DragonAvenger

ReMixer name: Richard Daskas Real Name: Richard Daskas website: richarddaskas.com userid: 54013 Name of Game Arranged: Chrono Trigger Name of arrangement: Flow of Time Name of individual song arranged: Chrono Trigger ----------------------------------- (Shared a playlist because there's a ton of tracks in here)

I contemplated if this was a DP, because there are a lot of really cool things going on, and the production is pretty sweet as well. I ended up panelling it mostly due to the repetitiveness of the arpeggio in the background and due to the solos making things get a bit away from the source at times. Aside from that, I have no problem giving this a YES, just felt it was a little below the point of a direct post. YES

DjjD (feat. Giles Teskey, Jeff Ball, LuketheXJesse, Krank, Ben Briggs...) Jacob Diaz http://soundcloud.com/djjdstudios 28914 Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross Timewarp "Sealed Door" and "Dead Sea" Man, where do I even begin with this one. It started like...8-9 months ago when I showed one of my friends a small 30 sec clip of Dead Sea. I got inspired by DrumUltima's wip from years ago. When I started to get really into it, I showed it to Dustin (TheoryofN) and he stated that "Sealed Door" was really similar and that it would work really well. From there, I added rhythm guitar clips from my good friend Giles, talked to Ben and Drew about adding some solos, talked to Jeff to lay down a small violin segment over the rhythm guitar part Luke had already added, and finally spoke to Krank (formerly known as Dj Bjra) to finish off the last of the 3 solo spots. All in all, it was a mission to get this one finished. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Yeah, this arrangement is really great to listen to! I will have to admit that I keep feeling like the gregorian chant sounds too much like english and my brain keeps trying to decipher it, which ultimately is distracting from the song. Not sure if that's just me, though. Vinnie really has this on the head, though, that the heavier sections feel like they aren't having as strong of an impact as they should. I'm going to say that I'm on the other side of the fence that it isn't to the point of bringing it below the bar for me, but I can see this going either way. Good luck on the rest of the vote! YES (bit borderline)

This track was a lot of fun on the album, glad you cleaned it up and sent it in officially! Love the added glitch effects and added percussion. I don't really have any issue with the arrangement, but I might be biased to listening to this enough times from the album. Nice upgrade! YES

I had to listen to the source a few times and the mix a couple of times to hear it, but the main motif of the source is littered throughout the mix enough that I didn't have a problem with the arrangement. I will note that towards the end I wasn't feeling the double-time use of the source theme, but I'm not sure if it was because of how it was used or the lack of realism in the strings that was bothering me. Vinnie's got some great advice regarding the production here. The strings overall I think could be touched up to add more realism to them overall, and the issue with that synth that doubles the 16th note source line is also something that could really stand to be addressed. I think you could work with dynamics more to get a lot more out of this mix as well. Some of the swells could be a lot stronger, and the quieter sections brought down as well. I think this is on the right track, but needs a bit more finesse. NO (resubmit)

Other judges really nailed this. Definitely needs to be louder to have more of an impact. The arrangement is a bit on the liberal side, but I'm hearing enough of a connection overall. I personally was not feeling the bass kick in the sparser sections, and might ask you to look for something else to fit better in those areas. Aside from that your mix is pretty close, but needs those production fixes. Send this back to us! NO (resubmit)

Pretty interesting take on the melody, I like how you kinda throw everything off rhythm a bit but still keep the flow going. The soloing in particular is really sweet here, love how you play with the melodies and still keep it fresh to the source. Vig and Clem both have good critiques on the production end of things that I think could be addressed in future mixes. I'm not particularly sold on the lead synth, but as the mix goes on it grows on you, and it works pretty well for the solos in particular. I personally would have liked a bigger change-up to the soundscape at some point to give the ears a bit of a rest, but I think overall it is varied enough as-is. Sweet solos! YES

So there are a lot of really fun and good arrangement ideas in here. There was rarely a part listening through that I wasn't hearing source tunes, so you're definitely covered on that. I think there are a couple of problems that are really holding your track back. The biggest issue I'm hearing is the samples. A lot of times, especially when their is more going on, the samples and sequencing are fine. It's the slower sections that are exposing your samples and the track becomes very mechanical and fake sounding. I think going back to those sections (~1:30ish is the first example I remember) and really fine-tuning the sequencing to humanize the parts will help here. That being said, it probably wouldn't hurt to look into replacing some of the super-fake sounding samples and improving them right out as well. The arrangement overall is pretty good, and there's a lot of ideas and a lot of arrangement to go around. I'm personally not feeling the narrative feel overall. In my opinion, you could easily break a section out of the arrangement here and make a more concise and focused mix and not lose anything to it. My biggest issue stems from the transitions between the parts making the track sound like two or three different tracks that are stuck together. The 4:25 transition is the worst, and really stops the momentum of the track. Similarly, the ~1:30 transition really separates the different sources a bit too awkwardly. I feel like the transitions really need to be addressed and are the second biggest issue aside from the samples/sequencing that are preventing this from passing. I will point out that the ~5:00 minute transition is quite good, and I though that one flowed really nicely. Samples and sequencing are the biggest issue here that need to be addressed, and I think the transitions are the second issue here. I think this would be a great track to bring to the WIP forums to get some more feedback, I'd like to hear it again. NO (resubmit)

Yeah, gonna agree with the NO's here; the drums are the weakest element by far, but I felt like a lot of the track was really mechanical as well. Some of the string samples stand out the most to me, but overall I felt like there could be a lot more humanization to many of the parts. It might be a bit of personal taste there, so grain of salt with that. I found the contrast between the two parts to be charming, though I can see Vinnie's crits on the two sections being a bit too jarring to each other. Aside from that, I think the arrangement is a lot of fun, and I'd love to hear this one spruced up a bit! NO (resubmit)

