Palpable

Chrono Trigger is one of my favorite games, but I had forgotten that the original song had a B-section because I'm usually not flying around that long in-game. This song sounded really liberal to me until I went back to hear the original. This is a great arrangement - peppy and forward-moving but understated and thoughtful as well. It's a great mix of moods that hits emotional territory that doesn't get mined much. The only failings this song has is in the mixing but they aren't major. The viola(?) sounds a little heavy on the lows and doesn't need to, it just eats up space that is already somewhat crowded there. The synths in the B-section should also have been taken down a little. I hear some light clipping or distortion around 4:08 and again at 4:27, it'd be great to clean those things up before we post this. YES

Your link's not working for me, but actual game music usage needs to be minimal. This is the most recent sub I can think of that we passed with game music usage, and the decision was split: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01853/

It may have been explained further back in the thread (maybe in another thread), but since DKC2 uses tracks from DKC1 or based on tracks from DKC1, they are credited.

Great arrangement here, I love the emotions this rampages through. You've got oppressive march and subdued dirge sitting back to back. I like that this isn't melodic at all times; the dissonance suits the clamor. The production wasn't perfect - sometimes the brass overpowers the other instruments and the strings sounded kind of weak - but certainly good enough for a pass. Very enjoyable. YES

I like the arrangement concept here a lot. VGM songs don't always lend themselves to being sung, but the melody here was perfect for voice. Every issue I have deals with the execution, and unfortunately, there were a few. This gets better the further along it goes, but some of the quieter parts in the beginning were rough. The guitar that opens the song didn't fit into the soundscape well - it sounded dry and kind of boomy, and maybe could have some (more) compression. The drums hit next and were somewhat dull and dry, didn't really deliver the impact they should have. The mixing there was also a little cramped. In the first verse, the intro guitar didn't quite line up timing-wise and was distracting. Finally, there are some points where your vocals go pretty off. The performance suited the song, but see if you can correct some of the bum notes. I think this needs to be tighter before it can pass, but the arrangement is really cool. Finish it up for us, Connor. NO (resubmit)

I second OA's comment on this sounding like an old-school sub, and this definitely would have passed back in those days. This has a lot of the problems that those early subs had: expanded instrumentation but conservative, lack of polish in the sequencing and mixing, generic sounds, pretty dry. Some specifics that I think you should look at: crowdedness at sections like 2:49, sequencing the bass less rigidly or finding a smoother bass, varying your note volumes to add more subtlety. NO

Cool sound design, it does have that Nine Inch Nails creepy electro-rock thing going on. I agree that the drum sequencing was very one-note and needed some more substantial changes beyond an extra snare or kick every few measures. The mixing could be better as well, with the low-end so crowded. The guitars are the piece that is taking up too much room, I think. The arrangement was a little bit repetitive and some minor melody or background changes would go a long way. I could certainly see this passing with another revision, it's really nice so far. NO (resubmit)

Sooooo catchy. I love how Alex throws in these little details which only come up once or twice like the twinkling piano, but sound absolutely perfect. Nothing holding this one back now. YES

Arrangement was pretty good. The structural changes were big (the original doesn't have much of a structure) and there's a good deal of new background ear candy, but I was disappointed that the melody and arpeggios, the two most prominent parts of the original, stay the same through so much of this. The overall feel is pretty similar, just with drums. Still, that in itself is not a dealbreaker or anything, just made this a little conservative. The arrangement didn't have enough to keep it interesting for six minutes and that was a bigger issue; after four minutes or so it felt like treading water. The drums were definitely not loud enough in the mix to support a high-energy song like this, and they also sounded somewhat disconnected. I liked the ideas with them, but they were hard to hear and the snare was annoying when you stretched it. The timing didn't bother me so much, though the glitching could have been more purposeful? Sometimes it felt like it was going through the motions. I think this needs another revision. It's not as polished as most subs we get from you, Brad, and both the production and arrangement could use some more attention. NO (resubmit)

This had problems on several fronts. The bass sounded similar to the original, but not quite the same, and that was the only connecting factor I heard for much of this. The mixing was off something fierce, the drums were tucked in and washed out, those needed to be more at the forefront to maintain energy. The piano and lead synths were very stiff and needed the same level of detail that the strings had. There are also sections where the soundscape is too sparse and there needed to be more filling the space. NO

Though the criticisms OA and DragonAvenger had are totally valid, I still found myself enjoying this as background music. It's quite pleasant! Unfortunately, it needs to be more than pleasant to cut it as an OC ReMix. The lead needed to be more prominent. Try raising it an octave and shifting it to an instrument that cuts more. There was also a great deal of repetition in this, and there needed to be more expansion beyond a genre shift. Think about ways in which you can vary the nice base you've got so far. NO

Great sound design and effects here; the instruments aren't that high-quality but the overall soundscape is very nice. The lead went a little off-the-rails but to an acceptable degree. I did think the mixing was off, the pads took up all the low-end and the other instruments needed some of that space. The dynamics were off as a result. 1:07 was the weakest section in this, exposing the thin piano and too quiet to maintain the energy. There's no one element that's holding this back for me, but the combination of mixing and so-so samples (particularly the drums) makes me want to say NO. The arrangement is great, don't change a thing there. Just try to get the soundscape a little bit better balanced and improve what samples you can. You may even get the pass this time, depending on how others feel. NO (resubmit)

