Nutritious

Yeah I re-edited out my edit because I was comparing 1st to 7th rather than 1st to 8th in the ratio. What I'm trying to point out is, the current system gives 1st place five times as many points as every team 4th place and below. If we just counted votes individually, that spread of 5:1 is from first to eighth. Even seventh place is only a 3:1 ratio. Not trying to be argumentative here, and I do see where people are coming from in advocating for a system that balances out 4th place point. But I'm just trying to point out that this system actually only benefits the top mixes of a given round.

No to undermine DS (<3), but I'm going to concur that I'd like to see actual vote totals vs. a tiered system. Per my chatlog with Willrock: Nutritious414 10:41 am well think about it lets say team1 got 60 votes in round one 2nd place had 58, third 57, fourth 56 Team1 now gets 5 times as many points as fourth palce rather than just 4 more points it's going to be that much harder for them to catch up, even though Team1 is only marginally better While the current system does help teams in the very top and bottom of the vote totals, it really hurts those in the mid range who may have just missed out on the next ranking. I'd hate to see really close rounds with a small vote difference end up causing such a disparate score in the end. At the very least perhaps we could post both score systems to see how things shake out differently (electoral vote vs popular vote anyone? )

Never fear, was all under control

I'm done, just getting some last minute feedback from the team.

For the record, I'm fine with however you choose to vote. Don't sweat it on my account

Apparently Briggs blew Halc all the way off your top three (just messing with you dude )

She's a squirter - Quite a surprising take from Brandon given his previous work. Loved the gritty square bass and downtempo chippy/synthy action. Various SFX from NES games were a bit non-sequitur but they work. I wasn't a big fan of the snare as it seemed to stick out over everything, but minor crit there. Nice track dude. Don't make me cut you - I helped too! Totally Rad Winter - Without looking, I knew this was Sir_Nuts track from the start. It's nice to have your signature style, eh . You know Michael's stuff is going to be solid dancable electronica and this doesn't disappoint. I thought the synth leads were a highlight here (maybe not 1:30, which fell a bit flat, but besides that). Wish you were mixing more dude, great track. Double Doctors - Wow dude, love the intro - totally hooks you there. I've heard good things about this Main Finger guy and he doesn't disappoint. I personally could've done without the voice sample, but it thankfully doesn't stick around too long. Solid old-school sounding d'n'b here with the upright bass morphing to a more gritty bass synth. Half time at 1:40 was a great touch. The Knight who says ROCK! - Analog sounding intro synths piqued my interest and the ensuing rock doesn't let me down. This is such a fun track, you can't help but like it. Great combination of synths and metal. Rock mixing could use a little work, but that's something to aim toward for the future. Don't forget your drummer at 1:52, I'm sure he'd like to change things up once in a while . Nice work Lidawg, keep it up dude. Burn the Castle - Another solid rock track. Really liked when everything kicked in at :27. See if you can work on your mixing to get things a bit more clear (rhythm guitars) and watch those high freqs. The energy here is infections; creative change of pace with the organ breakdown to give us a breather. The Last of the Clan - After all these high energy tracks, this one certainly stands out as taking a more laid-back approach. But Jason plays it well here. The groove at :45 is a great compliment for the etherial soundscape. I wanted to hear more work from that bassline! So much room for it to move around and really compliment the groove. Such a great mood-inducing piece here. Two Minds Without A Single Thought - Zero is newer to the mixing scene, but he brings some very creative arrangement work to his tracks. Keep working on your track development and production and you're just going to keep getting better. I know you're nervous about your tracks, dude, but I give you props for putting your stuff out here. Keep on mixing and keep entering competitions because that's just going to make you better (that's how I got my start, actually). Dubious Brother - This intro is insane, I love how he uses filters here. Very creative take on a source that's been mixed more than once before. I wasn't a huge fan of the voice clip, but I can see why you'd use it . Breakdown at 1:30 = yes!. Love the bass there, Briggs. Also <3 filters at 2:00. Under Construction - Nice bass work here dude - highlight of the mix. I liked the jazz/analog hybrid vibe you brought in near the mid point. Creative props there. Mixing is a little rough, but everything is present here. Nice work Mr. SuperiorX.

Give them to me! Must have precious....

I'm rockin the block beats this week

Not much to add here. Very nice arrangement here of some familiar themes. The attention to detail with the counterpoints and supporting instruments was fantastic. Production was nice and clean with some great samples used (you're making me jealous). A couple of times the sequencing came off a little unrealistic, but overall it was very nicely done in that regard. Yes

Can't please everyone :/ So, can we just close this one out, then?

