arrangement: Out on the open Sea · Songs arranged: Ocean · Link to OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN_x1rpGbY8 · My Comments: The very first time I played Zelda The Wind Waker and heard "The Ocean Theme" I knew straight away that making a remix of this song would become one of my future projects. When I finally found myself having enough time the idea of how I wanted to produce it had matured and the choice was obvious. The theme was going to be electronic dance-music, not my usual style, where the challenge would be to try to maintain the sense of adventure and exploration.

Pretty cute sources you've used, and the usage between the two is fairly seamless. The arrangement overall sticks fairly close to the original melodies and backings. There is some personalization in the instrument choice and your performances, but overall I feel like it could be more arranged overall. The soundscape overall is pretty empty, and the balance is kinda strange. The guitar is way up front, along with the piano, but the drums sound pretty distant and weak overall. I'd like a shift to get the parts to work together better. Along with that, the soundscape overall is pretty empty, and there's a ton of space that could be filled up. A lot of the parts feel pretty mechanical, like the piano, the epiano, and the bells. The drums have some variation, but they still feel like they're on autopilot for a parts of the mix. I think it's a decent start, but I'd like to hear a bit more in regards to the arrangement and some reconfiguration of the soundscape and production. Good luck! NO (resubmit)

Remixer-Montr3uil (Laurent Montreuil) 54365 Sub. info Game: BattleBlock Theater Arrangement name: Cats on the menu Original songs: Main Menu theme by Analogik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0u9Hs5fgzE&list=PLpdX7Z2i6JnSfMuy5KRIjUWWNEqiRovak and... Boss stage by Nicolas Hodge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFPwmPuiSSY&list=PLpdX7Z2i6JnSfMuy5KRIjUWWNEqiRovak&index=13 Game featured on Xbox 360, Windows.

Pretty good choice of sounds, guys the arrangement naturally and enhances the soundscape of the original. I do think the drums feel a little bit on autopilot, and maybe the kick could have had a bit more presence in the mix, but overall the production was pretty solid. The arrangement also guys the original, with the brass giving that would west feel, along with the descending runs used throughout. Definitely a lot of energy to go around! I enjoyed this quite a bit! Yes

I'm going to have to agree with Kris here, I'm not hearing anything identifiable as source until 2:35. It's just too long to have before you get into things and the source usage is too short. It's definitely creepy though and you've got a great mood! No (resubmit) (changed below)

Pretty neat concept, but overall I think this suffers from being too close to the original source, and too repetitive in the backing parts. The drums are on autopilot, and the arrangement has the same chord progression played the same throughout. There needs to be more variation as a whole, including changing up the melody and backing, making the drums more interesting, and changing up the structure. NO

If we get those changes done I can totally see this passing. In the end I'm agreeing that the sameness is really dragging this down. Please send this one back! No (resubmit please)

Gonna have to disagree here. I feel like the lack of realism really pulls this down. All the parts sound really mechanical and the samples are all lacking. The piano sounds thin as well as the strings. If this had some more humanization, better velocity variance, and some good use of vibrato the track could be so much more. I do thing the arrangement itself is pretty, and there are some nice uses of dynamics, but it's just not doing it with the samples and production. I'd love to hear this again after some fixes, though! No (resubmit)

Not much to add to what the gentlemen have already said. The biggest issue right now is that the other elements of the mix sound really distant and don't have the strength to match the guitar. Along with that are some sections that could be humanized a bit more and overall the track could be louder. This does need some work, but I think you have a pretty good grasp on the style adaption and are on the right track overall. Use our WIP boards to get some more feedback! No (resubmit)

There's a ton of creative and super fun usage of the sources here! The melding is pretty seamless, and It made for a nice listen to hear the different sources come in at various times, but felt like a cohesive whole of a track. After listening through a few times and comparing to sources here and there I'm pretty sure this is good to go on the source usage time, but I don't envy Larry timestamping this . Also not sure what people will think in regards to the sampling, though I didn't feel like it was overwhelming. Really love that the energy is going all the time here. I do think a break somewhere would have been a nice reprieve, but I can imagine that Sonic would never slow down the tempo! The mix overall is a bit on the loud side, though I felt like the balance overall was pretty clear and I never felt like it was muddy or anything. Great fun! YES

Going to pretty much agree with Mike here. The usage of the sources works well, you add a really ominous tone to it. I feel like it does take a bit for the track to settle in, but when it does you've got a nice soundscape going on, though it gets a little busy. 1:01 is where things really start to break in, and I love that section and how it has that slow-but-coming-to-get-you feel. I do find myself a bit close to the fence in regards to things getting overly crowded at times, but overall the parts are still clear enough that I'm not seeing it as a deal breaker. I do feel like once things really get going the track begins to fade out. I'd have loved some more expansion, and I think you could have stretched out another minute or arrangement without me losing interest. Overall I'd say this is a close one, curious what the next judge is going to think, but for now I'm good to give this a go. YES (borderline)

