Emunator

You're working with a very erratic, quirky source, and it shows through in your remix. My biggest problem with this is that I'm having a hard time seeing any discernible structure to your arrangement. It feels like a mash of ideas without much direction or transitions, and as quickly as it begins, you just taper off without any warning. I feel like there was a lot of unexplored potential in the arrangement, and that this was too short overall. From a sound design perspective, this suffers from some significant mixing issues. The breakbeat drumwork was pretty cool, but the more stripped-down drumming sounds mechanical and could use another pass of velocity tweaking so that it sounds more natural. The synth choices are all over the map, too - I appreciate the effort you put into varying up your sounds, but this feels haphazard to the point that you don't really stick with any ideas for long enough for this track to slip into a groove. When the melody comes in around :50, that lead is buried in the mix so it doesn't really even sound like a lead at all. I'm really having a hard time wrapping my head around this, this arrangement ultimately feels underdeveloped and could benefit from a good dose of restructuring in order to achieve a more fluid progression. Some cool underlying ideas, especially in your bass processing, but this feels like it has a long way to go before it will work as a cohesive remix. NO

This is exactly the kind of quirky, unpredictable shit I've come to expect from Nase. I really love the unbridled creativity that manifests itself between 1:30 and 4:00 - like Chimpazilla, I think that's where this mix really shines. By casual listening standards, the intro works fine for me, but I agree that it becomes a dealbreaker when held to OCR standards. I actually really like how it stays relatively calm and restrained for the first few minutes - when you finally bust into a dance groove, the contrast between the intro and the meat of the remix is really cool. However, I think you can retain that feel and also personalize that section a little bit more, composition-wise. The outro seems to go on for about 1:30 longer than I'd like it to, as well. Right around the 5 minute mark seems like a natural place to fade the track out and honestly, I don't feel like the remainder of the piece contributes anything that the previous minute of ambient breakdown didn't already cover. Sorry if that sounds harsh but I sort of clocked out of this mix around 5:00 :-\ I love the ideas you have going on here, but there's some fat that needs trimming. Really hope to see this one again dude. NO (resubmit!!)

Trying my best to put my (obvious) DKC3 bias aside, I found this to be an excellent remix and I'm very glad it got posted! You've got a very high quality sound pallet that would sound right at home in a modern-day recreation of the OST, and the D&B elements are handled very adeptly and fit right into place. Repetition doesn't bother me at all, because there's a lot of small details that help progress this along and prevent it from becoming stale. Congratulations on getting this posted! Really looking forward to more from you.

Hey guys, thanks so much for all of the detailed feedback! I spent a lot of time poring over the details in this mix and ended up not making a ton of changes in the end, but I made a few slight mixing tweaks and remastered the track, which I think really helps with a few of the issues that were brought to light. I boosted the bass in the midranges and compressed the master track just a bit more so that the bass doesn't get lost quite as much on listening systems that lack a strong bass response. Thanks T for the suggestions I think this is sounding LOADS better than the first WIP that I uploaded. Michael, thanks particularly for the great analysis. I really loved your ideas about adding some light distortion layers to the percussion - in the end, with this particular track I preferred the clean-sounding percussion I had, but that technique is definitely something I will put to use in future tracks. So, this has been submitted and the final version uploaded to Soundcloud. It's available for download there if you feel so inclined. Thanks again for all the feedback! More music coming soon Final Version: Laguna Tides (Besaid Island)

Despite some tonal weirdness with the percussion/industrial elements, I always thought that Besaid Island had some really gorgeous melodies and chord progressions behind it. When remixing it, I wanted to place a greater focus on sound design while leaving the original melodies primarily intact, and essentially amplify the beauty of the source while still adding in some fun changeups and surprises to the structure. This also marks my first submission that was completed entirely by me, without any direct assistance from other artists. Normally, when I'm writing a track, I find my skills deficient in some area or another and require some help getting the last 1% of the track up to par, and I was tempted to do the same with the synth solo at the end... it literally took months of trying before I was able to find an approach to that section that worked, but I'm happy I stuck with it because I learned a lot about synthesis and automation in the process. I was influenced by artists like Tycho in the beats and synth design for much of this track. I had a lot of fun breaking away from my usual ethnic-house style and trying my hand at a more traditional chillout sound. Hope you enjoy! Source:

