Master_Yoshi

I sort of agree with the purple cow, but only insofar as certain genres are much more difficult to adapt sources to without heavily altering them. You -could- successfully adapt Frog's theme to a dancey techno genre, but it would be an uphill battle the entire way. And this wouldn't be the same battle as adapting it to Orchestral, Rock, or Jazz. Although Jazz does require a different type of genius to pull off well. I guess all music does. As someone else who wasn't feeling this track, I would say that the artist didn't take it far enough? I think in order to do this source to a dance-y techno theme you would need to grab some of the skillset of your zircons, your bLiNds, hell I'm sure Anso would be able to rock it out. It would involve gutting the source and pulling out the aspects that lend themselves the most to the genre, building on them, and then seeing if you can add a few more references. Playing the source almost verbatim in a synth while a boom-tiss plays in the foreground just doesn't turn people as much as a much smarter arrangement could. All that said, as per my previous post, I do respect it being here and think it should be on OCR. And for a new artist a certain amount of slack is cut. Nobody started out as a genius. Well, maybe Anso. Or Schnab. Or Maze. But they more than likely had strong musical backgrounds before they came here.

Wow, I am totally blown away. This is a smart, slick, and all around beautiful remix. And on top of that, it's a remix of Green Hill zone, a track that has been done so many times that I am pretty much sick of it! This is fantastic, I honestly can't think of any criticism. Oh wait. The ending. It just sort of drops off. Meh. Nothing huge, and you made up for it with the ride there.

Nope. I can't get over how old-school and generic this sounds. I mean, I listen to this and all I can think is "Did FFmusicDj decide to give us a blast-from-the-past mix?" That said, as much as I don't like it, and can't really listen to it, I do respect that it -should- be on OCR. Not ever mix needs to fire us out a cannon towards a factory full of pillows. I'm actually glad this did get passed, shows the bar is still reasonable for the aspiring artist. But like I said, won't be going on any playlist of mine.

Ooh, this is tasty. Grom nom nom. Highly original stuff from bLiNd, awesome synth guitar work, and a killer beat? Hell, with all of that, and I don't even mind when the track settles down a bit! Good stuff, dude!

I dunno. The OST is bloody epic.

D'Oh! That was the sound I made after waiting for the track to start proper, and then just a *powrightinthekisser* Hell is probably my favourite track from the OST, and this does pretty well with it, and mashes in some nice used needle work! Sweet stuff. On a side note. This OST can never get enough love here at OCR. I will officially never complain about there being too much Super Meat Boy coverage. Not that it matters, but my appetite for the meat is insatiable. Mmmmm.... meat meat goodness. Meat.

Holy... hell. I always used to find the lyrics in Myf's mixes to be rather juvenile, and while his presentation was generally smooth, his tone of voice coupled with the lyrics always turned me off. The exception of course being Da Black Market. But this... this is just fantastic. Buttery smooth, awesome lyrics, production is top notch, and... yeah. Wow. This is absolutely brilliant.

Haha, you've pretty much articulated my criticisms with the track better than I could. To me, it sounds "thin," like butter spread over too much bread. And, I've noticed that once I hear a vocal mix of any song, that tends to be rocking around the back of my head when I hear an instrumental. Maybe that's the other part of this to me. I can hear the vocals in the back of my head, so when I hear the actual track, it sounds like something is missing. Still, this was enjoyable, and while it's not going to top anyone's charts, it'll still entertain the masses.

Awesome post! I like the new vocalist, it gives a new feel to what they produce, and that can only ever be a good thing! Also, "lights out" is brilliant as a vocal line. Carry on, good sirs!

I know, right? WTF though, I've listened to it over and over again and just that first second or so of it just sounds so.... not live! I've heard lots of live sax so that's not the issue, I just don't know what it is!

This is powerful stuff, and surprisingly powerful. Wow, I am just so taken in by this, I'm not really sure where to begin. So I won't. Sorry, short review this time. I'm just kind of speechless from how awesome this is. Well done.

So, I have to ask now. What really defines a "creepy" atmosphere in music? Is it the presence of a drowning organ? The strange vox that abruptly changes its notes? Is it the rather dark and desolate soundscape, or the tiny SFX that get thrown in that you don't really hear conciously, but you know are there, prodding you in the back of the head? All of the above is present, and it's quite well done, but I would hardly call it "creepy." There's no sense of mystery, no air of the unknown, no fear of the dark to it. It's gloomy, and a bit evil, but I may be desensitized by years of video game playing, but it's not really unsettling or odd. Maybe... just maybe. It's too kickass to be creepy.

