Rozovian

All right... First impressions of the new version: Something weird in the intro, it's weird but not bad. 00:43 - You've managed to find the key now. Nice job! 1:00 - Theme plays with double instruments, one a little later than the other. Really cool, but there's something a little off with them. The problematic source (in terms of key) doesn't make it easier. Here's a suggestion on how to fix this: use an echo/delay instead of another instrument, and/or let the other instrument play an octave below, no delay. See if that solves it. 1:15 and forth, you've got that weird pause in the lead instrument. It worked when you had that really weird and fat pad in the background, as the pad masked it. Without something like that, it just sounds choppy and... bad. I think it's funny, but it's hangs and falls by the execution, and in this case, it falls. As you have another instrument playing, although delayed, let the other instrument (without delay) play the full thing. With that, you might not even need the lead in this part of the remix. 1:29 - I think I figured out the problem. You've got some kind of detune or too much pitch modulation on the lead. Hearing the lead together with the cool bass you've got over at this part of the remix, I think I figured it out. Check the settings on the lead, if you can fix the tuning or modulation on it. ***other ppl*** Someone could give me a second opinion on this - am I right in saying the lead is the one causing all the problems with key and tuning? Strange. Hearing the clap alone with the pad and a few other things made me like it much more despite hearing how much more attack it needs. Find something a little stronger, or tweak the settings for a quicker clap. We're talking milliseconds here, but a bunch of those cut from the start of the clap could make the clap sound so much better. Before this break in the remix, I thought the clap had too high sustain levels... it should end sooner, it should be shorter. I like the slow fade-in sawlike sound just prior to the 2:32 section. That section, tho, needs more reworking. You've got a lot of stuff right, rhythmically. I think the first few notes of the lead just makes it unfitting. Rework those to fit in some other way, and I think this section works. Although by now, I'm getting tired of hearing the same stuff over and over again. I know that's how it is, there wasn't that much source to work with (as far as I remember), but see if you can find some other order of sections, or let another instrument play the lead part... the melodic ticking, in lack of other words, that comes in pretty early in the remix, what if that would play the lead? I'm just tossing weird suggestions here, but see if you can vary this a little more. The du-um...du-um...do-om...do-om... bass thing is disturbing here. It's killing the pacing. Use something else, or play something else with it. Something more fitting this rhythm. Impressive sounds bridging into the ending. And the long ending is as amusing as always... Why not toss it in earlier as well? Use it to bridge some sections, the same notes backed with drums, maybe played twice as fast somewhere in the middle of it? Tho maybe not that long, if used in the middle of the remix... But whatever you do, keep this ending. Always makes me smile. -- Man, this is the most impressive step-up you've taken with this so far. One small step for remixer, one giant leap for remix? Those key and tuning issues are getting in the way of me hearing if this has gotten closer to the "build-up-ing of the grande finale" that I mentioned before. Right now, that's not important. Fix the key and tuning, and the other things that need to be fixed, whether I spotted them or not, and post. Let's see how to build up towards a grande finale then.

Nice intro, a little heavy on reverb, but otherwise okay. Felt a little fast, but it's all right. That nice intro is followed by a cheap and "out-of place-y" synth. Use the intro to set the tone of the remix. it's not a bad synth, but it's very unlike the intro samples. It's also got a little too much attack and not enough release, making it a little too sharp when the next note is played. I recommend fixing that. The synth playing the main theme is okay, but the square wave or whatever follows before the beat comes in is really cheesy. The beat is nice, and it's got a way better sound than the lonely kick before, which only served to make the whole thing feel very n00by. It gets repetitive really quickly, tho, when you use the same little section of melody over and over again. Do some research, this melody was, if I remember correctly, made for Zelda for SNES, as the prologue bg music. Grab a few more ideas from there. I like your original melody played on the lame square synth. At 3:14 there's a really weird sound coming in, something scratchy about it. It feels out of place there. Introduce it earlier, more subtly, or save it for 4:19 or whenever it returns. Nice ending. Not too abrupt, but not too drawn out. Overall, this sounds better than I thought when I hear the transition from orchestral to electronica, and when I heard the lame lone kick. Still, you need to fit things together a little more. Nice work!

I like the beginning. Slightly reminiscent of the load/restart theme. Drops, that's so cool, really! 0:39 - now I'm recognizing some Maridia notes. 0:48... Oh no, is this trance? Great. (sarcasm) The instrument that comes in at about 1:00 sounds a little too high-pitched when it's not all noisy. Reconsider the filter you used on it. All throughout, there's piano notes playing something close to the theme. I don't like your take on the melody, but it's not bad. I'm a big fan of the originals, that's why. 2:09... Here we go. Hooray. Listen to Blind's stuff, he knows how to mix this kind of music. The mixing is really lame here, it's sounds like there's just samples complete with effects, leaving you with little control over compression, EQ, gate, multipressor, none of that. It's too shallow, you need a deeper and more powerful bass drum, more tempo in the hihats, more prominent snare. Play around the EQ to see what frequencies you should raise to get it. It's quite similar to Prophecy and Prophetess' "Back To The Place I Once Knew", except not as good. Sorry. Needs more work, and you should try to find Prophecy's take on this, just to hearhow he did it. Try to make it sound cool without making it sound like a newb's copy of it. I am hearing some promise, tho, and it's not bad. Nice use of the sounds used, with one noisy exception. Bonus points for the drops in the beginning. It needs more work on the mix side, the arrangement is passable or better, says I.

