Emunator

I'm finding a lot more issues with this than Larry. That guitar sample is SUPER weak and honestly, the string sample isn't holding up much better and unfortunately, it's exposed for so much of the song. Both of these sound like low-quality soundfonts and I don't feel like they're used in a deliberately stylistic way, either, so they stick out like a sore thumb right off the bat. I agree with Larry that the 4-on-the-floor breakdowns are a weak point, the synth rhythms and drum patterns are very bland and don't carry the same level of personalization or ear-candy as the dubstep sections. I'm also noticing that the sub-bass gets very boomy and overbearing, maybe bringing that down just a touch would help. Your dubstep bass writing is neat and consistently varied, but there's times where you fall back on overused sounds from the genre that come across as really cheesy here (the "yaahhhhh" vocal-ish synth at :55 or 3:38, for example, is one of the biggest offenders.) Not a huge dealbreaker and I can see that it might boil down to a bit of personal taste, but in my opinion some of the synths and sound choices just seem generic for the genre. I like what you've done with the source quite a bit, actually, but there's several big issues with this that are keeping it from passing in my book. NO

Huh, this definitely threw me for a loop. You did a pretty great job of capturing the silly, free-spirited nature of Grant Kirkhope's original arrangement, I can tell you had a lot of fun with this track. Right off the bat, this sounds like it's mastered real quietly, so I have to crank the volume way up for this to have the punch that it really needs. That needs to be revisited for sure. Even at louder volumes the drums still seem weak to me. Your writing is pretty cool, but they're mixed very quietly and don't cut through the mix. I can definitely see how some of the more abrasive synth choices might rub listeners the wrong way, but personally I think that, for the most part, your instrument choice is appropriate for the level of silliness that this track is going for. Really loving some of the spastic bass writing, the unexpected chiptune break, and your trancey arps toward the end of the song. Horn samples are sequenced decently, some of the longer staccato melody runs start to sound more noticeably fake but I wasn't too bothered by that. To be honest, this is a tough track to judge because of how unconventional it is, but the volume and mixing of the drums definitely needs to be addressed. I think I could get behind passing this if those two issues were fixed - I could see how some of the other elements in this mix might be points of contention for other judges, but this strikes me as a very deliberate set of stylistic choices that hits the mark more often than not. Really curious to see what others think of this! NO (resubmit!)

This was quite a fun arrangement to listen to, I've heard jazzy arrangements and piano arrangements of Wind Scene many times before but nothing quite like this. Cool interpretation. Here's a quick source breakdown (being generous with the little bars of improvisation sandwiched between melodies, so your mileage may vary.) 0:00 - 0:54 [54s] I'm hearing a repeated melody between 0:54 and 1:54 that sounds kinda Chrono-esque, but since there's no other source mentioned in the email and I can't figure out how it's derived from Wind Scene, I'm not counting it. 2:07 - 2:24 [17s] 2:46 - 3:03 [17s] 98 sec. source / 193 sec. total = 45.6% source usage Arrangement wise, this would be a pass for me if the melodies during that long period in the middle of the track could be tied to something in the Chrono soundtrack, but as it is, that's below the line where I'd give the benefit of the doubt on source usage. Someone help me out here? There's a couple other points I'd like to make aside from the arrangement. Your piano/bass/strings/brass samples sound fine for this style and are appropriately expressive to work for a jazz arrangement. However, the drum sequencing is a weak link in the chain. The samples themselves sound a bit low-quality but serviceable at the end of the day, but the rigid sequencing becomes really noticeable when the cowbell, snare, toms, and ride cymbal (to name a few) come in and sound like they're playing the same velocity for each note. See :22 - :30 for the ride cymbal, 1:57 - 2:08 on the cowbell, and pretty much the whole entirety of 1:00 - 2:00 on the toms for a few particularly noticeable examples of what I'm talking about. The drum writing itself is fine but the way they're sequenced kills the illusion of a live jazz group and takes me out of the piece. I would scale back and/or vary your tom writing during the second minute of the track, it's pretty unrelenting and I thought it was worth pointing out. I definitely get what you're trying to do with the low-fi filter on the piano toward the end, and I think it's a stylistic good choice, but I'd recommend easing up on whatever filter/crusher you're using just a bit, because after 2:46 the distortion starts clipping and just sounds unpleasant to me. To be clear, even if that middle section does turn out to be Chrono-inspired material, I would still send this back on the basis of the drum sequencing and ending distortion, which I think is a dealbreaker, but if the source usage checks out I think this could be a pretty easy resub, as I think your source interpretation and performance is well above the bar otherwise. NO (resubmit)