Sounds like an exploration in the various percussion instruments from EWQLSO . Larry's right, though. The majority of this mix doesn't deal with the source and, when it does, it's basically repeating the theme verbatum. Bonus points for creativity for sure, though. No, resubmit please

My votes have been getting entirely too long lately, so I'm gonna cut this one down to bullet points: -Mixing in general needed some work - especially in the rock sections. Drums (minus the hats) were buried behind the guitars and the kick was nearly inaudible in sections like 1:17. Snare sounded really thin tone-wise as well. -Deia mentioned it, but the structure is kind've all over the place here, quickly shifting between rock & electronic sections. I'm not saying the combination of the two can't work, but this felt like it was a little too schizo for me. For example, it transitions from electronic to rock at :50, but only for 8 bars until we're back to electronic for 8 bars, before it's back to rock again for 8 more, etc. The rock sections felt very cut and paste from previous as well. I guess it just feels like the song flow is really unfocused. -Yeah the piano was far too dry and simple sounding at the end, but only appears for a short time. -Positive side: guitars sounded really nice to me; good performance and tone on both chugs and leads. Lots of subtle nice touches in the electronic sections. Arrangement-wise, I was having a little trouble picking everything out, so I stopwatched it: :00 - :11 - lead playing source :47 (these sections are what I was missing, hence the stopwatching) :12 - :22 - reversed backing part plays source :23 - :49 - source in bells :50 - 1:03 - source in rhythm guitars, modified later 1:04 - 1:16 - chords, liberal synth 1:17 - 1:33 - guitar playing same take as synth, I might be missing the connection here if there is one. 1:34 - 1:47 - same as :23 (source) 1:48 - 2:00 - same as :50 (source) 2:01 - 2:42 - chords? liberal IMO 2:43 - 2:55 - same as 1:17 (liberal) 2:56 - 3:39 - same as :00 (source) 3:40 - 4:22 - lead synth plays original melody (source) 4:23 - 4:45 - liberal Based on this, source checks out just fine. It took me quite a few listens to hear where you got everything from, but I feel like I've nailed it down now. It looks like you relied a lot on the backing part from the original, until we finally see the melody from the original hit at 3:40. Just a personal take, but I'd like to see the melody more prominently used in the mix. Well look at that, I still ended up with a really really long vote again :/. See if you can focus the structure and work on the mixing to balance things better and I think you'll be good to go. No, resubmit please

I'll start off to say I'm really digging the feel you've started at :15 and the fade in of the sidechained stuff later. Not to beat a dead horse, but I'm really not digging that lead either. Maybe you were going for a kind've spring-y lead sound to go with the OST? Really liked how you handled the bass synth by the way. It really compliments the groove you've established. Arrangement-wise, I'm also really having trouble with the Spring Man connection. I think I hear what you're going for, but it'd need to be more overt usage to be called a source connection in my book. So you've established the groove and backing effectively, now work on the lead and a little arrangement and you should be good to go. No, resubmit please

Source seems pretty ominous for a Garfield game, but I guess it depends on the context . Nice job setting the stage for your mix in the intro here. The initial chord totally reminded me of a mix from the FF4 project (which exactly slips my mind at the moment). So the choir & voices felt tacked on to the rest of the mix with their sudden entrances and exits. Gotta see if you can get them to gel better - maybe with a little more wetness or more gradual attacks/decays. Synth that enters around :37 had some loud resonant frequencies that were harsh on the ears; fortunately, it didn't stick around long so not a big deal there. Transitional sections starting at 1:27 came off as awkward to me; energy was really lost here and it switches to a few different passages before establishing itself again at 1:48. Also, the synth lead that comes in at 1:06 has a similar tone to the synth playing a backing part, so you may want to consider changing one of them for mix clarity sake. Same issue around 2:30 where multiple similar toned synths are clashing with each other. Totally feel what OA is saying in general that the synth choices do come off a bit odd, but it does give the mix a unique character, which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing. One of my main gripes is with the beat. It really felt... awkward & clunky to me I guess. Maybe it's the pattern - the way it was written with eight note kicks and repetative rhythms really felt amateurish to me I'm sorry to say. Watch the levels at 3:30, it sounded like things start distorting as it got louder. Also agree with DA at the weak ending. At the very least the organ seems to fade out very quick. To help it out, I'd drop the tempo down there and bring back the choirs to support. Yeah, so really long vote pointing out a lot of minor issues. Overall, I don't think any of these production gripes are a dealbreaker by themselves, however, I feel like the sum total of them is bringing it below the bar for me. I hope this isn't discouraging, though. I wouldn't put so much effort into this judgement if I didn't think your work deserved it. Anyway, I could definitely be in the minority here, so good luck with the rest of the vote. No, resubmit please

Cool source man. I can see how this would have nostalga points for people who played the game. Definitely a long, slow build here. There's no question what's being remixed here, though, as you phase in and out with elements from the OST. As far as arrangement level - I have no problem with this as the structure is quite divergent from the original. Connecting parts from the original were used creatively thoughout, but never to the point where it just felt like a trance cover (sorry- PROGRESSIVE HOUSE). Nice evolution over time too. Despite it clocking at 6:38, the track never felt like it overstayed its welcome. Overall, production was very clear. I honestly didn't have any problems with the sound design - some of the synths may come off as being on the generic side, but I felt like they all fit very nicely into the context of the track as a whole. If I was going to mention something, I'd say the sidechain is a little grating on headphones - it might just be a little to sharp of a contrast in the high end eq. But yeah, besides that, I'm groovin here. Yes

