Eino Keskitalo

Yeah, what Nubioso said, all of it. It didn't sound good at all when the piano was so far in the background. Looking forward to the update. --Eino

Pretty cool stuff in this mix. I like the processing on the cheap strings.. I still imagine layering it with another sound (like a pad) like Harmony suggest could add to it, especially in the very beginning of the intro, where they're almost on their own there. Once more instruments come in, it sounds better. It does have a same tremolo pattern on each note, which is a little tiring.. if you can get some variation in there, it would be great. The chord progression in the intro, after you add the highest harmony at 00:14.. the second chord sounds terrible, out of place to me. Move the highest harmony up a semitone from where it is now in that chord, that sounds better, to my ear at least. I really, really like 01:04-01:17 with the quietest synth sound ever playing the progression and the very nice sounding hand percussion coming in. I also like the synthwork that comes in at 01:32. Are you sure you need 02:57-03:10? I'm really expecting a little break, a "quieter" section (like 01:04-01:17 I mentioned) or at least a change in the lead synth tone. Optionally you could insert such a section and continue with what is now at 02:57 onwards. For me the flow of the structure towards the end isn't quite optimal. In the outro there are those two notes which I really am expecting to resolve into something. Like playing the same sound a whole tone lower (I think!) as the final note with the final drums hit. Hope this helped! --Eino

Wow, that's an amazing source. Not much melody, so you have to be creative in that department. --Eino

Seconded. --Eino

Disc 3, track 6: Desert Nights Fun disco track. Overall it seems it would benefit from just a little bit more "punch" to it. Partially this impression may come from the fact that it's sandwiched between two rock tracks, but even when I listen to it separately it seems it's very controlled. Good sounds, I like the guitars and horns. Love the guitar from 01:17 onwards. The triplet feel is great. 02:08 break with the horns and the wah-wah guitar is great. The next section feels like it could use a foreground element, even something small. It's just a few bars though, and we're back in to the last go of the tasty main riff. The outro is great. The very final cymbal crash feels very exposed though. Disc 3, track 7: Strike of the Devil's Axes Guitar, guitar, guitar, oh my god, it's full of guitar. I like the somewhat rough sound. The artists' styles certainly seem to mesh very well here. Very inspired stuff. I somewhat agree with Rozovian in the review thread, that about the first half of the mix is monotonous in tone, alghough there's a lot of variance in the playing. The later half is much more varied and has more "air" in it, which is pleasant to these ears. I really like the rhythmic change-up at 03:10. The phased guitar in the next section is a welcome change in texture, and in the next section the rock is turned up to the full. Really like those big, wide, full overdriven chords from 04:35 onwards. The bass is out of the pocket in at least a couple of places, for example in the fill at 00:20. --Eino

Yeah, I thought that worked well. Great original too! --Eino

Not hearing this, myself. --Eino

Yeah, the first part the timing is so off, it's like two different songs playing on top of each other. The later half is somewhat loose but much tighter. The sound in the later half is ok, sounds like a cohesive whole. Could use a bass instrument, at least I can't hear one. --Eino

No, I mean (I just figured it out) that you start each melodic phrase on the first beat of the bar, when in the original they begin before it, in the previous bar. I hope you get what I mean. Was this deliberate? It could work but it sounds a bit awkward now, the rhythm of the melody could use some altering (make the seventh note earlier for instance). I'm not as clear as I'd like to be but hope that helps anyway. And btw I'm still enjoying the sound, the flute & violin sound mellotron-like. --Eino

Heh, you got all the things I had issues with and it turned out really great. This is a really fun song. The added vocals sound a bit louder than the last verse, which imho has a good balance. There's also a real loud breath in the mic after the first "travelling through" - which kinda works, being out of breath fits the song, but it's pretty loud and sounds like a mistake. In the last verse there's a similar breath but I didn't notice it until just now, I think it works there. Was it even intentional? It sounds like it could be. Great work! I hope you get more feedback as this is a good fun song. --Eino

Yeah, I liked this. Fun stuff. You should vary up the lead sound though, have another lead instrument alternate with it. It plays almost throughout the piece. --Eino

Yeah, that was solid and fun. The structure and writing were pretty good. I liked the vocals, the shouts included. I like how you use more wet or expanded sound like fills from one part to the next. The "lofi radio" bits likewise. I really think you could insert more vocals, have them all the way through the song. Before the vocals in it feels that the song lacks "center", a prominent foreground element. The vocals work great as that element. The leads aren't quite doing it. The 00:22-0:33 leads feel like support instruments. 00:39-00:45 bit is alright, the lead is prominent enough, but I wouldn't want to listen to that lead sound throughout the song. 1:08-1:17 is a fun lead, really simple, but a bit too simple and unexpressive.. long notes are kind of boring. It doesn't need much, just a little to liven it up (like doing just a little filtering with the long notes or something). Hope this was useful! --Eino

I can't get this to play. Try http://ocrwip.fireslash.net ? Source link would also be nice. --Eino

