Nutritious

Great stuff here. For a minute, I was worried this was going to be a mix of the starting cave theme - for which I've had a remix in my head for a while now and been wanting to do. Fantastic samples too; much better than what I can put other there. Well done.

Hah, yeah, so while the project isn't dead we have had a few setbacks. I will be making some updates to the first post here. That said, though, I'm still progressing on bowser's road, which really is turning out nice. I think you guys will like it a lot. I'll post here with the next update soon.

Ok, I admit it, I've been avoiding voting on this. It's one of those tunes that brings into question each of the panel member's subjective interpretation of the remix criteria in what qualifies as source connections. On first blush, I feel like I can hear what Mak is drawing from the OST here and pretty much agree with Larry's breakdown. Vinnie & Larry put down some great crits on the production side, which I can sign off on. Here's the thing, I CAN hear what he's trying to arrange and how he's doing it, but I ALSO don't feel entirely comfortable that it fits the definition of what we're trying to promote here. I think this would be harder if the production was pristine (though it's not bad), but the combination of production issues and arrangement questions bring this down to no territory for me. I'd really like to hear Dave's take on this. No, resubmit please

I agree with Vinnie that this isn't too far off the bar. I won't rehash on the grating synth parts, but I'll echo emo that there were extended sections that did come off as kinda empty sounding. 4:20 DEFINITELY is an improvement in this department. I wouldn't mind hearing more of the track fleshed out to that degree, but I'm also willing to chalk the minimalism up to the chiptune-influenced electro genre. Transitions felt a bit sloppy in places, like 3:40-3:42. Arrangement-wise, while I would like to hear more overt source in the extended middle section, I feel like we have enough here to qualify. Not far off, I could see this one coming back quickly ready to be posted. No, resubmit please

I'm going to try to participate this year.

*C'mon, I'm not THAT busy! Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone. *This statement may or may not be true.

I'm nodding my head at my fellow J's thought's here. I don't think everything leading up to 2:30 was meant to be an extended intro given that it has it's own breakdown sections and pseudo change-ups, however, because it never feels like it arrives at a melodic line or theme, it sounds like a very long extended intro. If you can get beyond that same repeating sequence to the melody or something more substantial, I think the first couple minutes could then be justified. Crossfade transition at 2:20 sounded more like a switch to another song, rather than a transition to a different style. Transition at 4:35 was also a bit abrupt. Matter of fact, I think Andrew summed it up well that this sounds like a collection of ideas in different styles rather than a cohesive track. If you can work those together, and perhaps even narrow them down, it could really bring this track together. More minor point, but it seemed that extended parts of the track came off as pretty sparse sounding, despite the volume of the synths. This is mainly the first two minutes and 3:33 - 4:35. I can hear some good arrangement ideas here, but had trouble making things out for a surprising amount of the track. There's the backing repeating pattern for much of the first couple minutes, and the main melody at 4:36, but connections beyond those two sections were too much of a strech for me to clearly make out. I know I've been harping on stuff on this vote, but that's not to say that there aren't positives from the track as well. Mixing overall is clean, and there's a ton of synth variety here to keep things interesting. So yeah, super long vote (I hate it when I do that), but to boil it down, focus on getting the song more cohesive (transitions, and trimming out some parts) as well as source use. No, resubmit please

Great energy here man. I like the style you've brought here. Production definitely is a big issue here, though. There's a lot of distortion from hitting those compressors way too hard. I know you wanna push the loudness of the track given the metal/dnb genre, but you gotta be really careful with how you go about it. I can hear the crits on the thin sounding instrumentation, but I'd like to hear this with the levels toned down from overcompression before I pass TOO much judgement on them. Parts like the snare may sound quite a bit different once they're not being squashed down. There's a ton of potential in this track, so I'm hoping we see another go around. No, resubmit please

Yup, loving the energy. Loved that little trasition to the melody at :58. Really liking the energy here. Bass sequencing really shined at places 1:32 - I love the little details thrown here to move the root note and give a bit more interest to the section. SFX were sprinkled throughout, but felt tastefully done. This arrangement makes me think of some of the old school ocr tunes, but with a facelift in the production and some instrumentation. As Larry said, never a dull moment here. Good stuff guys. I want moar. Yes

