OceansAndrew

To further make myself accountable to finish on time, i'll post my WIP all up in here- original: http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/n64/tooty.mid WIP: http://oceansend.com/5502/ocr/rock/metal%20flute%201.mp3

I gotta agree with Vinnie here; This is an awesome and creative arrangement, but the string reverb is out of control, and I am having difficulty hearing a lot of the nuances underneath it all. The articulations and everything sounded good, and the guitar performance was also excellent, but things were really smeared. It got cleaner sounding near the end where it was more guitar and synth, but it should be this clean throughout. The dropout with delays was a cool idea, but i think the execution needs a little more refining to make it sound awesome. You've already got some cool synths up in there, so I don't think filtering just that entire section would be out of the question, and I think it'd bring some great interest to the drop. Other minor stuff, but still noticeable: the synth lead at 1:38 is cool (ps. Larry is wrong), but it's a little loud in the mix. I also think the fade out would work fne for the track, but the way it was handled was pretty weak, it cuts way too soon, and doesn't feel like it fully faded out, more that it started fading and then stopped. Overall, it's a great arrangement with just some production issues to iron out. I think they would be very easy to implement; and i'd be happy to pass this. Until then, I gotta say, no, please resub

Awesome start, I am excited to hear where this goes- maybe a slightly higher-fi analogue lead? Nice mood, and a pretty good soundscape, but it's just a seed, I know you can really take this source somewhere cool. Now GO!

I thought the spoken stuff was pretty cheesy, but the Opeth growls were uber tough. Good guitar tone and a pretty nice arrangement. Well done, sir.

Very deliberate pacing, and some very nice contrapuntal ideas contained within. I thought the dynamic curve was fine, though I can see how it would potentially turn off a lot of people who are looking for action right away, but if you are patient, there's some pretty good ideas here. If only it wasn't so short, I felt it could have gone for quite a bit longer with some additional expansion. Still, it's good, and I enjoyed it. Nice work.

Since I don't want to be a jerk 2 years in a row, I am making decent progress on mine.

I've been thinking on this one for quite awhile because it's definitely walking the line. There are some great moments, and some that I wish I had the insight I do now back then to help James make this one completely-over-the-line awesome. The mood is exceptionally chill and huge in scope; it's easy for me to visualize a barren moonscape with the heroes slowly making their way to the palace for a final battle. The textures are varied and very cool, and there are some great and subtle crescendos that nudge it forward without making it too forward to leave it's groove. The drums came and added texture without ruining the mood; some judges thought they could be punchier, but I think they serve their purpose fine. The only cons I find with it personally is that the piano is a bit loose in some phrases, and that the string attack is a little slow. The synths are great, and I actually found the brass counterpoint to be refreshingly bold. There are some strongly colored chords, that up the intensity of the piece without it becoming bombastic. It's close, but I think the strengths of this definitely outweigh the weaknesses. yes

There are some weird production choices, mainly the sound of the snare, and the indistinctness of a few instruments and rhythms, but the vibe this track gives is pretty good. There are enough textures and overlapping rhythms to give a unique feel to it, and the looseness gave it a lot more interest. I am pretty certain if this has been all sequenced and tighter, it wouldn't have the charm behind it, and I'd probably go no. But there is beauty in imperfection, and the soundscape is cool. It feels like it was done all live in 1 take. yes

Tonally this one didn't stray too far from it's core, the sections kind of smeared into each other, but there was enough variation in the percussive and synth textures to keep it moderately fresh. It does sound like a lot of loops were stacked, and i think a lot of the sounds used were a bit vanilla, but I can dig it; it was creatively constructed and it was super chill. I think having a few sections with stronger textural differences would have helped this track feel a bit more interesting to me, but as stated, it's not really intended to be a song proper, but as a very melodic ambient backing track, it certainly worked well enough for me. yes

Excellent guitar playing and tone- as well as great textures throughout. As the previous judges mentioned, things could stand to be spatially separated a little bit better, but I know how much of a pain it can be to get the right balance with this style of track. It's not completely pristine, but it's better than a lot of arrange albums I've heard; definitely over the bar. Arrangement is sweet, and really, the transitions between themes is super smooth. If I wasn't as familiar with the source, I don't think i'd have noticed that it was 2 songs. Great variation on textures and instrumentation, and switching the guitar from leads to rhythms throughout was well handled. Samples were great, and there was even some killer synthing near the end. This kindof stuff is my favorite. The only thing that struck me as weaksauce was the ending. It sounded way tacked on. Nothing to cry about, after having the stuffing rocked out of me for the past 5 minutes. Awesome work, gents! yes

There was a lot to like in this track, but ultimately things didn't completely click the entire time. Some sections worked and I thought were pretty awesome, and then suddenly there would be a non-transitioned new section that wasn't mixed well at all. Overall, i'm fine with 'vanilla' synths, as long as they are well used. Texturally it started out simplistic, but melodically it was great, kept my interest until about :48 when the bottom fell out of the track, and it was just melody, bass and drums. It eventually built up to something cool, but that didn't feel right as a spot to break it down so far. It seems some of the hats that come in are excessively loud as well, making that section seem weaker by comparison. Arrangement is basically what was said before; some really great sections, and some pretty weak sections, and that don't fully fit together. I think this is a great candidate for a resub though. Tighten up those transitions, fill out the empty spots, maybe make some of the textures a little more syncopated, and it should be good to go. no, please resub

