Skullbullet

Ocean's 11 and his show... what a truly funny man. I will miss him.

[i'd like to apologize in advance for not having exact locations of the sections I'm talking about; I promise I'll edit this post later when I can download the track to my computer.] Still something about the opening that I don't dig. Might just be some more of those background effects - whatever it is, something's muddying up the lead in the intro. (Maybe it's volume?) I think you could bring the volume on the flute (that IS a flute right?) down a bit; it's a tad overbearing. You could also try bringing the volume up on the drums, but that might kill the atmosphere. Volume on the lead after the choir leads needs work - it's muddy and covered. When it joins with the flute, though, it's fine. I'm not convinced on those cymbal crashes during the duet. The one at the end of the duet is beautiful, but the rest... ain't buying 'em. I would ask someone else's opinion on the (overall) drum-writing as it's not my forte, but the cymbals were painfully noticeable, which shouldn't happen in such a beautiful duet. I think I would take the ending more in a solo piano fashion rather than retread the strings again. Probably just my personal preference, but the strings in the beginning aren't convincing enough that they're worth reusing. (Holy crap, reusing isn't a hyphenated word!) Duet female vox w/ piano would sound pretty, too, but I don't know if you could secure that much. Did I say before how much I love the atmosphere? The bird chirps in particular are fun; I think during the choir creepy section you might consider some crickets chirping or twigs being broken by footsteps; that would REALLY add more atmosphere to that section. The piece overall reminds me of Stephen Melillo's "StormQuest" - a young hopeful boy dives deep into a forest of evil and, in a final battle, comes out triumphant. The duet has a very hopeful quality to it - that's probably what prompted the comparison. In any case, it's BEAUTIFUL. I like where you're going with this piece (obviously, since I'm keeping my hawkish eyes on it). Keep on chugging, I'd like to see you finish it.

Just keep an eye on this thread (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17154). Once again, I am not disappointed. Zirc and pixie together is nothing short of excellence, and this is no exception. SUPERB work.

So I'm already at Mazedude's second song (about to go to BGC and Flik's piece, yaaaa!) and I already feel the urge to grab my nearest copy of Doom II and just start ripping through some alien guts. AWESOME.

Oh man, Flik is on this? ...GO FASTER DOWNLOAD GO FASTER!!

Usually they have great shows - Cadets are very narrative focused and they've had some good ideas in the past - but this year's show wasn't all that. They did a good job, it just wasn't up to their usual level of awesome. By the way, I didn't get to see Carolina Crown, Blue Devils, or Cavaliers. I hear that Phantom got straight jacked, though. *sad face*

Don't underestimate the power of a good slow piece. If it's done right, it can be really awesome. I didn't detect any problem with pacing; if you really want to speed it up, you could end on a very upbeat note, but overall I think it sounds just fine as a slow piece. Yeah, I'd say try and work one more song in to make it a medley; I've not heard all of TP's OST just yet, but as it's Zelda, I'm sure you've got plenty of material to pick from. Good luck; can't wait to hear where you go with this.

http://www.boomp3.com has never let me down before. No registration required, just upload your file and a brief description for instant music win.

I just got back about half an hour ago. Phantom did not disappoint me this year. At all. "I AM SPARTACUS!!!!" *stabs drum major with huge javelin* EPIC.

In the opening, I detected something that I couldn't quite put my finger on - wind effects or something. It was ruining my experience of the opening. Other than that, I particularly like the atmospheric approach - the first half in particular made me feel like I was in the woods, and you've got some great instrumental choices. The duet at the end was also well done. I think if you add one more theme (maybe a melody/counter-melody theme?) and structure a nice build-up to, say, the duet at the end, you would have one amazing Zelda piece on your hands. Overall, I loved it. (Does it show?)

It's all about Phantom. For serious. You just reminded me that I have to get a ride to the theater tomorrow.

Aye, it does sound like a different version of Rainbow Road. Very cool track, though - I wouldn't mind racing that track with that music there. Not that I EVER enjoy racing on Rainbow Road...

I'm itching to hear what some of you could do with the music from Sonic Spinball. In particular, the boss battle song needs a metal remix. It BEGS such a remix. (BrainCells? I know you're out there somewhere.) That is my request. Sonic Spinball, for the win.

I agree with you; the build-up at the beginning is boring and doesn't feel right in comparison to the rest of the song. I also feel very muddy after listening to the first half; the instruments aren't blending as they should. In particular, the long held notes are fighting the moving lines more often than not. Held notes should have presence, but not power. (I hope that makes sense; I'm speaking in vague musician terms now.) I think there's a great minimalist lead-atmosphere piece here, akin to Radiowar's "Lanterns"; maybe remove some instruments and give the melody lines to a select few, then let the rest of the writing (drums, backgrounds, etc.) carry the song. Right now, every instrument in the song is fighting for dominance, and it makes me go . The arrangement is great, by the way. (lol @ me getting caught up)

May be a dumb question, but how will we know if the songs don't have lyrical info already?

The only big problem I had in listening to this mix was that everything felt the same volume. The middle section in particular felt muddy; it seemed like the melody was fighting to be heard over the background. It was less of a problem from 2:24 to fade. Conversely, the hand-claps in the background from around 1:17 on were too quiet; I didn't really feel them adding anything to the overall sound. The arrangement is great - I'm not a huge fan of Star Maze's music, but you did a nice job of MAKING it interesting for me. As a washed-out flute player of four years, I particularly enjoyed the flute leads.

Personally, I'm waiting to see how well Dragon Ball goes over before casting any judgments on this. If James Marsters makes the great villain I know he is, there may be hope yet.

It sounds like the first four notes of the left hand in the piano song "Eternity ~Memories of Lightwaves" - which is the title screen music for Final Fantasy X-2. Though it's not - the third and fourth notes are both a pitch, maybe a pitch-and-a-half above the original notes. ...

Fellow Rayman 2 fans tell me the best version of the game is the Dreamcast version... so there's that.

Goodness, I was not expecting such a response on the Internet for this announcement. Then again, I come from parts of the interweb where Diablo is regularly poked with glee. I, personally, am ecstatic. This will fill out my college Blizzard collection nicely.

The whole "United Nations peacekeeping work" and "adopting children from Africa" thing tends to play well. I'm excited - I had also never heard of the comic before now, but it looks to be a fun movie with a decent premise and some good actors on board (by the way, the star is James McAvoy, who starred in The Last King of Scotland and Atonement, two fantastic movies; hopefully everybody knows who Jolie and Freeman are).

Sounds like a simple chord progression to me. I can't place it with anything, though you're right, it does sound like it would be right at home in the background of a fighting game. Buffalo Fighter?

I know there's a classic Pokemon project in the works, but I also know exactly how you feel. Once I've successfully hacked my way through my first mix (which will either be Metroid or something else, depending on how my weekend "vacation" goes), I want to do something from Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. It's definitely got a catchy soundtrack, as you've so verily indicated.

Yeah, I feel kinda the same thing - you've got about a zillion good things working for you in this piece, and the worst part is that nothing really "happens" until the solo... instrument (flute? ocarina?) comes in at around 2:10. Adding more texture in the form of another instrument would definitely help the overall sound, unless the effect you're going for is the feeling of being on a cloud, which is how I felt. Maybe I just like the ground too much. Drums were very nice - in fact, from 2:10 onwards could easily develop into a solid piece. I like what you're doing though. Keep it up!

That was quite enjoyable! Nice variations on the theme, solid rhythm and beat throughout... the intro feels a little weird to me, but overall I love it!