I totally agree with the judges above - at first, I thought your drums were intentionally underwhelming so that once the beat did drop, it would carry even more impact. However, it became clear after some time with the song that the beat was never going to kick into gear, and I pretty much immediately lost interest. I think the rest of your track is produced reasonably well, without retreading a lot of the same mixing feedback that Nutritious already did a great job of covering, but without a more compelling, dominant drum track, this track stumbles and doesn't really have much of a dominant structure. I also agree that things fell apart once it switched up into double-time; the fakeness of the guitar became a lot more noticeable and repetitive... overall, that last section just wasn't working for me. I feel like I really can't add on much other than co-sign with Nutritious on his spot-on vote. The drums are a major dealbreaker here. I would take this one to the Workshop forums for even more detailed feedback on how to improve if you're interested in resubmitting. NO

You've got a great knack for picking out sources that complement your style, Ivan. It's like I can listen to a source and instantly imagine how you would re-envision it in your own fashion. This is a quality arrangement that is admittedly straightforward, but I can comfortably say that you went far enough with original writing, solos, and alterations to the structure that the conservativeness is not an issue for me. Other than that, I really don't have anything to say other than declare this another classic entry into your ever-growing catalog of catchy, enjoyable, major-key rock-outs! YES

I hate to be so blunt, but I found the sound design on this to be boring. All of the sound choices here feel bland and uninspired - there's nothing really unique drawing me to this arrangement. It's also hampered by the fact that your arrangement repeats itself frequently and there's very little variation in the way of sound choice, beats, or melody. Not sure what else to say, I think you have the skills to put together a competently arranged song but I would strongly suggest experimenting with more interesting sounds and changeups to make your arrangements sound more fresh and personalized. NO

Awww yeah. Strong concept and collab from you two. Very happy to hear some Sonic Adventure 2 becoming more prevalent on OCR, thanks to these competitions. The bass writing and production is a big highlight of this collab. At first, I felt that it was mixed too loudly, but it fell into place nicely after the rest of the instruments dropped in. The vocal processing was also done really well on the raps - Joel's got some great flow! I wasn't as big of a fan of the vocoded parts on this, but they were definitely serviceable and worked great as a background element. Wtf at the "bestiality" lyric though? Can't hate on it, but I definitely did a double-take when I first heard that. This is just the level of quality I've come to expect from you guys. A lot of the source usage seems relegated to synth parts that are pretty low in the mix, but fortunately the Lost Colony bassline is present throughout the whole track so that firmly grounds this as a remix even though the rapping is arguably the main focus. Good shit guys. YES

All of the secondary/percussive elements in this arrangement are fantastic. Really excellent bass and drum writing, some of the best I've heard in a submission recently, to be honest. Melodically, though, this is underdeveloped and pretty liberal. I can hear where you derived the chip arp from in the source, but it's modified and difficult to recognize unless you're really listening for it. The chord progression is also used throughout the track. The only truly dominant source usage I'm hearing is the plucked riff that shows up at 1:08. If it came down to it, I'd be inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt on source usage, but it took me a couple of listens before it really clicked. The bigger issue I'm having is the fact that the only direct melody usage from the original is played verbatim each time it comes up. This makes your arrangement feel extremely plodding and, for all the changeups and variations in your bass/drums, there isn't enough melodic exploration to justify the length of your arrangement. There's a ton of other content in the original that could be explored, so it's disappointing to me that this mainly relies on one single riff repeated ad nauseum. I'd suggest trimming down the length here and doing something to vary your lead melody so it's not so repetitive. This is a super-strong foundation for a remix but that's a major component that's not clicking for me. NO (please resubmit!!)

