Emunator

Hah, I reacted pretty negatively to this track at first, but damn has it grown on me. I've logged 50+ plays into this track now since it was released and it's pretty much a mainstay on all of my chillout/all-time favorites playlists now Funny how that works out...

Yikes, there's some definite clipping going on all over this track. Throw a limiter on the master track, for starters! The vibe here is pretty cool, but halc nailed it in saying that the piano and lead brass was very stiffly sequenced and did not sound realistic enough for OCR's standards. I'd also like to add that, while the arrangement is pretty cool, you repeat the same riffs a lot and, even for a smooth jazz arrangement, there needs to be some more variety... some solos, lead changeups, or simply shortening the arrangement would all work. Right now I feel like things are just too static. There's a lot of promise here, but this needs some refinement fore sure. NO

Wow, resubmission after 3 years? Very cool to see you take all that criticism from the last judgment to heart and try to improve your track I love your approach here, indie rock is definitely a style we don't see very often, but I think you picked a great source to adapt into that genre. Your performances are really solid and there's a ton of variety going on. It's a very lively arrangement that traverses a great deal of territory. It feels like you utilize just about every type of guitar out there at some point in the mix, but nothing ever feels shoehorned in or out of place. I've got no issue with the arrangement. Your overall mastering is really hollow though, it feels like you clipped out nearly all the bass frequencies and boosted the mids/highs way too much. I can see how some of this may have been an intentional aesthetic choice, but it feels overdone here. In addition, the drum kit feels imbalanced; the kick is barely audible but some of the auxiliary percussion, particularly the cymbals/hats, feel sharp and piercing, especially on headphones. I think you need to do some more tweaking to the balance on your drums so that they sit better with the rest of the mix. I absolutely adore this arrangement and I hope that, if the other judges agree with my above critiques, it doesn't take you 3 more years to resubmit! I'll be keeping this on my playlist either way but I think this needs some more love before it's ready for mixposting. NO (resubmit!!)

Super-fun concept, and the lyrics and vocal performances are suitably silly to match. I think you knew exactly what you wanted to accomplish with this track, and did it without using humor as an excuse to skimp on content, OR overstaying your welcome by dragging the mix out longer than it needs to be. That's definitely a tough thing to accomplish with comedic mixes like this, but I think you did fabulously here. No reservations at all! YES

I was the lone dissenting YES on this track last time around, so I can quote myself here and it'll all still pretty much work: All of that still applies, except now that the song is even stronger and more interpretive, you can pretty much strike out all the hesitation from that vote! This is one of my favorite remixes I've heard since I started judging, you capture the essence of Golden Sun and JRPG soundtracks in general so perfectly, and you convey the sunny, breezy disposition of the source with so much heart. I want this kind of music playing when I wake up every morning! Your fixes on this resub address pretty much every concern that was present with the original submission without sacrificing any of your original intent. I'm so glad you revisited this. HELL YES

Yeah, I like this quite a bit. I'm generally a stickler for piano samples but I thought this one sounded fine. The performance is very intricate and expands on the original Hollow Bastion theme in a very intelligent way. You include enough breaks from the token 1/8th note rhythm from the source that I don't think it becomes overbearing, and there's tons of unique countermelodies and harmonies that keep things fresh at all times. You're definitely a remixer to watch, this is an excellent piano arrangement that demonstrates a ton of talent with your instrument of choice. Can't wait to hear where you go from here! YES

When the drums are buried within the mix, it's almost a non-issue for me, but during points like the intro where the kit used is more exposed, it's definitely bothersome, and Larry hit the nail on the head about the effect that the machine-gun drumming had on the rest of the mix. Considering how bombastic and energetic the rest of the orchestral instruments were (seriously, I'm really impressed by how good the rest of the track sounds and how amazing your arrangement is), the drums bring things down a few notches That's the only critique I can really levy against you here, the rest of the track is well above what I'd expect from a newcomer and I'd like to hear this one touched up a bit, but those drums definitely bother enough to warrant a resubmission vote on this track, regardless of the Beethoven usage, which I truly don't feel like trying to wrap my head around right now I'll leave that one to Larry. Regardless, if the 5th Symphony usage is minimal enough to comply with OCR's standards on non-vgm material (and I hope it is!) I hope to see this one again if it ends up being rejected because the drums seem like they'd be a pretty easy thing to fix. Just work on your EQ and bring some of the bass frequencies out of the kickdrum and make the kit sound "punchier" overall and I think this will be a winner. NO (resubmit!)

