Eino Keskitalo

I expected the link to take me to a certain video on YouTube.

Eino Keskitalo Flight of the Peacock (Cyber Peacock in Observatory Hall [X]) Go Ahead And Jump (Vanishing Gungaroo in Observatory Hall) Disco is NOT Dead, Disco is a Giant Metal Seahorse (Toxic Seahorse in Observatory Hall [X]) Maverick Astley

Hoping to find the time to check it out asap! Ditto on the music.

Y'know Esperado, you keep getting better and I've always liked your stuff, the earliest PRC stuff I heard included. Don't worry, just keep at it, it's worth it. And I'm completely selfish in saying this.

Really cool arrangement. It has a narrative feel, it flows and develops in a manner that is quite captivating and enjoyable. Plenty of twists and turns. Only the ending is so sudden that it feels even lackluster. The final chord is reached suddenly, and it feels like a coda would fit the arrangement (returning to the bell-y stuff from the beginning, for instance). The source material is obviously there, this is decidedly Shovel Knight, not just compositionally but also in the feel, it's suitably dramatic. And while clearly recognizable, it's really creatively used with all the twists and turns. Production-wise, it has a very 90s workstation / 32 bit / early Redbook audio soundtrack feel (though with beefier overall sound). It works quite well. Bass could be punchier at times - sometimes it feels like it's a blerpy synth that doesn't quite cover the base. In those occasions, the drums feel a little exposed. They're a little mechanical, but I think it works in the general style of the arrangement. In the "dramatic synth organ parts" (can't timestamp right now..) the overall soundscape feels a little cheap. Otherwise it holds together. Leads sound great, expressive and versatile. Good work, can't really give production mixing/advice, but I would do something to the ending. Looking forward to the finished track!

I'll check this out for sure!

Been digging Fxsnowy's tunes on SFRG lately, and this one too is a delight. What Liontamer said - soundscape more delicate than thin - resonates with me. I like the tempo alterations, the sample retriggery-jiggery and the playfulness here in general. Good fun!

..he's gonna get TUBED

Really cool source tune. Can't wait to hear what Jorito comes up with with it! ..and everyone else as well. : - )

I get what you're saying about the music speaking for itself, but aren't you saying here that some people are better (or "better") at recognizing source usage anyway? So, a source breakdown can help with bridging this gap (I know it does it for me, definitely saves me time going comparing between the source and the arrangement). I make the final judgement if it's valid usage in the end anyway. Music should speak for itself as far as pure enjoyability of the piece is concerned. But there are other aspects where analysis helps me appreciate it more in several possible ways: references (incl. VGM arrangement), meaning or background/context of lyrics, production techniques, story behind the composition/circumstances of how the piece came together, etc.. Music is never without context & there is no "pure" experience of music. edit: Not that I didn't agree what you're saying about two of my favourite ReMixer's work..

There are many ways to arrange a piece, and in my experience as a listener it's not always all that obvious. For example, changing keys/modes or chopping up the source to elements and reshuffling them, or something like that is not always easy to pick up. Then a source usage breakdown can really help to spot what was done. Often times I go "a-ha!" and it clicks for me, and I hear the connection. Sometimes even afterwards I go "nah, I still don't recognize the original here". Either way, because the main thing to base your voting in this competition is how both sources were arranged together, source breakdowns from the arranger can really help. Of course, this doesn't necessarily have much to do with how enjoyable the music is (to me personally) or how technically competent it is, though I'll admit those things do influence my voting. I'll basically figure out the contenders for my top 3 based on do they arrange the themes together well enough (including how well they "flow" together and if they're free of "harmonic mistakes" resulting from combining the sources), then if it's particularly clever from the arrangement perspective, they're likely to place higher, but from there on I'll just pick the tunes I liked the best. Even if the track didn't really arrange both (or either) of the tunes together prominently, I might still enjoy it musically but I wouldn't vote for it.