I gotta say, for me this just barely skims by in terms of arranging and embellishing the piece. I do agree that the arrangement is downright beautiful, and I really enjoyed listening to it, but I will say that it is pretty conservative. It comes down to the embellishments and harmonies and countermelodies, all of which are used very well, to bring this one over the bar. I wasn't feeling the super echoey feel of the track at first, but by the end of the track I felt it worked quite well. Definitely not conventional, but it gets the job done to add an eerie effect to the track. I'd like to hear more from you! YES (borderline)

Super chill, definitely makes me think of someone scuba diving among a lot of colorful fish in the tropics. Great use of samples to achieve your mood. Nice change of harmonies at the end as well, adds a new flavor to the melody. Liking this! YES

In the end I'm agreeing with the no side that the instrumentation is kinda selling this track short. I think you did a great job merging the two sources so that they sound cohesive together as a piece, and the solo is definitely a great feature of the track. The instrumentation and dry soundscape really suck the energy out of the track, however, and I found it difficult to keep focus on it at times. I'd love to hear you use some other synths in here and maybe change up the leads to have a bit more power to them. I'm not really in favor or against the snare sound, though I think varying it along with some of the other instruments won't hurt you in any way, so if the other J's aren't feeling it might as well see if you can spruce it up a bit Send this back! NO (resubmit)

I'm with Vinnie on this one. I really enjoyed how subtly you went from one source to another. I found the samples overall to be pretty solid, though some of the uses feel a bit mechanical occasionally. Just enough to notice, but not enough to really make it annoying. I will nitpick the transition at 4:10, which felt pretty awkward with the tempo change. Aside from that, I really enjoyed listening to this, and the strength of the arrangement really shines here. YES

Pretty on the fence with this one. I can see what Kris and Vinnie are saying about the first half, and I think overall it definitely could use a few more change-ups to keep things from sounding too repetitive. Also agreed on the fade-out being at 4:28 instead of later, it would sound more natural there. Looking at this from the other side, the track has a pretty neat soundscape to it, and I didn't hear anything that was egregious in terms of production. When it comes down to it, I don't think the first half being a bit repetitive brings this to a point where it's below the bar. That being said, I think you can take the crits that all the judges have brought forward and use them to improve in your future works. Good luck on the rest of the vote! YES (borderline)

Gackt!!!!!!! (looked like Squall)

Where's my GACKT!?!?!

I think Wes really got this right. You have established a pretty unique soundscape here, and there's a lot you can do with it, but things remain overall static which becomes very repetitive. There's definitely a need for some more variation in the melody and the backing parts, especially for the second time around. I'm also going to agree that the second part of the track is a bit too empty to really keep interest. I'm guessing you're going for a kinda creepy minimal approach there, but I don't think it establishes the feel that you're going for and ends up being too empty as a result. I think there's promise in the concept you have going for the creepy-happy mix of Saria's theme, but I think it needs more refinement and variation. NO (resubmit)

Totally agreed with the others. Really cool timbres, and a great mix of the two melodies, but it's so short that it's over right when the track feels like it's just established itself. Would love to hear this expanded! NO (resubmit)

Nice take on the source, love the emotion you put into your vocals as always. I can definitely feel the frustration that the Blue Bomber is feeling of having to save the world from Wily....again...and again... I do feel like some of the points your vocals feel a bit strained. In some ways it does add to the feeling, but the stretch is also a bit distracting as well. Having the same issue when I try to get louder/higher probably makes it more noticeable to me, and I don't feel like it's a dealbreaker. Nice work, Mr. Cyril! YES

Larry's got some great crits here, and I think I'm on the same level as him. To me the dealbreaker is coming from the fact that you are using the same riff throughout most of the track, and while there are some changes going on here and there, that specific riff stays pretty much the same throughout. I think adding some subtle changes to it would help. It does drop out for a bit, in the 1:20 section, but that part feels more like a transition between parts instead of something new, so it doesn't give the ears a new focus. Perhaps having a different melody line or a solo would help. As a personal note, I loved the intro and the build-up, and was expecting a big part to come in, and was a bit disappointed when the track ended up staying as mellow as it did. That is more a personal taste, so you are welcome to take it or leave it as you will This is my first time hearing this, and I think you've got a good groove going on here. There definitely needs to be some adjustments, but I think you can tweek it into the right direction. I encourage you to post this in our WIP forums and get some more feedback! NO (resubmit)

I think the live strings do add some more presence to the mix, and they are a nice addition, but I think they aren't quite mixed right into the track. A lot of times they are feeling too pasted on top and are distracting to me. Similarly, I'm feeling like other parts have been moved to being slightly out of time, and need to be re-adjusted. There's also some static going on from one of the recordings, which is very noticeable on the last note especially. I think your arrangement is overall pretty solid. It's a bit close to the source at times, but I think it's well above the bar. Sorry to throw this back at you again, but the balance and timing definitely need to be adjusted before this passes, but it's really close IMO. NO (resubmit)

Kris hit the points I wanted to note, the snare doesn't feel like it's fitting into the soundscape you're going for here, for starters. I think she nailed that on the head that it's a bit too loud and is taking up a bit too much room for what it is. I do also agree that some areas sound pretty cohesive, like the 1:11 section, but others aren't quite doing it (1:59). I also liked what was going on at 2:24-end, so nice work there. I think it needs a bit more polish before you're good to go here, but you're definitely on the right track. NO (resubmit)

I thought this game was a gem in regards to music as well, not as much the game itself Loved Sebastian's playing here! He plays with a lovely amount of emotion, and having the sheet music to follow along was a wonderful touch. Great job to all involved.