Sound is alright for me, playing is enjoyable to listen to.. enviable improv chops! I'm curious how much did you plan it ahead? Alas, I'm not really feeling this as a whole. First three minutes it feels like it goes the same thing around over and over without really changing enough. Yes, there are actually a lot of variations but it feels like it keeps saying the same thing, you know. Then when it changes, it's like it bridges to a separate song. It pretty much keeps the pace from the previous movement, which makes it sound even more even. So, the flow didn't work for me. I like the part from 4:11 onwards, I feel the piece really starts talking here. Left hand playing sounds kind of rugged and hesitant at places though, and it doesn't quite lift off the ground like it could. It's still decent, but not a keeper for me. Looks like the opposite for many other commenters though. --Eino

Interesting arrangement. I like the instrumentation. The guitar sound is not good, otherwise it's passable for me. Recording quality is quite lo-fi, yeah. It sort of adds to the charm, but that's possibly just me. It doesn't sound 100% deliberate (maybe I'm just too used to the original), but if it was played to the max that could end up great. --Eino

Long overdue comments. It was fun to hear how this track has evolved. Since you only listed negatives yourself, I'll post some positives: - the original writing fits well to the source - lots of good details - lots of creative arrangement ideas - details and arrangement ideas highlight the playful nature of the piece - the piece has a cohesive mood Just keep at it, it's worth it. I think it's a good idea to move on to the next project and have some more fun. Like I said from the start, in my opinion you clearly have the ear and creativity for this, all you need is to churn out lots of songs to practice it. =) --Eino

Good show again, some really good tracks, and I liked the talk on Commodore and chiptune scenes. --Eino

Disc 3, track 1: Tales & Trials Solid, pleasant orchestral track. Sounds fun and laid-back, with a few "serious" and more contemplative moments. I really like the 00:38-00:57 section and the french horn line around 01:00, as well. I tend to drift off a bit towards the end after about 02:30 mark, the ending is not perhaps quite as captivating as it could be. Great disc opener anyhow, and segues well to the next track. Disc 3, track 2: This Fate Perfectly complimentary to the more relaxed previous track. The mood flows really well between these pieces. I really like the material here, and the orchestration is spot on in my opinion. I like how isolated the wind leads sound in for example 00:38-01:02 and 01:35-01:40. The final minute is lovely. Disc 3, track 3: Smile and Forgive Charming track. I like the initial sound very much, when there's just the simple synth thing going on. Not that the glockenspiel, piano and percussion et al sounded bad - all fits together well. I also really like when the strings come in at 03:02, that's a good moment. The middle "drop-out" section is lacking, especially when the strings are bare for a moment, it's not an interesting sound by itself. This also is not a track that I'll return to on it's own, but in the context on the album the piece works alright. Disc 3, track 4: Café Mantra A favourite from the album. Great instrumentation. The bass is deep and warm, the percussion is very central to the track (often hand percussion sounds kind of auxilary), the mallets & electric piano are a great combination.. mellotron is always good. It just sounds great, and melodically and structurally it's also very satisfying. The piano solo is tasty. Great job! Disc 3, track 5: Chaotic Heart A change of pace from other Sixto tracks on the album. Poweful intro until 00:19. From there the clean guitar on the right sounds sort of out of place until the bluesy lead comes in at 00:41. The soundfield feels very left-oriented on headphones until that moment. The overdriven guitar is so much more full and the keyboards also feel like they lean left (which they might not do, it might just be the "vacuum" on the right side which makes it sound like that). After the lead comes it it's better. It's a great lead too, varied playing with a strong hook. Drums and bass are boring but I suppose it comes with the genre.. it's like stadium blues. Not a big fan, I'll admit. I like the break with the electric piano. The fadeout feels perhaps a little premature. --Eino

