Emunator

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

Well, this is certainly... odd. I've gotta give props for creativity here, Matt, but the source usage here is marginalized due to the way the arrangement is tackled and the clunky nature of the source in the first place. Like you said, it's an experimental track, and it achieves a great deal of success exploring a range of different percussive sounds/sfx, but I sort of agree with OA that it's too disjointed and lacking in structure to really pass as an OCRemix. I might be willing to forgive that if the original was more present, but when you factor in the 38% source usage it's a definite no-go by OCR's standards. I highly encourage you to go pimp this out as much as you can on R:TS, OverLooked Remix, the workshop forums... wherever you can, because it's a really cool experiment that people will really enjoy, but I don't think it's suitable for the site for multiple reasons. Sorry bro NO

I remember this mix very fondly from the GRMRB, the level of effort and detail really stood out to me back then, and it does now, too. The arrangement, piano writing, and use of sound effects are all high points in the song that feel especially well done. In fact, I can't sing enough praises about the arrangement itself, which I feel totally justifies the 6 minute runtime by constantly changing up but keeping the classic Jakesnke chiptune flavor present almost all of the time. I'm very impressed! I'll agree that the soundscape is pretty thin throughout most of the mix, and it does become an issue at times since the samples you're working with are not very full. I know I've pointed this out several times while listening to your mixes; When you've got strings/pads or sustained synths going on in the background it helps fill out the soundscape a lot. I think this song clicks best at times like 1:20 or 2:35, and while the rest of it is not bad by any means at all, I'd take note of what you did in those sections of the song and see if you can't apply that to some of your future submissions. All advice aside though, this one feels like a pass to me. It feels like there's just enough direction to the mix that it doesn't become plodding and aimless, and there's plenty of flair to the transitions/effects/melodies to compensate for the weaker samples. Definitely the most impressive arrangement I've heard from you yet, keep honing the production side of things and you'll be an OCR all-star in no time dude YES PS: Let's have someone trim off the near 20-seconds of silence at the end of the song before this gets posted, if it passes.

Here's something I remember critiquing a fair amount back when it first hit the workshop. It totally reminds me of the orchestral Kid Icarus arrangements featured in Smash Bros Brawl! This level of production/arrangement quality is solid by ANYONE's standards, but when you consider that this is Alex's first attempt at making an orchestral remix with a brand new set of unfamiliar samples, this track becomes all the more impressive. It's a masterful arrangement from a guy who obviously knows his music theory, and the samples are used quite adeptly. This final version addresses pretty much all of the issues I had with the WIPs I've heard in the past, although I will say that the piccolo sample does wear thin when it hits the highest of high notes, but what can you do? I don't even remember suggesting the addition of strings in here but I'm glad it worked This is a definite pass in my book. Do more stuff like this! YES

I remember when this one was first rejected, I sincerely hoped for a chance to hear it since O2's theme is in DESPERATE need of some mixing love, and fortunately this delivers! It's a production powerhouse with some absolutely beastly drum writing, and a very cool arrangement overall. I haven't heard the original submission so I'm taking this on an as-is basis, but reading over some of the older comments, this version seems to have almost the opposite problem with the strings. Now, they feel way too mechanical and sound way more like a synth lead than any sort of organic instrument. I can see why you'd choose to go with them instead of a bona-fide synth sound, since the string tone does fit with the epic soundscape. But, I'm not going to lie, it's definitely the weakest aspect of the track, as well. The piano feels fairly humanized and works for the track, but again the tone and sequencing is a bit unrealistic (and mixed a little quietly at times, too.) I've thought a lot about this, and in the end I feel like it comes down to a matter of personal preference - the unrealistic sequencing on the strings (and, to a lesser extent, the piano) still bothers me, but at least this seems to fix any timing issues that might have been present earlier. They don't sound bad in the mix overall, they just don't sound like well-sequenced strings, either. If the rest of the mix weren't rock-solid, I think I'd be inclined to go with a NO (resub), but because the soundscape, arrangement, and production is so amazing, I think the good parts of the song outweigh the weaker aspects. I'm gonna cite the decision on Ziwtra's 'Seasons' mix as a precedent, which also had a fantastic arrangement that featured even weaker-sequenced samples than this mix, but still made it past the panel okay. It's something to definitely watch out for and hopefully improve in your future submissions, but fortunately for everyone involved in the submission process, OCR's guidelines don't stipulate perfection from every mix Great work, I think people will enjoy this! YES

I'm down for this again, Will

And, I'm uploading now. And I want to be clear ahead of time, I'm only submitting anything at all because I don't want to cost the team any points by being a no-show. This is f'ing shameful, sorry guys I literally had no time this week at all, and when I finally did sit down I had the most frustrating music making experience of my life just trying to find any inspiration at all. It's breaking my heart that I couldn't come up with something for two of the best Mega Man themes out there, I tried my best but I didn't realize how impossible it would be to make a mix this week until I'd already committed. So yeah, apologies in advance.

Starting on my mix now...