Emunator

Gorgeous, uplifting, dynamic, transcendent... I'm finding no shortage of adjectives to describe the impeccable work you've done here! The variety of instruments, moods, and ideas is mind-boggling! The fusion of electronic and orchestral instruments felt totally natural and never shoehorned in, and both sides were equally well-executed. My only complaint is that many of your ideas truly had the potential to be fleshed out into their own arrangement, and each time you transitioned to a new idea, I found myself a little sad because I was so caught up in each individual moment. I didn't want

This has such a nice vintage OCR quality to it Really takes me back to the early 2010's. As someone who can get hung up on production in my own work, I appreciate the challenge you set for yourself to work with a simpler palette and focus primarily on the arrangement. At the end of the day, I'd argue that both aspects of the remix came out strong!

Lovely source, one of my favorites from Skyward Sword! Your arrangement checks all the right boxes, there's some excellent rhythmic variations and expansions over the original source. Unfortunately, the sequencing and sample dynamics are simply not cutting it in its current form. There's a rigidity to the whole performance that is quite evident in the velocity layers, note timing, and note sustains. It starts off noticeable but not too egregious because most of the notes are played at a lower velocity range, but as your part writing becomes more energetic, the sequencing issues are amplified.

The groove here is so GOOD. I loved this one in its WIP stages and the final product is even stronger There's really so much going on here, you never hang on one idea for too long and never seem to run out of new directions to take the arrangement, either! Rock solid stuff, Bev!

This is insane!! One of Leandro & co.'s best tracks to date as far as I'm concerned. Great work everyone!

Good stuff, everything in here is clicking nicely! Production is tight, there's certainly an appropriate, if subtle, level of interpretation over the original, and the live performances add some extra flair to push it comfortably over the bar. You never sit too long on a single lead instrument either, which keeps this fresh at every turn. YES

There's some really creative ideas going on in here, and is a lot more unique than we typically see from first-time submissions. This shows a clear level of ambition that I think is absolutely commendable! There are definitely a few areas of concern that need to be ironed out on the production and performance side. First off, the mastering on this track is painfully loud at times. For example, the synth SFX that is used continually throughout the intro has a high resonant frequency at around 8kHz that spikes WAY louder than the rest of your track and is painful on the ears. That abs

This is a lovely, dynamic take, just as I've come to expect! Your piano tone is lush and full-bodied - the contrast between the deep rhythmic notes and the twinkly right-hand arpeggios plays well to the strengths of your piano sample. I appreciate how you were able to work different elements of the source into something cohesive and entirely your own. I'm going to be honest - I wouldn't have called out anything about overcompression on this track had it not been pointed out by other judges. I can hear what others are talking about, but I don't think it warrants a conditional vote by any s

This track features some excellent synth design that does a great job of expanding on the original sound palette, although the arrangement plays it very close to the original source material as far as writing is concerned. Not necessarily a bad thing on its own, but when viewed through the lens of OCR's standards, a little more interpretation would go a long way. The bigger issue though, as the other judges pointed out, is definitely on the production side. Although your synth choices are really well executed, the production overall feels pretty flat and lacking in dynamics. Larry nailed

For the most part, I felt like this arrangement played well to Rebecca's strengths as an arranger - as Kris mentioned, the interplay between the shorter staccato instruments like the marimba and harpsichord and the more expressive flute legatos, courtesy of Gamer of the Winds, sounds really fabulous. Overall, this is a really breathy, spacious arrangement that expands nicely on the sources. I wish there was a bit more bite to the harpsichord on the production side, and the velocity work on the marimba is less than ideal. I also found the reverb levels to be lower than I would have liked o

Sounds absolutely lovely I recognized some of the in-game ambiance throughout which really added to the authenticity. It's very close to the original source material as a whole, but you've done such a lovely job giving it a bit more immediacy and warmth. It's always a joy listening to your music.

This remix is incredibly ambitious in its fusion of multiple different styles that definitely works on a conceptual level. Right now, the mixing and the quality of some of the samples are holding this back. In its current form, you have huge jumps in dynamics at moments like :59, where the brass stabs are so loud that it's extremely jarring when they come in. I would suggest going back and revisiting the balance between each of your instruments so there are less dramatic jumps throughout the track. Increasing your master compression would also balance that out. From a sound quality

Meteor Herd is a really fun, underrated track from the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack, so let's see what you've done with this. Overall, this is a really cool retro club throwback - very clean production, energetic synth writing, and no shortage of source usage throughout. Although you're working with a simple sound pallet, the production is crisp and clear and all of your synths and drums evoke a very specific moment in time, so I think this works on a conceptual level and was overall a really fun listen! My biggest gripe is the integration of the Security Hall theme, which clashes in

This is certainly a spirited effort, I loved the energy in the drum breakdowns and fills, and the bass writing in general. The use of ingame sound effects is really well executed as well. And in general, you can't go wrong taking your inspiration from San Holo There's some excellent stuff going on here across the board. There's a few production aspects that don't quite feel like they've fully clicked into place yet, as well as some issues with the overall mastering that definitely need to be addressed. Overall, there's a dryness to your production that I'm not quite sure suits the purpos

As with your other submission that I recently judged, you have all the bones of a great arrangement but the quality of the guitar samples is bringing this down. With as guitar-driven as this track is, I think you would have to get a live guitarist for at LEAST the lead, but the entire track would benefit. Right now, there's a rigidness to the timing of everything that just doesn't pass as realistic. I hate to sound like such a downer, because I can clearly tell that you did put a lot of work into attempting to sequence your lead guitar with expression, but there's only so much you can do