Palpable

I can take a stab at it, but for the most part I'm not involved in these tasks, I just hear about them. After staff has evaluated and decided the album is on the level of quality we want to release (which is a huge amount of work but not really administrative), we make sure all songs are in WAV format and have no errors, like we do for all songs released on the site; if there are, we request new versions from the project director or remixer. MP3s are encoded from those WAVs and are tagged with our standard album tagging. If there's lyrics, that goes in there too. Staff will try to double-check all of that. The album is entered into our database, a torrent is created. If no website exists, we have to make one; if one does exist, we have to make sure it looks and works ok. djp picks songs to post to the front page, and those have all the work of a usual mix post (entered into db, youtube created and uploaded). Finally, there's a lot of social media-related things that happen before and afterward, to publicize the album. I'm SURE I didn't cover everything, but it is a lot of work.

Pretty sure the blame is on OA and not just for the lulz. I think he's personally helping the remixer with that one.

Hmm, this song already passed (conditionally). OA, did you take a listen to see how similar it is? This might not need to be panelled if it's close enough. I don't have my headphones on me right now.

This will have some false positives, but does give you something to start with: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aocremix.org%2Fremix+dubstep

Will be there!

Fun listen, pretty easy pass. There were times I thought the vocal could have come up a bit, but other times, it was sitting good. Didn't seem especially loud to me, but Pendulum really sets the bar for loudness themselves, don't they? It was more distorted than loud, but it was obvious it was done for effect. One thing I thought could have been improved is the build-up to the title lyric. The dropout always felt like it came out of nowhere. But let's not drag this out. YES

You did a great job with the overall production. Good balance and instruments, creative automation, very cool FX. Unfortunately, I don't think this went that extra mile outside of that. This song has a problem I don't have a name for but should, because I see it fairly often in subs: there's a sharp divide between the original material and source-based material. An arrangement needs to mix the two together more, or at least sound more cohesive. In addition, there's copy and paste and autopilot drums, as mentioned. A fun listen, but not quite there IMO. NO (resubmit)

I wasn't that crazy about the piano sound, something seemed keyboard-ish about it. However, the reverb settings were good so that helped the realism. The string sample was pretty out-of-place, and there was one random chime sweep that threw me off too. Arrangement-wise I liked this more than most of the other judges, but it was a little underwhelming. The combination ultimately makes this a NO for me, sorry. NO (resubmit)

At this point, with both of you assumed YESes, let's just vote on it as normal. This arrangement - playing and writing - is really nice and does a lot with the limited source material (ganked from SM64). The piano sound isn't great, it's very warm and the higher notes got a little too bright. I feel like there's body missing from this, but I dunno, I think I'm still ok with it overall as an old-timey sound. YES

Even with your breakdown, I was having a hell of a time picking the source out of this. In fact, with the breakdown, I can roughly see the connections you're trying, but there's a lot of material - too much - that gets far off the beaten path. Aside from a few uses of Majora and the Healing melody, I thought this was too liberal. The connections are barely recognizable as the source in some places; in others, they are marginalized against the much louder original writing. Shame too, because the arrangement is quite a package. NO (resubmit)

It was unclear when he's getting back. He sent a separate letter to Amy and I and mentioned that he fractured his hand and that would push back his graduation. So I'm not sure if that June 18th date is still accurate.

Guess what I got in the mail today: I do have his address in case anyone wants it, just PM me. Unfortunately, in a follow-up letter included in the same envelope, Wes said he fractured his hand which is going to set back his boot camp completion to August. So, who wants to tell him about Maverick Rising? *touches nose*

Excellent arrangement. This has a perfect balance of source and original material, sadness and sprightliness, minimalism and weight. If this arrangement wasn't so good, I'd be pushing for another version because the low-end is a little crowded, the piano could be brighter, and the overall volume should be bumped. As is, none of these are major issues that really stop the emotion from getting across. I'm cool with this going up on the front page. YES

Just like the last version, the arrangement kicks ass but the execution still isn't there. This time the mix is too brickwalled, there's noticeable distortion when this song gets loud. I dunno, man, normally after this many resubs I tell the remixer to move on to something else, but this arrangement is so good. If you can just massage the production a bit more, get the distortion settled, get the mix sounding cleaner, we could easily pass this and people would love it. I will recommend putting your song up on the Workshop forums if you haven't already, or even send me or one of the other judges a PM for more specific help. NO (resubmit)

Apparently we were sent the extended version, Mike says. Latest version is linked in the original post. Might change Deia's vote I suppose.

