Emunator   Judges ⚖️

Alright, I've been talking this one over with halc and I think I like where you're going with this for sure. The smooth chord progression is really the most gripping part of the song for me. Such a good sample and such jazzy execution However, I think the rest of the mix falls short a little bit. The first lead synth you used seems like an odd choice for such a smooth song, I'd experiment with some other sounds if you're not dead set on that one. The other sounds aren't too bad, but all of the leads seem marred by some minor, but noticeable timing issues. Especially in the intro, your lead doesn't always seem to match up with the timing of the chords, and coupled with the long gaps between every one of your notes, it just sounds awkward at times. I'd recommend throwing in more legato/sustained notes or even using some creative pitch bending to give the leads (especially during the solos) some more personality. You want your melodies to flow to keep the whole song sounding smooth The soloing is really pretty creative and well-executed (aside from the aforementioned issues) but it's all lumped together in the center of the song. If you'd be willing to take the time, I think chunking it up and interspersing the solo sections with source material would greatly improve the arrangement. The drums, too, seem like a bit of a weak point in the piece. They feel relatively static throughout the whole song and don't change up much to match the mood, and I think you could easily incorporate some more intricate drum writing to heighten the energy of your remix at the appropriate times. All things considered though, this sounds good Keep working on this, you've got some great potential here!

Well, it sounds really close to the original. It's a nice slight sound upgrade but it feels so similar in arrangement and style to the source that it's hard to really comment on it as a remix. Personalize this a bit!

This is really weird, haha. Great source tune, and some good instrumental choices. I'm not feeling all of the drum sounds that you used - I don't know enough about drums to give you the exact names, so maybe someone can help me out? Some of them just break the otherwise-cohesive soundscape that you've got going on. The glitch effects don't necessarily seem as tight as they could be, again maybe someone with more experience can expand on what I'm getting at here :\ Cool mood, great concept, and nice sounds though Hope to hear this one moving along nicely, it's got a tons of potential!

Some interesting production effects going on here, I agree that the high end of the drums are getting washed out because you've got so much going on in the lower ranges. But since you said that doesn't come until later in your production process, I won't talk to much about that. I really like a lot of the arrangement ideas you've got here, the chillout section toward the middle is cool but I do think it stretches out too long and the transition back into the heavier section seems so abrupt considering how long that section went on. Do something to make your buildup a little bit more climactic, probably by extending the length a bit and doing some cool stuff with the drums. I'm not totally enamored by the bass writing, but I suppose it's not bad. I think you could do something more melodic with the bassline to really make the song more engaging. Great melodies/countermelodies and a pretty nice solo at the end though, I think this has got potential to pass the OCR panel once you smooth things out a bit on both the production/arrangement side. Nice work

Good work Finish this one off and you'll have something real special on your hands, I think!

It really depends on who you can find and what their preferences are - when you're collabing with someone the ball's in their court and you'll figure all that stuff out after you find a person willing to play for you. I'd finalize the arrangement first before you think about that sort of thing

Hah, I love this source You can tell that this one's a bit rougher than your newer mixes - the synths have WAY too much sustain on them. Your rhythm guitar is actually somewhat passable, but the lead guitar isn't - I'd recommend using a synth or finding a live guitarist instead of trying to use that sample as a lead guitar in the future. The sax sample too is way too weak to be reasonably passed off in a remix, I think. I know this is old but hopefully these crits will be at least somewhat relevant to you, in case you don't already know

I wasn't really referring to the strings taking a lead, but rather doing something to make them stand out just for a second or two here and there, or possibly during a transition. As for collaborating, it's really free-form. If you just contact a few of those people and find someone who's willing to work, you can either send them a project file or a MIDI notation of your instruments and they will play it live and mix it in for you, or send you a .wav of their performance and you can put it in yourself. It's not too difficult, especially if you find someone who's easy to work with

Interesting drums, though I'd wait to go full-force with them until after the introduction personally. The mixing on the track is really flat, I'd definitely work on filling out the lower frequencies a bit. In general none of your instruments really stand out, especially the organ which seems like it should be taking center-stage when it comes in. EQ that up a bit, and watch your drums too - they seem like they get a bit quieter during the second half of the song. Interesting start though, let's see where you take this one!

Hah, this certainly is creative Major props for trying out something totally off the wall that actually doesn't sound gimmicky at all. If you could expand on this with some very subtle instrumentation or simply expand on the concept you've got, I think you could make this sound really cool. The only thing I noticed that sounds off is the weird cut-off note at 1:00. Other than that, I'm not really sure how to critique this track other than by telling you to finish it!

The beat you've got going toward the beginning is really neat, but it's unfortunately just copied and pasted a bunch of times which makes the intro seem to drag. You do have some pretty interesting sound choices going on and this mix overall feels a lot more cohesive than the Arceus mix, which is a plus. When you get to the B-part of the source it especially sounds good Overall though, the mix itself does feel repetitive because you use the same loops and same sounds throughout much of the 5 minute song. I think this has some cool ideas and it clicks pretty well most of the time, just needs a bit more creative enhancements to the melody, instrumentation, or the beat. Enjoyable listen though

Mazedude and 8-Bit Instrumental both sent me WAVs today. Good work guys! Zircon's also joining on for sure now, and he's not alone. Tefnek will also be collaborating with him - it's been a while since those two have worked together so it should be great to hear what they whip up for Nuts and Bolts.

