DragonAvenger

I'll update it Thursday. Today and tomorrow are no good for me.

Yeah, I'm feeling like the mix overall is very muddy, and there are some balance issues as well. I can understand wanting to downplay the melody at times to allow some fun countermelodies have the light, but that was happening for the majority of the track, and the other stuff was a bit repetitive. I think doing more shifts between the two on what is the main part would be a solid change that would make the track a lot more interesting as a whole. The overall bleed between the pads is awkward, definitely something you want to clean up, and the volume on them can be toned down as well. It's a good start and you have some good ideas for the arrangement, but there needs to be more going on in terms of variety in parts, harmonies, etc, for a track this long. Start with cleaning up the production and balance and then look into adjusting your parts to add more variety. NO (resubmit)

Interesting textures you have here. I will admit I was put off from the xylophone especially, but over a couple listens I find it to be charming. The arrangement definitely has some fun personalization, and I think that, while a touch repetitive, this has a lot of good assets to it. If anything, the ending is the weakest section to the entire piece, although I think even if you hadn't faded it it might have been stronger as it was. The other issue I have is some weird harmonies at the opening in the pads. It isn't something that I think puts the track under the bar, but I do think that it detracts from the piece a bit. I might be the only one on the other side of the fence, but I think this is good to go. I certainly wouldn't mind some retouches here and there, though. YES

Larry has this down solidly. Really fun listen, and I enjoyed the cover as a whole, but this doesn't have enough interpretation and personalization for OCR. I'd love to hear you fix this one up, but I suspect that you're happy with this one as-is. If you work on something in the future with some more of your own touch in it definitely send it in, though! Also, Spicy Placenta is a track name? Really? :/ NO

I like what you did with the arrangement here. There's a lot of personalization, and I liked the idea of the instrumentation you used. As Larry mentioned, a lot of the instruments just aren't cutting it here. Overall your track has a super subdued feeling as well, which I don't think was totally intentional on your part, so I'd love you to look at that as well and see if you can bring up the volume a touch and maybe adjust the volumes to get more intensity out of your track (like the chugs at the beginning, for example). I'd love to hear this one again. NO (resubmit)

I did read the crits of the gentlemen above as I was listening, and I have to agree with both of them. There's definitely some interesting personalization you have in terms of how you approached the instrumentation, but right now it's just very repetitive. More variations, more dynamics, more change-ups, definitely. NO (resubmit)

Vinnie and Larry sum it up well. Definitely keep working on your articulations and pulling out some good sounds from what you've got, but this one has some nice subtleties. Not the most amazing arrangement out there, and I hope you keep improving, but still some good work. YES

I dunno, I'm not feeling this one as much as Larry is. I felt that a lot of the song is very repetitious which causes it to drag over the course of the piece. The energy was there, but it loses some of it's effect from how often you hear the same parts. I might be the minority here, which is fine, but I'd like to hear this one get trimmed down or have the parts have some more variations in melody/harmony. I'm also not feeling the opening quote; it's pretty low, so it only adds noise to the track instead of something more tangible (not to say that noise isn't what you were going for, which if it was then it works fine). Expanding on the section Larry pointed out, I wasn't feeling 3:08 either, but even the section before that starting at 2:49 felt a bit too random. Some more solid melodies would be a good part to work on there. I think this is really close, but I'd like to hear another pass at it. Good luck on the rest of the vote. NO (resubmit)

Yeah, I can see the crits in terms of the production end of things, but I still think this sits above the bar as-is. And well, digeridoo. Digeridoo

Right away I'm not liking the opening vamp. All of the note movement is parallel, which is fine in small doses, but sounds very strange with the extended use. After that I'm right in agreement with Larry on both the mechanical sequencing on the piano and the exposed sounds. I think the sample itself could be fine if it were nestled better into the track. After that we've got the fake guitar which I think could also be fine if you doubled it with something else. The added texture would boost the volume and still give you the effect you want, I think. To me I'm hearing some balance issues, which might be Larry's issue. I'd like to hear a little more bass presence, and fiddling around with your treble instruments to get the piano less exposed without burying it will be your challenge. Bringing down the drums just a touch might help as well, especially the snare. The arrangement overall does feel a bit repetitive to me, and I'd love to hear more of some slight variations to the melody and backing. I think as-is it could still pass, but those extra details would make the track stronger overall. You've got some work to do, but I think you're on the right track and have a pretty good start. Hit up the WIP forums to get some more feedback and then send this back to us! NO (resubmit)

I don't think Larry's an outlier here. There's some good stuff going on here, but overall it's a little too close to the source, and there are sections that feel like they are vamping a bit too long. I think either adding some more interpretation and some original melodies and possibly trimming some of the less active sections will be a good first move for you. I also wasn't a bit fan of some of the lead sounds, which felt a bit too harsh for the rest of the soundscape, but that may be more personal opinion than anything else. Definitely take Larry's advice to heart, and consider revamping this a bit to be a bit more your own and a little more interesting. As Larry (again) said, not too much wrong with this as-is for a cover/upgrade, but if you're looking to go the OCR route we need a bit more personalization. Good luck to you! NO (resubmit)