I was a little disappointed that several parts of this were verbatim usages of the source, especially when you have sections like 1:29 and 5:08 that are perfect blends of source and original material. All in all, the expression was good and sold me on the arrangement end of this song. The piano sound was a little unnatural in the tails, but this seems like a pass. Nice work, Rexy. YES

Yeah TO really hit on the problem with the drums. Very dry, it doesn't sounded like they were treated at all. The leads weren't out in the forefront where they should have been, and elements like the rhythm guitars are really tucked away. Though the arrangement has a lot of positives, the balance is still not right. Maybe do some comparisons with some symphonic metal tunes to get a sense of what should be where. Hate to be blunt, but it needs more work still. NO (resubmit)

Biggest issue for me was the rigidity of some notes, especially the repeated staccato notes. The strings were kind of blocky and not all that fluid. The arrangement was cool and you got a lot of mileage out of the source tune, though it was languid at times and could have used some more energy or detailed writing. Some of the slower passages dragged. You definitely have a lot of creativity and that was a real strength to this piece. Your complementary writing was very good. Hone the piece down to the choice elements and vary the playing a little more, and you can get something passed for sure. NO (resubmit)

Been nearly a month without a response from Pieter. I think we should just vote on this as is. He can always resub if need be.

Thought I was going crazy until OA pointed out this other source track, also called Under Construction. Not sure how they both work into the game, but this one has most of the source that was used in the remix. Pretty slick remix it is too. It's easy to say that anyone can sing given autotune, but I think things like enunciation and phrasing still can't be perfected in post (yet). Proto's vocals are great here and are reminiscent of Lee Brotherton in Dreams of an Absolution. Plus for the vocals haters, this song still has those jazzy chords and catchy beat that ProtoDome loves to use and we love to hear. YES

Were the drums like this last version? They weren't the best sounding drums I've heard, but that was the only issue I was hearing and I liked the rest of the arrangement a lot. I'm still a YES on this, in any case, but I think you've got some room for improvement in those drums. YES

I never played the GBA game so I was unaware the source tune existed. It in itself is a fantastic arrangement of the original SNES song, and probably gives some indication of why Dave Wise hangs around this bunch of nobodies I mean amazing site. Your guys' arrangement is sweet too, and the two styles blend well into something pretty unique for this site. Felt like sometimes the drums overpowered the guitars and vice versa, but a level adjustment here and there aside, this was flawless. YES

I was really feeling this until the drums came in. Like halc said, they didn't fit the soundscape too well, too boomy, too prominent, and hollow-sounding. I think some low pass-filtered might have sat better, something warmer and out of the way. While I am often a fan of mild dissonance for effect, I didn't like how long it persisted here, and after a while, it got tiring. Finally, at 3:38, when the low piano notes came in, there was some distortion as if there wasn't enough room carved out for them. Sorry, David - while I like a lot of this, there's still some parts that aren't working to me. NO (resubmit)

Like SDB's Japan BGM, this song is based off an existing song (The Beatles' "Get Back"), but here the connection is much looser and more of an homage. I don't think it runs into any site restriction conflict the way that song did. The arrangement is kind of all over the place, but in a good way. It's a lot of fun and arranges the melodies in really creative ways. Even hearing the same melody a dozen times or so over the course of the song, it doesn't start to wear. Playing and sequencing are great too. However, I thought it got pretty liberal at times, so I timestamped it: 0:35-0:56 1:08-1:50 2:03-2:30 (chord progression only for part of this) 3:22-3:29 3:34-3:45 108/267=40.4% You've got a few more sections that flow into the chord progression really well, but aren't really countable IMO. Call me a stickler (heck, call me Larry), but I think this one is too liberal. Let's hope he swoops in and shows me the source I'm missing. NO

Super clean and balanced production, you did an awesome job on that end of it, Lee. The arrangement isn't a reinvention or anything, but the new instruments tastefully complement the original piano. Though the piano notes were very even, it fit the measured electronic nature of the track and I'm not sure a more humanized approach would have added. I was really disappointed this ended at 2:26, I think an original section bringing in some minor chords and ramping up the intensity a little would have been excellent, though might not fit the happy bubbly you intended. I really enjoyed this anyway - it's my new favorite of yours too. YES AS BIG AS I CAN MAKE IT