OceansAndrew

really classic writing here, great use of tempo and rhythmic motifs, and it's astounding the source melody is so short. Excellent work

the percussion really makes this exciting, and the constant string arpeggios give a great sense of powerful adventure. Commandcom really has a great ear for exciting arrangements, and I am excited to see what he's got in store next.

100 reviews so far!(i made the 100th one as a placeholder for being able to track them better ) Second post updated! Next update at 200 reviews! ps. mad props to 42 and Monobrow, you guys pwnt it today! Deia's lookin cute o^___^o <3<3

This mix is so infectiously fun, you have to smile while listening. The sequencing is sick as well, i seriously am having trouble telling what is real or not. Love it a lot!

Info on the winner shortly!

54 reviews so far! Second post updated! Next update at 100 reviews! damn, those are some sexy socks <3

review and go!!!!! 0 > 50 > 100> 200 > 300 > 400 > 500 > 600 http://oceansend.com/dec/1-andrew.png http://oceansend.com/dec/1-deia.png 54 reviews so far! 100 reviews so far! 202 reviews so far! 342 reviews so far! 421 reviews so far! 536 reviews so far!

Nice further improvement. Not much I can add here besides that I hope the other judges dig it. Great emotion in this one. Yes

So I get in on Wed, and am at the mercy of Stevo, but I am pretty sure he will want to go, so you can probably include our posse in on the fun.

previous: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=28118 Arrangement of: [Crystal World] (Final Fantasy IX), [To the End of the Wilderness] (Wild Arms) ReMixed by: Kenogu Labz (Nathan Armstrong) User ID: 24234 Comments: This song is based off of one of the best themes in Final Fantasy IX: Crystal World. It's an eerie rendition of The Prelude, replete with some of the most haunting harp you'll ever hear. But the original song never pushed the original melody of The Prelude, so I decided to mix the two together, and this is what came out. The powerful melody of To the End of the Wilderness lends its motif's strength, as well. This is a tracked song, and the mood is rather dark and chilling, with brief flashes of uplifting emotion. With this resubmission, many of the instruments have been balanced: leads now sound like leads, and the background fills its proper support role. The guitar has been withdrawn from the beginning of the mix for the most part, in favor of keeping the mood dark. To balance out the song's sections, the guitar section at the end has been lengthened; this also serves to help transition the guitar in more gently. Finally, the entire song's volume has been boosted to be audible at standard listening levels.

A definite upgrade in terms of arrangement and dominant source, and the balance overall was improved. The strings were still a bit up there, but the levels were close enough that it's a matter of taste at this point. the wah guitar was kindof ugly, but everything else worked out for me. Nice resub. Yes

Very pretty source, excellent selection. The arrangement is gorgeous as well, holy shit, dude. Great comping, interesting and tasteful drum rhythms, and a really pleasant synth lead, with some incredible expansion. This is really classy and restrained work, but upbeat and fun at the same time. I know you've hung around the IRC crew for a bit, and done some compos, but why the hell did you wait so long to start subbing? This is really mature sounding work. Just so this isn't all ass-pats, I am trying to find something to complain about this, or some nits to pick, but all I got is that I think it ended far too soon. I'd have loved to hear another time through the head, or some more, maybe a bridge, but there's something to be said for leaving your audience wanting more. Fantastic. Yes

Very cool soundscape you've added here in place of the twinkly game boy synths. Some of the progressions seemed a little mechanical and boxy, and though the arrangement is pretty cool, the execution just falls short, I think. Some of the synth choices weren't great, like the countermelody part, and the chord changes weren't smooth with the strings. The beats were nice, and the atmosphere was solid, but it was mostly the sequencing that was the issue, not production or arrangement. If you can massage the sequencing, have the changes flow better, and reduce some of the mechanical feel, I can totally see this passing. No, please resubmit

Some of the mixing is a little off to me, with the background elements being hyped a little strongly. The snare sounds awesome, but is a little on the loud side and could stand to come down in volume slightly. The overall feel and soundscape for this is very strong, though the melody synth used is wear and is getting blown out by the massive backing pads. It also sounds mechanical and in some parts, dissonant. The weird reverse sound works for the original, but for the remix, it doesn't gel with the rest. Overall very cool, and I agree with Deia's thoughts of updating the second half to have a slightly different feel so it doesn't feel so repetitive. Beyond a few rebalances, this is very nice, but it needs to happen before im giving my vote. No, please resubmit

Tough call, and you are melting my heart of ice with your sad story. ;_; I will be strong and unbiased though! There is a definite imrpvement immediately with the kick, and though the snare doesn't pack a massive punch, it's fitting a lot better into the soundscape. The arrangement itself was always strong, and with a better foundation, it's a lot more listenable. I do think it still has a bit of mechanical sequencing, but really, that's all that is bugging me after the revisions. It's definitely close for me, but I think it just passes now, sad story or no. Yes (Borderline)

