DragonAvenger

Definitely take Jesse's advice, because he is definitely right about the panning issues. In terms of production, I feel like the sounds overall aren't quite at the level they need to be to stand as they are. This might be solved with some tweaking of the sounds overall, but it might be worth looking for some ways to upgrade a few to bring up the overall level. The arrangement overall is somewhat straightforward, but there are some very nice countermelodies you've added. I think doing a little more in terms of that or adding a couple more original sections would be a step in the right direction. The transition to Zelda's lullaby and on felt a little meandering overall, and I think you could shorten it a touch or work with your dynamics or tempo to give that part more direction. Maybe having the piano build back into one final reprise of the source theme could provide a stronger end as well. There's some work here to be done, but you have some promising ideas. Hit up the WIP forums to get some further advice from the forum goers and moderators. NO

I think your approach to the source here is pretty cool (and I do think you're on the right track) but I'm gonna be harsher on this, unfortunately. The synths to me felt overall a bit dull and lifeless, and while it's ok at first, it really started to wear on me over time. As Andrew mentioned, you can definitely work more life out of the synths to make things feel stronger and more emotive. A little bit humanization will help that as well, as the straight rhythms make things feel a bit stiff. The same applies to the piano. Some areas feel a bit cluttered in the same sound range. 1:15-1:28 is a good example of this, even with the lead synth on top. There are a lot of elements fighting for the same range, and the piece loses focus because of it. Arrangement-wise I am liking a lot of what you're doing here. The personalization is good, and you really approach the track in a way that compliments it rather than fights with the source. Couple strange notes at 2:25 and later at 2:38. Just something to note that stuck out for me. The soloing otherwise was fine, but again felt a bit stiff. I do, however, think the transition for the key change was pretty weak, and think it could be reworked. A stronger lead-in might help. Once you're into the key change there's a bit more of a clash between your synths, but aside from that I don't mind the ending. I really do think you're on a good track here, and hopefully I was as harsh as you'd have liked. Do fix this up for us though! NO (resubmit)

I agree that the compression is definitely topping the charts here, but I'll also agree that it gives an interesting mood and effect here. I'm on board with this one, although it doesn't particularly tickle my fancy (definitely like some of your other stuff better). Very interesting approach though! YES

Pretty on the fence with this one myself. I can see what all the gentlemen are saying: the chords to feel a bit dragged out over time, but it has appeal in certain sections. Production for me was fine, but I can acknowledge what Vinnie is saying as well. I'd say for me it comes just above the bar in terms of source usage because of how it's spread out among the entire mix. It's certainly overall very close, and I can see this going either way. Good luck. YES (borderline)

I think your arrangement ideas here are very smart. There's a clear recognition to the source, and you really let your own personality shine through. This is definitely taking a source that I never particularly cared for and putting it into a new light. I'm quite down with this mix. YES

Up to date...not so much. Submitting a mix of my own creation...not totally, but took a pretty good step forward on that. 1/2 success!

Could be worse; my brother's birthday is Dec. 24 :/ Super congrats, she's beautiful!

The TBJ list is smaller because we have been moving less over from the inbox lately. You can see what date in the inbox we are up to near the top of the post. Anything after that date may or may not be on the list. I'm hoping to get to that more once finals are over. (Hope with me, peeps). The different list is due to who is active in judging (in the 'currently' thread) vs. who is on staff (the info/staff list). Not much else to that. Oh, and Jooj-Cat.

Birthdayyyyyyy!!!!!

Emu's got some great crits, and I'd like to add a couple of things. Your main melody instruments sound somewhat mechanical, and it sticks out compared to the rest of the backing track. I'd love to hear the leads be more emotive which would really bring out some good character. Along with that I'm noticing some of your countermelodies (which are really nice) are a muddied by the reverb. I do like the dreamy texture you have going on here, but I think toning it down to get a better balance on the clarity would be good. Lastly, I will definitely second the rhythms towards the end not quite matching well and throwing things off. As Emu also said, this has a ton of promise and was great to listen to. I don't think it's there yet in terms of production, but it's well on it's way, and I'm looking forward to hearing this again. NO (resubmit)