Very sweet story. The guitar playing is very nice in this, and there are some nice, subtle changes to the original, but as the other judges have mentioned, there are a few issues. The drums are really loud and dry sounding. They are totally up front, when they should mesh with the background more. I can see what you were going for with the sortof drum machine sound, but it needs to sit better in the soundfield to work. The arrangement is pretty close to the original, with a solo section added in, and those aforementioned minor chord changes, it's definitely personalized, but I think to be closer to the OCR goal, some additional arrangement would be needed. Combined with some of the rough production, it needs a little more work before I can pass it. no

Overall pretty great stuff, this has a lot of cool ornaments, a good variety of leads, some nice harmonic changeups, and onlya few minor weak spots. I agree with the other Judges that the beat could have been more interesting in subtle ways wthout ruining the flow of the track. 2:30 would have been a great place for a really brief halftime section, that would not only add some change of pace, but would make the solo afterwards feel even more driving. Speaking of the solo, it was pretty damn awesome, though I think the note at 3:14 should have hit the tonic. It was aite as-is, but it would have really sung if it would have gone a little higher. The ending was slightly abrupt, but changed up enough and was pretty satisfying regardless. Good stuff dude. yes

There are some parts that really work for me; the final 3rd of the track I think really clicked as far as performance, and the writing itself worked well with the limited velocities you have. Unfortunately, the first 3rd was especially weak in execution, with a few passages and especially a trill that sounded pretty robotic. There was also a hiss throughout that detracted from the overall experience. The arrangement itself was cool and creative, and as sheet music would be awesome; If you could somehow get a better recording/performance of this, I'd love to hear it, and would have no issues passing it. no

I agree that the first half was lacking a bit of excitement, but by the second half, there was a lot of cool ideas moving around. The bass overall was pretty cool, i loved the huge drops that were frequently used. The beat was really boring as it built up, but as more and more melodic elements started interacting, it became more driving and worked a lot better. I thought the keychange was a little weak, but it worked; i just wish there was a larger build, or a melodic lead in to it. It seemed a bit abrupt as is. Production was nice; good balance, clean and clear, and good textures. I've got no complaints here. So despite what I thought was an average beginning, it really did pick up into something both creative and cool. yes

o wut- triple post Guitar sits way better, and that flub is gone. Vote's been changed. yes

have a good weekend!

So here is the update from shaun:

Just a friendly reminder that a rest is not a tacet. By Larry's reckoning, several seconds of the source itself don't count as source because the note is held for awhile. Seems a bit silly to me. While the arrangement does get a bit into the solos, The verse segment is played 4 times dominantly, and the chorus three times, and the rest of the song follows that chord progression of the verse. Now granted, the progression is 2 chords alternating, but I think it's pretty obvious they chose those 2 specific chords because those were the ones in the source. Otherwise why not pick a chord progression that was more interesting? Production-wise, there's a little bit of mud, and I think the snare could stand to come out a bit more, but the guitar panning was cool, the acoustic guitar and bass sounded great. Piano was slightly thin, but overall i'd say production cleared the bar. I agree that there were a lot of solos, but there was tons of source in this, and it was clearly a (very good) Damcyan remix. yes

Just a heads up- i'm not going to vote on this one until Shaun sends an updated file; i sent him the votes and he is going to fix the issues and remove the bloopy synth.

Personally I think this is both sophisticated and awesome, and I hear the mario theme distinctly throughout, but if a 'no, resub' will help to get these evil heathens on board with this one, then i'll help speed it along. You damn sure had better resub this, though, or I will seriously cry the most emo tears imaginable. no, resub

Damn, how come no one told me the source was this good? The beginning samples are ok, but the usage was pretty weak; entrances weren't smooth at all, and the articulations were jarring with some instruments. Pretty much anywhere the strings were exposed with the melody was rough, and the bass clarinet wasn't much better. The flute was too close in the soundscape and sortof sounded pasted on. Once the snares came in it really improved, and that was much better. The strings on the left still had some awkward velocity shifts, but the snares covered it up a lot better. Things were completely kickass at 2:00 when the track got going- that synth is awesome and combined with the drums it really works. If the whole track was this strength, we'd be in business. The ending where it was more exposed got weak again. As is, there are too many issues in the track to feel comfortable with this one. It's definitely within your capability to fix this one up and do it justice, because the middle section is awesome, and the arrangement overal is ace. no, please resub

I gotta say that this is completely great- production is tight, performances are rocking, everyting is clicking, but it really does sound too close to the source. I think there is enough variation, the melody is skipping octaves and doing a pretty good job of keeping the track as fresh as it can within the genre. The claps were awesome, and everything clicked song-wise. There's no doubt that this is a great track, it is just too similar to the source. Sorry bro. no

I feel that a lot of the beginning rhythms don't line up well- it feels in a few spots to me that it's 2 songs playing, most notably the arpeggio and the drums.. After that, it gets a bit too busy; it seems like new, yet indistinct parts keep getting added, not really adding anything to the track itself, but just makes things more and more fuzzy. Maybe some stronger panning would help define the section better, but as is, it's not working. Once it clears out around 1:36, it's much better, and from there on out i'm totally cool with it. Great ideas, and the fade out actually works very well when combined with the filter effect. Overall, I think things got too messy early on for me to feel right about giving this one the go-ahead. I think either altering that off-sounding arpeggio, or removing it, and then cleaning out the early section, either by taking out some parts, changing the synths used to be more distinct, or using hard panning to push things around would have me feeling this one more. Sorry dude. no, please resub

yar, that lead horn is certainly something; the piano and flute leads i'm feeling a lot more. The strength of this track is really the arrangement, all kinds of awesome things happening here. Textures are great, there are some great effects in some parts, and everything sounds balanced to me. That lead horn bugs me, but not enough to get in the way on this one; it's only there for a brief section from 0:28 to 0:35, and then it's clear sailing. I also gotta echo that this is an awesome source track to remix, and you definitely did it justice. yes