I'm not sure what you did but you got Alicia's Keys sounding GORGEOUS. Perfect sample choice for this genre, I wish I could get that library sounding as nice on my own arrangements. 1:26 sounded kind of stiff on the lead melody, but I can see how that might be a stylistic choice. Other than that, I really can't find much fault in this - it's a delicate, lovely, and personalized take on a beautiful source. You nailed it YES

I have to disagree with Kristina - to be honest, this feels underdeveloped to me as an arrangement. Your performance is nice, but it plays super-close to the source until 1:13, at which point it doesn't bear any resemblance to the source at all until 1:48, when it retreads a simplified version of the main melody. The only significant variation during the source sections is in the chords, which are pretty simplistic and don't vary much in rhythm. The most interesting part of this remix to me is the improvised solo section, where your dynamics become more pronounced and your playing is much more expressive. It's not a bad cover by any means, but I feel like the interpretation on this is too basic for an arrangement that only runs 2 minutes long. I feel this needs a lot more development in terms of length and reinterpretation of the source. I also agree that the sample might be contributing a bit of rigidity to this piece, but I think with a stronger arrangement that wouldn't be a dealbreaker. Sorry to come down so hard on this, but I really don't think it's ready for primetime in this state. NO

I'm familiar with Cry in Sorrow, not so much with Sazh's theme... after listening to the latter, I came away with a bit more of an appreciation for your approach here. That's DEFINITELY not an easy source to work with. I actually really love the deep house groove you have, and how the overall arrangement flows. It ebbs and flows in a very pleasant, club-friendly way. Lots of very cool backing writing and rhythmic synthwork across the board. The mixing issues actually aren't the dealbreaker for me - I think it works for the style you're going for save for a few places. Could it stand to be EQ'd more cleanly? Sure, but that's not what really bothered me about this piece. Shariq touched on this and I have to reiterate that I really don't think the lead synths work for this track. From the onset, none of the lead patches are very expressive, and some (such as the one that appears at 2:02 and elsewhere throughout the song) are thin and quite frankly, not very interesting. The writing writing itself doesn't always jive with the rest of the arrangement, and feels almost like a placeholder that just hovers over the track doing it's own thing a lot of the time. I would recommend revisiting that part of the track and experimenting with some other lead patches As I said earlier, for the most part I like your pacing here, but I found 2:32 - 2:46 to be pretty jarring. There isn't enough of a noticeable drop or transition for it to really feel like a breakdown, so it just comes across as an untimely break in the beat at a time when it seemed ready to settle into a groove for a while. Kristina caught onto the issue with the drumfill and I have to agree that it felt pasted in toward the end. It works, but because of how different it is from the rest of your instruments, it's really noticeable how often it repeats throughout the arrangement. Really dude, I think this has a lot of potential, but I don't think this has had enough time to incubate and develop... I would love to see you take another pass at this when you don't have the pressure of a competition looming, so you can better assess what's working and what's not here. Would love to see a resub, but for me, it's a NO(resubmit!)

Oh my. This entire mix is such a triumphant tidal wave of 90's-era nostalgia, I had to listen to this a few times through just to get the excitement out of my system before I tackled this with a critical ear. Like your previous Xenogears submission, there's an unbridled positive aura radiating from this arrangement that puts a HUGE smile on my face. Fortunately, this track holds up under scrutiny from a technical standpoint, as well. Your drums, guitar tone, all of the synth patches, and live performances are extremely well-selected and produced with the kind of shimmering polish you'd expect from this genre. The live bass kicks ass - you could have easily gotten away with using a sampled bass but Wild_Cat's contribution makes this sound all the better. Joe's contribution is a really wonderful wildcard that just totally clicks for me, stylistically. All of the little details make this even more enjoyable on repeat listens. There's a few minor nits I have to pick, but they're super minor. I'm actually not a fan of the synth riff from :18 - :35; the performance and writing/articulation feels clunky and I actually think it's a shame to start the track off with what I feel is the weakest component overall. Fortunately the synth writing is much smoother for the rest of the remix so I'm not going to dwell on it too much. Also, I can't tell whether this is due to the mixing or the actual performance, but I wish Joe's saxophone had a slightly sharper tone that cut through the mix better and gave it more energy. It seems most noticeable the first time it enters at 1:55, and seems less of an issue when it comes up later in the mix. Maybe another judge can help articulate what I'm getting at (or confirm that I'm crazy!) but again, it's practically a non-issue for me in the grand scheme of things. This is very clearly a YES for me, wonderful effort to all involved YES

