Emunator

Just a quick co-sign on what the two gentlemen above have stated - there's a lot of great stuff going on here. The groove is fun, and you're tapping into a wide variety of synths that all sound great together, tonally. However, the mixing definitely needs a second pass to ensure that the right elements of the song are coming through at the right times. There's plenty of times where I can't tell what instrument is intending to be the lead melody because all of the melodic elements are mixed around the same volume level. I like the sound of your sub bass, but I'm not sure if it's filling out quite the right frequency range - it sounds strangely detached from the rest of the track. I think Brad is onto something by recommending some additional element to pad out the low-mid range and glue the bass/drums in with the rest of your instrumentation. Right now, there's some great tones and writing at work here, but it's not clicking quite yet. I'd love to see a second pass of this with the mixing tightened up and something new added to the second half to ease up on the direct repetition. Great start! NO (resubmit)

This is immediately serving up Deus Ex vibes. Those detuned FM bells that enter at 1:22 are juicy. The production here is immaculate across the board, full of texture and richness. The pacing of the arrangement is exceptional as well, absolutely nailing the slow build without ever lingering on one idea too long before introducing something new for the listener to enjoy. The fakeout ending at 3:40 was such a treat too, and the glitchy percussion that enters is tasteful and impactful. I can see myself coming back to this a lot - great work! YES

I will say that the piano sounds sequenced better than some of the previous submissions I've heard from you, so the improvement is definitely noticeable! This does feel locked to the grid to a certain degree, but almost in a "player piano" sort of way, so I won't hold that against this track too much. The lack of reverb and dryness of the arrangement overall is probably my biggest complaint, but Brad made a really insightful point about the lack of cohesion between the ensemble that I strongly agree with too. There just doesn't feel like there's a whole lot going on here and it never seems to coalesce into a full-bodied ensemble sound. It's a great concept but I just don't feel like it ever properly clicked together. NO

Hah! That Lost Woods BOTW theme really goes with everything, doesn't it? Right off the bat, I'm digging the adaptation of these themes into a darker electronic rhythm. You take your time building up to full steam but I appreciated the slow burn. The sound design throughout the first few minutes was perhaps smoother around the edges than I would have liked, but the gritty lead that enters at 2:37 gives this the necessary bite to carry the arrangement home. I want to echo Brad's critique of the kickdrums that enter at 2:36, which lacked nuance and didn't sound great to my ears. The other judges have correctly identified that this is a very bass-heavy mixdown and the master limiter gets pushed pretty hard during the choruses. It's less than ideal, and unfortunately features some of the same issues I had with your first submission, but like that one, I found that this was carried on the merits of the creative arrangement and sound design. I do hope you can take some of these critiques to heart for future submissions and use that to improve your mixing game even further! YES

The rhythmic changeups are off the hook!! It's certainly true that this doesn't stray far from the original source, but the way you changed the cadence of the melodies gives it a whole new feel. Your percussion is excellent too!

This is hot! Totally not what I expected out of Deedubs but this keeps getting better and better as it goes on. The production toward the back half is seriously rich. Love this!!

*UPDATE 12th Sep 2022* - HarlemHeat360 sent a new mixdown with no clipping and some slight changes to the drum patterns: Contact Information Username: HarlemHeat360 UserID:37144 Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/HarlemHeat360 Submission Information Arrangement Game: Final Fantasy VII Name of Arrangement: Hear Her Cries Song Being Arranged: Listen to the Cries of the Planet Comments: Originally, this song began as more of a transcription/remaster idea, but as i played more and more with the electronic aspects of the song, I really got into it. By the end I was giddy to make new interesting sounds while still trying to make an enjoyable sounding track. I think that was the most difficult aspect--trying to find beauty in the soundscape without creating a cacophony of sound. Overall, the concept is a cry for help that goes unnoticed. The track sort of shouts at you once more, pleading to be heard. That second half, in my eyes, is the planet showing you all those scars and taking off the cover from the first half. It's much more raw and emotional--not as docile. I hope that image came through during this arrangement.