That opening note literally made me jump in my seat What Cyril said is pretty applicable, although I'd like to add that the string/piano section has some volume issues that I think could be ironed out. The strings seem too loud and the piano seems too quiet. Some nice ideas though, I especially like the bass sound and the writing itself. The synths feel almost overly distorted, I would consider toning it down a bit, or re-writing other parts of the song (like the drums) so that they complement the gritty style a bit more. You could use some pads at some points to help give things a bit of a boost and fill out the soundscape some more. Weird source too, I can't really blame you for going liberal on this one

Wow, is this really your first piece of music that you've written? If so, you're starting off very strong. I like the general mood of the piece, though an above poster described the feelings emoted by the song better than I ever could so I won't comment on that As for the production and arrangement, the it's very stagnant. I agree with the subtle tempo inflections that previous posters have suggested, but in addition to that I think adding in a new instrument or changing up which ones take the lead at times would bring even more diversity to your piece. A section where the strings can take a bigger role, or a part where the piano takes center stage over the piano, or adding in an entirely new instrument like a flute are just a few examples I can think of. The change-up around halfway through the song was much-needed and executed pretty nicely, so that also helped reach the same goal. I love the concept, but you're gonna need a bit more variety or some more emotive performances (which, unfortunately, you can't get from samples as easily :\ ) in order to keep the song engaging. If you're really serious about this song, check out the links on the sidebar of this page and you can find plenty of instrumentalists who may be willing to contribute live parts to you. I think if you can polish up the arrangement and do some work to keep it more dynamic, it would be an option worth exploring

Your stuttering lead synth tends to get annoying after a while and it doesn't really work for the melody, I would definitely change it up and use that synth for support instead of as a lead. The other noticeable synth that you've got (the one that becomes prominent around :10) would be very well suited for a lead and would be a much more interesting choice. Other than that, the rest of the song isn't too bad but it needs some expansion. Change up your sound choices every once and a while and keep experimenting with those glitch effects, they sound nice

The mix feels empty a lot of the time, some supporting pads would do this mix wonders, or even some static noise clips to give a bit more personality to the glitchiness, which you've got a pretty good start with but it's not worth as much when the supporting instruments/synths are sparse/nonexistent. I'll take what halc said one step further and say that some of your panned synths, as well as the drums, is a little disorienting too. If you beefed up the overall soundscape I doubt this would be as big of a deal, but when you've got a loud synth in one ear with nothing else around it, it sticks out rather unpleasantly.

TheGuitahHeroe, you're misuing "liberal" Liberal means that the song is too far away from the source tune, the word you're looking for is conservative. I won't touch on the arrangement since you're not submitting to OCR, but here's a few production pointers - your piano definitely has way too much reverb on it. The section of the song from 1:31 to 1:42 doesn't harmonize well and sounds oddly dissonant. I see what you were trying to do there but I don't think it worked out. Even if you're not working to submit this to OCR, I would at least rewrite that section It's an interesting take with some good energy at times, though. Nice video, too

Well, it's 4 AM right now, I've got to be up in 3 hours, but I just got a WIP from Vampire Hunter Dan that's got me so giddy that I can't sleep It's a medley of two songs that I'll keep secret until the release of the project, but all I can tell you is that I never thought one of them would even be remixable, let alone in a full symphonic fashion. Absolutely stunning work, some of VHD's all-time best! Also, welcome GSlicer to the project, he's reworking his 2 recently-rejected DKC3 mixes for the project as well. They're very good already, just need a bit more source on them!

I'm digging this a lot, I can't imagine how much effort went into creating this. As soon as I find out whether I've got money in my checking account or not, I'll buy this Really stellar work, I'm highly impressed, especially by the piano solo at the end. Very inspiring stuff!

lolwut I don't even -- what is going on here?

Double post, but I wanted to formally welcome AkumajoBelmont to the project. He's got a concept brewing for Enchanted Riverbank that sounded like a great idea to me, hopefully it pans out! EDIT And just a night later, he's already got a laid back vocal dance WIP in that's showing a ton of promise. Good job on the quick work!

Maybe it's just 'cause it's early in the morning, but damn this is throwing me for a loop. I don't think I'm coherent enough to handle this song It gets really disorienting at times, especially on headphones. No, but seriously, this is pretty killer. I agree with halc that it could use one more musical element to fill out the space a bit, but this is pretty interesting as-is. I'm always impressed by the different directions that you take your songs, you're a really talented arranger

You've got some interesting ideas and I'll give you props for trying to pull off the tempo changes, but I think you used it too frequently and too early in the song for it to be a really effective choice. It does help break up what would be an otherwise-monotonous song, since your groove and your melody are pretty much the exact same throughout the whole song, so good job for trying that. Modulation should be used sparingly though so it doesn't make the song feel spastic. A few production notes; your strings are really, really piercingly loud. Throw a limiter on them or turn down the volume a bit, because they really break through the high end and hurt when you're listening on headphones. Also, regarding your panning, I noticed that a lot of elements are panned really hard off to either side, especially in the beginning. It makes the song a bit disorienting and I would consider moving some of your elements (at least the bass) more toward the center. I know it says you're finished, but take these critiques into consideration in the future so you can improve on the next songs you do. I think you've got a grasp of the ideas of remixing, but it definitely needs some polishing on the production but especially on the arrangement side of things. Keep at it!

Hey, this is tight It's got a nice groove, although you really rely on loops a lot so I doubt this would fly with OCR unless you varied some things up, particularly the drumloop. Very good choices for your lead synth though, it fits with the laid back groove. I'm liking it, but I'd recommend doing something to change up the drums and make the mix overall a bit less repetitive. When your song is so short, you need to make every little bit count. The ending too is so abrupt, if you're looking to make a completed song I'd definitely try to write something in to make it more conclusive. Repetitiveness aside, though, what you've got is a very nice groove track without any other glaring flaws! Nice work

Oh dude, this is so sexy. I didn't know you made this type of music but daaaamn is it good Sub this now!~