I know if I heap lots of praise on this mix, it'll get drowned out with the size of ego Morse has got to have. I fully accept that useless gushing won't really do much to affect future decisions, or give an insightful look into the mix at all (not that me being a jerk does much better.) Yet, I just can't help it. This pushes all the right buttons, scrubs all the right places, and even tosses in a happy ending - free egg roll with massage. HAPPY ENDING! In fact, that's what this mix is. It's a happy ending.

.... Uh.... Uhm.... What... what am I listening to? I can't tell, I'm so confused! Why is this so catchy!? Why do I want to hear more!? What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything!?!?! This is so cool, I can't get over how bombastic it sounds, and the contrast of the female vocal, the "Saaave me" is really well executed. And male vocals that I don't immediately hate! And actually like? And are quite catchy? The world... is meaningless. I must buy this game on XBLA now.

Me listening to this track. "Hmm, this is kind of groovy, rather generic..." "Ooh, getting a bit more complex! Don't over exert yourself! Who made this...." *scrolling up just as vocals are about to hit* "D'awwwww! I know that voice! *smacking of forehead!* D'awww, I can't stay mad at you!" Seriously, the way your voice opens into an otherwise uninspired opening was like a cute little puppy standing over the shredded paper towel and toilet paper that you were dumb enough to leave out. You just... you forget the little gripes and are lost in the whole reason you got a dog: To enrich your life a little more. I will say, the mix works best when you have the vocals over top, or with the string lead. Nice work on the outtro, singling out the acoustic guitar, too. Yup, aside from the intro, I love this. Carry on, carry on.

When the sax came in right off the bat it sounded awful. Like, some sort of cheesy midi esque thing. That was the only time I got that impression, and it only lasted for 2 minutes? I only mention this because I spent the rest of the mix thinking "Wow, that sax fits so nicely in with the rest of the arrangement, wtf was with it when it intro'd?" Very cool, moody, atmospheric. I think that you could have done without the chippy sounding stuff in the background, the piece stands just fine without nostalgia. Still, it doesn't hurt matters, so I suppose it's not much of a complaint that there is "too much" in a mix when the "too much" isn't doing harm. Right? Right?

Some of the instruments could have been brought in a bit more subtly, at the 58 second mark I found myself quite jarred by the entrance something high pitch and sort of squeaky. And then it settled in and all was right with the world again. This is quite charming though, awesome take on the source, probably my favourite of all the ones I've heard, actually!

QFT. You know, this is probably really good and awesome and musically it's quite complex, and for the first minute or so I hear that. I really do. It's well written and a smart arrangement that fits really well into the chosen style and at times it is quite clever. But you know what else it is? Boring. Seven minutes of this going on at the same pace and tempo, it pretty much puts me to sleep after this first minute or so. There's hardly any variation, and the stops and starts between movements only seems to exacerbate things. The only time I could think of myself enjoying this would be if it was playing in the background at a really fancy restaurant, and every once in a while I could tune in to what is otherwise background noise and say "Hey isn't that from FF4? Oh well, back to my incredibly hot date, who is totally interested in me and doesn't think I'm a total douchebag." Sorry, but this just doesn't cut it for me. Production wise it's fine but the arrangement is just so boring to listen to.

The beat is catchy, I love that little percussive shaker hit you have going on, that's a nice throwback to the original. The lead synth works best when you have some processing on it, :27 to :40 needs to be fleshed out some more, or put some backing on it if you want to carry on with the evolving lead that you have going. The little warble you put on it and then what you do with it in the passage that follows is pretty fun and clever! 2:03 hits. Why have I heard this before? No, no no no no no. This won't do at all! Your synth sounds like it's just repeating verbatim what it's done before. Vary it up, use a different synth, process it a bit more, have the backing and the beat change up, do something else! Arrangement wise: This is fine for me, actually! Maybe throw in a couple more references in your second act, and you'll be golden. Bottom Line: Patch up that lead synth some, flesh it out, or try a different instrument? And do something to shake up the second act. You can repeat the melody, but having it sound like a rehash of ground you just tread is bad news.

