Emunator

Yeah, I tried to change the title of the thread to something less misleading, but I don't have authority to do so Sorry for the confusion guys, please hold off on submitting/creating anything particularly for the project until further notice!

Yep, what Kristina said. At least for now, hold off on throwing anything together for this project. You'll hear an update from me or Theo soon.

This is some fantastic feedback you guys Thank you everybody, I will implement this when I have some time and try and figure out a way to make my chord progression more dynamic. Much appreciated <3

Mix: https://soundcloud.com/emunator/super-mario-64-file-select-wip Source: This is something I was briefly throwing together for the Super Mario 64 project before Argle snatched up the source... I'm sure he's got something far better cooking up for the album, but I wanted to share this anyway since I got a decent amount of progress on it. Structure is pretty rough, more focus on sound design and riffs here. Any thoughts are welcome!

A year has passed, and I finally had a chance to revisit this slightly. Still extremely rough and loop-y, but I added a few new elements and began to build up some structure past the 2 minute mark. Also, a guitar solo sketch at the end that I may try and work into the final product somehow. Feedback welcome https://soundcloud.com/emunator/phendrana-drifts-wip

Skrypnyk's got 2 claims on this? YUSSS. So excited to see how this turns out guys

Haha, definitely getting that cheesy eurodance energy here in a lot of the song (and the title ) Unfortunately, your melodies seem pretty tame and uninspired, both in terms of the writing (which lacks energy) and the synth leads used. Vig is also right on the money about how repetitive your pattern use is. You need to change up your beat writing a lot more than you are, which really doesn't change at all throughout the song. Not feeling this arrangement much, sorry NO

Hah, the strings in your intro bear an uncanny resemblance to from Metroid Prime 3. Cool.Damn. I've been hoping for this source to receive this badass metal treatment for years, and you executed it pretty much exactly how I'd hoped. The arrangement is relatively straightforward with some really cool ambiance during the breakdowns, but the biggest strength of this track is simply in how well you adapted the source to the heavy metal genre. Great rhythms, writing, sequencing... everything is pretty great here. And damn, I just now read that you made this with sequenced guitars. Really great job on making this sound so realistic. I'm even more impressed with this track, knowing that. Good job. YES

Looks like I mod reviewed this one a couple of years ago, but I don't really remember it all. Let's see what we've got here... After reading Vig's vote, I wasn't sure what to expect here, but after listening to your mix, his critiques resonate perfectly with me. I feel like this track is trying to fill a similar niche as your previous Majora's Mask submission, but the soundscape is not nearly as fleshed out and the beat doesn't seem to pack quite as much punch, either. Because of these two things, your approach just seems to fall flat. I know you can write some killer beats that have more impact while still contributing to the "chillout" vibe, and honestly I think that's what this track needs. This would give you a more dramatic dynamic curve throughout the track, so your buildups and drops are more effective. Filling out the soundscape with some subtle ambient elements would make this more engaging, as well. Cool ideas and sound all the way throughout, but it still has some room for improvement before reaching the bar, IMO. NO (resubmit!)

^ What this guy said. Some pretty cool ideas in here, but it's too minimalistic and slow to really stand on its own without some sort of lead (i.e. vocals.) The bassline sounds pretty exposed too and would work better if it was mixed more subtly. Cool percussion writing, but the rest of the track sounds underdeveloped without much direction. As a backing beat, this would work perfectly, but I agree with Vig that it doesn't have enough to it to really work on its own. NO

Pretty great interpretation of the original here. I feel like you were a little aggressive on the piano velocities at times, a little more restraint might have helped you in the intro where the loud notes became just a bit over-the-top, but overall this is comfortably above the bar. I'm hearing plenty of the original throughout the track with a good mix of your own material. Nothing to say here, you're pretty good Keep sending stuff our way! YES

Considering how underwhelming and general-MIDI quality this mix started out, I'm actually rather surprised by how much I enjoyed your arrangement, and I'm glad Vig picked up on that as well. Really great dynamic control that, despite the problems that I'm about to go into, really had me captivated as a listener. There's some great ideas going on here, but the biggest problem right now is definitely your sample quality. Pretty much across the board, it sounds like you're using mostly low-quality soundfonts without any capability for expression. Your track could benefit greatly from more of a soundscape and higher-quality, more cohesive sounds. There are free sample packs available, such as Kontakt factory selection, Alchemy Player, and a myriad of other resources available if you do some searching that will let you achieve better sounds than this. I've remixed this same source with mostly free samples and got some pretty good results, but my arrangement was nowhere near this good. If you ever want to collab or just want some additional feedback, PM me! I'd be happy to work with you to try and get this up to the bar. NO (resubmit!)

Huh... this really is a tough call. Gorgeous writing throughout this track make me want to pass it on the merit of arrangement alone, but the sample quality and sequencing are pretty rough. The piano sound feels a bit overcompressed/blocky and not delicate enough for the writing, and the strings are also pretty rigidly sequenced without any sort of articulation. They get very thick and bleed into each other a lot during the intro section. The choir sample sounds too lo-fi for the rest of the track as well. I could see it maybe being an intentional aesthetic choice, but it doesn't really come across that way to me. Later in the song, your piano sounds softer and more appropriate for the style, but the simplified writing doesn't impress as much. The middle section of the track is much more coverish and feels underwhelming when bookended by such interpretive, gorgeous writing in the intro/outro. I want to reiterate that you've got some awesome elements to this track, but I don't think the sample quality is doing justice to your writing. This may end up swinging in your favor but I think this is still under the bar and could seriously benefit from some better samples/humanization across the board. Good luck either way NO (resubmit please!)