Good points by DA above. The tough thing about solo piano mixes is there's so much focus on a single instrument, that weaknesses in sequencing or sample realism are much more exposed. As mentioned before, piano tone doesn't sound realistic per se, but is passable. I could tell you spent a lot of time on velocities, but the piano still comes off as too robotic to me. A little rubato could go a long way here, perhaps even a touch of room reverb. The left hand part also could use more variety in some of the repeating passages. On the arrangement, I liked the interplay between overworld and the water themes. I thought it was a nice creative touch. However, the connections to the source from 1:42 - 3:24 seemed too tenuous to be called dire dire docks honestly. I mean, I hear what you're going for, it's just stretching it too far away from the original IMO. Overall, this is nice work, just not up to the bar yet. No, resubmit please

Yeah, I can co-sign with my fellow J's on the above crits. If you haven't yet, I'd recommend posting this over in the WIP Forums, where you can get feedback closer to realtime and get crits on progressive versions of the track. You've got the talent and creativity, just need to refine it No

Yeah, not much to add. I'm not sure it's overcompression though - it may just be old-fashioned clipping. This just needs proper mastering probably. I'm sure you can get some assistance either at the wip forum or heck, pm me and I'll help you out. No, resubmit please

Wow, this is really excellent stuff here. It took me a second to wrap my head around the time signature, but that passed quickly. Nicely produced and filled out atmosphere. The arrangement is very intelligently pulled off here, with clear connections but also a ton of personalization and adaptation. I was also a little disappointed in what was essentially a copy-paste, and the quick fadeout ending. Still, I'm sold on what's present. Yes

I can agree with a lot of what DA is saying here. Vocal clips are a pretty prominent part of this mix, so I don't want to take that away from you - but I agree that they could be toned down in volume and/or frequency. Lead synths weren't "bad" per se, but they sounded thin when stacked up against the other elements on the track. You could try doubling them up with a bit more of a mid-focused lead or see if you can get some more mid-level power through EQ work. I actually don't have any problems with the snare here. It seems appropriate for a dance track and is strong enough IMO. I do, however, have some concerns about the piano. It definitely has an epiano tone, so while we're not going for realism here, it's a pretty dull tone for how prominent it is at times in the track. Also, it has some weird attack issues, which is especially noticable when it's playing alone at 2:17. It sounds like you're using some sort of portamento to slide to certain notes. I can't decide if it's intentional, but it sounds kinda awkward to me. If I'm overreacting to the piano, my colleagues can keep me honest here . On the positive side, there's good energy here and overall mixing sounds pretty solid. The percussion elements were a bit mixed (the hats in particular sounded weak to me), but the core kick and snare provided a good underpinning for the track. On the arrangement side of the House , they source connections are clearly here. I do agree that it could use some more personalization: both the piano chords and lead melodies (which is the vast majority of your source connection in the track) pretty much stick to the same notes/patterns as the original. Definitely could use a little more creativity here. Gonna second the weak ending crit as well. I can understand a dj track type outro with the track reducing itself to the core beat for a set duration, but this more came off as just pasted on and a bit lazy. Just sayin . I think the combination of Production and Arrangment issues takes this to NO territory for me, but not very far into it. With a little work, this could def make the front page, so keep at it! No, resubmit please

Interesting the differing opinions on this one. Personally, I'm on board with most of the production, but I definitely wouldn't discount Deia's suggestions on the lead verb being a bit overpowering. Arrangement-wise, I'm a bit on the fence here. I keep a/bing both the source and remix to verify what's broken out above and if I'm missing anything. I can basically agree with the Vinnie/Larry timestamping and I suppose you could argue over percentages and what's sufficient, but my gut says we need some more overt source connection here. It's a cool track for sure: great overall vibe, good changeups and transitions, etc. Also, I know that sometimes you get a vision for what you want to do with a source and it's not always easy to incorporate a ton of source material into that vision (I'm struggling with the same thing right now). At the same time, it probably shouldn't be this much work to establish what you're trying to pull from the OST . I definitely hope you're willing to take another stab at this one and that we see it back soon. No, Resubmit please

Piano felt a bit thin at the forefront, but the guitar/kit/bass that hit immediately surprised in a good way. Some of the piano was a bit mechancial on the sequencing but not a huge deal. Great performances here and drums sequencing was spot on. Nice overall sound here with the track as well. Unfortunately, I gotta agree that this lacks cohesion as a single song, which is what we're looking for. I could either see it broken up or just transitioned more effectively between sources and passing. Really hoping we see this one come back soon. No, resubmit though!