Well, it is an improvement. I'm missing the really cool sound you had in one of the earlier versions, but other than that, the sound samples are more artistic choices and a matter of personal preference than anything I can call bad. And so, the break down: The beginning is the same as before, pretty much. A little too long, you could probably cut one round of the drums+bass there, go straight t the second where there's that other instrument coming in, real soft, in the background. That other instrument, the really short notes, reminds me of some of my earliest works using trackers. It's not bad, but the second row of notes sound out of key. Try moving those and only those around, a semitone (one small step) up or down, see if it sounds better with the rest of it. 0:36, really cool pause, tho when the main theme comes in at 0:50, you could use a much softer instrument so you don't spoil the grandeur of the theme when it comes in at 1:06. Which, btw, needs more bass. Can you beef it up there? 1:54, okay, getting boring. By now, you should have changed the rhythm. 2:40, yeah this is closer to what I'm talking about, but rework the rest of the instruments to fit this new section. I like this one, but it's currently so in between old and new. Make it more new. Make everything fit the new rhythm... and make it build into it earlier. And the ending... I still think it's funny. It's starting to feel a little too long, but it's still funny. Don't change it, at least not until you have to. Good work, buddy! It still needs more, but you're getting there.

Okay, details... (this is gonna be way too long) Oldschool stuff means it uses really basic waveshapes. Really oldschool is called chiptunes, and is an artform in itself, wher eit's all about using old tools to create the smallest file with the coolest sound. Works with tracker formats, not audio like mp3. WIth simple waveforms, I mean, since, square, and saw, really simple waveforms, really primitive synth sounds. Nowadays, synths use numerous techniques to change the sound while it's being played, envelope and LFO being the triggers for any change. I'm fairly new to using those myself, but I'm learning. LFO is a low frequency oscillator which can have any simpler waveform, and then controls cutoff or some other filter on the synth. The envelope is what each note is contained, also known as ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, and release). it determines the volume of each note, but can also be used for controlling filters. I might be wrong about something tho, so anyone who _knows_ this stuff, feel free to correct me. Using recorded samples and bizarre effects, reverse sounds and crazier ideas of tweaking the sound, club electronica is essentially anything with a mighty beat, synths, and sounds most like other forms of music. The trip stuff is too bizarre for me to describe, but I imagine it's ideal for various forms of psychadelic trips, something I do not endorse. Still, that's the most crude classification of electronica I can think of. With today's genre-blending and digital processing of pretty much everything, everything is electronica. Still, synthesized sounds and sequenced melodies are more so than the average rock band with a flanger on a guitar. -- The first synth... It could play something more melodic. I'm pretty bad at figuring notes out from just hearing them, but if it's an E, you can throw in an H or a D there as well. Try replacing some of them. Use the same pattern for the others, there replacing those notes to their equivalents of H and D. It's also got a pretty peppy sound, maybe you should try something a little more saw-wave with this one? Note that you can set the length of notesusing the decay and release settings on the synth or sampler, playing around with those might make it more interesting. The low synth is cool, but it's a very basic sharp shape. An LFO, or even a phaser or flanger on it would give it a more varying texture. Automating cutoff would make it pop up from and dive into the low range, but automation is another chapter. The clap snare thing that comes in there is really lame. There's types of music where it's required, but this doesn't sound like one of them. It's too weak. A really aggressive compressor with a slow attack might spice it up, but you might need a compeltely different sample. The synth coming in at 0:13 is oldschool. It's also got a slow attack. For a lead, that's not good. Use something a little more refined than a basic waveshape, and give it more attack (attack being the short fade-in time for each note). Also, I think you should raise the sustain level. And, it might be an octave too high. Hard to tell you what to do without hearing what it's gonna sound like, but it's all suggestions and advice that you'll be getting from here. Do consider making backup before trying anything out, in case our advice only screw up your work. The drum "roll" coming in next is cool, tho it could use some more bass. Be very specific about the frequency range you boost, don't just boost bass, try something like everything between 200 and 400 Hz. Then comes a really cool sounding synth, which I think you can leave as it is, at least for now. Just before 1:30 you had some weird pan effect. It's not all bad, but caught be off-guard, which didn't make it sound any better. I'm not saying you shouldn't use it, it's jsut a general warning: don't go overboard with panning. You do relax it well enough for it to, arrangement-wise be pretty good. While I do miss the mystic melody I member from Zeal, this remix has come to grow on me.

Nothing's stopping you from making a remix unrelated to the project. That's what most of the stuff on this site is - non-project remixes. Besides, if it's any good, and nobody's showing a project remix of it, I don't think anyone's gonna protest if you ask that it becomes a part of the sd3 project. You might want to avoid submitting to the judges, tho. IM Usa or anyone else that actually knows anything. That's what I did.

