Nutritious

Sheesh, if this is your first foray into a full mix, color me very impressed. My first (many) attempts sounded like garbage compared to this. Nice full soundscape to start things off, perhaps slightly too much so. Some of the bass a rhythm guitar freqs sound like they're stepping on each other a bit and when they get louder, are causing some muddiness/distortion. Listen to the hit at 4:10 when everything is going together, it's the most prominent example. I remember years ago when I was a wee-little remixer and Larry chiding me for trying to cram all of the elements of the mix together for the finale section of my songs. I'll pass on the same advice that you may want to cut back a bit on how many parts are playing at once, as you can still get the dramatic dynamics without throwing ALL of the instruments together. I also agree on the aforementioned issues with the lead guitar. It's very robotic in the way it's sequenced, especially when it's just playing repeated quarter notes. The woodwind lead is also a bit stilted, but not nearly as much so. The strings really didn't bother me as is - I feel like they compliment the style. I'm not sure I'd pan quite as hard to the sides as you did with some of the elements. I want to reiterate that this is a really solid effort and not far off the bar IMO. It's got some great emotion behind it and some solid writing. With some cleaning up on the mixing side and humanization on the leads, I'd be 100% on board. NO resubmit, please

Liking your take on the theme here. Very creative, more upbeat, very ocr-esque. Good energy and use of complimentary sound ideas. Personally, I felt like the mix sounded a bit dry - at least until the beats really kick in. It gets a little dense at that point, so I guess you risk making it really cluttered by adding 'verb. Still, I think adding a touch (more) reverb could be in order to give the sounds more depth. All in all, though, good stuff. YES

Oh, hey, I also have an orchestral track with "courage" in the title that remixes this theme. Aaaand that's about where the similarities end... spoiler: this one's better Beautiful orchestration here. As mentioned, it's follows a similar structure to the original, but with plenty of complimentary part writing to expand on it and fill out the composition. I did feel like the direction got a bit lost/plodding a couple times, specifically 2:34 where you've been winding the track down to soft section, then another main chorus crashes in, negating the nice transition you created. Also, 3:01 - 3:15 with the root/chords not really seeming to match the melody. I especially liked the addition of the 3:16 section (besides the random cymbal hit that comes out of nowhere). Very minor note, but 3:40 could've used a better transition to bring back the main melody. Nitpick: sounds like an accidental extra note included in the woodwinds at 3:43. Production is nice and clear, also well-balanced. I was bothered a bit by the repeated sustained string notes with the same somewhat hard vibrato - it starts to stick out the longer that section goes as unnatural. The percussion also felt repetitive after a while as it goes on autopilot for decent stretches of the track with that hand drum/tambourine. Overall, these issues aside, this is a beautiful track and very pleasant to listen to. YES

Beautiful intro, beautiful arrangement. Blending natural instruments and synths like this doesn't really bug me. Previous J's have hit my main points, though. The left hand piano runs sound very robotic. If you think about it, no player's hand is going to be flying around hitting each note that quickly with the same velocity and tone on each. It's hard to humanize stuff like that, I know, but I think this has plenty of room for improvement in that regard - either by better velocity (maybe even timing) variation or just simplifying the part so it's easier to make it sound more natural. Cymbal hit at :33 sounds like it's overcooked in the high end or overcompressed or too synthy or something. It doesn't sound right to me every time it hits. I'll note, the bass buzzing doesn't bother me either. Gives the mix a more "live" feeling. I'll cast my vote for a bit more developed ending as well, but IMO that's not as important as the previously mentioned issues. It's a great mix, just needs some more TLC. NO resubmit, please

Oh, I like this. Nice energy and adaptation from the original. Connections are clear and direction is original. On the production side, I do wish there was more clarity here. I didn't hear the original, but once everything kicks in this sounds somewhat cluttered and overcompressed to me. I think the levels could be brought down a bit more, so the compressor isn't hit so hard, which is causing what sounds like artifacts in the audio. Overall, I guess I'm not as sold as some of the others on the production, though it alone isn't a deal-breaker. Regardless, good stuff overall. YES (borderline)

Man, this is a really odd original track. Let's see what you did with it. From the start, structure and melodic elements are definitely very similar to the original, with beats and some transitional elements added in. Honestly, there's not much development in the track. It gets into second gear with the groove and melody synths, then basically stays there with some copy/paste for the second half. Drums stick with the same pattern throughout, with gives the impression of a loop played over synth lines that are basically verbatim from the original. From a cover perspective, this sounds like a pretty solid sound upgrade and is a nice listen, but we're really looking for more personalization and development OCR. NO

