Nutritious

Yeah, there's your problem

Having good mixes stuck in limbo is a tragedy. Quit being so happy about it. yes, I'm joking

Have to admit, I wasn't expecting much after hearing the intro. Overpowering kick, reverby mix in general. But out of nowhere, a pretty good groove gets established. It's almost like you have to wait out the weaker sections until things suddenly click together, like at 1:05 & 2:11. It's not on my list of favorites or anything, but still an enjoyable track to listen to.

Well in that case... Arrangement-wise this is definitely walking the conservative line here. Up until 2:25, there really wasn't much interpretation beyond the original. Piano work here finally gives us some expansion on the original. Dueling guitar solos on top of the recognizable base just after was a welcome addition as well. Production is solid, which isn't surprising, coming from Cain. I heard a bit of low end crowding from the rhythm guitars, but nothing too big to complain about. Production, check. Arrangement, very close, but just enough personalization to get it over the bar. Yes (borderline) Well, obviously, but... /checks queue Bout time to submit something, eh?

Man, if I didn't have so much backlogged stuff, I'd really like to get in on this. I'll.... have to think about it :/

FINALLY! I remember commenting on this years ago around when I first registered here. I still listen to the old wip occasionally. While some of the elements are similar or borrowed from the older version, I feel like I have to treat these as two separate songs. The old has a much more airy, etherial quality to it - and was more akin to older school dnb. This one is definitely a more contemporary dnb take and has a much drier sound. Can't really crit at the moment, but I'll try to come back to this. I'd still like to hear the old version finished and mastered, but it's been so long, I think that will remain a pipe dream. :/

Would it be considered a conflict of interest if I vote on a track for a project I'm coordinating?

Nice mix here. I really enjoyed the vibe you brought to the track! I agree with the balance and crowding issues mentioned previously. One thing I'd add is that the drums basically stay on autopilot throughout the track. There are times where one or more parts (hats, snare) will drop out, but the rhythm basically remains the same throughout. Definitely close one here. If you can fix up those issues, I'd be good passing this one. No, resubmit please

Wow, nice improvement here from the last version (which was good, just not quite there). Bass isn't so boomy now. Really dug the additional soloing you added. Nice job adding significant expansion to the arrangement this time around. New piano part sounded a bit washed out in the recording, but I can live with that. YES

For as minimalistic as this track is, you've managed to bring a lot of emotion to it. Vinnie is right on the balancing issues - lead should've been coming out a bit more than the acoustic backup. Despite that, it's a pleasant vibe you've got going here. Definitely heard the intonation issues Andrew mentioned at 2:43. It detracts a bit from the buildup and resolution of the track, but it's not a dealbreaker for me. Background sfx sounded more like someone blowing into their mic than waves to me but that's super nitpicky . I do agree more ground could be covered here, arrangement wise, but what you've done here is very expressive and gets the job done. Yes

Just noting I'm planning on chiming in here later today. EDIT: Ok, so it looks like this is heading towards a pass. I have some concerns, though, which I wanted to share prior to this going through. Piano in the intro is pretty rigidly sequenced, though it gets better at :25. The other elements here (choir, guitar) sound really nice. Orchestra also sounds rigid during several sections (though it spends a lot of time pushed behind other sounds, so it's hard to hear). Brass specifically sticks out unnaturally in places like 2:00, 4:51 Balance seemed pretty off in general for the track, which is my biggest concern. Guitars are loud compared to everything else, drums could come through a bit more (but they work), orchestra gets buried behind everything. I didn't even realize there was a bass guitar until 2:43 - ok going back I can hear it now if I really listen, but it needs to come up quite a bit IMO. Orchestra legato is falling behind the beat & drums, which makes sections like 1:21, 1:40, & 2:00 sound messy. Drum writing was very nicely done. Lots of variation to keep it fresh. Guitars were also well performed. I'm hearing some odd clicking, which could be clipping, in a few areas. Namely 1:20 & 1:36. Admittedly, I haven't listened to the OST yet, so I can't comment on the arrangement side. Assuming halc's breakdown is on, it sounds like it'd be fine in that regard. No super major OH NOEZ issues above, but they add up to push me more in No, resub territory for me. I'm fine being the lone dissenter if that's the case, but I wanted to bring it up nonetheless.

You know, you could really help Stevo out by posting a source breakdown. Sorting through five sources and trying to figure out what goes where is pretty challenging otherwise.

