Emunator

I'm actually with Vinnie on this - the performance is right on the mark and the arrangement is, too. However, when you compare the piano tone with something like WillRock's "Above the Sky" you can hear a significant difference in how rich and thick the piano tone is. This sounds more like something you'd hear from an old ragtime jam, which I suppose works well enough for the style. It sounds best in the last quarter of the track, personally. I'm also torn here. I do have a pretty high standard for piano tones but I do feel like the strength of the arrangement and performance compensates for the just-barely-under-the-bar sample quality. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if the sample was refined just a little bit, but I'm inclined to say this is passable as-is. I'm gonna tentatively go with it but it might be good to get in touch with Rexy anyway if there's other judges who have an issue with it. YES

Yeah, I actually passed this one in evaluation but looking back on it and reading some breakdowns from other judges, I've got to revise my stance solely on the basis of source usage. On the plus side, though, your rhythm guitar work is extremely varied and fun to listen to, and those pick slides are gnarly. The lone metullllll scream was also right on point, nice work I really enjoyed this mix and I'm not even that big of a fan of metal, so if you could bring a mix of this caliber with more source usage it'd definitely be a pass NO

Some really beautiful sounds working in here, but I'll go ahead and close this out as it's not really got enough arrangement/melodic interpretation. If you take this existing soundscape that you've created but work it into a more expansive arrangement, it should be good to go. NO (resub!)

I'll agree that the sheer lack of stuff going on in this mix is probably the biggest issue that would need to be addressed in a resub, should you choose to go for it. In addition to that, though, repetition is a big issue here as well. The whole song seemed to be comprised mainly of a few core loops without much variation or original writing going on. My suggestion would be to take the loops and the arrangement you've got and fill them in with subtle variations and some soloing of your own creation to help break things up a little bit. This goes for your drums too, which could really use some changeups. This is a nice start, you've got a super-chill soundscape and some very usable sounds that you can run with, but the arrangement needs more dynamics, attention to detail, and fleshing out. This would be a really good one to bring to the Workshop forums so you can get some more serious, in-depth critiques from people who can help you step-by-step as you work this out. Good luck dude! NO

I'm a huge fan of the Metroid Prime soundtracks, so I'm glad to hear some remixes that touch on some of the best under-remixed tracks on it. This is a pretty cool arrangement with some nice personalization going on, but the production and sequencing is going to need some work to get up to par. For starters, I'd definitely heed the other judges' suggestions about humanizing your entire track and doing what you can to vary up some of the timing. It seems like all of your instruments are playing at exactly the same velocity and that everything is quantized directly to the beat. I think changing up your melodies, throwing in some notes that don't perfectly align to a 4/4 time signature would really give this mix more of a motion and generally keep it more interesting. Your drum mixing feels pretty inconsistent here - when the rest of the mix is stripped down and simple, the kick is borderline overpowering. However, during the more energetic sections, I can barely hear it at all, which is unfortunate because you really want to create that sense of drive and movement during those 4-on-the-floor sections, and that can't happen when the kick is barely audible. You've got some cool synth sounds going, but like Deia and Andrew mentioned, they're generally way too piercing. Honestly, I'd suggest dropping your sine lead an octave and see how that sounds, it's just hitting the notes too high overall and the sample/synth isn't built to handle that, it just ends up being too thin to carry the track as a melody line. If dropping it an octave doesn't help for whatever reason, my next suggestion would be simply to exchange your lead sounds and utilize the go-to Metroid Prime sine lead as a countermelody elsewhere in the song. However you approach it, something's gotta give with the leads so they're a bit more dominant and not pushed so far into the super-high frequencies. Lots of feedback for you to internalize here, this one would take a lot of work to get up to the bar that might be better spent on new tracks that will help you keep improving your craft. However, it's doable if you really stick with it. It's totally up to you, but keep working at music and refining your technique either way! You've got some good building blocks here, so with some more practice you'll get there! NO

This definitely channels Michael's old-school OCR vibes that were present in most of his mixes, but definitely kicks it up a notch for the most part. This is definitely a rock arrangement at heart but there's a lot of personalized touches that make this very memorable. My initial impression here was that there were some balancing issues that need to be addressed, but on subsequent listens this track definitely seemed to click better. The oboe/orchestral leads feel just a touch too quiet, but it's not sounding nearly as noticeable to me as some of the judges who went NO on this track. One issue I do have that nobody else has mentioned is the outro, which seems to drag on for way too long without very much going on. It's a great way to end the track that totally fits with the mood, but I would personally cut it off at about half of the length it's currently at. I'm really torn on this track, because on the whole I do feel like this is a passable track as-is. However, it seems like almost everyone who's voted has a different set of issues that they would like addressed, so maybe this would be better to send back and get some blanket fixes that would address all of our issues. I'll flop my vote if, for whatever reason, this ends up as an as-is track that can't be updated, but let's get in touch with the remixer and see if this can be brought up to the next level. [edited below]

