OceansAndrew

I think Rexy wins overall, losing 60lbs is no joke.

I created a ton more music this year than last and had 7 mixes released with several on deck. If im lucky, ill have 8 by the end of the year. I'd call that a success.

I liked this before and feel that the sound quality is far improved over the first submission. I am quite OK giving this a YES again. Yes

My first impression is that there should be another layer in the percussive textures, like some reverse cymbals or tambourine. The sounds are super cool, and there is a lot of badassery swagger, but they could use more excitement, and the percussion is what needs it. Some drum fills into the different sections would really be welcome too. The arrangement ideas are pretty sweet here, with lots of texture changes, with elements remaining the same to give it a cohesive whole feeling. Overall I think it's above the bar, but some additional percussive attention to transitions and light layering would really kick up your style. Nice work! Yes

There's a lot of cool stuff going on, but for a lot of it, it felt like 2 different tracks, and didn't really rhythmically match up. The changes of chords and melody didn't work as a single unit, and at times sounded like they were 2 different tempos. It got a little better near the ending, but that level of interplay should have been there throughout. I'd like to hear you submit some more stuff, because you have some great ideas and pretty good production chops, but I don't think that this specific arrangement works as-is. Sorry. No

I was really feeling this, and actually think the slowed down tempo works well with the undulating bassline. The lead writing and tempo give me an In Flames vibe, but with a different soundscape. The arrangement is solid, the different sections sound good, and the pacing is just right. I think the ending is a little weak, but the rest more than makes up for it. I think this would be a good addition to the site. Yes

also something that is slightly skewing the data is that a lot of the higher rated ones have had project mixes. If you look at FF4 for example, there were 19 remixes of it before the project was released, and now there are 24 posted remixes from the project itself. I have a feeling FF2, FF3, FF5, FF6, and FF9 will all get an additional bump in remixes based on projects. I think all of the possible reasons for the way the numbers are stacking up are valid, but #3 is the most likely. That era was a huge breakthrough in sound production and captured the imagination of a lot of musicians, and the combination of that nostalgia and the melodies themselves being very catchy leads to a mix of more traction. The FF7 project was released roughly a decade after the game, and in the event that in 8 years or so, someone releases a FF13 project, I have a feeling people won't go as nuts over it as they did for 7. The melodies need to be recognizable and singable for a remix to really be great, IMO.

Definitely a chill mix, and damn, that compression is too much for me; the arrangement is solid and subtle, but the level of compression is hurting my ears. I think some sidechaining would make this feel a lot better to me, so it's not sounding like a massive pressure being smooshed on me. Ease up on the compression and i'm cool with this, but as-is, it's just too much. No, please resubmit

Nice build to open it out, I reaaaaally wish you had added more modulation to the synth leads, they sound really dead without any vibrato on the longer notes; it started out cool, but once 1:37 hit, it was so straight. There is room for a ton of attitude to be squeezed in there; take a listen to Crash / Restore by Zwitra on the Xenogears album (http://xenogears.ocremix.org/) for a great example of really expressive synth lead writing, even at a super low fidelity. I liked the buildup and the overall sound; great monoglide synth in the backing parts, and the beats and sound choices gelled together. It felt like everything was really nice, soundwise. There was a little bit of strange dissonance in one of the low backing synths at 1:15, but it wasn't enough to kill it for me, just felt unfocused. The ending felt lackluster to me, and I think it should have gone out with a more exciting flourish, but overall I think this clears the bar. I encourage you to continue to push, and get some more expression into your lead writing, as this arrangement shows you really can get some awesome results. Yes

Overall I think the dynamics of this could have been a lot more pronounced as far as big crescendos and releases, but otherwise it was a smart piece of music that was working for me throughout. I loved the different snare sounds and the blending of various synths with the more organic sounds. I agree with Larry that some of the samples were a bit on the thin side, but based on how the arrangement leaned more heavily of rhythmic interplay, I think it's more forgivable. I like it, nice work. Yes