Name: Michael Hudak Games arranged: Resident Evil Remake (GCN, 2002), Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil 4 Songs arranged: "Save Theme" from all three games. An alternate title for the RE0 Save Theme is "Rest", according to Discogs. I've also seen the RE Remake one titled "Safe Haven", but I think that's probably a fan re-naming. Name of my arrangement: Mansion of Delete (No Sleep Demon) Link to originals: REmake- https://youtu.be/Ur9YfB31cPI?t=302 / RE0- https://youtu.be/Ur9YfB31cPI / RE4- https://youtu.be/Ur9YfB31cPI?t=1273 Link to ReMix: My 3 favorite save themes from the RE series (the original PS1 RE had a slightly different arpeggio in its save theme that sounded less sinister to me; I prefer the REmake version). Inspired by the waking dreams (hypnagogia) I've been frequently experiencing over the last year. Almost like dreams within dreams, or maybe several dreams spiralling together, kind of like a 5-pronged DNA strand. Bizarre stuff. That's the feeling I wanted to capture here, rather than just aim to do a simple ambient piece, because there's enough of that already (you can go to YT and listen to whole playlists of RE save music with rain storm effects in the background). The strange, filtered, bass-only beat from 1:40 to 1:50 represents the cars going down my street blasting music at 1:30 am. "No Sleep Demon" was the working title, but towards completion I realized that I copped Oneohtrix Point Never's style from his album Garden of Delete pretty hard here, so that explains the title. I think a little bit of the very old OCR ReMix called "Of Transformants and Brevity" by zykO crept in here, too. I listened to that dozens of times in high school. If this passes, I'm sure some people will hate it...I don't even know if I like it! I very much enjoyed making it though. Cathartic experience. It's mostly source material aside from the final 30 seconds or so. Slowed down a lot using multitap delays, though. Here are time signatures indicating where I used each source. REmake Save Theme: 00-0:19, 0:24 - 1:00, 1:21 - 1:37, 1:50 - 2:00, 2:06 - 2:12, 2:38 - 2:50. RE0 Save Theme ("Rest"): 1:00 - 1:15, 1:42 - 1:49. RE4 Save Theme: 1:38 - 1:42, 2:17 - 2:32. The "whattaya buyin'" is a voice clip from RE4 that I chopped up a pitched down. Other voice clips are of me and a friend messing around with instruments. Thanks in advance for slogging through this one. I'll send a more regular one next time. - Michael

Hello OC Remix, my name is Daniel Ruiz and my remixer name is Mithyka you can contact me at this same email address and here is my userID: 37288 Remix information: - Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (NES) - Downtempo/lofi/trap - Level 1 I've been a fan of the channel for years so I thought I deviate from my usual productions and throw my hat in the OC Remix ring. It's a pretty obscure game but this song's melody has always intoxicated me so I wanted to give it a modern lofi treatment. Hope it's to the judges liking! Cheers! Source:

Remixer name : jmabate Real name : abate jean marc Email : website : https://www.youtube.com/user/jmabate userid : 35644 Name of game(s) arranged : Final Fantasy IX Name of arrangement : It’s an Ambush Name of individual song(s) arranged : Ambush Attack Composers : Nobuo Uematsu System : Sony Playstation Original : https://youtu.be/DGbGtlixygA Track infos : arranged and performed for the Pixel Mixers Final Fantasy IX Tribute Album "Beyond the Mist". Hope you will enjoy this cover. Best regards Jmabate

RebeccaETripp Rebecca Tripp http://www.crystalechosound.com/ ID: 48262 Game(s): Breath of the Wild Song Title: It’s So Chilly Songs Remixed: Cold Here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGLbMVh59z0 It's the theme that plays when you step onto the kitchen floor with bare feet during winter (at least if you live in Canada). Source:

Contact Info: J-BHarmonized James High Soundcloud.com/jbharmonized 33741 Submission Info: Pokemon Black/White Version Tower of Break it Down Original Composer: Shota Kageyama, GAME FREAK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4u6ht7TtVo

What an incredible source tune - I believe that Dave Wise's work for Star Fox Adventures is some of his most underrated work, and I'm so grateful that others are inspired by it! Starting off, the synth patch that you used in the intro doesn't have enough movement or depth to function as a drone, and in general doesn't feel adequate enough to set the mood. I would experiment with either layering in other synth sounds, adding in octave harmonies to give it more of a full sound, or simply trying out some different patches. The bawu is a very interesting choice that carries your melody well! I do notice certain points where the volume of the instrument tails off and it gets lost under the rest of the instruments, such as the 1:10 mark. Some compression to normalize those quieter notes will fix that up with no problem. Similarly, the synth lead at 2:11 is pretty quiet in the mix. The guitars sound great, both in terms of mixing and sequencing. They wouldn't have even registered as VST instruments if you didn't specifically mention it. Everything clicks into place when those enter - this remix is at its best when the guitars are present, in my opinion. The only issue that jumps out to me during those sections is the drum mix, which noticeably lacks much high-end presence and could stand to be EQ'd or saturated to reintroduce some of that high-end crunch. At the end of the day, you've got a very strong arrangement but a number of technical miscues that warrant a second pass in my book. If this ends up not passing, I'd be happy to work with you directly to help iron out some of these issues so we can get this posted. The world needs more Star Fox Adventures representation! NO (resubmit!)