Really exceptional take on a fantastic source, this shows a tremendous amount of growth beyond your previous arrangements... not that your previous solo piano takes were bad by any means. However, the subtle use of ambiance and effects that helps highlight and support (but never overshadow) your performance really sets this apart from your past work and makes it so memorable. Excellent work!

Remix: https://soundcloud.com/emunator/moonlight-meditations-secret Hey all, I've been hard at work extending/revising/wrapping up many of my old remixes right now, but in the meantime, I wanted to post something older that I never shared here before. This was recorded around a year ago in one take, 100% improvised, so there's an inherent degree of roughness/sloppiness to the performance because I was coming up with chords, melodies, and arrangement as I played. I was in a dark place for most of the 2nd half of 2013, and this was the one of the only real pieces of music I was able to produce that year. I feel like it channeled a lot of the melancholy that I was feeling at the time, and ended up being very cathartic to record. Throw this on late at night and enjoy the vibes, hopefully it's not too boring! I promise I'll have more new music incoming soon!

Definitive? Pssh. You're missing two of your recent Sonic Zone tracks, which is actually the main reason I checked this out - because I don't have those downloaded to my HD yet! Also, not sure if this counts, but your bootleg remix of Banana Revolution from the DKC3 bonus disc isn't on here either

Remix: Laguna Tides (Besaid Island) Hey all, it's been a while since I've poked my head in here! I've had this remix cooking for a while, working on it in chunks during what little spare time I have left in my life... At this point I feel like it's far enough along to share for some feedback What I've got here is a semi-developed skeleton that's still lacking in detail work, but I think is pretty far along in terms of sound design. I'm curious to hear what everyone else thinks - there's a couple of aspects of this WIP that I'm really proud of! Some things I still need to touch on: - Expanding the piano/pad chords throughout the song to make everything more lush - Adding variation to the drum loops - Some sort of lead instrument/synth solo in the last section - Additional sound design throughout the song, but especially during the intro - Other variations throughout the song Thanks in advance for listening, I'm excited to post something here again... it's been forever!

I loved the spontaneous Mitch Hedberg recitations in the elevator

Ahhh, you caught me! I was definitely trying to mimic Mum's style here. Green Grass of Tunnel is one of my favorite songs and I thought that style fit so perfectly with Stickerbush Symphony. And regarding the e-piano, I specifically selected that for the bass because it got such clean chords and I could work with the harmonies more than I could with a regular bass. That said, when I hear the phrase "sigur ros-esque electric bass," it makes me reconsider that choice... Hopefully gonna have some progress on this soon! Thanks everybody for taking the time to listen/comment!

I'm floored by your unique interpretation of the Marble Zone theme, your phrasing and performance is nothing short of incredible. Ace production here, nothing unexpected there I've been a huge fan of your last 2 submissions and this one lives up to the reputation you've set for yourself. Submit this! I'm not listening with the most critical ear right now, but I love what I'm hearing. Good to see you posting more work!

