DragonAvenger

Going to cut straight to the point on this; it's really sparse. At most, you have your melody, bass, drum loops, and some string accompaniment going on. The soundscape as a result is very thin. Look into ways you can double your parts up to expand the soundscape and fill the room a lot better. As mentioned before, the drum loops are pretty static, and there's a lot more you could do to work with them and help them bring the track alive. A drum break would help change up the soundscape of the track as well, and give the listener's ears a rest from the same sounds used throughout. Changing sounds around aside from the drums would help this out as well. I think those are the core problems I would address first. I'd hit up the WIP forums too to get more advice. NO

Pretty awesome theme to work with. You're absolutely right, Touhou has some sweet music that isn't appreciated enough here, and certainly would be quite nice to get more mixes from awesome sources like this. You have a good start to this mix, but there's a few things that are holding this back right now. The first thing I notice is the section 1:04- 1:34. While it does have it's connection to the source, it feels completely like a filler section due to the lack of a clear melody. After that doesn't improve much, as it feels a lot like noodling until the lead comes back in. I think both those sections can either be shortened, or broken up by the lead melody making an appearance before it breaks away again. The next big issue is the repetitiveness overall of the lead melody. It's awesome, to be sure, but there is very little change, if at all, per repetition, which loses interest quickly. I'd look into altering the melody, or finding some other substitutes instead of having it repeat so much. Maybe consider another source to compliment what you have? Lastly for now, the drums are honestly pretty boring. The kick could use a little more oomph, and the other stuff is pretty weak, especially since it is essentially looped almost completely through the faster portion of the track. Look into some fills and different loops that will compliment your arrangement more. Plenty to work on, but you've definitely got a good start here. I like the more thoughtful opening and ending, and the contrast in the middle is definitely a good idea. Good luck! NO

Really like your opening. You've added a lot of tension to it, which makes me really want to hear what's coming up next. Great way to start the track. As this is arranged in order, I can tackle things in order. After the awesome opening, there's a few things that stuck out right away to me. The first is some of the faster articulations turn into a bit of a blurred mess, and I think they aren't fitting well into the track. 0:27 is the first instance, and later on at 0:44. Making them clearer would help, but I think you might want to go for a triplet or something that isn't so rushed feeling overall. The next point of contention is the instrument articulations overall, and especially the string articulation. Things overall sound pretty good, but the attacks don't seem to be lining up right, and the strings have that weird slapback, for a lack of a better word, that is off the beat and is throwing me off, too. Next is the transition into the happier feel at 0:54. Right now it's pretty out of nowhere, and the two parts aren't really feeling cohesive. I think it needs a bit of a better lead-in. Briefing is next, and I like how you approached the string attacks here vs. the original. Again, a lot more tension in just that little bit. There's another strange transition at 1:28, something to smooth out. Scramble sounds fine, except for that string attack. Heroes Funeral is pretty nice, reminds me of Star Wars a lot, which is a good thing. No real qualms with that section. Overall, this is a medley, and it's very obvious that it is a medley. There are some really nice spots, I love the into, and the funeral section, and there are some nice spots throughout, but this isn't something suited for OCR. I think there's a lot more you can do with one or two themes instead of the five you've put here. Overall the transitions are your weakest areas, both between songs and in each section as well. I'd say if you're looking to get on OCR, cut out 3 of the songs at least and expand on what you have to begin with here, and look more into that string sample. NO

There are some interesting arrangement ideas, mainly how you approached the 'chorus'. I think there's a lot you could do to expand on this, and fill out the arrangement more, however. There are many times where you have only one line playing at a time, making things very sparse. I'd look into filling out your chords more, or incorporating some counter melodies. The piano overall sounds pretty mechanical, and could use some humanization. I'd definitely look at changing the velocities of the left hand, as they are hitting only as hard as possible, making the arrangement seem clunky. Some more dynamic variation would help as well. You've got a start here, but there is a long way to go. Keep at it! NO

I dunno, the rest of the song is pretty good, but that is probably one of the weakest openings I've heard in an overall good submission. I am pretty tempted to ask for a revamp of that opening. On the good side of things, the soundscape is pretty full, and you've done nice work combining new sections with the original. Love the 'wabuzzb' bass, beyond that fact that it's fun to say . Plenty of good details overall. For now I will give this a conditional, and think about changing my vote given the next jooj's advice. YES (Conditional on opening) EDIT: Changing to NO (resubmit) since the amount of work is longer than a conditional yes. Get it back to us though!