Personally I don't find the original source all that interesting, but I can see how you are working with it, and there's definitely some good additions here that are making it more interesting. I'd say that while you're on the right track in terms of arrangement, I'd like to hear some more variation in the backing parts that you have going. Some parts feel like they are playing over and over until you reach the next section. Adding in some little variations like you did with other parts of the arrangement will definitely help. I do like your overall progression, and your original writing fits well. That ending, however, is very sudden and really doesn't match what you have going on. You really need to flesh that out. Production is where this is really losing ground. Overall the song is pretty mechanical, and the realism suffers from it. Most of the instruments aren't terrible sounding, but treated as is they aren't conveying the realism they need. I'm also noticing a lot of the string parts have a slow attack that is making them sound out of time with the other parts going on. Adjusting that or nixing the samples for something else might be a good idea. Adjusting a little bit of the balance might be in order too, specifically how up front the harp sounds at times compared to the rest of the mix. I think you have a pretty good start here, but there's definitely some work to go. Use our WIP forums to get some more advice on how to clean this up, and I'd like to hear it again NO (resubmit)

I'm pretty much right with Vinnie on this. The track is long, but there's a ton of little details that really make this stay interesting and fun to listen to. I love the overall mood and soundscape. This is definitely a track I'd love to explore Zebes while listening to. There's some good variation in your structure, and the dynamic changes really help to keep the listener focused. I felt like the backing synths got a bit repetitive overall, but I think that comes down to personal taste. I can see Vinnie's crits on the percussion and low end, but I agree that they aren't enough to bring this below the bar. Nice work. YES

There's a lot of good advice that Larry gave here. Most importantly would be that the arrangement has some good ideas, but they get played out somewhat quickly and things start to sound very same-y. For example, I don't know if I'd be able to point out many differences between the section starting around 0:10 and the one later at 1:39. Larry points out that the 2:57 section is pretty cool, and some of that has to do with the fact that it's the first real sonic change-up that's happening in the mix, and it's very refreshing to hear after everything being so loud. Having more diverse changes in your instruments throughout the arrangement will help with that, even if you aren't changing the overall structure and feel. Drums are suffering from repetitiveness, again as Larry brought up, but I don't think it's as bad as he makes it. What you do have in terms of writing is good, but it's just not varied. I think the sounds themselves are a bit cliche, but I'm personally fine with them. The same could be said for most of the sounds, honestly. Nothing stands out as particularly unique in terms of the style and sounds, but I don't feel like anything is at a level where it absolutely needs to be changed. I think you have a good start here, and are well on your way to having a developed mix. That being said, I agree (again) with Larry that there's a lot of revising that would need to be done here. I encourage you to do so, and keep improving on your arrangement and production. NO (resubmit)

http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100002356

Nothing to add here. Unfortunately, having played trumpet, this really is difficult to listen to just because of the samples. You really put a lot of work into the song, and the sequencing and arrangement is good. I just can't forgive the sounds themselves on this. NO (resubmit)

I can see where Vinnie is getting on in terms of the reverb on the piano, but I was a bit more bugged by the somewhat piercing lead synth. Aside from that I'm going to agree with Vinnie (again) that the arrangement does feel pretty close to the original a decent amount of the time. When you do pull away you've got some fun ideas, and things sound great. You could have definitely done more of that here, and I hope you do for your future subs, too I'm with Vinnie, this is a close call, but I'm willing to give it that nod. Good luck with the rest of the vote. YES (borderline)

A lot of what Larry said here makes sense. What I notice first is that the vocaloid sounds very close to a synth whenever it has longer notes as well as mono-syllablic lyrics. Part of this is due to the muddiness, so cleaning that up will help, but some of it stems from loss of articulations with longer notes. The guitar that starts has a fun pattern, but once the vocals come in it isn't the forefront of the mix and it needs to come down, as it's competing with the vocals rather than supporting them. I also think the backing pattern starts to get annoying as it continues on (again because it's trying to stay so much in the front of the mix). I'll also agree with Larry on the bass stuff that comes in later. I see what you're going for with the other song quotes, but it feels extraneous and not connected to what else is going on. Some readjustment might help here, or it might have to be nixed. I'm liking your approach here, but I think this has a bit of a ways to go before it's ready. Mixing levels overall need to have some tweaks to allow the vocals be clearer and a stronger lead, and some adjustments of the arrangement itself are in order. There's definitely a good start here, and you're well on your way. Good luck! NO (resubmit)

