Palpable

The intro was weak (what was with the guitar going in and out?), but once the main song kicked in, it got a lot better. Oboe lead was actually pretty sweet, I was surprised how much I was digging the weirdness of the contrast. I do feel like the mastering made this a little harsh to listen to, but the mixing felt pretty good to me overall. Instruments are well-separated and clear. A little more mid-low in the drums would have been nice to avoid the hollowed-out effect you get when the overdriven guitars are not in play, but the bass region is covered well. The 1:52 section is also a little messy, and you can hear the compressor clamp down on the volume. Close call, but I'm leaning YES. It might make sense to e-mail Mike and see if he wants to touch this up. YES

I definitely like the harmonic changes going on underneath this song, it's a very different feel. I have to agree with Justin about the shortcomings though. The piano sections get very tiring to listen to because of how even the playing is. If the piano writing is to stay as is, the left-hand should be pushed back more so that the focus is on the melody, but I think some rewriting would be in order. A better sample might help too. The rock sections were a lot more interesting to listen to, and I felt like things were mostly working there. The drums sounded kind of harrowing (which is cool), but as a result, they also sound a little sloppy. The toms sound strangely out of place, maybe panned too far. I also feel like there's some noise of distortion there that doesn't sound that great. Hard to put my finger on it. Long story short, the production has got to match the strength of the arrangement. NO (resubmit)

People love their Star Fox dialogue. Now if only FFMQ had had dialogue so they could have a battle. I'll go ahead and give you your final YES here. There's some areas that could be improved including smoothing out the dynamics, choosing a pad sound that's not quite as plain, spicing up the quieter parts. But the interplay of the two synth leads, and the manic drums - that's enough to make this song for me. Balance is good, song has a lot of energy. Let's give it to the masses. YES

Closing this since it's past the deadline.

Can't believe there's no Werewolf intro deck. I made my own: 2 Village Ironsmith 3 Daybreak Ranger 3 Gatstaf Shepherd 4 Reckless Waif 4 Mayor of Avabruck 2 Hanweir Watchkeep 3 Instigator Gang 2 Kruin Outlaw 2 Devil's Play 3 Brimstone Volley 3 Geistflame 4 Moonmist 14 Mountain 11 Forest

I'd like Dave to make the call on this (or a judges' majority) because I didn't think the similarity was enough to call it a straight up Beatles arrangement. I mentioned the "Hard Day's Night" similarity to everyone at some point (probably on IRC) but thought that was an even looser connection than "Get Back". EDIT: Haha just noticed djp's write-up for Sixto's track. Guess he made his call.

Hmm, dunno if this is a matter of being pretty familiar with the source, but I was totally fine with the way it was used. His breakdown checked out but I was hearing it in all those places even before seeing it. Apart from any source usage concerns, this seems like a solid pass. It's not perfect - those horns sound like Mario Paint horns - but a lot of good ideas, and executed well enough. Percussion breakdown was sweet. Fadeout was awkward, and I wish it had ended more conclusively but I'm still good with it. YES

Justin covered the issues with the left-hand playing perfectly. It's a big enough problem that it's a dealbreaker. Even though this is not strictly solo piano, it still needed more dynamic variety somewhere. I liked the mood, the subtle backing instrumentation and effects, the approach of the arrangement. All of that is a good start. NO (resubmit)

You can't play them without sleeves, and if you don't have sleeves you have to use a proxy. Yeah I think it's very gimmicky, and really defeats the point of even making a double-sided card, but whadayagonnado.

I don't mind this first session being the one where people learn Cockatrice. The interface is good, but not always obvious, and I think some things about it you only learn by playing (this was certainly true for me). I'll try to throw some decklists in this thread in case people just want to play and not build a deck.

It starts a little on the plain side, but once the beat kicks in, it gets good. The synth design is what really makes it, you've got some really dirrrty sounds. Might have been nice to include the source melody a little more, but the bass being based off the song's intro seemed like an adequate connection for the song. YES

Obviously sounds fun to me but you knew I'd say that.