I really like how full-bodied the mixing on this track sounds. Your backing instrumentation is lush and thick, and the lead guitar tone works perfectly. As with pretty much all of your more ambitious style-fusions, there's some elements that don't quite click, but I think at the end of the day, the raw creativity and overall musicianship contained within the arrangement trumps the little nitpicks. The little ethnic breakdown provides some great contrast to the hard-rocking orchestral fare of the rest of the track. Very cool, unexpected take on the sources that only you could come up with, Brandon YES

Really interesting approach you've got here. Taking mostly-acoustic drum samples but sequencing them in the way that you'd normally treat electronic drums produces a pretty interesting result. I have to say that overall, I think your drums are mixed too loud in this mix and they tend to overpower whatever else is going on. That said, I'm really enjoying the track as a whole. It's melodically conservative but you do a pretty solid job of building up the rest of the track around that classic piano motif from the source. Your production, aside from the drum mixing nitpicks, is pretty great, and your sound design artfully brings out the feelings of discomfort and unease that everyone who has played Silent Hill should be familiar with. The mood created when the mix slowly drops out to solo piano, and then you bring in the original chord progression, is sublime. Overall, I'm finding a lot to like about this remix, and despite the loud drums and slightly-conservative nature, I'd say it's deserving of the accolades it's gotten outside of OCR and should ultimately be a welcome addition to our catalog, as well. YES

The first half of this track is undoubtedly almost a straight cover of the original Stone Tower track, with some instrument changes. Things definitely start to get more interpretive with the second section of the song, and I really love what you did with the melodies. However, when you start getting into more intricate soloing, it also exposes the weakness of the sequencing/sample used here. During your faster runs on the lead guitar, it sounds like there's a lack of attention paid to velocities and dynamics, so the lead just comes across as synthetic. Another thing I noticed is that the lead instrument throughout the entire track never changes, and the backing instrumentation remains static too. It's extremely difficult to pull off an arrangement like that without an extremely engaging performance by the lead instrument, and even then some textural variety with the backing instrumentation is usually a good idea anyway. In this case, I think both areas of the track are a little bit deficient. You've got a great base, the mood created by the choirs and sparse percussion is really cool, but there needs to be more development throughout the whole remix, as well as some polishing on the lead instruments for this to be passable. NO

The samples in the intro of the mix sounded pretty nice, but the articulation on the choir was pretty fake-sounding. Once you reach the body of the mix, that same critique really applies to just about every instrument. The flute sample is used very frequently throughout the mix, and unfortunately there's a total lack of humanization going on with that instrument. The vibrato is intense and definitely needs to be automated so that it's used more sparingly and tastefully. Transition-wise, the section that enters about halfway through the song sounds pasted into place, the transitions in and out of that part are pretty much non-existent. You need to develop a more natural flow between those parts of the song. On a personal note, something about the phrasing of the Terra melody is bothering me. I feel that there needs to be a pause between the two halves of the melody, and when they're played quickly in succession like they are in this mix, it just sounds awkward. I admire the liberties you took with the original source, but I feel like you've got a long way to go in terms of developing your orchestral production and arrangement skills. Good luck! NO