Definitely going to side with DA on this, for many of the same reasons that Nutritious mentioned. I don't have much to add, but I feel like with some more variation to the patterns (or maybe just flat-out cutting some length from the mix in places where varying things up isn't an option) and obviously a proper ending, this would be okay. As it stands though, this isn't up to my bar unfortunately for all of the reasons mentioned in the above votes. In my opinion, not all of them are critical issues - I could forgive the stiff sequencing and slight balancing issues, but the lack of an ending and the overall repetitiveness is a bit of a dealbreaker here. Let's see what you can do with another round of revisions NO (resubmit!)

I'm really digging the more laid-back rock jam thing you've got going here. Some excellent performances and soloing really give this a lot of character. I do have to echo the concern that the production on here isn't exactly doing justice to the awesome arrangement you've crafted. The volume is way too low, which makes it hard to distinguish much of anything going on in the low/mids at my normal listening volume. Even when it's cranked all the way up, you could definitely stand to do some EQ/stereo work to get a bit more separation between your bass, drums, and rhythm guitar. You want to get the different components of the track to stand out more than they currently do. Once you get that done, then remaster the track so it peaks at a more normal volume level, like what you'd expect out of a rock arrangement such as this one. Listen to other songs in this style and pay attention to the dB level they peak at and see how that stacks up to your mix, and I think you'll see what we're talking about. I'm also a little sad to say that the vocal section wasn't clicking nearly as well as it could, but I think that working out a more natural way to transition into that breakdown would solve that problem, as there wasn't really anything wrong with the concept/execution of the part itself. It just needs to be led into more naturally so it makes a bit more sense with the arrangement. Give this some TLC on the mixing/mastering end of things and see what you can do about getting the brief vocal breakdown to fit more naturally, and you'll have a winner here Great start, let's see what you can do to bring it up to where it needs to be. NO (resubmit!)

Holy crap those orchestral samples sound fantastic. I wish those made more of an appearance throughout the rest of the mix and that the intro and the body of the mix didn't feel so detached from one another. There's plenty of room in the mix where orchestral elements would have been able to fit and give this some extra personalization, but that's just my personal preference. The arrangement, despite some clear medley-itis, is definitely passable. I just think it'd be really cool to hear you work in some of that gorgeous orchestral writing in with the metal portion, as well. The acoustic section really provided a nice counterpoint and kept things interesting. Aside from that, there's some minor balance issues, namely with the lead guitars feeling a little bit buried. I also wasn't nearly as fond of the guitar tone as everyone else, it felt a little bit thin and not quite as grand of a sound for an epic prog-rock arrangement as it could have been. It's a very, very minor thing though, this is pretty solid arrangement with some great performances and all that, this is an easy pass in my book. YES

Thanks all you guys and gals <3 I will say this though, almost all of the votes that I've given today so far (there's been a lot of them) have been YES, if that gives you any hope for a change... YES we can! ._____.

Typical halc mix. NO ... wait, I'm new at this. Let's try again. ... NO (resub) Yeah, it's fine. YES.

