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Emailed Zach about this track to see if he's up to make some changes. For the record, I agree that the drone pad is probably a dealbreaker in terms of how much it muddies the soundscape, so hopefully he can adjust that!

@Chimpazilla You were right! Parker was able to get this resubmitted within an hour of reading the decision and it addresses my only beef (pun intended) with the first submission. So glad this didn't end up lingering in rejection purgatory over that. THERE'S THE BEEF!

Previous Decision "Ok, here it is. Yes - it was exactly what one of the judges said it was. Let's just say this was one of the most embarrassing mistakes I've made as a producer." Original submission: Your ReMixer name: Parker Walker (I hope that my previous remixes' remixer name can be changed from SPIRAL_SYSTEM to Parker Walker, if not, then use SPIRAL_SYSTEM. Thanks!) Your real name Parker Walker Your email address Your website(s) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW1jycmYfDZYXPnL6W9DEtQ Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile: SPIRAL_SYSTEM Streets of Rage 2 Can't stop me! Go Straight For this mix, I took a more conservative approach, because all the elements of the original are very "90s". Hence, I kept the 90s feel, yet didn't go for a total FM sound like my other SOR2 remix because I think that, honestly, Yuzo did it the best on this one and I can't surpass him. Instead, I went for 90s house feel using 90s production techniques, arrangements and sounds. I even used the legendary JD-990 synthesizer (produced at the time) and samples from the TR 909 to give extra authenticity and 90s feel. All the bass sounds are from Chip MD, a Sega FM emulator. All in all, it's a re-imagining of what the song would have been using state of the art production techniques at the time, and a quite conservative homage on this classic v-game track. I hope the fans enjoy!

Really surprised to see a NO vote on a Mazedude track, so let's see what happened... I do hear what MindWanderer is saying, and could see how it would register as a personal annoyance, but after listening to this on repeat 2 or 3 times, it clearly feels like an intentional choice. I do wonder why it was mixed so far into the background, but the actual volume swells feel totally fine. That stylistic quibble aside, we've got some classic Mazedude tracker action and I'm totally here for it. Chris' submissions always introduce me to textures and sounds I've never heard before. The groove is trance-inducing, with a very expressive bassline against a hypnotic breakbeat/trip-hop rhythm that evolves just enough over the course of nearly 5 minutes to keep me enthralled the whole time. Send it! YES

Eino's music has always had that rough, garage band-y quality to it, and this is no exception. It's a thin line to straddle though, because it can easily fall on the side of "rough around the edges by design" and "unpolished and incomplete." In this case, I think the mixing issues could be forgiven if the arrangement was a little more fleshed out and ambitious, but as it stands, there's not a lot of dynamics within the arrangement, and it fizzles out right when it feels like things are about to pick up. I think this needs a ramp up in energy to drive this piece home - right now, it feels more like an unfocused jam session that isn't bringing a ton to the table. NO

I fall exactly in line with MindWanderer - there are a lot of elements in this track that, while not bad, are underwhelming individually and leave me feeling like this track has not had enough time to cook yet. The orchestration quality is serviceable, but there's a distinct lack of expression and dynamics across the board, so this feels more like a sketch than an actual performance. Even with a mellow, intimate orchestration, there's plenty of room for articulation and dynamic contrast that could be explored. The arrangement itself is short and doesn't really introduce a lot of new writing, so although the genre transformation is substantial in and of itself, the short arrangement also feels underdeveloped. Don't get me wrong - I actually love how this source sounds in this style, it's such an unexpected and clever twist that feels totally worth exploring. That said, this feels like a rough demo/sketch rather than a complete product, and your vision definitely has more room to be fully realized. NO (resubmit)

Sent current votes to Astral Tales, waiting on a response!

Contact Information: - ReMixer name: Xaleph - Real Name: Matthew Sabol - Email Address: - UserId: 458 Submission Information - Games: FF6 and FF8 - Arrangement Name: Terrastrial - Name of Individual Song(s) Arranged: FF6 Terra and FF8 Under Her Control Tags - Psytrance Summary I wrote this for a bonus track for the GSM Competition. I played around with it and it was pretty neat mashup combination. I turned the Terra theme into a diminished chord and took some of the "Under her Control" and created a rhythm from that. Beaker voice quotes so they're public domain. After seeing how some mixes used the Muu Dream Machine, and talking to some of the DJs, they were asking for a lead in or an outro to easily mix it. As a result, I tried to focus more on club based/progressive psytrance, which is why it ends in a simple beat (so it can be mixed in). Although I wrote this in a week, I did end up going back and making minor modifications. We need more Terra mixes anyways, so I figured this would help.