Really love this source. I really felt like the SD3 soundtrack was a let down compared to its predecessor, SoM, but this track is one of the exceptions. Nice personalization work here with melodic variations on the original piece. I also had a bit of trouble pulling out some of the source usage on first blush, but I'm hearing more on repeated listens. For example, clever source use in the low pizz strings around 2:50 with other instruments following. That said, I have a nagging concern on how much source is actually in there - if someone has a chance I'd really appreciate a stopwatch. My biggest beef with this track is that the piano feels mechanical and repetative enough to really be a detriment to the track. The left hand has a lot of repeating patterns and keeps the same eighth note (or 16th, w/e) cadence for a long time. On the flip side, the right hand parts have some sudden velocity jumps on notes (see :33, :36, 1:04, 2:58-left hand) which makes it feel a bit unrealistic. Backing instruments (sustained horns mainly) felt pretty static and plodding behind the piano in the first third of the track. Try bringing some life to them with volume dynamics. Not digging that violin lead here. It's got a pretty dull tone and really unnatural sounding vibrato. This is most apparent when its exposed later in the track Rock sections were more solid than the lower energy portions IMO. I agree with Andrew that the levels didn't quite sound right with these sections though. For one, snare sounded several db too loud. Kick had the thud without the click - try bringing up some of the higher EQ levels on it. By the was 4:05 had a VERY cool feel to it, it's just crowded with so much going on. Try to work on your levels here to get orchestra and rock playing nice together. You've got a ton going for this track, it just needs some more production lovin' IMO. Good luck with the rest of the vote man. No, resubmit please

I love it when Andrew and Deia cover all the right points. Can't say I liked this source nearly as much as you, but you certainly improved on it. Loved the mysterious feeling you created with the downtempo rock elements combined with the slow pads at :37. I actually felt like they should've continued past their sudden exit at :52, but that's just me. Very nice production work overall. Things got a little crowded with the pads behind everything else at 1:22, but that's my on Arrangement is on the conservative side, but there were a lot of nice ideas you brought to the table as well as subtle nuances to various parts. Yes

I think both previous judges have hit the flow/progression issues pretty well, so I won't be a dead horse. Tone felt a little dull on the beat - seemed like some highs were missing from the kick & hats. But overall, production was pretty clean. Nice arrangement work that could've benefitted from better transitions and continuity, but is still effective and a fun listen. Yes

Man, those are some hard hitting drums dude. Nice. While I'm not a huge happy hardcore fan, I can live with this flavor as it doesn't fall into the really annoying sugary category in my book. ANYWAY Nice production work here, per your usual Michael. Arrangement was a good combination of utilizing underpinning repeated patterns & melodies with your own progression, effects, and (flex)style. While the dissonant part isn't my favorite of the mix, I think DS put it well that it's a good contrast from the super upbeat rest of the mix. Plus you can't fault him for staying true to the original IMO Yes

Napalm Man Gravity Man Wave Man Snake Man Metal Man

Yup, very cool mix here dude. Nice use of spacing in integrating the sound effects/vocals in the soundfield. Mixing/balancing overall was clear, though I think there were a few weaknesses. The kick is nearly inaudible for a lot of the mix - I'd bring up a bit more low end (somewhere in 200-500 range) and get a bit more high end click on it to let it shine through. I like your synth choices here. Seems like they were a bit heavy on the reverb/delay effects for the genre - I'm no metal expert, but from what I've heard they tend to be a bit more on the drier side. I'm gonna echo the Deiahate on the fadeout ending. No dealbreaker, but it does come off as lazy Source use was very clear to me here and the metal adaptation was done quite deftly. Minor issues aside, solid metal track here dude. Rock on. Yes

Alright, got a first wip from Willrock (obviously good) for Koopa Road. He and I will be collabing on the track - so we're gonna make sure we bring the energy the ost begs for.

Listening to the original, I keep waiting for a guy to scream "Hunter Kombat!!!" So yeah, I think both Deia and Andrew have brought up some very good points here. Patterns repeat themselves very frequently here without much variation until the next 8/16 bar block. There's a lot of room for you to expand things, change up patterns, add/remove elements, slice, mangle, etc to bring a lot more interest here. In general, I felt like the sound design was a weak point in the mix. The synths come off as pretty generic sounding to me and the drums were kind've on the bland side. Balance was a concern at some points. 1:45 the bass synth here felt way too loud and overpowered everything else. Formant synth at 3:11 also was really loud, though only for a few seconds. It might be just me, but it sounded like I was hearing some sound clipping/overcompression distortion when the drums interact with some loud synths (example 2:22). It's possible this is due to some distortion fx used, though. Besides the repetativeness, I like the arrangement ideas you brought to the mix later in the track were good. I'd like to hear more personalization in the first half of the mix as well as hinted at before. Hope this vote doesn't come off as a downer. You've got a good base of ideas and parts here. Personally, I'm not sure this is as close to the bar as Deia & Andrew feel, but we'll wait to see how the rest of the votes go. Good luck dude. No, resubmit please