Bramble Blast - WIP 2 Sources: / Update 2/16/2015 As a few of you may know, I've been actively working on this project tirelessly for the last month, putting in a bit of work just about every day, sometimes for hours at a time. What I've got is nowhere near complete, by any means, but it is a SIGNIFICANT step up from where I was at this time last year and, at the very least, listenable enough to share. What's changed: + Added ~3 minutes of arrangement, including... - Expanded intro - Much slower build - Extended piano breakdown/solo section - New source for final "chorus" - Hot Head Bop + New instruments (piano, shakuhachi, sine lead, boy's choir, orchestral percussion) + Cleaned up production quite a bit/preliminary mastering + A bazillion tiny tweaks. What's left to go: + Drums will completely be replaced + Do something cooler in addition/in place of the first synth solo (particularly 1:01) + Expand ambiance/pad writing throughout the track, particularly in the piano breakdown + Flesh out final Hot Head Bop section (right now is just a concept/placeholder) + Figure out what to do from 3:45 - 4:24 + More interesting transitions/sfx work + Live instruments (brainstorming for vocalist and violin/viola players - any interest?) + Additional harmonies/flourishes/transitions throughout the track Please feel free to share any thoughts - keeping in mind that there's still a long way to go before I'm really satisfied with this. Hope you all enjoy, I've been working extremely hard to move this one along ==================================== 12/08/2013 WIP 1: https://soundcloud.com/emunator/donkey-kong-country-2-bramble Don't think I ever posted this one here. I'm interested in potentially picking up production on this one again. I'm very interested in any feedback on the sound choices (particularly that chiptune synth, not sure if it fits) and the drums (too hollow? Is the dBlue Glitch abuse too egregious?) Thanks for listening!

I totally forgot to drop a line in here that I'll be attending this year Can't wait to meet everybody!

This is blowing me away so far with how cohesive the album is, without relying on the same style for each song, either. Lots of newcomers coming out with some amazing work here, I'm really impressed with the first disc so far EDIT: Listened to just about all of the album (missed a few tracks here and there and the last half of disc 3) and my initial assessment stands. You guys really exceeded my expectations here! Funk Fiction's track is incredible.

Just wanted to chime in and mention that Theophany and I DO have plans for this album and definitely intend to continue it, but the timing isn't right for either of us to really give it the attention it deserves and truly see our vision to completion. I'm in my final year of college while working full-time, and Jason is pretty much the busiest mo'fo in the universe between his job, personal life, and the Majora's Mask project, so we both have a lot to clear off our plates. We've got a very definitive concept of how we want the project to play out, but we need to clear up some things in both our lives before that can really become a reality. I really can't speak for Jason on this, but if anyone is really interested in starting up a new Ocarina of Time project, we can't really stop you, and more OoT love really can't be anything but a net-positive in the long run, but we don't intend to discard or walk away from our particular vision for an Ocarina of Time remix album either. I think if another project was to be started, it would be better to just start from scratch with a different concept & vision, rather than trying to revive this particular one. However, if anyone's feeling particularly motivated, you're free to go for it and start something up. Just my two cents!

Yo, so I haven't really had time to show my face around here or the Internet in general lately (since my last update here I've stepped down from the Judges Panel, unfortunately, and really haven't been able to hang around OCR at all) but I'm settling into a new routine so I've had a little bit of time to work on music for once... I wanted to get this track off my plate so I took some time over the last few days to expand and polish the track until I can get it to a state that I'm happy with. https://soundcloud.com/emunator/sub-zero-phendrana-drifts Still some room for improvements and variation, but I'd say this is about 95%. I'm not totally content with the snare sounds and I need to work a bassline into the last section and generally flesh out the last minute or so of content before the guitar solo. Getting close though! Let me know what you think. Thanks to everyone who's provided feedback up til this point, you've been incredibly helpful. This track has been a long time coming!