The drum beats were good, and some of the bass stuff was really nice, but as Deia mentioned, the sections themselves felt a bit static, and the production overall felt pretty lossy. I think using some stronger samples would help, though even EQing what is there right now to have some more clarity would help improve this. The ending is also really sounding like a cop out; for as much care that was put into the rest of the track, the ending should have a similar level of polish. This is a pretty solid foundation of a track, but some additional variety in the partwriting and a stronger ending, along with some cleaner samples will be needed to get it to OCR level. I hope to hear an update of this soon! No, please resubmit

Sounds good! yes

Happybirthday~~~~

Original Decision Remixer name: Rexy (real name: Beverley Wooff) Email: OCRemix user ID: 7528 Remix info:- Remix title: "The Dragon Emperor's Calling" Game covered: Seiken Densetsu 3 Songs covered: Weird Counterpoint (main source), Angel's Fear (several minor appearances), Whiz Kid (two cameos), Witchmakers (two cameos), Star of Darkness (Secret of Mana - single cameo) Link: --- Well, that must've been the most ridiculous 9-month judgment call for some time, but thank you for your analysis on the original submission. I had no idea it came so close though, but either way, let's try this track again, shall we? In the 9 months that passed, I ended up getting a new PC and moved to using Reaper as opposed to Cubase, so applying the changes wasn't quite all that easy thanks to having to reassemble the track in there (though luckily I still had the MIDI data intact). Nevertheless, I still paid as much attention as I can to tweaking the data for the performance to move more fluidly, and made the necessary production adjustments especially with the reverb. I even spent a fair chunk of an evening with Palpable, whom gave some very helpful feedback in regards to reverb and sustain use and the results of them working together, and I feel really grateful for his assistance. Anything else that needs to be said about the track is way back in the original sub - the direction, the project placement, and the fact that Rozovian and Meteo Xavier are two of the coolest people I know for holding on to the Seiken Densetsu 3 project for so long. And like most people, I can't wait to see it finally unleashed to the world, and has been a great experience getting behind it! Thank you guys again, and Merry Christmas Peace out, -Rexy-

Who would have known 13 years ago that this tiny remixing site would be way bigger, more stressful, and awesome! Thanks to Dave for starting the site and keeping it running for so long, he gets a cupcake armada, one for each year!

good to know! on slow days I can judges 1 or 2 at work.

The balance does seem like it could use another listen and some tweaking. In addition, Some of the string articulations could use some humanization, and there are parts where the percussion isn't quite matching the tempo of the song. There are some drums that are pushed back so far that they have no punch to them as well. Jesse has some good comments, and the concept of this is very cool, it just needs more refinement. No, please resubmit

I agree pretty much in that it's a cool arrangement idea, but the production isn't quite there. The main issue for me is the lack of expression in the lead instrument. Some additional modulation, a little more volume, and possibly a more expressive sample would help out a good deal. This is a good foundation, and a lot of the song is really working for me, but some additional polish would help this out. Wes and Deia's crits are pretty good too, so I think you have plenty of direction to make this even better! No, please resubmit

A whole week off *everything* else? Hundreds of submissions.

I was totally gonna listen and then saw this. Guess I don't qualify. Way to discriminate. ;_;

hey DS, you should post a tracklist so people can GET HYPE!!

happy birthdays! I hope you both have a fun-filled day, birthdays are great!

I'll send this back to Bev for an update, shouldn't be too difficult to get a fix going on.

I'll be sending this one back with a request that it's resubbed. I think it's really nice, and I love multi-piano compositions, so please do me a personal favor and polish this up a bit for us. Consider adding some additional interpretation for Larry to feel more comfortable, but it's optional, i'd say.

definitely am hearing what Vinnie and Deia are saying about the piano being dry and the synth being a little shrill. I loved the overall soundscape, and those two instruments stuck out pretty far for me. The arrangement was a bit on the conservative side but I think gets it done, and melds the sources together in a decent way, though the Lava Reef intro on the synth near the end felt really sudden, possibly because of the timbre of the synth. The solo was great, props to Adam. you get... another Yes (Borderline) In future submissions I suggest making sure all the elements mesh into the soundscape well, and I think a little more interpretation would be good too. Nothing severe, but more personality.