Liking the mood set on this one from the get-go. Groove and pulsing bass really compliment it well. While not terribly expansive, to me there is a clear connection to the OST throughout the mix. I will agree there is some high end sizzle in the percussion that could be toned down, but it wasn't a major issue to me. Maybe something to keep in mind for the future. Great track. YES

I have to preface by saying old computer games and shareware titles hold a special nostalgic place for me. I've never heard of this one in particular, but he music definitely strikes that chord with me. (Also, lol @ the option for the EPIC BBS) The mixer here definitely goes for a similar feel to the original, with the old school computer sounds, but with added parts like the slap bass, additional percussion, and Rhodes (later piano). It does sound like something that could've been written perhaps for a sequel on a pc with better sound hardware (Sound Blaster Pro or compatible!) With that in mind, it sounds like the additional added parts may overlaid on top of the original track. He does, according to the write-up, have arrangement permission from the original composer, but I think some clarification if this is kosher for posting on OCR? ?

Really like the backing pad elements. Creates a nice atmosphere for the track. I started feeling the repetition in the first minute, which received a change of instrumentation & chords just in time. Agreeing with the excellent MindWanderer on the issue with the huge kick. It's occupying a lot of space, both in low and high end regions (the click), that it feels a little overwhelming compared to everything else. I also felt like the snare feels a little weak, with a lot of high end, without much body to it. Could be taste preference, but I'd like it with a bit more meat. The piano does the heavy lifting for the melodic writing and provides most of the arrangement connection with the original. The personalization mainly comes with the accompanying elements. With that in mind, the piano itself sounds a bit too static/robotic in the writing (despite the delay effect on it). It really could use some (more) velocity variation and even change ups in the writing. The original also features piano in the main melody role, but it has more humanization to it. Beyond the balancing, I think repetition still hurts this by the end of the track. Beyond the aforementioned piano parts, the beat stays on autopilot for the majority of the track (I don't remember even hearing any fills between main sections). Very cool take and I'd love to hear it revised a bit and brought back. NO resubmit, please

Love this track! Definitely feeling the crits on the mixing issues. Between the vocals and downbeat sub bass hits, things are getting overcrowded, which at times obscures the other instrumentation. Agreeing also on some of the dissonance concerns. The most obvious being the backing female vocal notes starting at 2:28 that just sound wrong to me. Great creative track and I'm never guessing what's being remixed. Even if just the mixing was cleaned up, I'd likely be ok passing this, but it would be nice to have a look at some of the note choices used as well. NO resubmit, please

Really like the instrumentation here. Really love that bass sound, which evokes old-school drum 'n' bass music. Wasn't a big fan of the stark gating at the start and end, but they were pretty brief in both instances. Clear connections to original (with very similar structure), but with some rewriting of parts and much more interesting presentation. Good production overall, though the part balancing could be a bit better. I was really on board with this for about 2/3 of the track, but then the repetitive nature of the arrangement really started to show as it really spends a lot of time treading the same ground we've already heard. I'm rarely a fan of fade-outs and this one is no exception. The arrangement with way it's structured and fadeout sounds more like a remade song from OST for a new game in the series, rather than its own standalone song. Really cool ideas, sounds, and for the most part execution, but I think there's some room to cut down on repetition and real ending (please!). Personally, I really like this song and if it doesn't pass, would love to hear it come back. NO (borderline) resubmit, please

I'm pretty much with Sir Nuts vote on this one. Nice, crunchy guitar used here. Pretty loud mix, but the elements all have space enough to be heard. Really nicely sequenced drums (though the snare was a bit clicky when it's lower end gets obscured in the busier sections. I concur that some more differentiation between this and the original would be nice, but I feel like there's still a lot of personalization in the writing & atmosphere of this one. YES

So short and sweet vote. Liking the approach. Connections & arrangement both clear and creative. I do agree to a certain extent with the leads being buried a bit, especially on the first go-around. The excessive delay at times didn't help (and actually caused some off-sounding notes just after the 1-minute mark), but it wasn't a deal-breaker for me. I agree production could use a bit more space/dynamic range, but I don't think the bar is that high on that end to hold this back. Good, fun stuff. YES