Yeah, really enjoying the arrangement overall, but a lot of times it's tough to hear the details due to the compression and some balance issues. The hats and ride cymbal are really prominent, as well as the guitar in some sections (1:18 for example). Toning those back will let some of the other details show through that are being covered up right now. I do feel like some of the backing parts feel a little mechanical and could use to be humanized. The stiffer parts stand out against the leads and jazzier sections. Good start here, but the production needs to be cleaned up. Definitely check out our WIP forums to get some more feedback and advice. No (resubmit)

Mike has a lot of really good critiques here. Immediately I'm noticing the overpowering bass, and the heavy reverb. I'll also echo that the track generally sticks pretty close to the original methodically. I do like the breakdown/buildup combo you put in the middle, it provides a nice break. I suggest this a lot to many mixers, but I always encourage submitters to listen to the most recently posted mixes and compare them to the original sources to hear the kinds of personalization and interpretation OCR looks for in a mix. It gives a good idea of how things were changed and arranged and might give you some ideas you can work with. You've got a start here, though there is a lot of work to go. Keep working on your mixing and arrangement. Good luck! No

Yeah, I love that this is all over the place, and yet is cohesive. Not an easy thing to do, but you make it work and it's really fun! Mike's correct that the organ could maybe be a touch more present, but it's by no means a deal breaker. I do feel like the strings are a little slow on the attack as well which makes things feel slightly out of time, but again not a big issue. There's a ton of nice touches, like the opening tuba, overall use of the organ, solos. Really great listen. YES

Listened to this one a couple times. I think it's a vast improvement on the arrangement side; I do not that the issue of the source either being there or not being there like I did for your previous submission. The energy is still there, and the guitar playing is really strong. I do feel like the drums are still lacking a bit of punch that would really make this track shine, but overall I think it's not an issue where this needs more work. Good to see you sticking with it! YES

Just a note that the judge link doesn't seem to be working, so I'm going off the artist link. I like your opening here, makes a great lead in to the rest of the track. Good synth choices, overall, and the balance starts out pretty clean. Once the guitar comes in, though, things start to get messy. Overall it sounds like the timing between the chugs of the rhythm guitar, the percussion, and the lead are not matching up super well, and overall it ends up feeling really sloppy. After that we have a whooshy transition, and a new section starts. I feel a bit like the transition is a bit long and cuts the flow a little, and this section feels like the start of a new song. I think a shorter transition might work a bit better to make things feel connected to each other. It might be just me, but sometimes the leads feel like they're panned just slightly left, which feels a little strange on headphones. Overall there's a lot of good arrangement ideas in here, but it's too messy right now to pass. I think this is pretty close, once you get it cleaned up I hope you send it back in! NO (resubmit)

Good ole' medley tits. That being said, I'm going to agree with Mr. Nuts here that the entire track sounds pretty muddy and very busy. Definitely some EQ work to get parts a bit clearer and have the leads come out a bit stronger. I do think that this suffers a bit from medley tits (going to call it that for the rest of this judgement). The transition specifically at 1:28 sounds a bit rough, though I felt the rest felt more natural. Overall, I think if anything maybe removing the select stage part of the mix will let the other two sources flow a bit better together? I'd really like you to keep working on this, the arrangement has a ton of energy and I love how driving it is. The percussion is really varied and works super well with the track. Send this back! NO (resubmit)

FFT ranks among my top soundtracks, so I totally get you. It's a really hard soundtrack to mix, because there's so much going on theoretically and harmonically. Right off the bat I'm noticing your soundscape is a bit exposed. The guitar sounds very up front along with the bass rhythm, and the other sounds are very distant, making the balance sound very strange. The soundscape is also very empty despite the backing strings you have going. I'd love to hear some more filling out of the background overall. The arrangement overall sticks pretty close to the source both melodically and structurally. There's a little bit of noodling here and there, but otherwise this sounds a bit like a minimalist cover of the original. We generally look for more in terms of personalization and interpretation of the source. Check out our most recently posted mixes and compare them to their original sources to see how those artists really made the piece their own. Definitely a great soundtrack, and I'd really like to see more mixes of it on the site. Keep at it! NO (resubmit)

Yeah, this is fantastic, the style change totally works, the lyrics are fun and a little cheeky. Agreed on the vocals being a little exposed, but it's a nit to pick. Great job! Yes

The mix here isn't straying far from the original style of the source, and that's not a bad thing. I think that there's a lot of good stuff going on here. Overall the samples are all pretty solid, and there are some little details here and there that add some personality. I do think that some of the parts could have some more variation, like the percussion and rhythm sections, which would help the track feel a bit more 'live.' Similarly, the lead guitar overall sounds pretty good, but a little more humanization could really go the distance here. I also felt that the synth and piano are a bit piercing and could be brought down a touch. Towards the end the track feels like it's a copy-paste of the earlier section, and adding some variation could definitely go a long way. Honestly I think it's close, but it's the little details that are adding up here. I'd like to hear this again. NO (resubmit)

So this might be one of those tracks that makes a little more sense to someone who has played the game, but right now all the sound effects are completely distracting to me. I think they are used far too often, and not artistically throughout the track. The other big issue I'm noticing with the track is that I'm only hearing the source starting at 1:58-2:08. Maybe it's connected in the bass a bit, but I'm not really willing to call that a solid connection. Unless there is more source present, I'm going to have to call this a NO OVERRIDE