On the one hand, I like the arrangement and the fusing of your two styles. Fun soloing, and lots of chippy goodness that I would expect from you guys. To me, this track shows its age on the production side, though. Even during the higher-energy parts where the guitar lead comes in, there's a significant lack of impact and power behind the mix. The percussion doesn't seem to ebb and flow with the track like it ought to, as Kris pointed out. At 1:03 and especially 1:58, for example, sounds washed out and distant. It's like the track is drenched in reverb, but I don't think that's actually the problem. It's hard for me to isolate what's going on in those sections but they definitely don't sound right to me. I think it might be the backing pad that's giving the mix that odd quality that I'm hearing. Anyone else able to elaborate on this? This is not to knock the quality of what you do have here - like I said, there's lots of compelling writing and rhythms present, but if I had to pick a word to describe this, it would be "sparse." On repeat listens I'm noticing a lack of bass presence, as well. I dunno, I think this one has some great qualities to it but the mixing feels lackluster and doesn't hold up to muster, in my opinion. Tough call, really. I'm curious to see what everyone else has to say. NO

Haha, Xenogears sources really do all meld together so well. This doesn't have nearly as bad of a case of medley-itis as I would have expected from a track that references 22 sources. This arrangement is triumphant and really maximizes use of some of Mitsuda's best themes. Major props for utilizing some lesser-used ethnic instruments in addition to the standard orchestral pallet. That said, I think Kristina nailed down the issues with this is the plodding nature of the arrangement, and I agree that the drums are the biggest culprit. You have a lot of melodic variation going on, but the overall dynamic level doesn't vary much, so it all washes together on repeat listens. The drums are repetitive and the samples really don't feel genre appropriate, I would highly suggest a complete overhaul to that component of your arrangement. You have a lot of great melodies and instrumental parts, but the drumkit and repetitive writing aren't doing them any favors :-\ It's hard to tell how well this arrangement would work if that component were to be revisited, but this definitely needs more dynamics overall in order to justify the length of the track. NO (resubmit!)

This has some cool elements to it and a lot of great writing/variations to the source melody, but the piano sequencing/sample quality provides a weak foundation for the track as a whole. I think you need to revisit how you've sequenced the the piano and reign that in to allow for more dynamics in your performance. The sample quality sounds passable but each note sounds like it's hitting a consistently-high velocity. Just to name one example, 1:40-1:52 leaves your piano exposed and the rapid hammering on the low keys sounds unrealistic. There's many other instances of this throughout the track, so I think you need to revisit the sequencing on your piano throughout the mix. As for the other elements in the track, the ethnic drums sound great, but end up repetitive and don't ever evolve with the track. The rest of the arrangement is dynamic and builds up as it goes on, but the drums never seem to keep up with it. Try bringing in some bigger, more dramatic drum sounds to increase tension as your arrangement progresses. The idea to introduce synths to help flesh out your arrangement was great, but in practice, they mainly occupy the same frequency range as your piano so it ends up making the mix sound muddy and indistinct. Some selective EQ cuts, or experimenting with putting your synths into different frequency ranges in order to minimize clutter, might serve you well. I'm finding a lot of issues on the mixing/sequencing side here, but there's a ton of merit in your actual part writing, so don't give up on this! I think with a couple rounds of revisions you could get this to the level it needs to be. Good luck! NO (resubmit)

Kris, that sounds like a tubular bell to me, it's a little out of place harmonically but I don't personally have an issue with it. Onto the rest of the remix... This is absolutely gorgeous. I'm picking up a strong amount of American Beauty influence with the piano performance and overall sound design. I was afraid when I first downloaded the track and saw that it was only 2 minutes long, but your concept seems fully fleshed-out even at this length. You manage to introduce many subtle variations to the Fear of the Heavens melody, and build substantially on your sound design too so the remix doesn't end up sounding one-dimensional or static. Can't say enough good things about this, you've accomplished a lot in 2 minutes here! YES

MUCH better! This addressed nearly all of my issues with the previous submission, it feels much more focused and complete as a track, leaving all of the ideas that worked intact while scrapping some of the less successful ones from the first go-around. Your production seems to be improved across the board... really, this is just clicking so much better. I still feel that your lead synth design is underwhelming and lacking in expression, so some of the synth solos fall flat for me, but in the face of everything that this track gets right, this is an easy call for me. YES

This is a tough call, because your production is really spot-on here and I feel that there's a lot of potential with the adaptation here (despite the fact that Stickerbush Symphony in D&B style has been done a couple of times before.) However, I'm finding this to be remarkably underdeveloped from an arrangement perspective. Production-wise, you're on point, but aside from the addition of a D&B beat and the synth arpeggios that enter at 1:48, there is no original writing or personalization to be found here. The direct repetition in the second half of the song is also disappointing, since this is only 3 minutes long so it feels like I'm listening to a 1 minute concept on loop with only the slightest of variations introduced. I think this has a lot of room for growth and could be very successful with some original elements and more creative sound design introduced, but as it is this still feels like a proof-of-concept rather than a fully-realized remix. Not cutting it for me NO (resubmit!)