Not much to add, the rigid quantization and velocity levels are extremely detracting from your arrangement The piano sound patch itself may or may not be passable, it sounds low-quality as it is but with the right nuance on the sequencing, you may be able to work with it. Either way, humanization is the dealbreaker on this track right now, you need to make it so every note isn't quantized so rigidly and playing the same velocity for every note. NO (resub)

Downright fantastic guys Some of the most solid rapping I've ever heard on OCR, and melody... you haven't lost your touch!

I'll be getting feedback to people who have submitted WIPs this weekend

Gah, this is SO good. I've loved this arrangement since the first iterations, and I will say without a doubt that this is the best version to date. The mixing sounds much improved, and your new transitions are really cool However, Jesse touched on a few issues that are still holding this back. I'm in the opposite camp from Dave, the strings actually bother me more than the timing problems, especially because the strings are so exposed for the first section of the arrangement. I will admit that it makes the guitar lead that comes in later have much more impact, but they're exposed enough throughout so much of the mix that I still feel like they need to be fixed before this can be posted. NOT QUITE

YES! I did not expect to see this one make its way back to the panel but I'm extremely happy it did. I was one of the few in the YES camp initially, but looking back I can see how taking some of the other judges' suggestions into account has improved this arrangement. The distortion is reigned in a little bit, but you keep the insanity levels high with some very cool glitching and processing. Source usage is applied in a lot of unconventional ways but it still feels cohesive to me. I'm heavily inclined to count the drum pattern as part of that, too, it was instantly recognizable to me after listening to the original. Towards the end it starts to drag on for a long time without reprising any sort of melodic content, but I can appreciate your experimentation for what it's worth. Perhaps this would have been more succinct and better overall with some of the ending truncated, but overall I'm happy to sign off on this one. Good luck! YES

Nutritious literally covered just about everything I wanted to say about this track. The guitar is a strong center point and is pretty well performed, but the supporting instrumentation is bringing this down. The piano, the clap, and the keys all sound like they were pulled from a General MIDI soundbank, which doesn't really do justice to the rest of your arrangement. Your soloing is also pretty ambitious, but the performance timing isn't always the tightest when you get into some of the fastest runs. This applies to both the guitar solo and the brief organ solo too. Lots of really cool stuff going on here, I like your drum and guitar writing and was really getting into the arrangement, as well. There's still plenty of stuff that needs to be addressed but I'd like to see this one come back our way again. NO (resub!)

This kicks ass

Definitely overdoing it on the reverb here, and the overall song ends up sounding very muddy and lossy. There's definitely a way to pull off the ethereal sound you're looking for, but there are other ways to go about it. Adding in atmospheric pads/textures and easing off the reverb would make this sound much more naturally fleshed out and pleasing to the ears. Some other nitpicks: the piano writing is pretty cool at the start, but the phrasing gets repetitive as it goes on. By the end of the track you definitely need to consider changing up the part writing for that instrument particularly. The piano sample itself sounds boxy and lo-fi, I'm not sure how much of that is due to the reverb issues but if you have access to other, softer-sounding samples, it would be worthwhile to experiment with the sound itself. Honestly though, despite my negative reaction to the mixing and sequencing, you've got some solid arrangement ideas that really come together when all of the instruments are active. There's a lot of work to be done on this one, and honestly I feel like it would take a total production overhaul to pull it off, but it's definitely doable. I'd like to see this one again. NO (resub)

Yikes. The articulation on your strings are very unnatural. I think the samples themselves are alright, but they're played in the exact same way each time which becomes very noticeably fake since they're present throughout the whole arrangement. Honestly, I don't feel like this track really stands up as a remix of its own. You adapted Green Hill Zone really well, and I admire you for the concept you've executed with the multi-part arrangement, but if we're judging this track on its own, it doesn't really develop enough in my opinion, regardless of the production/articulation issues. Sorry! NO

I hate to say this, but after listening to this again I'm really starting to hear what the other judges are saying about the drums. Pete, I know you can write some sick drum grooves but this time around, I feel like the drums are almost too complex for their own good and never really settle into a groove that jives with the rest of the track. It's a more ambitious approach, and in a bubble they sound really nicely written, but in context of this song they're kind of all over the place :\ Also cosigning with the EQ critiques brought up by Vinnie, there's a distinct lack of mids throughout this mix that causes everything to feel very unnaturally balanced. Unfortunately it's making it hard for me to get into this mix, which is well-arranged and well-adapted but ultimately too thin-sounding and lacking in groove to pass. Sorry if I'm coming across as more critical than in my original vote. This is definitely an improvement from your original submission, but reading some other judges' opinions has brought to light some stuff I didn't consider before. Good luck if you choose to resub! NO (resub!)

Since you recommended solo piano, I wanted to draw your attention to this official arrangement, in case you're not familiar with it: This source is pretty great

The percussion here is really repetitive, and since it doesn't change up as you transition between different sections of the song, it feels like you're just cycling through a series of musical ideas instead of actually building an arrangement with dynamics and progression. Your chimes and transition sfx are way too loud, too. Truthfully, it's hard to judge the potential of your writing here when the percussion is drowning it out so much. Vig is right, that needs a complete overhaul before the other elements of the mix can really be looked at more closely. Try mapping out your arrangement in terms of the energy you want to convey so you can rewrite the percussion accordingly and get a dynamic curve going with your orchestration. NO