+1 Really though, you need to work on matching the melody to the beat a bit more to get rid of the awkwardness. Try inserting some pauses in the melody, break it up a bit, don't be afraid to chop and slice somewhat. Is that going to break the 3/4 and 4/4 that you have going? Possibly. Is that bad? Nope.

The remixes of this track hardly get posted, I imagine, because the source is so simple and short. Expansion of it has got to be a nigthmare. So, here's what happened. I was listening to this, and all I could think was "generic blah blah blah." And then you pull the last 30 seconds completely out of your ass and it was AMAZING! I mean, okay, it's not the best produced and was only 30 seconds, but there was a flash of real genius there! You want to get a mix of a difficult source posted? Expand on THAT. When you are playing around with the source, inserting and taking out notes, extending and delaying, and then that little chippy section you have, carry on good sir! Good luck, I'll follow this one

The 30 second buildup is wasteful. What does that really add to the song as a whole? Shorten it up and cut to the chase already! The percussion drowns things out way too much. The reverberation of the bell hits is way overpowering, and there is a cymbal crash that makes it impossible to know what is going on. Arrangement wise, it's a cool idea! Definitely a new, cool take on a well-beloved and over-hyped source track! That choir you have in the background though, is not near strong enough to carry through the entire mix like you have it now. And what is going on at 3:45??? The 12 seconds that follow that just sound ridiculous, the backing choir just goes off and does its own thing while your lead is busy doing its own thing and there is no real cooperation there. Also, there's some repetition issues. At 4 minutes in I was waiting to hear something new, but just got more of the same, including the issues I had been hearing the entire time. If you're going to go on for another minute, jumble things up! Use a bit more source, or go off with some original work! Expansion on the theme can only help you with the concept you had to start this mix. So yeah, the first half (discluding that egregious buildup) is really cool, and I'd love to see that get expounded upon. Just don't fall into the trap of thinking you've run out of ideas, or that "this part was cool so I'll just repeat it a couple times and nobody will be any the wiser." Anyone who comes up with that intro has got to have ideas to keep things interesting.

This is the weirdest thing I've heard from AnSo and DEFINITELY the stranges from DA. AWESOME! This is totally unexpected in every sense of the word. The sounds used, the choice to include vocals and then to process them so heavily. The lyrics being catchy and cute all at once. This kind of reminds me of some of the cooler stuff that comes out of Japan, with processed vocals and catchy, high tempo beats. Of course, I can't think of any particular examples, but then again this is just a reminder for me. I love it though, and as someone who is an Armoured Core fan, I can't help but glee a bit at the OST being covered by AnSo! With special guests! Also, I just want to aside for one second. DA - does every mix you collab on just magically turn to Gold? I haven't heard one I haven't liked. I mean, I've had some issues with a couple but damnit, there's nothing you've helped out on that hasn't been enjoyable! Mix that with the musical genius of Sweden and this is like... oooh... platinum.

Something feels awkward here. Like, I'm sitting here listening to the song in slow-mo (or whatever the audio equivalent of that is.) Yes, I know it's a downtempo arrangement and all of that, but it shouldn't sound like this, should it? Am I completely crazy here? Aside from the breakdown that occurs, if you were to speed this track up some I wouldn't at all be surprised to hear it, and have it sound better. Maybe it's the writing, or the sustain in the notes, but it just gets me the wrong way. The pace feels plodding rather than methodical and careful, and the backing feels rather shallow. Hmph, maybe I'm crazy and this is utter genius! Good try though, you attempted to do something really difficult, and from what I can tell, nearly succeeded!

Really? Two people tried and failed at this track? I'm surprised, it's a really cool track, and much more complex arrangements have been tackled in the past. Ah well, it's hard to go wrong with screaming electric guitars, and they are employed to great effect here. Well, not really screaming at all times, but this is still rocking, and good! It feels a bit formulatic, as in "Do a cover arrangement of the theme as your backbone, use the key melodic hooks, and then do most of your expansion via solo" but hey, the system works, right? Really, my only gripe is that - I don't get a feel that this is the work of... Yeah. Sorry dude, I totally forgot your name, because I didn't listen to this and think "Whoa, that was pretty damn cool! Good job [subject name here]!" So yeah, this is good but not earth shaking. Maybe that is the problem that Bahamut was referencing - it was hard to set the world ablaze when arranging this track.