Eino Keskitalo

Fast and pleasant, feels like gliding. A great track. --Eino

A great round it was! Congrats to the top three, all excellent tracks in my opinion. Thanks to all those who gave feedback to all the songs - I know I didn't manage to do that this round. Thu: >Ronery Star by evktalo - Low quality samples gives this a 90s feel which I can't really >stand. The main beat is great. Make sure the bassline follows melody alterations, it > just gave a very disharmonic impression now. Thanks for the beat compliment! I haven't done a lot in this sort of genres. I made the bassline stay in the same place the whole time intentionally and think it works ok. Making the bassline follow the chord changes would have made it livelier, but I went for a static or tense feel. I unfortunately lack the skills to analyze that theoretically. (I think you meant the non-changing bassline with that comment.) There are a couple notes that are intentionally dissonant (or so I guess), but they resolve quickly - I think! They are the high "additional" lead note at 01:46, and the points at 01:53 and 02:01. --Eino

Unfortunately the original, now that I've heard it, sounds better, more energetic and varied. I still like those hypershuffling drums, they're nice and quirky. --Eino

I liked the bassline so much, I tried to get some friends to do a co-op with me, I planned to record the bass on a bass guitar and have someone else to do the rest. Well, that didn't take fire, so I ended up throwing something together from scratch in Schism Tracker all by myself.. and not using the original bassline or bass guitar at all. --Eino

Ooh, I love this. Right up my alley. I don't mind the blaring on the guitar, it fits right in in my opinion. The imperfection of the recording is half the charm. The cellphone is a bit piercing, though. Never mind that. This isn't just a funny track, the arrangement is really good, rather beautiful in places. --Eino

I was surprised to see the date. It's rock solid. I especially like that little thing done with the violin (and later guitar), that "stuttering attack" thing. Things like that make sampled instruments go a mile longer than when played "as is". Heck, of course they're good on real recorded takes too. This is a fine track in all the other respects as well (and yeah, I'm reminded of Monkey Island too), but that's a great detail! --Eino

It's fun to see Shnabubula give some love to this track, as the production definitely reminded me of his tracks. While this isn't as wild as those in the rhythm and melodic and harmonic reinterpretation.. and stuff.. the production wildness is definitely up to par. Great source (I'm playing the game at the moment..), and the industrial treatment fits it very well! The actual melody is quite buried much of the time, but it's audible. Many of the synth textures are quite gorgeous (esp. with the reverb). I'm not overly fond of the vocal snippets, I think they're mixed surprisingly up front. They don't feel "pasted on" but somewhat underworked. The piece also feels a little on the long side, but not overtly so. Good track! --Eino

I think the beat, and everything up to when the melodies start are decent (esp. for a mix of this age), but when they do come in it's not too good. I basically agree with OA, the first lead is way too simple, and the melodies feel pasted on without regard to key. I didn't mind the long intro at all, I liked it and it got my expectations up (which was good) but unfortunately the piece didn't deliver. --Eino

I'm glad you're working on this again! I loved the previous final version as well, but don't mind ongoing development. Without comparing to a previous version, here are some comments on the areas you've done changes in: Drum sound works for me. There's the added chip lead in the 01:19- section? It jumps out a bit, especially when it plays the "fragmented" lead bits. When it first comes in it's kind of unexpected. Maybe you can try to have it "unsubmerge" rather than just appear mid-bar, fading in, using some effects.. or something. I like the writing. Drumming works for me. Intro sounds fine. The delay is in the chip part, right? I think it's better now than if it was drier. --Eino

quick comments: The intro is better (I still miss that crash cymbal hit I mentioned ) and you've fixed the weird bass notes, good! Drumming's better too. I (continue to)really like how you build/layer things as the piece progresses. And the basslines too. --Eino

I like the bassline. I'm not sure if the highest note is in the right key, it's in major key while the other instruments are in minor key. I think. I listened to this in laptop speakers first. The bongo/percussion sounded extremely mechanical, and the melody and strings are buried way back in the background. Listening with pretty good headphones: it sounds very bassy, but not muddy to me. The bongos fit much better to the beat . Even though I can hear them better this way, the strings and piano are still mixed too low. They need to be brought UP. The piano is out of rhythm. The last note of each two bars is noticeably early. I really like the synth textures. The worbly strings are great. The (original?) section from 1:30 is really good. Only the first short snare fill is disrupting. --Eino

Bass on Ripples of Time is very nice now. Adds a whole new dimension to the track. It adds restleness, which is great for this. The added sound effects are great. I like the ending as well. Very well done in all, chilling, evocative. I love this track. --Eino

With mixes like these, I'm starting to realize.. I actually really like trance?! What?! --Eino

Another mix discovered thanks to the "missing lyrics" thread, hehe. I'm enjoying this a lot. I find those vocals *great*. Very well used effects on them. They're a bit too buried in the mix. I think overall the mixing is lacking - the sounds don't mesh and sound mostly "straight from the can", and especially the bass instruments sound "all over the place". It's not too bad, just quite unpolished. Many of the sound choices are pretty good in themselves, the harsh snare percussion for instance (a bit too harsh on the ears), and the 80s keyboard that first comes in at 00:08. I also like the figure that it plays. Other arranging is good as well, and supports the chosen genre/style well. I'm not sure if the structure/pacing is the best, it's a bit on the long side for instance. Also, this piece reminds me of Yellow Magic Orchestra, which is always a plus! Even with it's flaws It's a keeper. --Eino

Fantastic stuff. I love how there are so many gems to discover in OCR even after listening for so long.. --Eino

Thanks for your viewpoint A-RoN, it's making me think. Why only lyrically, why not musically too? You can pick your audience too, which in my humble opinion & modest experience is a healthy thing to do. I appreciate that OCR has broadened my musical horizons especially because of the arrangement and interpretation focus. The vgm material here are like jazz standards and everyone's encouraged do their own takes on them. --Eino

Looks like a neat and inventive game, and I like the look as well. --Eino

Nice work expanding three chords worth of material. =) I like it, very emotional, very yearning. The wind scene theme feels a bit tacked on, spoiling the mood. It's not a bad idea to fit it in there, but I think you could modify the melody to fit this particular piece better, while it still would evoke the wind scene theme. --Eino

Nah, you have to work on making your style work. --Eino

Great stuff man! This one hooked me from the first seconds and it's hard to shake the first impression off. I love the acoustic guitar and piano. 00:50-> is grand. There *is* an iffy spot at 02:40-02:43 where it goes a bit dissonant in a bad way. I think I can live with that. Overall, gorgeus. Good work! --Eino

I enjoyed NSMB very much, and this track was a pleasure when I first heard it. I've kept it and it still is fantastic, it's lush, it keeps the Super Mario feel to it and yet expands it into new territory. Great job! --Eino

This is some cheese I can't stomach regularly, so I won't be keeping this, but it definitely made me smile. The d-d-d-de-destroy bit is ridiculous, I can't get it out of my head. --Eino

Good job with this track. I enjoyed it! --Eino

Congrats! Loads of happy news this month.

Pretty funky! I enjoyed this. I agree with the critics in earlier posts. The writing in the piano parts isn't substantial enough yet. Good key change at the end. --Eino