This has been open too long. Let's give it another week.

This has been open more than long enough. Let's give it another week for stragglers and then close it.

Love the arrangement. Zeal is my favorite song from an amazing soundtrack, and this was a very unique take on it. The production wasn't flawless though, and for sure, the bass was overhyped as mentioned. The distorted vocals got a little grating at their loudest and the clean vocals were drowned out by the dubstep synths. The soundscape could have been cleaner. That said, the rest of this was working (the arrangement especially so) and so I can give it the final YES. Definitely room for improvement though. YES

We don't have guidelines about how the vote should be structured or written, so people develop their own style of judging. There's a little give and take about what a judge cares most about or what they think is an issue - dissonance and dominant source usage are some areas of disagreement among the panel - but we all use what has been accepted recently (meaning last few years) as a baseline for what should be accepted. We don't have rules about tone either, but if we see a vote that we think is too harsh or unfair, we'll call each other on it.

Not really feeling this apart from the re-arrangement ideas and the writing of the leads. The drums and bass really needed to do more - they repeat the same patterns over and over until the breakdown. I liked that section but it didn't make up for repetition before it. The guitars are ugly and the song is really lacking punch. Sorry Meteo, can't sign off on it. NO (resubmit)

Very nice arrangement. I thought this had a good flair for the dramatic, pouring on the instruments when appropriate. While the production is not bad, I don't think it's at the level we're looking for. I noticed the string sequencing and distortion problems that Nutritious pointed out, as well as some conflicting frequencies early on at 0:13. There were a handful of places where I think it could have been tuned up. Would like to see another version of this. NO (resubmit)

Though there's more variation than the last version, I can copy a lot of my old vote - the big issues are still there. The panned synth is still too loud, still too much overuse of the same patterns. The drums were also pretty weak. I think as you keep working on music you'll figure out how to vary things more in a way that keeps the song fluid, and hopefully increase your production skills too. NO

Dunno, still not entirely feeling this one. It's been a while since I heard the last version, but this seemed to have a lot of the problems I mentioned last vote. It's on the overcompressed side, there's not much room for the song to breathe. I'm not crazy about the fake string being used as a lead. I now understand that you weren't trying for a realistic string sound; in that case, I'd say it's not strong enough to use as a lead. Sorry, but I think that the fine arrangement is not making up for the production issues. NO (resubmit)

I wish the leads had more bite to them rather than being so round, but there's no denying this arrangement works and is catchy. Love the -style gated synths introduced near the beginning, that added a lot. Let's go.YES

I'm with Justin on this. I couldn't make out source past the 1:37 mark save one quote of Ballad of the Wind Fish. Even counting 1:10-1:36 is on the generous side, though I can hear the similarity. It's possible there is other source I'm missing in this, but having familiarity with the game, I'd be surprised if I was missing something major. Pretty awesome song though. With more source there, I'd have no worries. NO

Not much to add here except that both sources sounded pretty coverish to me, not just the Metroid one. I wasn't hearing a lot of meaningful changes. What's here sounds good, but without some more arrangement, I don't see this having much of a chance to pass the panel. NO

Pretty nice intro, and I don't think I feel as strongly as the other two judges do about the arrangement being static, but it did nag at me. I thought the production was a little off, like there was a hole in the track where a lead should be and the bass regions were too crowded. Compression was also a tad high, though I know you're going for the effect. In all, I'd like to push for another version, but I think this is close to a pass. NO (resubmit)

This felt a little directionless to me, and it wasn't just the mixing that was a problem. Since OA and DA have covered the mixing, which is the greater issue, I'll touch on the direction. There was too much throwing elements in the mix without thinking about whether they would go. I think the arrangement would be more effective focusing on one element at a time and simplifying the backing parts during those times. I just got the impression that the violin was playing way too many notes when it wasn't the lead, and it gave the arrangement a samey feel throughout, not enough variation. With better mixing, it's possible this could be overlooked, but if you're going to do another version of this, I'd strongly suggest simplifying some of the writing and thinking about whether parts need to be in each section. NO (resubmit)