You still might get the crits against your voice fitting the style, but I think you've solved the issue of the source (or lack thereof). I passed this before, and this is an improvement, so easy enough to YES again.

Man, I can't help but think of a high school prom slow dance for this one. Nice work evoking a new feeling into the source. I will agree with Andrew that the passing tone is a bit overused, and could be adjusted to show up later. I'm also noticing the mechanical feel on the strings, and later on, the brass. Adding a bit more human touch on those will add more emotion overall. Andrew also mentioned the panning, so I will agree and not go have to go into any further detail there . Liking this one, hope you fix it up! NO (resubmit)

Honestly, Andrew nailed this vote, and I have pretty much nothing to add to it. I'll will mention that 1:30 the background is super subdued, maybe a tad too much, but that's a pretty small nitpick. In the end, both sources work pretty well together, and you've combined them nicely with some good expression. Nice work. YES

I like your time signature changes, they add some nice flavor to the track. Arrangementally, i think this is sticking too close to the source melodically, and tends to get repetitious with you repeating the sections almost every time. The repeats are occasionally cool, but it gets very predictable quickly. There are a couple transitions that feel out sorts, especially 3:03, where the momentum completely stops. The end section is kinda cool, but I have to admit I'm not making the connection to the source at that point, and it feels a little tacked on as a result. Sound-wise, I'm being brickwalled by the rhythm section. I can barely make out any details in the melody lines or any counter-melodies you have here. Overall the balance needs an overhaul. You definitely go balls to the wall, but this is overdoing it a bit for me. Lots of work on this one, but you've got a good start. NO

I'm going to disagree with Andrew on some parts, I think you got the bombastic side of things down fairly well. I will agree that there could have been more at times, however, and a bigger overall contrast would have helped. There are a few areas where I feel like there could have been a little more low-end to balance things out, as well. Some of the 'happier' sections don't feel like they fit in with the sources, and it feels like a weird contrast at times. Not really sure if I can give any advice on that front, so I'll chalk it up to personal taste for now, and maybe the next judge will have some better thoughts. These aren't easy sources to work with, as they themselves don't do much, so I think you worked pretty well with them, expanding out the arrangement and adding a lot of anxiety to the originals. I can't say I'm blown away with the mix as a whole due to the sources themselves, but I think you did a good job with what you had to work with. I'm willing to give this a nod, and wish you luck with the rest of the judging. YES

I am hearing a nice improvement here. Things overall are feeling a lot more realistic, and I am able to appreciate the expansion you have on the melodies. 1:56 stands out to me as a stellar section that mixes the source with some nice original harmonies and personalization. YES

Really, not much to add to what Andrew has said. Really nice upgrade, and a pleasure to listen to, but it's still too much of a cover. NO

I listened to this one for a while, and there are a few immediate issues that stand out to me. The first stems from the overall mechanical feel of pretty much all the instruments. I'd go with saying that you could overhaul the entire thing for humanization, which would be a good start on fixing things up. Instrument attacks could be tweaked as well, a lot of the piano parts are hitting full force for every note. Moving beyond that, there's some balance issues that are also present, like the backing strings in the beginning sections drowning out the melody line (which is a bit piercing). Arrangement-wise I think this is pretty decent, but I think you could do more to arrange the melodies themselves. There are also a couple areas that feel a bit repetitious, and could be trimmed out. Pretty good start. There's definitely work to be done, but I think you're on the right track here. NO (resubmit)

Birthdayyyyyyyy!