I kinda miss this show! Good current topics I'd love to hear about: MAGFest Classic 2015, The Sigma Fortress Remix Gauntlet and Worlds Apart.

Here's a no-brainer deal, this game is PWYW in this week's Humble Weekly Bundle! https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly

Maybe I'll get up an hour earlier than usual and catch the later half!

Taking a break between blocks to write reviews sounds great to me at least in theory. I really admire and appreciate everyone who has written reviews for rounds. I just don't seem to have the time to sit down and write down what I have in mind from listening (at least for me, it takes a lot of time & relistening).

Eino Keskitalo Cyberfunk (Splash Warfly in Cyber Maze Core [X5]) Probe (Tunnel Rhino in Cyber Maze Core [X5]) Infinite Flight Cheat Code (Storm Eagle in Cyber Maze Core [X5]) Maverick Astley

Renoise instruments? Colour me interested!

I tought the harp arps were definitely among the most ear-catching elements of the source, but yeah, not very melodic (the upwards-downwards arp is almost just a scale up and down). Very interesting and challenging source for the voter as well, I had real trouble hearing it in many of the submissions! : )

Triumph of WillRock

"Brinstar mix from Platonist? Oh yes please!" That was my reaction, and the end result does not disappoint. I like to think I can definitely hear the sampler-based tracker sound aesthetic here, employed to great, distinct effect.. lofi-ish sounds used very tastefully, without (a lot of) mixing stage effects or trickery, just pure sequencing, and it's inspiring to hear that it is enough (of course it is, but you know). Enjoyable, curious mood which is not straightforward to pin down. I liked the fake ending style break around 3:29, and the very recognizable pattern repeat bit at 4:12 brought a smile to my face, and worked very well too.

Eino Keskitalo Crouching Tiger, Hidden Maverick (Neon Tiger in Sigma Palace [X8]) Requiem for a Reploid (Shield Sheldon in Sigma Palace [X8]) Leap of Faith (Vanishing Gungaroo in Sigma Palace [X8]) Maverick Astley