Off the bat, the EPiano sounds stiffly sequenced and all the elements sound pretty dry and upfront (like the acoustic kit). This pretty much becomes a non-issue as it switches gears into a nice glitchy dnb style. I 100% agree with MindWanderer here. I will agree, though, that some of the sounds are a bit bland/vanilla sounding. I wasn't really feeling the synth at 4:51, which is pretty loud, esp in the 2khz or so range. I actually wasn't a big fan of the guitar that followed as the fakey sample is pretty exposed with upfront it is. I agree the string stabs aren't really cutting it here, but they (and the piano near the end), could at the very least be helped by some reverb to soften the tones and help them blend better. Gonna reiterate that all of the sound effects have to be removed before we can post this, for which I also share the concern that they are being depended on at times to stretch the length of some sections. You may want to consider trimming a bit if this proves true. Actually, now that I write this, I'm also concerned that some of the synths used in this mix are actually sampled from the original, including the main bass synth used throughout. Warning, somewhat useless background info incoming So, back in the day, Alexander Brandon did his pc game soundtracks in a .umx soundtrack. This was true for Unreal Tournament and the original Deus Ex. I remember in the early 2000's using a Mod tracker to listen to and mess with the Unreal Tournament soundtrack, because it allowed you to access & isolate (perhaps even edit?) individual sounds used within the songs. In all, I'm pretty sure the main bass synth (used throughout) is sampled from :13 & 1:03 of the original. Also, the phased pad at 1:03 appears to be sampled from :01 of the OST. I Initially thought the synth at 2:45 sounds like it's taken from :38 of the OST, though it plays some different notes, so it's probably just a similar tone. TLDR; beyond the fact that Square Enix content needs to be removed anyway, it's worth noting that large portions of the track that connect to the OST are likely sampled from the original audio. NO

Intro's got my attention immediately - I like the reversed piano effect here. Kudos for tackling a theme that's been covered many times over the years, yet finding a way to approach it creatively. This never felt predictable as far as direction and melodic approach and flows well throughout. Timing sounded a bit loose near the beginning with the tambourine. I didn't notice it as an issue after that, though. I agree the mixing is a bit weak in points. The sustained pads could be pulled back and some leads pushed forward, but I didn't hear anything egregiously wrong TBH. I can hear all the parts clearly enough throughout. The rhythm guitar notes sound a bit fakey at times, but it gets the job done. EDIT: I just read he used an organ for the rhythm sounds. Color me impressed. /EDIT Lead sequencing is well handled, especially near the end of the track. Super creative and a fun listen. YES

Not much to add to what's been already said. You don't hear as much straight dubstep like this anymore, so it's cool to hear something that was started years ago, but just now getting submitted. Source connections are very clear and well integrated into the genre change. I was a bit worried about production quality at the initial onset with the drum sound choices, but they quickly resolve into the main beat, which is nice and crisp. Overall production sounds pretty solid. The song progression keeps it interesting - I especially liked the decision to go double-time @ 3:00, but was equally disappointed in how it was cut short with the sudden ending. It sounds like it's either unfinished, or leads straight to another track on an album. I have to ask if the ending is 100% intentional or if something got cut off. Regardless: YES

Not much to add to what's been said. I'll echo the bass line sounded indistinct and behind a bit on timing (could be due to some atmospheric effects. I liked that it focused on the melodic elements more than the original did. Soundscape was nicely filled out as well. Clear connections to the original, but with some personalization in the instrumentation and writing. Nice, chill feel to it. Good stuff. YES

Production sounds nice and clean. Great, expressive performance. Sometimes the use of emptiness and rests can convey part of the emotion of the arrangement as well. I imagine this is what would play in the aftermath of Tornado Man's meeting with Mega Man ;). Arrangement connection is clear. It's short, but definitely gets the job done. Lets goooo! YES

Really digging the new direction here. Based on the source, I wouldn't have expected this style, but I do remember your contribution to the FF4 project and this is in a similar vein. Well produced overall. As mentioned, the panning creates a bit of audio imbalance when listening on headphones, but not a big deal. Some parts got a little dense, even a bit distorted, like the build to the end at 3:45. The shifting 6/8 to 7/8 time signature is cool and well executed. Very creative take on the source while keeping the connection strong. The feel reminds me a bit of the Risk Of Rain soundtrack (which is awesome, by the way). Love it. YES