Definitely some good stuff going on in this track. I like a lot of the harmonic expansion you added to the theme, and overall there are a lot of change-ups to keep things interesting. The build-up transition didn't work as well as I think it could have, but it's not pulling the track down much either. I can't say this will be my favorite of yours, but I think it's a fun track. YES

This is funktastic. Really really fun arrangement. Not something I would have expected from the source, but I think you've made it really groove, and it's a pleasant surprise. The riff into the sound effect at 3:59 is genius, btw. That being said, there's a couple issues that I think are holding this back a bit. The bass, in particular, feels a little thin, and for how prominently it's used it's pretty noticeable. Adding a bit of oomph to it would really make it shine. The same applies to the main synth, although it's not as much of an issue. I think it's a pretty easy, but important fix. Hope you get this one back to us quick. NO (resubmit, please)

When the track started I was worried that you were going to just stick in cover territory, but thankfully I was proven wrong, and there's some neat stuff going on in this track. I do think it stays fairly conservative within each melody, but there s some personalization too. I think Andrew's crits are valid, and worth looking at. The bass sticks out to me especially, and beefing that up will definitely help the overall balance of the track. Overall I think the production is good, but it just needs that nudge up a level for it to pass. NO (please resubmit)

There's definitely a lot of improvement in this, but I think there's a couple issues that are now brought to light, and some other things that still need a little more tweaking. You definitely pulled back on the crowding overall, but I think you went a little too far, and a lot of the synths are sounding rather thin. This is especially noticeable for the bass. I'd try layering some of the instruments to get a fuller sound where it needs it. On another note, there's still some parts that are feeling mechanical, and overall could use a little bit more humanization. Also, is it just me, or is there a little bit of distortion at 1:19, and later at 1:57? The arrangement focuses a lot on dissonance, which isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I do think it works for the song itself, and the angriness of the birds. Hoping you don't get discouraged and keep at this. NO (resubmit)

I think it's sounding a lot better. Now I'm hearing a lot more that I couldn't make out the first time. In terms of nitpicking a bit, there are some areas that now feel a bit subdued overall, which is losing a bit of the energy, and I think you could do some further tweaking in terms of that to bring things back up to where they should be. A pinch of an overall volume boost might be appropriate for this as well. I don't remember too clearly, but now the bass has a few notes on the extreme end of things to the point where they are losing their character. I'd comb through and adjust those areas, either up an octave for those particular notes, or something else in terms of the bass. I think I'd like to hear a little more out of the drums at times. You use different loops for different sections, but you could do more fills to enhance what's going on the the rest of the instrumentation. I think it's really close, but it needs just a little more spit-polish. NO (resubmit)

Really like the concept, it's not something you'd expect from the source, making it pretty unique. As OA said, the low end is really kinda fuzzy, and overall could be refined. I'd also mention that the drums tend to get stuck in a particular pattern for a long time and could stand to get some more variation to support what's going on in the other instruments. I'd also mention that the transition out of the vocal section is a bit rough, and doesn't quite feel like it fits with the rest of what's going on. I'd like to hear that smoothed out a bit. Neat concept, hope you fix it up. NO (resubmit)

Andrew hit all the good points, the bass isn't really holding it's weight, which is making the track pretty top-heavy, and and drums aren't great either. The arrangement overall is fun, although safe. Nothing wowing me, not that everything should need to. So things were going about OK until 1:39, and then it just gets weird. It's interesting, but not really something I'd listen to more than once. Especially for over 45 seconds, which in this case works out to be a good portion of this track. Knowing you did this entirely on a DS is pretty cool, though. NO

I do think that while this won't appeal to many, you have done some interesting variations to the theme, and the genre change is well done, regardless of whether people would like it or not. As Andrew said, taking the mix with a grain of salt works here, and overall I think it gets the job done. I am a little disappointed that the beginning isn't quite in time, but it's not a dealbreaker. YES

Nothing much to add. It's a neat concept, but the mechanical sequencing is very apparent, and the samples themselves aren't the greatest, either. Humanizing things would be the first step, then I'd look more into the arrangement and ways you could alter and vary the repeating sections more. I'd also suggest using our WIP forums to get more advice on how to spice this up. NO

Honestly, I think Andrew nailed this one. Overall, this is super close, but there are some issues, like the dry guitar and some of the synth choices, that are holding this back. I definitely think you could fix up some of those minor issues and have a pretty good track on your hands. NO (resubmit)