Ok, seeing that this is a big split, I'm writing my notes down here prior to looking at any of the other judgements: Piano started off playing pretty haltingly, seemed a bit awkward sounding at first. You know, I think some notes are getting cutoff prematurely. Heard it at :11 and :15. I don't think it's intentional as I can't see how a piano would do that normally. It seems to continue this way into the song. Piano is so quiet and delicate, as soon as other elements like the pads come in, it just gets buried. Really, the piano doesn't need to be here anymore if you're gonna leave it way back there - plus there's plenty of other stuff covering the bases now. Once the lead plucked instrument comes in, it's clashing with the piano part anyway. I know there's some dissonance in the OST, but the bell synth part 2:04 isn't really doing it for me. Just sounds like wrong notes in the context of this track. Again, unnecessary piano at 2:24 buried in there. I'd either restrict the piano to the intro & outro, or bring it out more in parts where it doesn't clash with other elements. Drums basically sit on autopilot for the mix here, with an extra hat rhythm added in or taken away. Really could use some variation here. Balance-wise, the hats are a tad loud. Lead plucked instrument gets slightly overpowering with the heavy delay on it. 1:55 gets a bit crowded, but not terribly so. On the positive side, you've got a nice groove established. Cool elements are introduced with the bass, pads, and leads. Clear use and expansion/personalization of the original track here. You clearly are most of the way there, just have a few oddities here that are holding it back. No, resubmit please EDIT: Ok, so reading back, I see we've had a couple new versions. Looks like I've only heard the latest though. Interestingly, even with the fixes, the hats stuck out to me as too loud. Still feel like there are enough issues to keep this in NO territory for me. I'm perfectly fine being in the minority, though.

Not a whole lot to add to my fellow judges here. Things get very crowded and overcompressed when its firing on all cylinders. This is especially apparent at 1:32 when elements like the drums start getting distorted from all the compression. OA gave some good advice in this regard. There's a bell-type high synth that starts at :54 and plays continuously until about 1:43. It hits some mid-high/high freqs that started wearing on the ears after a while. I think it's the same synth at the very end. I'd eq out some highs at the very least or cut it down in general. Great track here dude and very close. Tighten up the production and this will be ready to go. No, resubmit please

Thanks for all the support guys (as well as the condolences ). I really appreciate it! More like the past 3 days, but that doesn't include mixes that passed, which you can't see yet EDIT: Bout time someone got it right!

Very nice take here on a pretty forgettable source tune. Definitely agree on the lack of melodic development on this, but as Palp mentioned, it's inherent in the genre. Fantastic attention to detail here with the various changeups, effects, and drum work. Sweet EDIT: Hah, ninja'd Halc. Someone did an extra vote!

Very creative mix here and definitely funny at parts. Arrangement wise, you very effectively translated the OST to a vocal mix, which is very difficult to do. I actually have heard your mix several times before hearing the original, yet the connections & expansions were very easy to find. I'm gonna echo the others on the balance issues here. It's especially apparent on the chorus sections. Guitars and drums just get lost behind everything going on. I wasn't too crazy about the snare tone here. It's pretty mechanical/fakey sounding when it plays repeated fills (:42, 1:10, etc). I hear how you've tried to vary the velocity, but it's not really cutting it for an acoustic kit. Vocals in general were very well done. I admit on first listen, some of the lead vocal parts stuck out to me in a bad way. For example, the sustained "On" at 1:48. I think it's a combination of vocal intonation (loses the pitch a bit here) and writing, as the notes clash a bit till they're resolved. Still, HUGE props for going for putting yourself out there for something like this. Minor point, but I hear some subtle distortion, which may be clipping in several parts in the mix. DA metioned 1:55. I also heard some at 3:58. Since it's not necessarily only happening in loud parts of the mix, it's very possible that it's coming from some of the vocal or SFX clips used. Anyway, not a big deal, just wanted to give you a heads up in case it's fixable. Definitely an entertaining mix, but not quite ready for the front page. No, resubmit please