Man I'm so grateful for my teammates. First round, I had a decent submission that the other beAstleys made so much better. This time I'm embarrassed to say, I had super ambitious ideas I couldn't really have realized in even half-finished form without the hard work from the team, especially Jorito on the production end. Here's the source breakdown for our piece. For Frost Walrus I used the second theme: intro 0:00-0:15 Drum intro pays tribute to the timpani roll from the start of the Sigma source (Jorito made this a lot better). Chord progression on the bg strings is from 0:01-0:12 of the Sigma source. It's played at about double speed, so in compensation it's played twice. The chords keep climbing upwards on the second go. The delayed guitar at 0:10 plays the string riff from Sigma 0:10. It's not sped up like the chord progression, so it starts a bar earlier (lasting two bars instead of one). I really like Jorito's adventuring bassline here. I put a little pause at the end of the intro, because I felt repeating the chord progressions in this and the next part warranted a little breathing room. "verse" 0:15-0:40 The bg strings play the progression from Sigma's 0:14-0:22. Again it's played at double speed, and repeated four times this time. Lead violin mostly plays the highest note of the progression on the first go. Violin (and bass, nice) play the little upwards horn motion from Sigma's 0:24 at 0:28. Jorito seems to have incorporated that bit to the bassline quite nicely. At 0:35-0:40, there's the first bit from Frost Walrus, the downward arpeggio on the violin (from 0:00-0:08 of FW). Didn't apply the rhythmic feel where the first note starts before the beat. Jorito's bass adventure continues, and I really like Callum's guitar riff for this part too, with it's kinda polyrhythmic feel. chorus 1 a 0:40-0:52 Based on 0:24-0:47 from Sigma. The descending string staccatos are handled by guitars. Structure is kind of halved: instead of ABABABAC it's ABAC if that makes sense. Note choice at 0:46 not so good in retrospect. I'm not sure if the chord progression from that part is in there somewhere. The theremin-like wailing in the background uses the upwards horn from Sigma's 0:24, climbing up, and at 0:50-0:54 it comes back down with the FW downwards arpeggio. The bassline is from FW's B part at 0:26. I use the bassline a lot around the arrangement. The rhythm guitar riff also seems to follow it! <3 chorus 1 b 0:52-1:04 Structurally a repeat of chorus 1 b. The descending string staccato notes are there in the eight-note guitar riff, 3rd, 5th and 7th notes, rhythmically in the same place as in the original riff. FW B part bass continues. At 1:00, the thereminlike in the background plays the keyboard riff from FW B part (0:27). The violin riff at 1:03-1:05 is based on the Sigma string riff from 0:10. bridgeish 1 1:04-1:19 Based on 0:48-1:00 from Sigma: the chord progression, the upwards scale at 0:48 and the chromatic downwards scale at 0:56 are used. I can't remember if the violin lead is supposed to be based on FW lead at 0:34.. The keyboard riff from 0:27 is played very quietly on the bacground at 1:12-1:14. 1:11-1:18 the FW B part bass line is there again. 1:18 I felt the structure needed a little breather again. "let's prog" 1:19-2:06 The clean guitar riff is the string riff from Sigma 0:10, the last 16th note dropped off. The bass line is again based on FW B part bass line. At 1:27 you hear the FW keyboard riff from 0:27, followed by the downwards arp melody from the start of FW. 1:32, Jorito's organ solo, which references the keyboard riff. 1:52, the chord change from FW 0:04. It bears to mention Jorito extended this part to a good effect. Really like the riff Callum wrote for this part! bridgeish 2 2:06-2:31 Structurally, it's the same as "bridgeish 1", only played twice. On the first pass, the upwards scale is played by violin (quite far in the background), and on the second pass, it's the guitar. The chromatic bit is played only in the end, during the second pass. At the start, organ plays the melody at 0:34-0:40 from FW, and sounds really great, good job by Jorito there. 02:12-> the keyboard riff from FW, violin plays something in the background, probably also based on the FW melody the organ plays (maybe 0:46-0:52). Didn't take notes at this point anymore. Then, organ returns, playing the second variation on the aforementioned FW melody. chorus in 7/8 2:31-2:58 The clean guitar plays the string staccato figure from Sigma, sped up. I'm afraid the writing for the guitar isn't quite spot on. 2:41-2:47 violin figure is based on the upwards scale at Sigma's 0:48. 2:53-2:57, the violin is supposed to reference FW melody at 0:34. Jorito shortened this part to a good effect. I also like how he kept the bass quite simple here. coda 2:58-> Chord progression from the intro of the Sigma tune is used here again, repeated through the coda. FW has this whole-note line 0:00-0:27. This is played by the wailing synth, at 2:58-3:11 it's in a "wrong key" if that makes sense, then the later half (3:13-3:24) is at "correct" pitch. In the later half, the downward FW arp is also added, as is the related chord change, and the Sigma intro chord progression adjusts itself to it. Finally, the bell-y synth plays the string riff from Sigma's 0:10. I'm a bit surprised that several people in the chat log thought the piece doesn't have an ending. I like the effect of an unresolved chord at the end of a tune (I suppose this is like that) - maybe it doesn't quite work here, perhaps since the piece is a bit short (esp for all the prog rock influence) and the idea (something like "unfinished business") isn't quite conveyed but just feels abrupt. And that concludes my essay.

*cue With a Little Help From My Friends*

Esperado, I really dig Wrong Boss Room, but I couldn't figure out Sigma source usage apart from a bit of chords. Can you break it down a little if you're around, I might change my vote : - )

Eino Keskitalo Sins of the Syndicate (Gravity Antonion in Final Weapon [X4]) Eww! Seaweed! (Toxic Seahorse in Final Weapon [X4]) Vector Point Engineering Sigma Fortress (Blizzard Buffalo in Final Weapon [X4]) Maverick Astley