Eino Keskitalo

Well, three competing entries for each without extensions isn't actually bad at all.

Happy birthday! Thank you for all the great feedback on the workshop forums!

Excellent! Yeah yeah get to it! Expect now that I listened to it it didn't sound like it was tripping over itself.. if I practice & record it to that rhythm it should fall into place, if it sounds off I can always adjust it then. I've got to get off my arse with this.

Heading in to the Abyss Dramatic piano opening, very cinematic. Percussion & strings support well as they come in. The 0:15-0:59 stretch is a bit too long. There's a hint of a very nice melody carried by the "middle" piano range, which could be strengthened (not necessarily more notes). I like that the piano arp goes up and down in the octaves, but perhaps the transition could climb up and back down if that makes sense. Piano needs some humanizing throughout. At 1:15 again a very cool orchestral interpretation of the riff from the original. Very fitting & very fresh. Certainly a bit short. Very eager to hear how this progresses. I'll comment on my track too, that the time signature stuff sounds messy and unclear at least until the bass starts moving & the support melody comes in. I'll try to make it more natural, maybe have it play straight 4/4 until that part. Now everyone should have comments on their latest WIP.

The Princess Is A Cow This is a cool rock guitar jam. I assume the bass, lead guitar & wah guitar are live. There's constant improv on the guitar throughout. I'd like instead of the fade-in there'd be a more measured establishment of the theme before going into improv. The piece is quite short as well - it'd be good to have a section that doesn't put the lead guitar to the front. The overall mix is indeed a bit washed out. The drums sound quite soft. At first I thought they're a bit too busy but now I don't hear it that way. The synth arpeggios are fairly loud in the mix, play busily constantly and seem to hog a lot of the EQ range (not sure). It'd be good to have them give up a bit of room, both in the mix and in the structural sense (play less at times and stuff). Overall I think the sound of the mix is quite well established and pleasant to listen to, so it's definitely near the mark. I quite like the style. With a more fully realized structure this is going to be very nice. I like the treatment of the descending riff from the original. I definitely dig the siney support melody synth in the last half.

Seems like the feel of the piece changed a great deal, which is interesting. Really nice groove from 2:26 onward. The previous version was leaning into a trancey direction, and this feels much more like 80s synthy technoy stuff. The intro is quite long. The synths that are on the forefront up to 0:24 are very flimsy. Nice icy pads at 0:24. 1:09 hits the groove. It's relying on the same part of the source which despite the variations is making the structure feel monotonic. I believe the descending riff would sound great at 0:53 and 1:39. At 0:53 in a lighter feel (pre-build up) and 1:39 keeping the heavier beat oriented feel, would be good climax and I think would continue well into what follows next in the current 1:39-> The bell-y arp is playing constantly from 0:30, which adds to the monotonous feel of the structure, and also is taking up quite a lot of space in the mix. It should take a break every now and then (you can also try switching the instrument playing the arp from time to time). It's good that it has some effect/filter automation going on. So yeah, working on the structure will bring the piece some great strides forward. I liked the original writing/interpretation, for instance the long progression with the pad at 0:38-0:53 + the bassline at the last section, 2:26 forwards.

Loving the tom fills! Quick structure comments: 1. Nice ebb and flow, build-up and climaxing. 2. I'm fully expecting the piece to go to that descending riff at either 1:15 or 1:39 (where it would be kind of delayed gratification). It's relying on the A-part too long after the first descending riff. 3. I quite liked the 0:58-1:15 part in the 2012 arrangement, see if you could work that in? I also liked the low-key ending in that arrangement quite a bit, especially the pad+hihat at 3:28-3:45 was lovely.

Super lovely. I am much appreciative of the ambientsy intro, it's very carefully measured, as is the whole track, lovely restraint but not without impact. I've been playing a lot of FTL and listening to its wonderful soundtrack, and this fits into that mood quite well.

I endorse Rozo's guide, helped me out a ton.

Sorry - the whole family has fallen sick and everything is behind schedule.. stuff is taking precedence. aka the dog ate the homework, but an update on the WIP is coming ASAP. Certainly should be before January.

I notice this is still missing! But what I came to report is that Time Traveller's Delight is missing the album sleeve from the ReMix page. This is a real issue in our household, as the three-year old wants to listen to music from Temporal Duality, but apparently will not believe it's a track from the album if the sleeve is not there.