There's essentially three types of electronica: club stuff, trip stuff, and past stuff. This is somewhere essentially club stuff with past stuff sounds. Too simple waves, simply put. They're all from another millennium, and in this case, it doesn't fit in. The instrument that comes in at 0:48 is okay, I like that one, but the others are a little too basic for the genre IMO. The drums sound ok from my laptop speakers, you might need some more punch for the bass and work out a different rhythm for the hats but other than that, the drums are cool. I like many of the melodies here, but can't hear that much of what I remember from Zeal. The trademark accompanying bells aren't here at all, as far as I can here. If you've included Robo's theme here I didn't recognize it. It might be because I can't remember it. Right now, I'm too lazy to get over to vgmusic and dig up midis for reference. Overall, the sample issues should probably be worked out. Aside from oldies but goodies that unfortunately don't fit, you've got some weird attack setting on one of them (at 2:25, sounds a bit like an accordion). There's a hihat rhythm that's kind'a breaking the beat (starts to become too loud to ignore at about 2:00). If you come to a place where you don't know what to do with, take a melody straight from the originals and see if it fits. This could use that familiar theme, maybe as the grande finale? So, work wonders with it, G14, it's not bad, so a bit of work can make it good.

This is pretty good. Good samples, good intro, and it doesn't sound dissimilar from the midi file I used for comparison. At 0:58, some choir-like stuff comes in, really low key, and in the wrong key too, or so it sounds. The piano section and about 2:00 is really cool. Just give it more life by humanizing velocities and whatever else fits. The break that follows, at about 2:35 comes a little too quickly, or then the rhythmic clicking at the beginning of it makes it feel off. It might just be me, but try something else with that transition. And it needs an ending. Actually, that's what it needs more than anything else. The theme, played on piano, forte, might do it. Power up the drums there, too, and you've got yourself what I might suggest handing over to the judges. But as you've stated yourself, there's lacing and varying to be done. That should only improve it more. Hard to compare notes between the original and the remix, but you know better than anyone how close this is to the original. If it's within the circa 50% range, you're probably getting a *YES*. But, an ending, and the edits you already know to do. That's unless my speakers failed to reveal some critical flaws. I should use headphones for this. Oh and, no. Don't mix in something from another game. It's at a really good length as it is, and like the judges seem to, I don't like using themes from different games (at least not from different game series).

I think it's neat. And it's a cool idea, so thanks for sharing. if you're interested in improving it, you can add some humanization. consider giving it a little more performance feel, starting just slightly slower, going faster, going slow, going faster, going slow... and make the velocities fit with it. it's a little mechanical right now. Also, listen to the samples of the harp or whatever that instrument is here... the samples are a little too different. See if you can use a more consistently sampled soundfont or whatever you use. Those are some ideas for refinement, and some are suggestions based on personal preference and ideas I get from hearing this.

Some clarification and general advice (and a bit of my musical background). I started out pressing keys on a synth, and it sounded terrible. Then I got into tracking (which is essentially writing notes in a single-track piano roll, tho some tracker software has a GUI - graphical user interface). Then I got into guitar. And bass. And I got my hands on garageBand. Now I feel I've missed out on a lot of chances to learn, but even so, the third-grade musical education I remember still helps. It's not what you lack, it's what you find useful. So, on to the terms and details: some panning is always good, just don't go to extremes. With the exception of intentionally hard-panned stuff, stuff generally sound pretty good when evenly panned in opposite direction. Set strings slightly to either side, and another instrument the other way. Careful about panning drums tho, as they tend to sound odd when panned unevenly. Some drums one way, some another - just look at a drumset. ADSR, or attack, decay, sustain, and release, are envelope settings, if determines how quickly the sound will fade in after the note is played (and since it's in milliseconds, we're talking about how softly the sound comes in) - Decay determines how soon it will go from the initial level to the Sustained level - Sustain is the level it's sustained at during long notes or when a sustain pedal is down - Release is how fast the sound fades out when the note is released. basic settings. Play around with those in another project to learn. When it comes to velocity, I recall Zircon's guide giving the ultimate advice: just think of how a real piano player would play. If we're talking about a piano. With most things, that's good advice - think of how a pro would do it, for real. This is pretty good for someone without the experience and knowledge in music some people display. I've played guitar and used trackers for a number of years, and I still don't get everything right when I show it here. But hey, nobody does. Try things out and see if you can imagine some kind of story to the remix you do, a set of events becoming more exciting. Something you can visualize when working on the music, and something to try to tell with the music. I find myself creating better stuff when I think like that, it could help too. I think having a specific source for inspiration is helpful, it's helped me before.

I both like and dislike it. It has a very newb feel to it, which I don't like today. It's also very rearranged, with not enough regard for the original arrangement to keep a similar rhythm. However, it's not bad. It needs work, but it's not bad. From 2:09 forth, it sounds less wannabe-ish. