Eino Keskitalo

Very enjoyable! I do like the 16-bit vibe, absolutely. Great leads - true about that "fake guitar" - that's a fantastic sound. It does need work on other aspects of production. While the synths are pretty good, and some are great, drums really, really lack nearly all the required energy and punch. The bass is too loud, and rather boring also, especially during the green hill zone sections such as :36-1:16. It sounds better/more fitting in the next part, though. When the first part starts again after the drum solo, it's pretty much the original part over again - that point would definitely need something new happening. There's also a conflicting chord at 00:13 and in the subsequent repeat. I often like some dissonance in my music but that's not the good sounding kind. I liked it and hope you make it great. --Eino

Ahhh, that was probably what made it sound so different. You see, I almost made a point that I liked those solos, even though I don't usually care for such solos. I couldn't figure out why that sounded good to me, so I left it out. Not that I really understand much about modes and tonics, myself. Maybe I just have massive rust in my ears, but it doesn't sound bad at all to me, very much the contrary. I don't know how it would sound changed the way you suggest, but I suspect it would sound more oridinary to me then. Now it has this tension, which is good. --Eino

That koto sounds great now! Don't know if you even did anything to that.. You could introduce the cello a bit later than the koto, say at 01:22-ish. Arrangement/structure-wise you get thumbs up from me. Plenty of ass-kicking, pleasantly brief slow/quiet sections to catch breath with. List of what to improve: * The clean guitar doesn't sound quite in the pocket at 01:40-01:46. * Unfumble the bass fubmle break around 02:00; it sounds like the bass player messes up his/her spot in the limelight * The clean rhythm guitar at the part from 02:03 onwards: not tight enough. Also the sound is weak to me. Try to get more "ring" and "space" into it, kind of how an acoustic guitar would sound.. I hope you catch what I mean. * The dual lead bit from 03:24 onwards sounds out of sync. --Eino

I feel like putting a disclaimer here: the following is my humble opinion, feel free to fiercely disagree! This just doesn't gel for me at all until 01:50, and then I only like that particular section. I really, really like "Yet Even More Fighting" and I also appreciate "Death Stroke", which didn't pass the judge's panel if I recall correctly. This just sounds curiously dud to me.. which might mean that the penny will drop big time on another day. I'm not familiar with the original, which might help. Here's my list of complaints (I realize this might be quite harsh): a non-meshing, dry soundscape, nothing exciting happening there apart from that one section. Pacing and structure of the piece feels even/flat despite all the different parts and the various details. The snare sticks out. The synth lead is horribly lonely and simple sounding, especially 01:22-01:40. KC has used similar synths succesfully earlier, but here it (both in sound and sequencing/playing) sounds like a placeholder to me - the whole thing actually sounds like only a demo! On the good side, the guitar playing is good throughout and I have no quarrel with the guitar sounds either. I feel a bit bad giving such a negative review, but there it is. :/ --Eino

Very good track even while not my style at all. I appreciate the title. The cello does sound really really wierd, the first note sounds like a very bad horn, but I can see it's already being taken care of. Koto sounds funny as well, fairly cheap. I'd maybe try playing with the sound a little, see if any effects (echo stuff, chorus) would spice it up. That's just me. Maybe even try to achieve a similar sound/feel with an effected clean guitar. I'd also try to foreshadow the koto and the cello before they come in, it feels like it jumps from the bushes a bit (is that a proper saying, heh?). That might be what you're after, of course. Guitar playing is good. It's not the tightest, but I'd say it's tight enough, it's spirited and the sound is good. Good work! --Eino

This sounds very intresting. I like the percussion approach and the pads.. good atmosphere, I enjoy it. I like what you're going for here. Overall it sounds like you're progressing in skill at a fair pace, keep it up! I especially like the transition at the end.. I have to disagree about drums having no energy or that the beat would need to be more steady. Sure, it sounds sequenced and the samples aren't the most pristine, but they work pretty well as they are. I don't think a super-realistic approach would be the best for this song. --Eino