This update finally hits the halfway mark. Disc 2, track 10: Riddles in the Dark Such a weird track. And rather wonderful. Begins with a sparse, heavy, omnious piano in a large space. I really like the sound and the writing here. 00:38 the right-hand piano changes to high arpeggios and some strings are introduced. I like the rythmic shift, and also the shift back when it refrains the original feel with strings louder. *And* the next shift when the drums come in.. this track is always on the move. By 01:30 the feel is dizzying, like a picture bending out of it's frames. I like how sudden the chord change at 01:28 feels - I'm fully expexting it to continue in a dark, serious mood but it does unexpected changes, it's humorous, sort of tipsy. The title of the track is quite perfect. After 02:24 my first impression was of two pieces of music playing at the same time. The drunken feel definitely continues. 3:30 it pretty obviously shifts from one ReMixer's work to the next's. Rather than a seamless singular work, this is a segue of two related works. The style shifts, but the mood doesn't, which is great. I have to admit I don't find the later half evocative, like the first one. I like the sound though. And the segue in itself is aptly wierd. Disc 2, track 11: as time goes on Tricky track.. the combination of the source and the style of the execution is unique and has an unexpected appeal for me. On the other hand, there are a handful of clashing notes around the track which are quite unpleasant. The production is pretty good, the combination of sounds and instruments works well. The saxes sounds wonderful. The vocals sound fairly good. They're mixed back in the soundscape, which works well, but the tradeoff is that the lyrics are hard to hear. I'm not sure I like how you can hear the processing on the vocals, especially while they are exposed the most, but on the other hand I think it contributes to the sound positively too. Perhpas it could've been toned down for the middle. The source sounds challenging, and unfortunately there are awkward moments. The sax figures at 01:24 and 03:52 are definitely off the mark, and I feel there are other problematic spots as well. The end result is that the track is not quite there, which is quite sad as this is rather close to being really awesome. Disc 2, track 12: Deity Hard-hitting, cold sounding, powerful track. As little as I normally listen to pieces in this style, I enjoy this one. Some writing problems (which SirNuts already referred to). That harsh pad-thing instrument that sounds on the background at 00:30 for the first time is often dissonant, but that adds to the piece. The eerie background pad at 02:23 should definitely resolve into non-dissonant chord by 02:26 in my opinion. The dissonant chord we're left with at 02:36 is absolutely cool. The bass, or the arpeggios, not sure what to blame.. well, they go wrong after 03:08. (Possibly before, just can't hear it properly). The 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th bars of the eight bar chord sequence don't work - 03:12 starts sounding bad, 03:20 good again. 04:46-05:00 which doesn't have the arpeggios going sounds fine to me. With the arpeggios again, 05:43 onwards, it sounds better, only the 5th and 6th bars sound strange to me. I checked the source, it's a very effective and interesting take on the theme. Well interpreted. Disc 2, track 13: Sweet Dreams Hehe, this one is so not my thing at all, but I still get to hear it in this context.. I can tell it's really quite good. Some commenters in the review thread said the piano was a little too quiet/sax a little too loud, I agree (others don't), it is slightly overbearing. I have to actually turn the volume down to enjoy it. --Eino

Fantastic work! I think all the arrangement choices worked out great. I can hear a couple of strumming/timing fumbles in the track but that's about it. Fun track, simple, happy and powerful. OT: Mr. Pretzel, it's not "Wiki", it's Wikipedia. "Wiki" makes it sound like it's a wiki on this site. --Eino

Monthly update.. Disc 2, track 8: New Technology I love this track. I love it's harsh, abrasive sound. That ring-modulated line is ace. It's very tense. Good beats and percussion loops. It's a little rough, sounds kind of unmastered. Now that OverCoat has grown ears, if he made this one now it would probably sound quite beastly. Already a fine, thumping beastling as it is. Disc 2, track 9: Horizon's Walk Overall, this is a great guitar pop instrumental. The piano riff/melody of the song proper after the intro is so damned catchy, so good. It sounds fantastic with the acoustic guitar. I like the choppy drums too. And the sound the track begins with. So much to like here. That first bass flourish in the intro isn't to my liking - it just sticks out, it's like a potentially great fretless bass line but it's obviously a synth. Maybe it's just too loud in the mix. Otherwise the bass is pretty good, the octave oscillation works throughout the piece, the lines in the bridge, around 02:30 are very nice. I also like how the sound changes 02:50 (I only just noticed). I think the 01:14 lead guitar note is slightly off. Initially it bothered me so much it turned me off completely from the piece, and it kept bothering me. This time around it's was hard to hear anything wrong with it, so it's very subtle, but it's indeed there. It's the only brown moment in the whole piece, but it really did have a huge effect on how I felt about the piece. (This is a good time to let me know if you think I'm just hearing things..) It's a great part otherwise. Very evocative guitar sound! Sounds kind of ghostly to me. Nice work on the time signatures too. The move from 3/4 in the bridge to the 4/4 in the final solo is very effective. You took out 5/4 though. Not sure if that's a forgivable act. --Eino

http://www.ocremix.org/info/Frequently_Asked_Questions#Isn.27t_this_music_copyrighted.3F - sure, the sources are copyrighted. Technically you'd have to ask the copyright holders permission to make a derived work before making and distributing it. Game companies most probably don't mind the additional exposure towards their franchises, there for no cease and desist letters so far. I recall I read in an interview about SSF2HDReMix that, along the other paperwork regarding that project, Capcom explicitly gave OCR permission to use Capcom music, which is a cool thing of them to do. I might be wrong about any of the previous things. I really don't think the Facebook thing is about the apps or their content - it's for the user submitted content. Facebook would want to provide a profitable (ad-revenue) ground for appmakers, so that in the end their users used Facebook more. Them owning the apps & content of the apps would be a deterrent to anyone to expend effort & money into providing the apps. Again don't take my word for this. --Eino

Iji has a great one. --Eino

Excellent interview. Rock opera, hmmm? I'm certainly intrigued. Good stories too about starting the project, and the king of Sweden churning out great tracks. Previews were alrite too. =) --Eino

I like the genre switch, that worked well for me. The bass writing in the swing section was quite bad, it really throws me off. Walking bass should support the piece instead of wander aimlessly. The heavy distortion lead guitar in the first half was somewhat choppy in both sound and performance. There also seem to be a few guitar note choices that could've been chosen more carefully in both sections. Looks like nobody else in this thread minded these things much, though, so you should check it out. The first section was pleasantly energetic and apart from the bass the swing section was decent as well. --Eino