Done! 10char

Wow, guys. This is so far above and beyond the level of feedback I could have even hoped for. I'm honestly flattered that you all took the time to be so thorough!! I appreciate you taking the time to be as critical as you have been, it's exactly what I needed to push me forward. Just to respond to a few individual critiques and also make some notes for myself to look over later when I have time: Yeah, those heartbeat kicks were entirely inspired by your suggestion. I'm not 100% happy with my implementation though... I even got a completely different kick sample for that section, but it still stands out a bit too much. I also like the idea of adding some additional ambient percussion during that section... I've got a few sample libraries to test out, but I'm sure I can find something. And yes, definitely need something to better signal that the drop is coming - I intended for it to be a little bit startling, but obviously it's too much of a drastic shift. I'm going to try adding some filtered white noise sweeps toward the end of the intro to build up the intensity more gradually, while still having the full stop before the song drops. Ivory Italian Grand Piano, layered with a soft string pad I love it, the string resonance adds a lot of texture to the track that would definitely be noticeable if I took them away. Haha, getting some conflicting opinions here, I see. Currently I think the sidechaining that Timaeus is hearing is really just me overdoing it on the compression, because I haven't processed/mixed the choir at all yet. I agree that they are plain, I plan to remedy that with some automation and actually tweaking the velocities on each note, then turning down the overall volume. It should sit much better in the next update. Totally agreed. I haven't even touched the percussion yet, I'm just using one loop for the whole song while I develop the structure. I don't know if I will address it in this next update, but it will be taken care of before the final! Yessss. I will be adding some sort of lead to this section, not sure if it'll be a screamin' synth solo yet but I am planning to have a solo section SOMEWHERE in the track before it's done. Keep in mind, I'm still planning on extending this mix to at least 6 or 7 minutes, if I can. I've got a lot more writing ideas I haven't gotten down yet, but a solo section is definitely in the stars. I'll hit you up if I can't come up with something sufficiently awesome on my own! Good catch. I'll throw in an additional element after that transition, not sure if it'll be percussion or maybe some backing strings/choir to help the pad not feel so stale... maybe both? Will try this as well This confirms my thoughts as well, I find myself skipping the intro on repeat listens which is obviously a bad sign. I need to increase the energy of the intro during its second half to remedy this critique. Part of this is really just the style I'm trying to develop - mixing aggressive electronic percussion with extremely chill, organic soundscapes. I feel like I was successful enough with Footloose Falls on the soundscape fusion department, but I dropped the ball on the arrangement and melodic content. I'm trying to achieve the same aesthetic with a more progressive arrangement this time around. So yeah, the drums are definitely an intentional choice I do agree that adding some acoustic drums (I currently have shakers and congas but you can't hear them that well) more prominently would be worth it! I somehow didn't notice this until recently but now that I do, that melody sounds waaaaay too loud. Will be remedied in the next update, I'm going to try and get that hybrid lead (which is actually 3 patches used elsewhere in the song layered into one) to fit more naturally. Haha, you clearly put more thought into that than I did. I just used a random sample I found on my hard drive The change-up you hear at :39 is me increasing the velocities on the piano+strings, so the string component of that patch stands out more. I do need to do more to make that patch work - it's from Alchemy player which I know supports several automation parameters, I'll tweak with that and see what works! Good idea! I'll try this, thanks! The guitar will eventually be recorded live so I'll keep that in mind when I get the new stems to mix in! Agreed, you have any better ideas for the bassline? I know the writing is bland at this point but bass writing is by far my worst area. I'd love some feedback on that element particularly regarding what you think would fit. Or I'll just get Flexstyle to do the bassline again That worked well last time! Duly noted on both counts. Will address that in the next update. I wanna try it out myself first but I'm totally not opposed to collabing on this if I come up short Thanks so much for the offer, I'll let you know after I've had some time to tinker with it myself! Yeah, the arrangement isn't done yet. That's just where I left off. The guitar will also be totally redone live. This is just a placeholder to show the melodies themselves. THANKS YOU GUYS! I'll try and update this as soon as I can, I'm so excited to get going on this now that I've got some more direction on where I need to go!

Yup yup. As I said in my Judge Decision, this mix is stellar and has risen to the top of my "Most Played" remix list since I wrote that decision It's really one of my favorite mixes I've ever heard, and from one of the last people I ever expected to hear something like this from. Cheers on your return to remixing and for the amazing song that will definitely stand the test of time.

https://soundcloud.com/emunator/metroid-prime-phendrana-drifts Updated again! Still not final in any sense of the word, but it's getting closer! I'd like to get at least another minute or two of main track material in here, build up to a bigger climax and then drop out for the guitar at the end. I've got a pretty good idea of how I'm going to accomplish that. Afterward, it's all just detail work to be done.

Totally agreed with the flood of support above, this is one of the strongest debut mixes I've ever heard, and one of the most creative adaptations on this source to come across the front page in a long time. I'm extremely excited to hear more DKC music get this sort of treatment

Just wanted to chime in, I'm giving this a listen right now and I'm wholly impressed I feel like your sound reminds me more of a film score than a video game score, but either way, it's extremely high quality and memorable. Well-produced, too I'm enjoying listening to this quite a bit!