Well, this one definitely makes me smile and relax, so it's all good. It's not like it's my favourite kind of sounds or style or anything, but that's probably because I'm much too serious for my own good. Cheesy as hell, but just what I needed today, right now! --Eino

Really, really cool vibe in this one. I for one really like the polyrhythm with the piano, it's one of the main attractions for me. --Eino

Kudos! That is an admirable achievement. I can't imagine anything more soul-drenching, horrifying, mind-numbing or plain boredom-inducing than (a) reading or ( aiming to produce posts that try to entertain every possible average user here, or anywhere else. Cheers! --Eino

Good stuff! I find there are styles of solo piano I like and some that I don't like (well.. d'oh), and this is something I like. Yay! Also, JJT's judge decision made my stomach hurt. Worth checking out. --Eino

Ahh, I'm eagerly anticipating this one! One of the games that have totally blown me away, one with really really good music.. and a good-looking line-up as well! --Eino

Gotta agree with SnappleMan about the bass drum, it really seems like it's eating up more than it's share of the soundscape. Makes it hard to concentrate on the other instruments. This on (decent) headphones, with proper speakers it's probably worse. Should be easy to fix, I hope! This really isn't my genre, so I can't comment much on other stuff. The brief layered guitar lead at the end did catch my ear in a good way, though. I liked how that sounded. --Eino

Hey, glad to see this updated! It sounds improved. The harsh lead isn't harsh anymore, great! I see you managed to achieve that without really changing the basic sound, nice. --Eino

Are my headphones broken, or does a fart cushion feature prominently on this track? --Eino

Along with Tackle's Ball of Balos, this is my favourite track from the CS remix project. It perfectly channels Cave Story (the intro makes the hair on my arms stand!), but the whole flute-rocking vibe is completely original, fantastic playing! Like someone said before, for all the length the piece has, it never gets boring. I love it when the bass drops out for extended periods of time - like djp said, it adds a floating quality to the track. And when it kicks back in, whoa! --Eino

Uuuh, uuh, uuh, one of my favourite source soundtracks. Even though you asked for arrangement comments only, the bass is so overpowering as it is it's a bit hard (for me) to hear past it. But you'll fix the muddiness, and I like the bass in general. Ok, arrangement comments. I really like the drums, love those little rolls (or what are they?) on the snare. It's quite slow, which gives a very tense/anticipatory feel to the track. The organ is a bit.. light for that. It's also so quiet it's hard to notice. Which isn't necessarily a bad effect, it works great in the support role in the b-part (1:05 starting). I also *love* how the bass goes there. I think in general you could add some tense soundscapes, sfx-style things to the mix, there's quite a bit of room there and it sounds a bit sparse, like there could be more stuff happening in there. I'm just absolutely, absolutely ENVIOUS about the variations on the theme you start throwing in at 2:50. That's awesome, amazing stuff, hair-rising, back-of-arm-tingling! Wow. This makes me happy. --Eino

Weird harmonies at the start (once again a piece I don't know as the original), but the only thing that actually sounds bad is the piano chord at 00:14. Or possibly how the string instrument goes up till 0:14. Something there doesn't mesh for me, although what (I think) you're going for is good. I like how this sounds, although it has trouble catching my complete attention. I get the feeling it's lacking a centre, something which to follow throughout. I don't feel it "resolves" to anything. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it, but it has potential for more. --Eino

One Must Fall rules! That vocal could be tighter, but it was fun to hear. Sexy Loch meshes rhythmically better and sounds really, really, really, spooky. --Eino

Whoa, the bass does chord changes! Yes, that livens it up a lot. Maybe it also loses some of the "intensity" that comes with keeping the bass at one chord. (I personally like the effect a lot.) So you might want to consider doing that somewhere in the more melodic parts. Doing it in one spot might be very cool. I think you've also reduced the amount of sounds going on. I kinda liked it that busy. With the bass moving around more and less audioshrapnel flying through the air it does sound less energified than the previous one. On the other hand, I think the audio quality in general has improved a step - don't know if you actually did any mixing/mastering changes apart from the bass and removing stuff. Overall I think this was very much an improvement. Great going! --Eino