I absolutely adore this arrangement, and it's also one of my favorite pieces of all time, so excellent taste, sir. I do think the piano is a little too dry, but not enough for me to NO it, especially since you had the foresight to try to wait on crits for your Gusty Gardens submission. In light of that, I think just adding a touch more room sound would make this good. Yes (Conditional on reverb)

I really like this, but I have to agree that arrangement-wise, it's a solid medley, but not really a cohesive single arrangement. Some of the keyboard patches were good, but some, like the brass were pretty weak overall. It sounds awesome overall, and congrats on your huge success opening up Distant Worlds, but it needs to be a little more cohesive to fit within the OCR guidelines. No

Balance is a lot better, and the zazz that halc and Mr. Rock bring to the track give it a lot more personality. Transitions felt better, and the song both feels more grounded in the source, and also unique, so nice work there. I think a slightly larger build up to Willrock's solo would have been better, but it still worked pretty well. Still very medleyish, but that's how the source rolls, so no foul there. It is a strange call because of the disparate styles, but I think based on the source itself I can let it go; each section is expanded upon with interpretation, and I think there is a place for this track on OCR. I have no idea what you fools are saying in your sub letters except for Will, so i'll assume that you were driven insane by the medleyitis. Will, thank you for actually behind coherent. Yes

Much improved here, the balance is good, and by easing up on the compression it sounds way heavier while still keeping the tightness. Second half is way improved, and really showcases your guitar chops, with some additional expansion and harmonies in the synth strings. This is awesome. Great alterations, and you added a sick ending. Everything i'm looking for in a resub and then some. Yes

For such a good bass line, I wish the sample was slightly better; It works well enough, but is just a little too static. Props on the writing for the bass though. The intro started out with a lot of promise, but as Deia mentioned, once it hit the main melody with the sax (which also could stand for a sample upgrade or perhaps a collab with a live player), it did go into autopilot territory for a long stretch of time. Pretty much until the ending, which while brief, was also nicely personalized. This is as prime resub candidate. It shows a lot of promise, but just needs a bit of polish to get it past. I recommend taking some more dramatic liberties with the melody, in addition to trying to improve the sound of the bass and drums. Overall i'm excited about this one though, I hope you take the time to revisit it. no, please resubmit

Besides the way over compressed snare, this is pretty damn solid. Excellent guitar performance, and some good blend of synths. It's rocking, it's creative, and varied, and though the ending isn't mind-blowing, the overall package is pretty damn strong. A few nitpicks in the production (besides that snare) are the kick could have a little bit more beater added for some additional clarity, and there is some mid-low mud, but it's overlookable when my face is being rocked off this hard. Definitely room to improve, but this is over the bar, in my estimation. Yes

I think what she means is that the intonation on the piano is really really off. That piano needs a tune up pretty fiercely. :/ There are parts where the arrangement really clicks, and others where it's a loose mess, which seems a little weird to me, but overall I was really enjoying the ideas presented. The performances were a bit uneven was well, with some passages that were astoundingly good, only to be followed by some mini-train wrecks, or sections where one instrument got tossed out of the pocket. Overall the concept is really nice on this, but between the piano tuning and some sloppiness on the performances, I gotta give this one a no. If you aren't looking to touch it up, I will still encourage you to submit some other pieces you have done, as your style is awesome, and perhaps something else might be executed a little tighter. It's not quite up to the OCR bar for me, but it was still a fun listen. No, please resubmit

dizamn, that is a lot of sources! Thank you very much for including all of the timestamps, this would be an insane nightmare otherwise, since I am somewhat familiar with all the ocarina themes, but i'm not so familiar that i could sing them on command. Production was pretty good, though it sounded like some very light clipping on the right side for some of the lower notes. Can any other judges verify that? The performance is nice and nuanced, and the level of dynamics keep it interesting. I think enhancing them a bit more would have been pretty cool, but they are alright as-is. Overall, a really nice package of melodies, though if there is clipping and it's not just me, that needs to be resolved. Yes (conditional on clipping)

I think the lovely and talented Ms. Avenger summed this track up pretty well. There is nothing inherently wrong with it, but when you combine a generally conservative arrangement with a static sound for the duration, the results don't quite add up to OCR postage. All of her suggestions are valid, and great ways to enhance the track. I could definitely see this on the front page with a little more work. No, please resubmit

Dude, we are bros, so i'll be straight with you, this is pretty boring. You definitely made it better by adding some loopz, but the quote: "...doesn’t really work well outside of the game itself. There’s just so little musical content there that no one really wanted to work on it, with good reason." is pretty spot on. Production is decent but not amazing, and for an ambient track, where you certainly aren't going to be excited by the material, it needs to be at that level. Cool for the project, but not for OCR. Sorry. ;_; No