This one's already been closed out, but I touched on this extensively so I wanted to chime in with my comments since I would like to see this resubmitted: First off, excellent choice of source, this is one of my favorites that I can remember from my time playing Secret of Mana. The style of the mix feels very appropriate and offers a very cool stylistic expansion on the original theme, so props there! This mix starts off with some very pleasant ambient textures that set up a very rich, watery mood. The lead instrument choices aren't exactly on the same level of richness or depth, however I can see that you were trying to emulate a few of Hiroki Kikuta's iconic Mana series sounds with them, so I can live with that. There's a few pressing issues with the remix, though, that need to be addressed. The most noticeable is the kick sound, which feels like it's been almost completely gutted except for the lowest bass frequencies. Don't get me wrong, a bass-heavy kick is fine, and actually a very appropriate choice for this genre of chillout electronic. However, it's gotta have a little bit more body than that or else it's just not audible at all on a lot of listening setups. I'd highly recommend an EQ boost in the mid frequencies on your kickdrum sample to give it a more full-bodied sound that should hopefully carry your track a lot better. Another production related note: the rain sfx at the end cuts out very abruptly, you'll definitely want to throw a fadeout on there so it concludes more naturally. The arrangement itself is not a bad start, but it feels incomplete. Because it's much more of an additive, slow-burner electronic track, it's key to ensure that the arrangement has some sort of evolution going on as the track progresses, which this does have to an extent. However, the rather-repetitive patterns and, much more importantly, the unfulfilling buildup that simply cuts off at the end of the track gives the impression that this concept isn't fully developed, and needs to be a little bit longer and/or have a more definitive ending (preferably the former, in my opinon.) What you do with this advice is up to you, but this mix either needs to have a solid ending that doesn't leave you hanging, or utilize that buildup that you've already got to lead into another section that could potentially round off the mix better. There's a lot of un-utilized source material and room for original writing that could give you a chance to personalize the remix even more. I just dropped a lot of feedback, much of which is more of a suggestion than a requirement for passing the panel, per se, but however you approach it the arrangement needs some work, as does the production. Either way, I hope to see this again because this track has a great deal of promise in the soundscape and style it sets up and I'd like to hear it refined!

(vote taken mainly from my album eval) Definitely a step-up from the many previous submissions in terms of production. Flex's NiN/DOOM-inspired production overhaul really makes the track a lot more engaging and enjoyable to me. However, the new edit has cut down on the source usage a bit, so I'll need to check it. Let's see... 0:00 - 0:15 (based off of the intro riff in the source) Some background source usage in here, not dominant 1:09 - 1:25 (based off of the main riff in the source) 1:45 - 2:00 2:03 - 2:15 (chords only) 2:15 - 2:30 2:30 - 2:48 (only background source usage) 2:50 - 2:15 (technically continues to the end but I'll draw the cutoff here) Song is 3:28 (208 seconds)so counting only dominant source usage that puts this at 86 seconds. I'll be nice and count the part that uses the chords very identifiably, which puts this up to 99 seconds out of 208. That's 47.5% source usage, with some other parts that have audible but not dominant source usage in the background. Pretty close, and considering you can still make out parts of the riff in the glitched up ending I'm not going to beat around the bush and count seconds here... It's borderline, but I think it just barely falls on the right side of that line. Congrats on finally getting a mix up that seems to hold up to the quality bar, Alex, even if you had to get some help. I'm glad you were open to the critiques cause this one really clicks and works well for the source. The source usage will probably trip up Larry if he gets to this, but I'm personally okay with counting it since there's other parts that reference the original that are more pushed back. YES

Here's what I posted for this track during album eval: All of that still stands, it's a solid track and one of DJ Mokram's best work to date. YES

I'm with Drew, this could be a conditional vote if it's just a pure levels issue. The rest of the mix is fine, I feel like it's a little bit long and slightly plodding but it's not a big deal. Just get those levels under control and this is fine. YES (conditional on levels tweak)

The strength of the piano and lead violin really carry this. I'm not wowed by the drum and bass sequencing or the samples, both of which feel thin and unrealistic. Watch the velocities on your drums, they tend to be a little static and don't have much expressiveness overall. I would also suggest simplifying your bassline overall, as the notes are just playing too fast for your sample to keep up, and everything sounds muddy and indistinct. Still, this mix shows that you've really improved your craft as far as creating a dynamic, well-produced arrangement otherwise. I'm getting some serious Melody vibes from your piano writing, it's absolutely gorgeous. I feel like the strong parts of this mix are just barely enough to outweigh the deficient parts. I'm not as strong as Deia/OA on this but it still squeaks by as far as I'm concerned. Good luck Chris YES (borderline)

I checked and this one's sounding fine, so it's a pass for me. Really killer soloing and sound design here, I was totally blown away by how you brought the pain with this track against WillRock. You've made me proud bro *fistbump* Not much more to say but... YES

Sounds awesome dude, I've always loved the arrangement but now that the mixing is really clicking, it's on a whole another level. Time well spent, in my opinion, this is definitely an album highlight now if it wasn't already one YES

I remember taking issue with the reverb levels when this one was up for project evaluation, but thankfully that's all been resolved and what we're left with is a very solid, uplifting rock medley. I really like the mood of this track and the interplay between the synths and the guitars. Congrats man, you're definitely improving your craft and the results are very solid. There was one transition in there that wasn't really working for me, but it's definitely a pass. YES

