Palpable

I really wasn't feeling this much (listening to the updated version). The drums were very mechanical and plodding, and some of the regular instruments were rigid and dry. The mixing is fairly cluttered in the most busy sections, and I think the less important elements need to be shoved more in the background in situations like that. Everything is vying for attention at the same time. No offense, but the song sounded like it was made quickly and rushed off. There's a lot more you can do to balance out the levels, humanize the parts, and generally polish the song. NO (resubmit)

Gotta agree with Will that the levels going up and down was pretty distracting, as was the panning. The rhythm guitar was anemic and not even that audible, while the lead guitar was a little dry. In all, the arrangement is way outshining the production. With the right production touch, this would be a pass, but as is, it's not there. I think it would be helpful to try to compare your song to a similar professional song and try to match the levels and EQ. That might be very helpful for you. NO (resubmit)

Shite, forgot to check on this thread about possible group reg. Well, at least I am registered now and shall be attending.

Not the best production but good enough, and performance-wise this hit the target. Even the half-assed-ness of it worked for me, the out-of-tune vocals were a little funny in their own right. I recommend not reading the lyrics first. YES

Robbie knows how to do 80's. What a badass homage, especially the "oh"s. Catchy as hell. I would count all the way up to 1:55 because of the way the chords are used, especially the weird bridge section of Cold Man, which is unmistakable for the first four chords. That alone puts this at a number I'm comfortable with, but I also thought the "taken me a million miles from home" part was a mod of the main Wily melody (0:14 of source) and Will is correct that the chords for that section are straight out of Wily (though somewhat simple chords). In all, I'm feelin' this one. Certainly not the easiest call but enough there that I feel comfortable passing it. YES

Oh hottness. I don't quite remember the last version except that it was crazy but unpolished. This is crazy and awesome. The first minute and a half seemed a bit liberal to count, but there were enough sections where you were ridin' that source. YES PLEASE

Derek sent me the WAV and I tried to work some magic on it to make the volume louder and widen it a bit. Please revote on it. Also, check for clipping cause I have a tendency to miss that kind of thing. I don't think it's too arrogant to change my vote to a YES? YES

Remixes of remixes are allowable under the standards, but I don't know of any that have passed. Here's our decision for one that did not. Check out our comments on that thread for more information about how a remix remix could be passable.

Sorry Wina, this needs work production-wise. The drums are very dry, the live instruments are a little unrealistically sequenced. The buzzy synth lead also didn't seem like the best fit. The track has kind of an odd mix of sounds to it and it doesn't really work for me - hard to describe why exactly. I did like some of your arrangement ideas but the song needs more focus and polish. NO (resubmit)

As Gario mentioned, we don't list out direct posts in the status thread. Don't worry, we haven't lost your submissions or anything. I double-checked that we have both, and one of them is fully ready to be posted. Hopefully we can get that one up on the front page soon.

The horns were pure cheese, but with everything else sounding so good, it's pretty easy to get past. In the right mindset, it adds to the manic pace. Yeah this is a pretty hard song not to like, there's just so much energy in it. Mixing could have been cleaner but whatev. YES

Very cool arrangement. Moody, brooding, majestic in equal turns. The only thing I could nitpick is that in the early parts it sounds like you're running into the limit of your compressor and there's some slight clamping going on. This is badass enough that I am fine with it as is, but probably the mixing could have been fixed a little bit to prevent that from happening. Great work, please send us more! YES

Production and sequencing were not bad, but I agree with OA that the structure hewed too close to the original. His comment about the horns is also dead-on. He didn't mention this but I thought it really could have used more rise and fall, rather than staying so energetic throughout. It felt like it was hitting you over the head, and it got a little repetitive to listen to. I won't say you shouldn't resubmit this, but you'd have to do a major rethinking in order to meet what we're looking for. NO

Recording quality of the vocal isn't the best, and that was probably the most major problem (though not a dealbreaker). With some additional reverb and EQ, it might have been completely mitigated in fact. I guess there's some parts where Claire is also a little out-of-tune but the majority of her performance is strong. Oh also, in the first verse the vocal is produced a little differently than the rest of the song (sounds like there's more low-end), which is a little odd. But the problems stop there. The medley barely seemed like a medley and the sequencing and lush soundscape were dead-on. Really nice stuff, some of your best so far. There's too much good here to let the flaws prevent this from passing. YES