Haven't done a good ole'-fashioned source breakdown in a while, let's see how this one does... It seems to flip between overt source usage and original writing for long periods of time so I'm interested in hearing if it hits that coveted 50% mark... :11 - 1:53 [102 seconds] 2:53 - 2:58 [5 seconds] 3:03 - 3:10 [7 seconds] 3:58 - 4:15 (chords) [17 seconds] 131 seconds source / 262 seconds = exactly 50.00% source usage Granted my breakdowns aren't as meticulous as the ones Larry usually comes up with, but I feel confident in saying that, from a timestamp perspective, this is as borderline as it gets. However, for me, I feel like the distribution of source usage in this track is very lopsided towards the first half of the track, where things are pretty conservative overall, then there's only flickers of the Menu Theme to be heard from 1:53 onwards. When it comes down to a borderline call like this, that's the sort of thing that tips the scales. It felt like the source was an afterthought for the latter half of the remix. Not bashing on your original writing in any way though, it's very solid and fits perfectly with the mood of the original, but to me it's just not working as a ReMix. You've got some excellent performances, sound design, and production going on here, there's no question that if the arrangement were reworked in a way that reprised the Prime menu theme more frequently in the latter half, it would be a pass in my book. As it stands though, I'm not sold. Would love to see this one come back our way, regardless of the similarities to another already-posted mix. This one can certainly stand on its own merit. NO (resub!)

I'm gonna preface my vote by saying this: this is a really cool concept. I'm loving the raw creativity going into this mix, I think it's one of your most clever and interesting approaches to date. As I write this I'm still not sure how I plan to vote... A few critiques I want to get out on the table, some of which Drew touched upon in his vote. At :57, I find myself wishing for a more pronounced transition, the core beat feels like it needs a break, even if it's very brief, at that point, to signal the start of the body of the remix. It's a small structural thing, but I think adding a little break/drop would help the flow of things greatly. The piano sample you're using isn't really wowing me. Definitely sounds like a cheaper GM-quality sample that sticks out like a sore thumb. I didn't have an issue with the sax sample itself, though the mixing makes it feel detached from the mix, like it's drier than the rest of the instruments. Small nitpick there, but I think it's worth pointing out to perhaps clarify what halc was getting at with his vote. The rest of the instruments/beats sounded pretty well produced, with the exception of one other thing... The rap verse at the end of the track is probably my biggest issue with this mix. I can't tell if you did this yourself or got someone else to contribute, or if it's just a sampled verse, but it's mixed pretty quietly and when the xylophone starts playing over it, I can't really make out most of the words. I'm hearing some timing issues too where the rapper's rhythm isn't lining up with the beat. 2:32-2:38 is an example of what I'm talking about. And then it kind of just ends, like Drew pointed out. A little disappointing, I feel like there was still a bit more room to close things out. All in all, I guess after listing all that out I feel like there's a bit more room where this could be refined to a point where it's more clearly above the bar. It's very borderline as-is and I wouldn't be upset if the track passed, but it falls just on the wrong side of my bar in terms of polish. Good luck either way Alex! NO (resubmit!)

I'm gonna side with Larry on this... I feel like your guitar stuff here is pretty solid. The drumwork is passable, as well, but when the synths come in, things don't click nearly as well. I feel like the sound choices for nearly all of the synthetic instruments are underwhelming and don't capture the energy conveyed by the arrangement or the performances on the rock side of things. I'm going to keep things brief because Larry already spelled out what's working and what's not, and I tend to agree with him here. The synth patches used need to have more energy and be a little bit less generic for this to pass my bar. Tons of potential here though, I love the guitar elements of the track, I don't think it would take a huge amount of effort to make this passable. NO (resub!)

I'm pretty much going to co-sign with Larry's breakdown here. I don't hear any source in any of the vocal parts of the track, which is contributing to the liberal feel of the track overall. I'd be willing to re-vote if anyone can point out source usage outside of what Larry counted, but until then I'm gonna have to pass on this otherwise-awesome mix NO

I have to admit I was completely caught off guard by this track. There's a lot of very unexpected turns in the arrangement, and you never really settle on one particular groove or style throughout the course of the mix, which I find rather enthralling as a listener. Overall, this mix doesn't seem like it's trying too hard to be flashy or impressive... you're working with some relatively basic sounds and textures and there's never any real climax, but with all that said I'm surprised by how much I loved this mix! (It helps that your production is pretty much spot-on, as well!) Getting into some nitpicks real quickly... The piano sequencing was pretty mechanical for the brief period that it came in, and the transition from the string intro into the body of the mix wasn't as smooth as it was going into the outro... Small stuff though, this is absolutely a pass in my book. YES!