I don't think this counts as feedback, but... holy shit! You nailed it.

Holy hell man, this is great. I'm getting some serious Mario Kart 64 vibes (particularly Toad's Turnpike) from the chord progression, this is so silky smooth. For a track that was thrown together so hurriedly, it feels remarkably focused. If this is any indication of the rest of the soundtrack/remix album, I clearly need to check it out.

It's absurd up how talented you are, Timmie. With the amount of music that you output, and the fact that most of your music is made around the same chiptune sound pallet, it always blows me away how fresh everything sounds. You're working in a very saturated genre where it's difficult to stand out from the crowd, but you really go the extra mile on the compositional front to make something special everytime you submit. This is a really special piece dude!

This one is really growing on me with each successive listen, like most of Jon's stuff tends to do. It's mixed with just the right amount of distortion to achieve the desired effect without being rough on the ears. Granted, I don't really hear any of the post-rock djp is referring to in the writeup, but this mix does a great job seamlessly fussing multiple styles and aesthetics together. Excellent track!

Rexy! This is fantastic, far and away my favorite track from you so far! I'm constantly impressed with the level of beauty that people are able to extract from the source, which has a ton of potential but is difficult to fully appreciate with the limited sound quality of the Gameboy sound chip. This would be right at home in an HD remake of Donkey Kong Land, you really captured the source's essence.

I've been listening to this for years since I first heard it in Dwelling of Duels 3 and a half years back!! Flexstyle really had some spot-on judge comments with this mix that almost totally align with my own - the mixing on this shows its age, I don't think this is the best production work I've heard from either of you guys but the arrangement is grade-A work by both your standards and more than compensates for the shortcomings on the mix side. On a side note, this pairs so well back-to-back with OA's mix that was linked in the writeup. I love listening to the two of these in succession. Good stuff guys!

Only one review on this so far? Poppycock! I remember hearing a really bare-bones iteration of this back in the day and I'm sooo glad you brought Sir J. on to work some magic here!! The vocal stabs are tasteful, brass is excellent, and nothing feels overdone in the slightest, which isa risk that comes with trying to "jazz something up" - it's very easy to sound over-indulgent and this sidesteps that pitfall nicely! There's magic in the air when you two get together... I could listen to a whole album of your collaborations. I don't feel like the arrangement is as interpretive or ambitious as hush hour, but it's quite nice in its own respect. Please keep working together guys

Well this is really fascinating! I love the unusual style fusion, I feel like you explored a lot of new ground compared to your past work. There's a part of me that wants to hear a full arrangement of "The Goddess Appears" just based on the last 2 minutes of your track, but it bookends this nicely and gives the listener a relaxing reprieve if they make it to the end Really great, subtle integration of orchestral elements throughout the song, as well. Love the rapidfire heartbeat integration at 3:19, I felt so tense when I heard that the first time! If I had to critique anything on this, it would be the tape stop effects, which don't really seem to sync perfectly to the rest of the song every time and actually make this sound jittery in an unintentional/distracting way. For example, 2:39, 2:55, and especially 4:38 just seem... egregious, and break up the song flow without feeling deliberate, like a lot of the other glitches/fx in your song do. Also, most of the mix feels a touch dry, could very well be an intentional mixing choice but it leaves some of the more minimalist sections sounding just a bit too sparse. I've really walked away from this with a lot of respect for you as an arranger, and find myself absolutely captivated by what you've created here. Very glad to see someone like you doing something completely different from the rest of the crowd!

You're in good hands with Skrypnyk He's a master of glitchy stuff like this and should be able to do some nice polishing work on this to help it shine a bit more. Really love the groove you're working with, can't wait to see what comes of this collab!