Great arrangement are nice instrumentation for sure. Really liking this track, Mr. Frog. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, the rhythm parts are distracting as they're not quite lining up throughout. It sounds like you may be using a swing-type setting on some of the rhythm parts, which could be the culprit. Really want to hear this one on the site and only minor fixes are needed. Bring back fast. No, resubmit please

Noooo springs! Showed this to Stevo a few weeks ago, but if you guys like Final Sacrifice, there's actually an interview with the guy who played Rowsdower that's interesting to watch. Can't access youtube from here to link it, but the video is titled Inteview with Zap Rowsdower.

Sweet track here guys, but unfortunately I'm not hearing enough recognizable source to pass this one. I honestly don't have anything else to add to what's been mentioned on some of the transitions and ending. Would LOVE to hear this one come back with some tweaks. I sincerely hope we do. No, resubmit please

This was my initial reaction, Neblix, until I re-read what his actual issue is. The problem isn't the wav file changing audio, but the fact that it's visually stretching out as the tempo of the track changes. This is actually completely normal behavior if you think about it. For example: Wav = 5 seconds long Tempo = 60 bpm (1 beat per second) So Wav size = 5 beats Then, if you change the tempo Wav = still 5 seconds long Tempo = 30 bpm (1 beat every 2 seconds) Wav size = 2.5 beats and streches to half the size If you want to try to stop this, you'd actually need to assign a specific tempo on the WAV file so it timestreches as the tempo changes. HOWEVER, this will have effects on the audio of the wav that you may not want. SO, technically, you don't have a problem here as long as your audio sounds correct. You do run into problems, however, when trying to work on the track between tempo changes and the system automatically resizes long wav clips, making your audio preview a mess. There is a workaround I use to deal with this long wav files that progress through tempo changes: 1. Add wav file to track 2. Click so your cursor is on the first tempo setting in the track 3. Now, navigate to just before your first tempo change 4. Using the razor tool, slice the wav file right where the tempo changes (make sure your cursor is still clicked BEFORE the tempo changes so the tempo on the project is correct, this is important) 5. Now, click on the newly created "second" wav portion AFTER the slice where the tempo changes (this will set the project tempo to the new tempo) 6. Navigate to just before the next tempo change and repeat step 4 Basically, what you're doing here is creating "checkpoints" for your long wav files so they will align properly with each tempo section of your track. This will allow you to work on each section with the audio parts properly lined up. Hopefully this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Gonna sign off with the mix being too conservative for a large portion of the track. I'd also say the beat, while well produced, gets a bit repetative even for DnB. A bit more variation in the breaks couldn't hurt. On the plus side, production is strong here and the sounds are interesting and fit well. It is a bit of a minimalist dnb style, but I think it works well with this theme. Loved the piano interlude after the 4-minute mark. Both very pretty and creative. Good stuff here, just look into some more arrangement work for the first 2/3rds and it'll pass IMO. No, resubmit please

Wow, beautiful orchestration here. Jeff's attention to detail here is excellent. Very good use of dynamics from the strong sections to the very delicate ones. Some parts get a bit shril in the mid/high registers Loved the effect of the backing percussion parts at 3:51. This whole section is gorgeous. The source usage is very expansive due to the short source. Big thanks to Larry for the breakdown, which helped immensely in judging the arrangement here. Yes

Gonna agree with Larry that the extended sections at 3:14 & 5:37 were pretty problematic. You're trying to cram a lot of elements in here, which can work, but only if you have things balanced pretty carefully (not an easy thing to do). I don't think it would be as big of an issue if these weren't pretty sizeable chunks of the track. At 6:35, there's too much melodically going on between the repeating patterns and the melody, so it comes off as jumbled & clashing. On the plus side, this is a very creative take on a source that, while pretty, is also repetative without a ton of material to work with. Very interesting mix of ethnic instrumentation as well. Close for sure; good luck with the rest of the vote. No, resubmit please

As a rule, I generally shy away from judging tracks for a project I'm coordinating unless absolutely necessary. With how this one is shaping up, though, I'm going to go ahead and give imput. So, Brandon ran this one by me several times along the way and I told him to sub it as I felt that it was above the bar. Very creative take on the original. I can see people reacting with complaints about how it "sounds nothing like the original" or is changing it to be unrecognizable, but IMO that would just prove they're not really listening here and/or lack openmindedness on the arrangement. Creative drum patterns were varied and kept fresh throughout. Production wasn't perfect for sure: there's some clutter that could be cut out and balancing could be better, but nothing that pulls this below the bar IMO. Simply put, definitely not what I was expecting to come from the metal mario source, but a great creative take on the track. Yes