Welp, I think we've found my tipping point when it comes to your samples, Gui This arrangement is so amazing, as always, and it comes bursting at the seams with creative energy and inspiration, but dayum those trumpets don't sound good at all when they're in ensemble mode. The toughest part is that it's abundantly clear that you put a ton of effort into sequencing the instruments... there's tons of articulation on the trumpets throughout, and when they're playing solo it sounds alright, but for some reason the sample you're using sounds grating on the ears when there's multiple ones layered on top of each other at the same time. Not sure how to approach this, it's an otherwise-fantastic arrangement but this time, that one element is really killing it for me. It's a little less rough on repeat listens, but I think I'm still veering towards a NO for this one. Really curious to hear what everyone else thinks. NO

Wow, I never would have picked up on that, but you're exactly right. Overall, I think Shariq completely hit the mark on this and I have pretty much nothing to do here but cosign his opinion. None of the leads really grab my attention, and the lack of dynamics in your percussion makes the arrangement drag. I think the strength in this track lies in the way you've adapted the original sources... you've got some promising ideas, but the production is messy and there's definitely a lack of direction throughout the mix. I don't mean to come off as discouraging, but I think you need to develop your production/sound design skills more before resubmitting again... with the proper polish this track could definitely shine, but as it is, it feels a long way off. Good luck NO

I'm loving this already from the first few seconds, excellent vibes coming through here! This track feels like a showcase of a bunch of different jazzy leads jamming over some Shadow Man-inspired chords. None of the leads ever gets too crazy, but for a chilled out jazz jam approach, I'd say this mix does exactly what you'd expect, and does it well What's the deal with the lead at :18, though? The sample there is pretty weak and the levels are WAY too low! That's the kind of thing that I want to go YES (conditional) on, because I really feel like it sticks out like a sore thumb in an otherwise-solid mix. The piano sample also sounds flimsy and a little dry, but that's not as distracting. I would love to see that brief lead get fixed up before posting, but since we can't go conditional on that thing anymore, I guess I don't really think it's worth holding this up if that couldn't be fixed, for whatever reason. Still, on a personal note, FIX IT! Nice work overall! YES

I think Palpable's production treatment definitely helped out the sound quality here compared to the old version, and let me reiterate: there's some really fantastic parts of this arrangement that I just love, and overall it's a pretty intelligent fusion of the two source tunes that's enjoyable to listen to. However, I still feel like the quality of the sequencing is holding this back. There's something about the performance/writing on the right hand melodies that feels very mechanical at times, regardless of the production fixes. There's stretches of the song where everything sounds cool, like :27-:37 or 2:04-2:17, but then you get to points like :55-:59, 1:33-1:51, or 4:16-4:18 where the realism just breaks for me as a listener. I can't tell if it's purely a sequencing issue (I'm taking a guess here, honestly, since you never mention whether this is a live performance or a sequenced piece, but I'm reasonably confident in my assessment here...) or if the rhythms on the left and right hands aren't lining up exactly, but at points like that, I can tell something doesn't sound right. There's some really complex melodies and rhythms going on that, for lack of a better word, just sound clunky. This next part isn't a dealbreaker, per se, but I thought it was worth pointing out because nobody else has really mentioned it... I thought that, at over 5 minutes, the arrangement was stretched pretty far and there was a lack of direction overall. Each of the individual melodic ideas you touch on are solid, but the overall flow of the piece feels somewhat random. I think the lack of expression in the piano sample used doesn't help this, either. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that, based on the previous votes, I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't feel like this piece is totally clicking, even with the revisions. I love a lot of the ideas here, but compared to most of the recent piano mixes posted to the site, this still feels deficient in a couple of ways. Your track shows a lot of competence and merit overall, so good luck with the vote either way! It's just not up to my bar yet, personally. NO

Hah, funny you mention "infinite looping..." Without giving too much away, I will say that the GBA disc of the album is designed so that the gapless playback not only works between the tracks themselves, but also between the end of the last track and the beginning of the first track You'll see how we pulled it off when the album drops, but that little bit of continuity is something I'm pretty proud of!

Feels like a spiritual successor to Ben Brigg's Tal Tal Mountain remix. Love it

Honestly, I have no idea It'll be out when it's out. I don't think I've thought this through nearly as much as you have.