Certainly very close to the original source material, but with some subtle additions. This is on the edge of what I would consider too conservative, but the small changes and additions you brought to the table aren't lost on me! However, the instrumentation and sequencing is another aspect of this track that I feel falls slightly short of expectations. Most of the instruments have a very rigid feel to them that belies the warm, organic soundscape you're looking to create. The biggest offender in my book is the electric piano, which has almost no expressiveness whatsoever and plays heavily quantized to the grid. The piano is definitely the most natural sounding performance of the bunch, and the rest of the instrumentation falls somewhere in between. I find that realism in sequencing is especially important in an arrangement like this where you're working with so few sounds, and everything is so exposed. I have no problems with this conceptually, but the execution in creating a realistic, organic soundscape is not quite there yet, but could easily get there with little effort! NO (resubmit)

This truly does feel like a natural evolution and expansion of some of your previous piano-centric experimental arrangements. It's fascinating hearing some of the same techniques applied to a different palette of instruments. The string ensemble that enters at :40 offers excellent padding for the numerous plucked textures and field recordings that are going on around it. When we transition in the back half to a more synth-driven take, there's still subtle sound design that keep this grounded in the same realm that you've established thus far. It's something clearly different, and the symbolism of the turning of a page is certainly not lost on me, but it still feels like part of a cohesive statement. Keep doing what you're doing... which is, of course, doing something completely different and unexpected every time! YES

Gario nailed it - this is a fantastic take on the source, but less than a minute simply doesn't give you enough time to substantially expand on the concept presented. If this were double the length (obviously without direct copy/pasting) so this could feel like more of a fully-developed musical idea, it's an easy pass - your guitar chops and the way you've expanded on such a short melody so far are A+. No shade intended to you as a musician, just that this doesn't feel substantial enough for the standards that we've established for OCRemix. Hope to hear more from you in the future!! NO

I agree with this take 100%. Rests and space between notes are still an integral part of how a source melody can be transformed and presented in a unique way. Another angle I like to look at source usage from, when we're so close to the 50% mark, is how it is distributed throughout the arrangement. If there was 100% source usage for the first half of the arrangement and absolutely none in the second half, I would judge that more harshly than what I see here, which is a recognizable motif that is used frequently throughout the remix. Although the source is not strictly present at any given moment, you revisit it frequently enough that I never forget that I'm listening to a TMNT remix. Not trying to skirt around the standards here, but in my book this is so close to that 50% mark that it really does come down to a gut feel, so this is my attempt to explain what goes on in my head in a scenario like this. In this arrangement's case, I think you come out on the winning side of the debate. Source usage aside, this is a bangin' track with a rich soundscape, meaty bassline & drums, and a satisfying dynamic curve to keep things from growing stagnant. I dig it! YES

I found this to be comfortably above the bar. The guitar performance is incredibly tight, and Psamathes adds a ton of character to the sound palette. As always, I love your ambition with changing up rhythm at a moment's notice while never feeling like you're just tacking disparate concepts together without any glue between them. The mixing felt serviceable and never obscured my ability to hear anything important, even if the frequency balance felt imperfect. YES

I find myself agreeing 100% with Deia on this - it's very anticlimactic to end the arrangement on a 1-for-1 repetition of a section that was already run through earlier in the track. Even a little arpeggio/countermelody or a change in synth patch to offer some variation is all this needs. It's so close, but the way it's currently presented feels like a letdown. And I also agree that the vocal clips could be better integrated into the mix with some reverb/leveling. This should be a super-easy resubmission if this doesn't pass - love everything else you've got going on here! NO (resubmit!)