I would disagree with MindWanderer that there's a lack of ideas here. There's a characteristic iterative buildup of layers that is a staple of house arrangements, which is what we see here, but within those bounds, there's actually a lot of good ideas flowing. The tropical house soundscape is pretty unique, especially when you consider the snowy source material, it's a great adaptive spin. There's lots of clever transitions going on here - I'm surprised no judge has called out the writing at 1:29, which was easily a track highlight for me. There's so much variety in the sounds you used that, even though the core 4-on-the-floor groove holds down the fort for nearly all of the track, it feels like things are always staying fresh. There are indeed some balance issues present in the overall mix. It sounds like you tried to get the kick drum to cut through by cranking the volume up really high, but you could also achieve a better balance overall by reducing the level of the kick and increasing the amount of sidechain compression that it's applying to other elements in your track. I would start by sidechaining the kick to the bass and background arpeggios first, but you should really be doing this to some degree to nearly all of your instrument chains. This is going to allow your kick to cut through when you need it to, but let the rest of your instruments cut through during the space between beats, and it's also going to give your track a much greater sense of groove. From there, once you clear up more space, review the relative levels of each of your instruments and make sure that your leads cut through when they're supposed to and lead the track, and your background instruments are present but not dominating. I also agree, those vox at :23 just sound cheap I generally liked the sounds used here, even if they weren't super realistic or high quality, but this stuck out like a sore thumb. The ending also feels like it fades out really abruptly, I'd give that a longer fadeout time and let the delays ring out for a bit. There's a bit of a "death by a thousand cuts" feeling with this vote, but honestly it's really close to where it needs to be. I think sidechaining will get you over the bar alone, but there's other areas for small improvements that will make this a much stronger product! Hope to see this one again soon NO (please resubmit!)

I actually am hearing a fair amount of sidechain compression on the lead synth in here - especially the release tail on the lead synth, I can hear plenty of pumping. It's most prominent in the final chorus of the arrangement. I think it might just be a volume issue, like Chimpazilla said, and that the synth is occupying a similar frequency range to much of the other instrumentation. It could probably do with a little more sculpting and some volume drops on the lead. That said, there's a lot that IS working about this track. The sound choices are all cohesive and gel well together in a retro OCR fashion, but with a bit more body and depth than I would expect from something from that era. The piano adds a lovely throwback electronic character. The beats are meaty (protein-rich is something I've never heard used to describe drums before but am in LOVE with that turn of phrase). The overall mastering is beautiful, even despite the balance issues. I ultimately came out on the affirmative side on this vote, and honestly it wasn't even borderline for me. This is good stuff! YES

Hi i want to send to summit this mix My name remixer : AdriánDBAremixes My real Name : Adrián Fernández Sanmiguel My Web Adress : My user rid 38736-adriandbamixes Super Mario 64- Bowser Road I am from Spain i do not speak english well this topic has been reviewed several times by Chris Roman (Hemophiliac),he help me to improve the mix , it dosn´t matter if i have to change anything to improve the mix, please tell me anything. Thanks

Previous Decision Contact Information Gario Gregory Nourse Your userid: 18482 Submission Information Final Fantasy 8 "Witch Hunter" Source(s): Man with the Machine Gun, Succession of Witches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHl0ofVs2-0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BQw3qZ9H8A Comments: I bet you didn't expect a resubmission to come in thirteen years later! Always enjoyed this source, so when the opportunity came up to arrange this one for the FF8 album years back (before even the excellent DarkFlameWolf took control of the project) I jumped at the chance to give this another shot. While it's remade from the ground up, there is a lot of material from that old arrangement that I used to pull the track together (which folk can still listen to here, if they're curious: https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/355474 ). I had the idea to blend the Succession of Witches themes and vocals to this source because the thought of Laguna huntin' witches is obviously cool (with vocals done with the program Alter/Ego), and got something pretty dang cool finished for the FF8 album. Hope folk enjoy it! Sources:

Well, when you're right, you're right! This needed some tweaking. @Liontamer@prophetik music this one has been overhauled on the mixing and should sound a lot better now!

Stunning arrangement! If you told me this was a song from the actual Ori and the Blind Forest soundtrack, I probably wouldn't bat an eye. This is close to professional grade production and orchestration that exists in the same sonic realm as the original material, but distinguishes itself with the heightened focus on strings and a seamless fusion of multiple sources. The chromatic and untuned percussion propels the arrangement forward and is perfectly balanced. The only nits to be picked are the volume of the lead cello at 1:28, but aside from that? You nailed it. I suppose if you're going to commit to that many emojis in your submission letter, you gotta bring the heat to back it up YES

Ooohh, now THERE'S the bass! One of your most recent submissions felt sorely lacking in low end frequencies, so I'm happy to report that this nearly approaches "Oops, All Bass!" territory and really explores those sub frequencies more fully. You've got some seriously squelchy sounds going on. The sound design is off the charts. For as insane as your mix is, you manage the levels and balance quite well. Crazy stuff. This was clearly written to loop rather than end on its own, so I would have liked a stronger ending, but it is what it is. Let it fly! YES

Absolutely stunning expansion on a source that I actually happen to like a ton. Metroid Prime 3's soundtrack didn't resonate with me in the same way as the first two, but this is definitely a standout, and your arrangement takes the atmosphere that was present in the original Skytown and takes it on a proper cinematic journey. The massive swell at the 2 minute mark, and the organic percussion loops that follow is easily a highlight for me. Psamathes vocals blend perfectly with the orchestral elements, feeling ethereal but not totally detached or formless. Live contributions from Harpsibored and CA also elevate this even further in my book. You did this one justice Zack! YES

This track is also going on the "I can do better on the mixing" pile, I forgot to mark it earlier but I will re-open this when it's ready! I'll also see if I can address the issues that Brad brought up too!