Gotta agree with Deia that the transitions are more noticeable than awkward: there's a lot of start and stop going on and it really feels like a medley to me. Shame too, because the arrangements are solid and the sequencing is certainly passable. Feel free to send any non-medley arrangement you've got our way, I suspect it will go over well. NO

Since you used a sizable sample of the Super Guitar Bros medley, let me reiterate that we wouldn't accept this unless you had their permission. That said, I think this had enough issues that it doesn't meet our standards anyway. The overall arrangement felt repetitive and the sequencing was mechanical. The sampled guitars sounded too different from the drier, sequenced instruments, especially the drums. I think this has a good start of an idea, but the writing and production need a lot of work. NO

Ooh, I really like this. Starts off conservative but constantly adds new elements and branches as it goes, and the round robin sections are playful and cleverly written. To top it off, the execution is top-notch. Really great stuff! YES

Yep, a lot of clutter in the low-end. Take a listen to how everything clears up at 0:33 - it's because you removed all the low-end clashes with the technoz. Try to aim at getting each section to that level of clarity and balance. You should be able to cut some of the bass and kick to open up that space. I also agree that needs more development beyond what you've done, it felt short and unfinished. Try to add some more interpretive sections in order to flesh this out further. NO (resubmit)

Yes, the anxiety is me. Throughout. I only have one critique too, and it isn't much of one, but I thought this could have used more rise and fall. It felt like a one-gear song and that's part of why the repetitive percussion was noticeable. Anyway, don't get me wrong, this is totally over the bar. There's some creative takes on the original songs and it's not at all obvious that multiple sources are even used. The energy level was high, balance was good. A lot of attention to detail too, to go that extra mile (Good guy Greg: puts in details for replayability.) YES

Yep, Shariq said exactly what I wanted to say, agree with every one of his points.

Very impressed with how interesting this stayed with so little melodic content and a pretty static drumloop. This is made off the back of your attention to detail. In fact I barely noticed that it was more than 5 minutes. Like Deia, I thought this might be hard to evaluate but there's a few very recognizable snippets/rhythms from the source that anchor your arrangement, which actually made it pretty easy to judge. This is very different from most subs we get - the only thing off the top of my head to compare it to is DrumUltima's Chrono Trigger remix - and I'm happy that we get to pass something this unique. YES EDIT: Haha, just noticed the title.

Agreed that the intro was very exciting, but the song didn't deliver on that promise. I wasn't feeling a lot of the drums used in this, they were thin and weak compared to the synths used. Actually, the low-end needed more presence overall. Apart from that, I didn't hear much wrong with this. Even the transition that Deia and Andrew mentioned didn't throw me, it seemed like you were intentionally leaving out a measure there and I liked it. Fix the drums and the balance and this would be a pass to me. NO (resubmit)

I think I like this a lot more than the other judges - apart from some minor production issues, everything worked. Right from the intro, I liked the dark quirky mood that was set and once the drums kicked in, this reached an energy level that never flagged. The bursts of rhythm guitar, strings, and machine FX were awesomely placed, and the guitar solos all rocked. I also loved the variety of guitar tones you used; little touches like that really add to the replayability. Oh, and then somehow you fit a freakin' piano section in this too, and it's not even one of the quiet parts! Definitely my new favorite arrangement of yours, and an easy pass. YES

I listened to the arrangement without listening to the sources, and I actually thought things were strung together fairly well - I liked how the sources were used to maintain a flow. It felt natural to have a higher-energy song lead into a different low-energy song. Nothing was jarring to me except the last transition; however, that last section was a weak point. It didn't have the energy it needed to carry the song, and the drums were out-of-place, almost comically so when it gets into the rolls. Overall, this has a lot of good to it, but there's just a couple things that aren't working. Besides that last section, there's distortion in the low-end that needs to be fixed (you can hear it every time the low drums come in) and the drums never quite felt like they were in the same space as the orchestra. Maybe adding some reverb might help. Good candidate for resubmission though, the concept is good and things are mostly in place. NO (resubmit)

2:52 on was excellent. If everything was at that level of energy and focus, I would have loved this arrangement and passed it no problem. As it is, the first half was really not as good in terms of sequencing and writing. Like Andrew, the slower sections didn't hold my interest much and also felt a little noodly. I really wanted some element to take the lead and plot a course, but instead you had a few different lead-ish instruments vying for attention. Overall, I think this is still put together well enough that I want to pass it, but I guess it feels like a step back from some of your more recent stuff. Sorry if this sounds condescending, but don't get complacent with your musical talent! You have the ability to make amazing music, Brandon! YES (borderline)