Sounds pretty good to me. Good energy, drives forward. Lots of attention to detail, especially the continuously changing percussion. Lot of it to me sounds like not-the-greatest-samples or whatever but the end result is pretty good. I like the synth textures, especially the intro bit. Hmm. Intrestingly despite all the detail this piece sounds pretty static to me.. but in any case, I've listened to it half a dozen times quite happily, so there might not be anything wrong with that. I'm not head over heels, but I do enjoy listening to this. --Eino

That's DEFINITELY a happy accident that should be written into the arrangement proper, repeated a couple of times and what not. Just in my humble opinion of course, but there's potential right there! --Eino

I like the general sound of this one. Synths mesh into the rock band sound quite nicely. Overall the arrangement is quite intresting, apart from the ending - I agree with Roz's feedback on that. This baby deserves a blast after the build-up! I don't like the piano much, somehow that note sequence doesn't sound good at all to me, even though it's the same as the guitar before, isn't it.. strange that! Some of the guitar playing needs to be a lot more fluid. That's my major beef with this track. Namely, the acoustic strumming in the intro, the acoustic "leads"/picking in the intro, and the electric lead. They need to sound more fluid, natural and lively. The lead is a major feature and simply has to sound better (it even sounds a little off key to me), and the guitar at the intro is right there from start making a first impression, so it should be better as well. I'm not quite sure if the sound of the acoustic guitar is good in the intro. I don't know if it's too lofi or not lofi enough! It might be that the playing just needs to be tighter so it'll sound good. I really like the synths there. There are some wtf chords in the distorted backing at 01:07-01:09, 01:45-01:47, 02:11-02:13 and 02:24-02:25 - it sounds like you make a mistake. Of course, you do it consistently four times so it's not a mistake, but a bad part. Change it. Overall though, the distorted backing works well and sounds good, as do a couple of other guitars: the figure that starts at 01:47, and the low distorted/flangered guitar at the end. Also, bass guitar works good. You've got a bit dirty sound on it, I think? That works well for the track. Overall a very promising track, and a creative arrangement (I trust - I don't know the originals) so it's very much worth working on! Keep up the good work! --Eino

With left hand, you mean the melody (first just the same note) you start at 01:35? That's a wonderful bit, indeed. (Also, the second part, where it moves to those minor chords?) I have to admit, this has started to grow on me as it is. And I usually do like this sort of stuff, it has the kind of mood I like, good bass/chord changes, good texture on the piano, so I should like it. Now I've started thinking it ends where it should really take off.. but when a piece is "too short", I usually think you should just listen to it again. I don't know, maybe I'm just getting overcritical.. I'm eager for that finished version. --Eino

I like what you've got here. But in my humble opinion it's crying out for some foreground action. It sounds like the piano part from a duet with another instrument. It's pleasant as it is, but a bit bgm:ish. If you want to keep it solo, you'll need more variation/soloing style stuff (precise musical therms here..). I might change my mind with a better recorded version (although this one has it's own charms). Heh, I really dig your Leafcutter mix too! --Eino

Hehe, hope I'll still like it. Good call, it was quite drenched in reverb. Moderate reverb should be good. That's probably part of the problem - now it really sounds that at places you just add some notes with the sole aim to be more liberal with the source! Of course you have to be interpretative.. I don't know CT soundtrack through and through, so what are the originals in this one? I have the rip from Zophar; the first theme you have is "The Day the World Revived" and the second is "At the Bottom of the Night".. did I get them right? I could do side-by-side comparison and comment on your creative choices on the arrangement. Give a bit more detailed feedback where I think your interpretative choices work and don't work (all in my humble opinion of course). If it's mostly those two tracks, it sounds to me you're already doing pretty well making this your own piece, with just the instrumentation, pacing, dynamics et cetera. cheers! --Eino