@DarkSim @Liontamer @Chimpazilla @prophetik music @MindWanderer Zack provided a newly mixed version, please check out this new version and adjust your votes as you see fit!

New version up! Zack wasn't able to find the original files so he did what he could on the mastering front. @DarkSim @Gario @XPRTNovice @Chimpazilla @prophetik music @MindWanderer @Liontamer - please review this and update votes as necessary! My vote flip technically closes this out but I'd like to leave it up for discussion before officially closing anything, in case there's something about the new master I'm overlooking!

Zack will be making updates to this one, please hold on any further votes for now!

Emailed Zack with feedback up to now - hold on anymore votes until we hear back!

Remixer: LXE Name: Alexis Gelinas Email: Website: 38753 -- Super Mario RPG Geno Hop Beware the Forest Mushrooms I used hammered dulcimer and recorders to create a medieval lofi hip hop song about traveling through some spooky woods. Hope ya dig this arrangement Source:

Submission Details: Colin Sandquist www.colinsandquist.com Game: F Zero Music: Fire Field Looking For Work and Getting into the Video Game Industry. Best. Colin Sandquist: Game Developer + Graphic Artist + Music Composer and Performer Sandquist Games I Composer Site I Vimeo I Twitter I Soundcloud I Bandcamp Obersync I Swift Gorilla Thunder I Wakeraft I Music IMDB I Linkedin I Artstation Phone: TBD Email: Source:

Contact Information Your ReMixer name: Mel Decision Your real name: Mel Choyce-Dwan Your email address: Your userid: 18632 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Final Fantasy FVIII Name of arrangement: Net Fish and Chill Name of individual song(s) arranged: Fisherman's Horizon Your own comments about the mix: When approached to see if I was interested in participating in the last-minute bonus disc, I jumped at the chance. I wanted to rearrange something in a style I was comfortable with given the time crunch. I trawled through the OST, and when I realized Fisherman's Horizon already had a relaxed vibe, I knew that would be the one. Lofi felt like a good fit, and it's a genre I felt like I could pull off in the allotted time. Sax by Lucas (Thirdkoopa) and Bass Clarinet by GameroftheWinds really brought this to life! Credits Mel Decision: arrangement, production, mixing Lucas Guimaraes: tenor saxophone GameroftheWinds: bass clarinet

Wow, the orchestral and percussive bones of this track are SOLID. Some truly cinematic-quality orchestration, and the percussive groove really gives a sense of movement to the arrangement. This really boils down to volume balancing for me, and it pains me to do this to such an amazing arrangement, but there were multiple points in time where I found myself startled by the volume of various elements, and not in a good way. The spoken word vocals specifically feel like you tried to crank them up loud because they were unintelligible, but really they just need more of the dry signal in the mix, as they're getting washed out in reverb. Similarly, the lead guitar solo and acoustic parts at the end are way too boosted compared to the backing instrumentation and are jarring to me on first listen. As someone who's also been accused (and not without cause) of putting too much distortion on my tracks, I took issue with the guitar and distorted elements around the 1 minute mark. In my view, the distortion itself isn't the issue, but the fact that many of the distorted elements are hard-panned or have an otherwise wide stereo spread, and there's not always a good balance in each ear of how much distortion is happening at any given time. This is where the physical discomfort is coming from - if you were to center those distorted elements or reduce the stereo width, at least both ears are being assaulted with crunch in relatively equal proportions. Ugh, this arrangement kicks all kinds of ass but especially on headphones, these issues feel quite evident and would be worth addressing before posting. I had a lot of visceral reactions to this track, but too many of them were of the "oww, my ears hurt" variety, which puts a damper on the reactions that were "damn, that was COOL!" If you can do things to mitigate those unintentional reactions, you'll be golden. EDIT 11/4/2023: This new version fixes all of the issues I had, it sounds SO much cleaner and well balanced in the stereo field and in terms of volume leveling. Cutting out the static cleans up the mix without losing any of the impact, and the vocals are much more audible! I think you course corrected too hard on the vocal levels after the 3 minute mark, those now sound TOO loud but it's the only gripe I have. This is clearly a pass for me now, thanks for the extra work Zack! YES