Pretty much in agreement with Larry here. The coverish parts were overall pretty close to the source, and while there's some interpretation here, it wasn't anything that stands out particularly strongly. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, just that it feels a bit like "been there, done that." That being said, the more interpretive parts are pretty sweet, and the energy level overall is pretty high. I'd have loved a bit more variation overall, both in the coverish sections by changing around the melody, and your more interpretive areas. I think this skims the bar, but I am OK giving it a pass. Good luck on the rest of the vote. YES (Borderline)

We discussed this a little today, Brandon, and I am curious if this track is from somewhere other than the game itself. Unfortunately it's very difficult to actually find movie on youtube so I wasn't able to sift through and see if it is or isn't, so I am going to assume that I am just hearing something similar that is reminding me of something. Aside from that, I found this to be a fun submission to listen to. The style fits very well to the melody, and the details on the different parts is good. I agree with Larry that some of the parts weren't balanced super well, but I don't think they are enough of a detractor in the whole to bring this below the bar. Very curious to see what others think on the issue, so good luck to you. YES (conditional on source being solely from the game)

<3 Aibou <3

Pretty much in the same boat as the gentlemen above; it's not to my personal taste, but the arrangement is creative, and I can definitely see that people will dig it. I do also agree with Larry that the lack of change in textures/sounds/volume starts to wear on you a while, and I'd love to hear you change up one ore more of those to help give the track more flow and variety. The sounds are clear, and the balance is quite good between your instruments. I think a bit more in the low end and a tiny drop in overall volume might help you get a stronger effect overall, but I am also fine with how you approached this as-is. YES

Larry's right; the arrangement itself is super sweet, and I you've got some fantastic writing which makes this way more fun to listen to the source. The problem definitely comes from the production. For a 'metalish' track, I wasn't feeling any power out of the guitars or drums, and the violin section definitely sounds way to distant and dry. Another nit to add to the pick is the cymbal actually comes in pretty clearly compared to everything else, and almost becomes too much of a focus at time. Overall I think you're very much on the right track, but now it's going to be about finessing the production. Definitely work on tweaking this one up, and maybe consider getting some feedback from WIP forums. Send this back to us! NO (resubmit, please)

Sounds like all your hard work went to a sweet result. Nice job, bro! YES

Can't say I agree with Larry's opinion that this could be close. I found the sounds to be very thin and fake, which might be contributing partly to the sparseness overall. The other big issue I felt was the note choices. I wasn't feeling some of the changes in the chord progression; either they didn't really work well with the melody, or as Larry mentioned they are intentional, but I'm not quite getting why Jack went for those choices. It seems like I'm in the minority here, but I think this needs a bit more of a revamp before I'd be good to let this one go. That being said, I do like the grungy feel you're going for, and I think there's some good things to work with. Good luck to you! NO (resubmit)

Sticking with it really paid off here. I love your opening build, and while things never get super thumpin' in terms of energy (it's not meant to be) you've done a great job of adding a lot more life since your original sub. There are a lot of little details and intricacies that really bring this together, and I can definitely tell that you've spent a ton of time working on the tweaks that, while not overtly noticed, really push it over the bar. Kudos! YES

But guys, we're always buying Magic and Minis!

Larry's advice is sound here; there is a lot of mud pervading this mix throughout, and cleaning that up is going to be the first thing you want to work on. I'll also agree that there's a bit of stiffness going on that can be improved on. Further on that note, there are sections where the melody feels like it's off by a couple beats. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but it's especially noticeable when the lead comes in at 0:27 and a few other sections. The transitions are a bit rough at times, but listening in a vacuum I think most of them are ok to good. I'd love to hear you work on leading into the different themes, or have them intertwined at times. Mind you, the arrangement as-is is fine minus those transitions, and I like the energy overall. Just some ideas to improve on it or to look at your future arrangements. I think you've got a great start here, and I love this initiative overall, and I hope you continue to refine this! NO (resubmit)

I've gotta agree with Vinnie on this. I do think Twilight is a source that is in theory mixable, but there has to be more going into it than what you currently have here. There's a lot of ambient chords going on, and I can hear the connection, but there's little direction to the mix as is. Just relying on the chords is iffy in terms of what we could call source usage or not, which is why this is so tough. I think All that being said, there's a lot of good emotion in this, with good uses of dynamics and tempo. My personal thought is that you should focus more on the other source in your mix, as it gives you more to work with and you can move with more direction in it, but I'm curious what the other judges have to say on this. NO (resubmit)

I'm with Fishy: I see what Larry's saying, bu I think the arrangement and overall awesomeness makes up for the muddiness. Sounds super fun! YES

Agreed with Larry on this one. I love that 5-second opening, btw. Just that there shows me that you can add some sweet parts to this mix and make an awesome interpretation. I'm loathe to call this an 'add drums to the original melody', because that's not really what it is, but at times it does have that feeling, which is a shame. Please look this one over again and see if you can add a little to make this one unique; I'd love to see this front page! NO (resubmit)