I've been holding off on this one for a while because I hate to reject a track that is clearly well put together, well-performed, and by all measures an enjoyable listen, that doesn't meet the standards of interpretation that we're looking for at OCR, but I don't want to keep this languishing for any longer. I love this in a bubble and want to commend your musicianship, but the two judges who have already chimed in have the right call. No shade intended, and I certainly hope to hear something from you with a bit more of an interpretive take in the future! NO

I have to agree the gentlemen above - this has a ton of potential and it's clear that you're doing some fun stuff with the original source material. Prophetik hit the nail on the head that the lack of attention paid to volume is hurting this track a lot. It gives the impression that there's not enough dynamics or "breath" in your arrangement. This is a simple fix that could be accomplished with more selective volume automation, or if you want to give it even more character, filter sweep automation with a bit of resonance baked into your filter. This will help the dynamics of your mix match the natural rise and fall of your arrangement, and also clear up some room so that the synths you really want to highlight at any given point are front-and-center. It will also help some of your synth lines from sounding too vanilla, and add that extra touch of texture to the track overall. Solid stuff overall, but the mixing still sounds like it's unfinished. Hope to hear this again! NO (resubmit)

I've been sitting on this one for a long time. I don't really have a lot to say because I'm not really a fan of this style on a personal level, but the execution is solid enough in my book and is certainly bolstered by the ambition of the arrangement as a whole. Cyril and HeavenWraith both gave spirited performances that carry the track in spite of the technical issues that have been covered, and the mixing is honestly pretty good overall too! The main issues I see are timing-related and some inconsistent reverb levels, but none of that sinks the overall product for me. I'm happy to sign off on this in its current form. YES

This resubmission certainly fixes the issue with the harshness of the original mix, so my ears are grateful for that! However, as a result, you've backslid a bit too far in the other direction and taken all of the bite out of the high end entirely and now the mix sounds muddy and imbalanced toward the low end. When evaluating this, I have your new version and old version lined up with each other, and when A/B comparing, one mixdown is clearly treble heavy and one is bass heavy. Curiously enough, when I play both of the tracks in tandem at 50% volume each, the track actually sounds way better, to the point where I literally think you just need to find a midpoint between these two mixdowns, and you'll be golden. I hate to bounce this back without a ton of new input, but if you want to get in touch with me directly, I'd love to workshop this with you and get into the weeds, because I want to see this track posted! Your arrangement and performances are, and always have been, very strong. Keep at it! NO (resubmit!)

I love the palette of instruments you chose to work with here! The eclectic mix of plucky, whimsical instruments, mixed with a wash of chimes and shaker effects all comes together quite nicely. I also appreciated the very sparse use of vocals for additional texture. The only weak link, sequencing-wise, would be the panflute, which has a very unnatural release that causes the notes to cut off abruptly and not join together naturally. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Great expansion on a relatively simple theme - you managed to give it a totally unique character while still keeping the spirit of the original track present at all times. Nice work! YES

Considering you've said that you're not a musician by trade, this is a pretty solid first attempt! There's a good deal of interpretation in how you adapted the original source to a slowed-down, vibed-out synthwave style, and there's a lot of creative sound choices to drive home that mood. I thoroughly enjoyed the bones of this track! However, the production side is not living up to the potential of your arrangement, as I'm immediately picking up on several mixing/sequencing issues that could be addressed. First off, let's talk about the overall mixing on the track. This is VERY heavily compressed beyond what the genre calls for. I think I can best illustrate this with a screengrab of the overall track waveform, which can be helpful to evaluate the overall dynamic curve of your track... What this immediately tells me is that you've slammed the levels of your instruments as loud as you can go, and you're engaging the limiter on your master track way too frequently. Especially when your waveform looks like this during sections like 1:40 or 2:49, where there's really only a few instruments going on, it's immediately obvious that the levels of your instruments need to be brought down so that there's some breathing room for the natural dynamics to show through. This especially becomes an issue with some of your high pitched bell samples, or the sound effects that bookend the track on the front and back - these are mixed so loudly, the high frequencies are physically painful on the ears. Rebalancing each instrument in your arrangement, and adding some high-end EQ cuts to certain patches would be an excellent starting point. Aside from that, the second major issue I want to bring attention to is the velocities. It sounds like nearly all of your instruments are rigidly quantized to the beat and play at the same velocity for each note, with the exception of your plucked synth arpeggio and the bass. Now, I wouldn't expect the humanization in a synthwave arrangement to be totally realistic, but for example, the piano at 1:00 sounds excessively rigid. Even some slight variance in the timing/velocity of the notes would help that melody blend better. Lastly, for lack of a better word, the kick drum just sounds weird in this context. It sounds like it may have been heavily time-warped, but the sample used is just not cutting it for me. For the first few bars when it is first introduced, it actually sounds kind of cool, but for the remainder of the track, the sample just seems like a strange choice that doesn't have an ideal frequency balance for this style. Consider trying out some new samples to see how it affects the overall sound of your mix. I am definitely impressed with what you were able to put together here, so please don't take the feedback negatively - this is an excellent first take. However, the mixing and sequencing need to be polished before this is ready for primetime. Good luck! NO