I'm almost immediately noticing that a lot of the different parts are not matching together in tempo. The backing guitar is going faster than the drums, and the bass part is not matching either of those. It makes the track sound disjointed, and is the first thing that really needs to be fixed up. The sound quality overall is kind of weak, with the lead guitars and drums sounding especially fake. Overall a sound upgrade would help your realism and might also help open up the soundscape. I'd like to hear more on the low end and also some more harmonies and textures to fill things out. This will help the arrangement as well, which is a bit on the basic side with some repetition. The ending could be stronger as well. I do like where you are going with this in terms of arrangement and style, and I think if you take some time to expand on what you have as well as fill out the structure you can build this up nicely. Upgrading the sounds is going to help as well. Make use of our WIP forums to get some advice from the forum goers as well as the moderators here. Good luck! NO

This is my first submission here so hope I did everything right! Your ReMixer name: sggod89 Your real name: Ira Page Your website: http://www.youtube.com/sggod89 Your userid: 39103 Name of game: Battlefield 3 Name of arrangement: The Battle For Victory Name of individual song(s): I've looked this up and its just called "Main Theme" Additional information Original Composers: Jukka Rintamäki & Johan Skugge System: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC Link to the original soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLuQd5CHTLs Your own comments: Hey guys, if you frequent the PRC's here in the competition forum, then you might be pretty familiar with me and work. I did chose this source as a PRC, but I never finish my the bonus mix I wanted to submit. I'm such an avid player of this game, just about a level 100 Colonel! Perhaps I'll start submitting more to the site rather just hiding in the PRC. -------------

Song Link: Username: CallofOrion Real Name: Jonathan Sterling Games Arranged: The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening Medley Song Title: I Am Error Songs Arranged: LoZ: Title Theme, Dungeon Theme AoL: Title Theme ALttP: Rain Scene, Light World Theme, Dark World Theme LA: The Ballad of the Wind Fish Composers: LoZ, ALttP, LA: Kōji Kondō AoL: Akito Nakatsuka Original Orchestrated Medley: More Info: This is my rock remix of an orchestral arrangement that I had fallen in love with years ago. I had always wanted to do a rock remix since the first time I had heard it. Finally, almost ten years later I did it. All guitar work is my doing along with the help of a friend to get a real performance for the percussion section instead of just using a VST program. Thanks for the consideration!

Your ReMixer name: Argle Name of game(s) arranged: Metroid Prime Name of arrangement: Relics of an Ancient Race Name of individual song(s) arranged: Chozo Ruins This song was somewhat influenced by Zircon's "Solitude" track. ----------

I approve of this.

Pretty fun mix you've got here, and I'd say that it easily fits the personalization requirements for OCR. If anything, I'd look into altering some of the backing areas that are playing the same chords over and over. Maybe some rhythmic variation or some different harmonies to add something to it. My big issue overall is with the balance/mixing of the sounds. A lot of places feel very muddy, and it's hard to make out the parts clearly at all. A lot of the parts are sharing the same note range and are competing for attention. 0:50 is a good example of this between the guitar and synth part that comes in, and then later at 1:04. Those are just the first couple times, but this happens fairly often. I'll also note it's a little better on headphones, but it definitely needs some finesse. I'd nix the synth at 1:53; it's really doesn't seem to fit in well at all and only serves to clutter things more, in my opinion. I'd say this is certainly a big step in the right direction, and you've got a really solid base here, but things definitely need to be cleaned up and the clarity needs to be opened up. Hopefully another judge will have some advice on how to approach this. Good luck! NO (resubmit, please)

Man, this track is pretty awesome, but the samples are killing it deader than dead. The bass and drums in particular are really sounding so weak/thin. The soundscape overall feels very constricted, and could be opened up as well. My one nitpick on the arrangment is the transition at 2:09 feels very forced and really brings the listener out of the experience. I'd look at revamping that. Seriously, if you can upgrade the sounds I'd be all over this. NO (resubmit, please!)

I can see Vinnie's crits, but for me the overall picture is above the bar. The crits he mentioned are valid (except maybe the piano comment in my personal opinion) but I think they don't add up enough to bring this below where it needs to be as a pass, and the arrangement is also strong enough to help push this a bit higher as well. I'm curious to see what the other judges think and how this will go in the end. YES