You really love your mario 64 sfx, don't you Really dig the funky atmosphere you've set up here. Like the others, I'm not a huge fan of the detuned piano at the beginning as it's kind've a non-sequitur with the rest of the track. Up to you, though, if you feel it's something you can't live without . My biggest beef was with instrument balance. The wah bass is too loud in comparison to other elements. It also seems to have some loud resonant freqs in the mids, which makes it stick out above everything else in the latter half of the track. A few places also tended to get a bit crowded, though it's likely a function of instrument imbalance again. Take a look at 2:21, 3:39, & the brief section at 4:23. Very close. Love the writing and creativity here. Nice expansion on the source for sure. Sorry to send this back a second time, but some production tweaks should definitely push this over the bar. No, resubmit please

Nice track here man. Really dig how you kept the high energy of the original here. It is on the conservative side, but you've brought some variations to the theme as well as the original soloing. Right off the bat, that snare sounds super overcompressed, yet thin at the same time. Back off the compressor on that, and see if you can give it some more presence through a little bit of distortion or something. Lead guitar intonation sounded a bit off to me, specifically on the melody at :48 and at 3:13. Speaking of 3:13, this definitely felt like the weakest part of the mix. The timing of the guitar is loose and it just doesn't mesh with the other elements at 3:24. Not a strong way to finish the track IMO. Super tough call. I can definitely see it going either way here. Personally, as a mixer, I'd rather have something like this sent back, so I can make some changes, than to have it posted with fixable flaws. Hopefully you can get this one back to us soon. No, resub please

I pretty much concur with my fellow J's here. Arrangement stayed very conservative for the first 1:10, but then spent the rest of the song in basically an original direction. Technically, it retains a similar repeated backing part from the original underneath everything, but I don't feel like this is enough of a connection to tie it to the OST. If you're trying to make some allusions to the original melody with all the soloing later in the track, I wasn't able to hear it. Flute lead really falls flat here - definitely a weak link on the production side. The synth lead layered on top of the flute for the second go around on the melody doesn't quite cut through enough to hold it's own either against the heavy background. You may want to try to eq up some mid-highs or add a bit of distortion or something to have it cut through. Heard some note playing issues on the lead guitar around 3:02 and beyond during the soloing, which may be the intonation issues OA was referring to. Also agree with Andrew on the clutter issue, especially around parts like 3:37 when everything's firing at the same time. Solid guitar work for the most part (sans some lead notes), and a good base here, but needs some help in both arrangement and production. No, resubmit please

Hmm, not sure I was feeling this one quite as much as my fellow judges here. :/ I think this can work as a 4/4 arrangement, but at the moment it feels a bit too rigid and forced, especially when it starts in with the beat at :21. Synth choices were pretty vanilla sounding to me. Biggest cuplrit, I think, is the synth handling the main theme, which is present from the beginning of the song. I'd also look into switching up some synths later in the track to keep things fresh, as the textures in the second half are basically the same as the first. Mixing in general is out of balance, as mentioned before. When it at :21, for example, the only things that are coming through really clearly are the glockenspiel and perhaps the high sequenced synth. Everything else is kind've mushing together behind them. When exposed, the choir sounds like there's some distortion on them from overcompression or something - which is weird considering they're pretty low, volume wise. There's also excessive high freqs on the sample. On the arrangement side, it starts to get repetitive as it plays the same general progression repeatedly (:21 - 1:05, 2:12 - 2:50). Sorry, but I think this needs quite a bit of work before it can make it over the bar. No

Totally agree with Deia on that 1:55 transition. It felt like you were trying to force it back to solo piano. I like the idea of bringing a downtempo adaptation here. It's a very pretty mix, but feels like there are some sonic holes in the mids for sure - as if some elements are left out. In addition to what was mentioned before, you could try to layer in some pads or something to fill things out. In addition to bringing the bass up a bit, I think there's room for some more complex/interesting writing on it. It does have a few slides thrown in, but in general it's just hitting the root note for each chord. Varying it up will bring more interest there. Judging by the youtube comments, this is a pretty emotional song for a lot of folks, who I'm sure would like to hear your take on it. So bring it back, ya hear? No, resubmit please

Hah, nice little unexpected organ interlude right after the metal opening, only to have the listener crushed by moar metal. The positive: really liked how you handled the themes here. Nice work weaving in the arrangements together. Personally, the transitions didn't bother me here. Great performance and drum programming, as mentioned before. The not so good: gotta echo DOA here (see what I did there?) that things are super overcompressed. Just listening to how squashed the snare tone should be a quick clue to this problem. Cymbals get pushed out to the point that they're distorted - you get the idea. No, please resubmit

On a related note, would someone have to go through a similar process to copyright/claim their artist name?