Hah, this is my first time hearing this one. Nice stuff, I think I recognize that lead bell sound from a preset. This channels the source and the AeroZ inspiration really nicely, I dig. YES

I think I can feel comfortable enough closing this one out. I'm really satisfied with the killer stadium-rock sound you've got going on, it's very reverb-heavy but still retains a lot of punch. Great use of sampling, both from the original and your custom beatboxing I dig this so hard. YES

Yeah, I'm really liking the arrangement here. You've got a great base to work with. However, I don't think this track quite nails down the level of nuance and dynamics that are needed for a solo piano mix. The sample quality itself definitely has a tinny-sounding quality to the mid/high-range notes, but that is probably a surmountable issue on its own. To get around that, you'll need to really work on your velocities, which are hammering away much too forcefully and consistently even for a hard-hitting piano track like this. This issue is most noticeable when you have the same key being struck several times in successful - even the most technical of performers would still show subtle differences in how they strike the key with each repetition. Basically, you need to scale back your velocity levels overall and save the max velocity hits for the most powerful moments in the song, and work on crafting something that has a little bit more flow and sounds more like it's actually being performed. In addition, I'll also agree with OA that the strings sound too out of place, though they might be a really nice fit if you were to bring them back in later in the arrangement. Truthfully, for OCR's standards, a 1:44 song would usually need some more expansion anyway in order to pass the bar, so if you feel like reworking this it might be cool to work in additional material that utilizes the orchestral elements in a more fleshed out way. Just some food for thought there NO

I'm listening to this one fresh for the first time, so here's my first impressions. The intro is cool and sets up a nice mood, but overall the track feels like it's mastered too quietly and a lot of the individual elements are either weak samples outright, or nice sound choices that aren't mixed quite right. Your bassline is mostly pretty good, but at times like 1:30 the notes just seem to blend together too much and lose definition, since your sample is pushed almost entirely into sub-bass frequencies. The same can be said for your kick, which could definitely stand to be run through some compression and EQ the mids/highs just a bit to give it a more full-bodied sound. The same advice could be applied for a lot of your synth sounds in this mix, though it's hard to tell if that would still be necessary after the overall mastering is brought up more. Additionally, the rain sfx seems like it drops off a bit too early/suddenly, it would be a lot more seamless to fade it out more gradually and finally drop it out completely once you've built up a little bit more ambiance so the change in soundscape isn't so sudden. This isn't a dealbreaker or anything, but it's something worth touching up. Also, watch the delay/sequencing on your piano riff at the end, the timing on that sounds rather awkward. You've got some really cool arrangement stuff going on here and I'd like to hear this again, but the production needs to be reworked significantly. Good luck! NO (resub)

Yeah, I'm totally on board with this one, as well. The production is extremely tight and actually much punchier than most happy hardcore I've heard on the site, and the frantic chopped-up drum loops and insanity-inducing synths/fx are all really clicking for me. The dissonant section that Deia was talking about feels very thin, but I've known Mike to use that technique to make the following section sound even more intense by comparison, and it really works well here. The section at 2:05 felt very tongue in-cheek with the absurdly overpowered kick and the silly clap sound that, while the production wouldn't be suitable for an entire track, does not overstay its welcome at all, and before you know it it's right back to top-notch Flexstyle production levels again. All in all, that section that Deia took issue with feels more like a humorous stylistic cameo than anything, and it doesn't take up enough of the mix to really counteract the untouchable-ness the rest of it. I found this track really amusing and very appropriate for the source, and the quality production/arrangement really helps lock this one in for me. Way to raise the bar for a genre that I haven't heard around here in ages, keep doing that! YES

Initially when I voted on this track, I NO'd it on the basis of it being too liberal. However, now that I can actually see Gui's breakdown, it makes a bit more sense. I still feel like the source takes a backseat to original writing a lot of the time and I'd like the usage to be a bit more overt when it IS there, but I'm willing to give it the nod since it's a very borderline call and the rest of the track is absolutely fantastic. I didn't have a problem with the obviously fake-sounding brass at all, I felt like it fit within the context of a quirky "little-bit-of-everything" arrangement that clearly doesn't take itself too seriously. If Gui was trying to go for a realistic jazz/orchestral arrangement those stabs obviously wouldn't cut it, but here it fits in just fine. It's a tough call regarding source usage, but at the end of the day it seems like most people are able to recognize Stalker in here so it's good to go for me. YES