Pretty straightforward take on the original theme here. The connection to the OST is never in doubt here as the theme is all over this. I like the style you've brought, though I think there's more room for some liberties with the melody beyond the effects & counter melodies. Glitching around the :20 mark felt a bit awkward to me as some of the hits sounded off-beat. Seemed early in the track to be pulling this kind of breakdown-type idea out, but to each his own. I can also echo the sentiment that the energy level pretty much plateau's when it gets established. Some work on building excitement by transitioning well between low/high energy parts could go a long way here. I did like the delayed re-entry for the beat around 2:13 and there were lots of creative touches sprinkled throughout the track. Ending felt lackluster to me, but it does get the job done. YES

Man, this OST is hawt. Very cool intro sequence. Balance sounds bass-heavy to me, but it didn't strike me as as much of an issue as it did some other judges. This is mainly because it didn't seem to detract from the clarity of other elements. Still, I'd personally drop it a dB or a few. Lots of energy, but also some change-ups to give the listener a break. Never a question for me as to what is being arranged here - riffs and cuts from the original are all over this. I can agree a bit on cutting down on some of the repetition, but again, it didn't strike me as a dealbreaker. I guess I can see both sides, but the issues weren't enough to bring it down for me. YES

For the record, I haven't been (entirely) slacking on this one. This is the third time I've come back to it in search of source usage. Even with the timestamps given above, I honestly had a really hard time picking out what was going on. Mainly because the theme is so slowed down and at times gets overshadowed by more complex or louder parts and/or the phasing effect used in the middle. This time was literally the first time I was able to sit down, listen to it, and have the usage finally really pop out to me. To that end, I've still been on the fence on whether or not it qualifies as dominant usage. Yes, it is present for a majority of the song, however, it gets obscured both by how transformative it is (slowed way down, interspersed other note runs between melody lines) as well as at times being sidelined by other more complex elements in the song. I basically had to train myself to focus on the sustained melody lines and ignore the other stuff being played. I think some rebalancing to bring forward and/or EQ boost to 2K+ or so on the melody line could really help in this regard. Note on the hissing, I wouldn't be surprised if it's natural hiss on the recording being amplified by the phaser added on. That could probably be fixed by noise removal or dampened by some EQ work without losing the desired effect. Production-wise, it's reasonably well produced. In general, there's a lack of clarity, probably due to the live recording environment, but not a dealbreaker by any means. Some rolling off of the mids/mid-lows on some parts could probably clean it up a bit to give more space between elements. Parts are well performed. I know Larry's pretty passionate about this one, but it wasn't nearly as much of a slam dunk for me. I have to say, though, the more times I listen, the more clear the melody comes through and that, with the level of production, is enough to bring it over for me. YES (borderline)

Nice opening. Bass is pretty hot. I can hear what MW meant with his crits on the synths as the first lead has a bit of a mid-heavy + buzz tone, but you can tell care was put into sequencing to give it interest and they both jive well with the style IMO. Balancing is on point with everything coming through clearly thoughout. I overlooked it initially, but the drums have a very cool core pattern. If I'm getting nitpicky, but I think there could be some more variation on it beyond the handful of fills thrown in. Perhaps something that distinguishes the A section from the B section following it. I was also concerned about source on first listen, so thanks to the other J's for the timestamp breakdown to make it easier. Really like the adaptation to the jazzy feel. I can't say I would have ever come up with this approach this this particular source (nor how I would go about doing it), but you've managed to pull off something really creative here, while maintaining connection to the original. I think the bassline possibly was intended to be an interpretation of the backing bass from the original, but it's too much of a stretch to really count it. Still, with Larry's breakdown, I'm comfortable with source usage with the other elements. As mentioned, this track is pretty short, but what's there is solid. Ending is abrupt, but doesn't feel outside the bounds of what you might hear in this genre. Wish it was longer! YES Edit: Is it safe to assume this is a GDQ reference? If so, I respectfully rebut your title: Save the frames, kill the animals!

I admit, the style took me by surprise. I think it's just been a long time since I judged a electronic dance track for some reason. Really liking how you adapted the melody here. Very creative, but still clearly green hill 1. Nice, full sound here, though at times a bit cluttered in the more dense sections, as mentioned. The hit at 2:54 stuck out as an example of when ithe sound's getting distorted by pushing the limiter too hard. Overly abrupt ending could be fleshed out more as well, but not a deal-breaker there. Room for improvement, but lots of great energy, I like. YES

As soon as I heard the accordion at the beginning, I knew I was going to like this. Guitars have a good sound - the double-tracked panning gives the rhythm a a really wide, encompassing sound. I agree that there could be some additional variation on the backing guitar, however. No doubt at any point what this is arranging. Connections are clear, but I felt it was personalized just fine with the performances, a bit of rubato and timing changes, etc. Nice YES