Yes, absolutely. I've got two of my previous PRC tunes posted (reworked, of course) and Sir_NutS just had a Mirror's Edge piece from PRC posted.

Not a source you mentioned, but Futebol Arte has a Mario Striker Charged track.

Yes, it's ok to keep WIPs public. You'll get more feedback that way (sorry I've been so slow). (It's also ok to PM them to me if you didn't want it public.)

Yes! This is an excellent motion. And this is a good way to go about it IMO, nothing fancy, just a thing to do something collectively & collect up the goods. I'll do my best to find some time to make something. I already participated in the Shovel Knight compo with Jorito (though finishing those up is certainly an idea), but my favourite soundtrack (and game) from 2014 is Studio Pixel's Kero Blaster, so I'll try to do something from that (I have several ideas already). There's a ton of other goodies on the indie/retro front, but I'm also interested what sort of modern modern stuff will surface.

Voted as well! Nice to see PRC going strong for two solid rounds back to back!

Some quick-ish comments to some of the pieces: (edit: also, Tommy Tallarico retweeted this so there's no backing out of this now! ) User Your PLASMA! Overall this is an energetic trance-style electronic arrangement, with some quite good sounds and a lot of potential! I for one quite like the double bass sound, it has a nice grainy texture. It is a bit loud in the mix (and probably. taking up EQ frequencies especially after the intro). It is also kind of static.. instead of legato (i.e. playing all the time when it plays), it could have little 8th note rests before each new note to make it a bit more rhythmical. I also don't like the slow attack, how the volume swells up during the note (I'd try compressing it). All that said, I like the texture it adds, plus it's the most unexpected sound in the mix so far, so it gives the whole piece a bit more character. OTOH I don't mind if you want to get rid of it. Structurally, there is development throughout, and the changes that happen as it progresses are good, also good reinterpretation without ever losing the source. It is however a bit samey still - using the descending riff from the source would break things up and add a lot of excitement. 0:46 would be a good spot to first use it. I like the overall sound around after 1:00, I like how the tune progresses into that. The mix does get quite busy/crowded. It might help to have either the "icy drops" arp or the siren like synth be the lead and mix the other into a support role. You could even change their balance midway through the part, if that works. Structurewise, after this part going to the descending riff again would probably work very well. Use Your Body Very tasteful 80s synth piece. I like the extended percussion-heavy section, and the arrangement/interpretation overall, again never losing the source. Not much to criticise, I agree with other feedback that the lead first playing at 0:57 is taking a lot of space in the mix EQ-wise, and maybe plain volume-wise too. Love the vibrato+filter applied to it at 1:46! The only other criticism at this point would be that I feel the EP is a little lonely at the intro - some other sound, like a texture or ambiance might work as an addition. Looking forward to the update! Heading into Worm Territory Love the piece, great ambience, the slowed-down feel is a very nice take on the original.. it goes into bluesy emotional territory. I especially like how you handled the descending riff - really impressive & effective. The soloing is very nice, and the bassline is subtle but tasty. I think timaeus222 preeetty much covered what I had in mind for criticism. Thinking about the structure that way would help the dynamics of the piece a lot. I felt the drums were quite same-ish (there's differences, but not much in feel) and also all the drums are kind of loud, there's not much subtlety to the rhythm and I'm surprised I don't head e.g. hihats or something like that in there. But these may all be a part of what you're going for, and considering the overall structure seems like a better feedback/approach than "add some hihats"

Still this. *sigh*

That'd be great gercr, please ask him! We'd need front cover at minimum - basically, something EWJ related with the title ("Earthworm Jim: Use Your Head - PRC281 EP" would be fine IMHO), probably some OCR logos and stuff assuming we get the official status. Back cover with the track & artist listing would be nice. CD label would be fun. Then there'd be theoretically the art assets to do a physical print (CD jacket) (no, I'm not suggesting that'll be happening )

I have an update here. It's still just a short sketch, and those are definitely the same sketch guitars. I went for some time signature trickery (which is different from the PRC version). That's kind of my creative go-to (or a crutch ) when stuck what to do with the piece.

Arecibo Radio is also something worth investigating. Bunch of OCR people have shows there (Kyle, JH Sounds, Overcoat, Dyne, Cyril the Wolf, jmr) and it seems like they take one-off shows, or at least shows that have irregular schedules. A show dedicated to OCR compos wouldn't be a bad idea, actually. =)

That sounds like a great idea! Certainly worth to attempt.