Love that intro and the way this builds. Once this hit full steam, it didn't quite deliver on the epic intro, but was still enjoyable. I did think the melody was a little marginalized under all those other layers, but stood out from time to time and that helped paint the connection. Awesome sound design and production - this is definitely your strongest yet on that front, Shaun. YES

I like the idea here, but it's not expansive enough, mainly sticking to the original melodies and chords and just repeating. Also the mixing isn't that great, possibly because of the sidechaining compression used. I think applying the compression to the lead didn't work out that well and made the song too disorienting. Some of the quieter sections sounded the best. Cool ideas, but not a complete package yet. NO

To my ears, it's the sample that's bringing this down. It definitely doesn't have the realism required for a solo piano piece. The playing sounded too even volume-wise, and I don't know if you guys overquantized or maybe it's the piano sample, but it could use more dynamic range. The arrangement was a little ragtag, but alright. With a solid execution, it would probably be ok. Work on the production aspects to seal the deal. I liked much of what was going on in this song. NO (resubmit)

Not an easy call. The arrangement started very conservatively and only started doing something different from the source at the one-minute mark. But the feel is a lot different, a lot more stark and dream-like and it feels very personalized on that front. Even though the mix was pretty simple and the playing wasn't dead-on, neither seemed to hurt the piece; it almost enhanced the concept. It was reminiscent of this mix in that way. The little background textures were good. Negatives: Mixing could have been a little better, the acoustic guitar should have been quieter than the electric. There's also a couple flubs but nothing that wrecks the performance. Yeah, I'm inclined to go with Deia on this, but I could see why anyone would reject it. YES

Happy birthday youse guyse.

Toughie. I thought it was a pass on first listen and I was ready to get up in Andrew and Deia's faces, but they're totally right about how conservative this is when I relistened to the source. The problem is how similar the instrumentation is; a lot of similar sounds are used with only a handful of changes on those instruments, none of them drastic (well, except those super-held bass notes). Even when you take a section like the opening bassline, which I think you wrote, it sounds like it came from the original because of the instrument used and the note pattern. The song comes across more like a variation of the original track rather than an arrangement, though you're close to that border because there is some original writing with the drums and the new backing instruments which chime in from time to time. Some section where you totally gut the bassline or lead and write something new would have gone a long way here. This would likely pass with some more separation from the source. NO (resubmit)

The source was pretty marginalized after 2:29, but with the Schala pattern audible almost the rest of the time, there was no question of what I was listening to a remix of. I liked the approach a lot; we don't have a lot of gentle remixes on this site, and one that combines chiptunes and clean electric guitar is rarer still. The execution was excellent and the song came across smooth as a sunstone. YES

Great production, very clean. The drum samples were a little plain, but got the job done and had some well-programmed fills. The little pieces of flair in the melody are great and help personalize it since the structure is fairly conservative. I agree with Deia that the synth section was weak because of the slow attack and clashing of instruments, but not terrible. You brought back the rawk soon afterward and it was gangbusters. YES

Yeah this was an easy YES to me. Great riffing on the catchy source melodies, and this rolls several Daft Punk facets into one song, from the Aerodynamic-like guitar to the vocoded vocals. Makes me want to get out the glowing robot suits. YES

Really, could there be any other title for this mix? I thought the arrangement was simple but pretty effective. Some clever takes on the melodies of the original, and a very smooth beat. I did think the leads could have been better mixed in. They seemed a little far-forward and though the sidechaining helped keep them from swallowing the beat, they were still too loud and could have sat better. I'd say it's acceptable, but something to keep in mind next go round. YES

Beautiful arrangement. Those vocals pushed way back into the soundscape like a pad were amazing, a great effect. In fact, there's a lot of creative sound design in this. The piano wasn't integrated quite as well I would like, it's a little loud and maybe too warm. The higher octave piano stuff worked better in the mix. Yay for nitpicks. YES

I like one-word titles, so just ignore Mister Fishy. I don't remember the last version too well, but the beat is definitely not plodding anymore, as I found the last version to be, according to my vote. Now it's quite groovin'. The arrangement was also gelling pretty well, so whatever you changed worked. Snare could've been fatter, but the snappiness was sweet and did the job. I think I would have liked this more with chopped-up high-quality samples, instead of SNES/PS era samples, but the articulations are good, the effects are ballin', and this is a pass. YES

Sounded a little overcompressed and somewhat weak on mixing, but this was pretty cool. Very epic, full of energy. As far as mixing goes, the instruments don't sound that natural and may have been over EQ-ed towards the highs, or perhaps the compression is messing with the sound. Try to get the strings and piano sounding more natural and the volume levels matching professionally-recorded songs in a similar style. As noted, those string attacks were awful but it should be a one-place fix for you (hopefully). I also think the piano should have been a little humanized on the slower runs; on the faster ones, it's ok. With an arrangement this cool, I hope you spend more time to iron out the issues and resubmit. NO (resubmit)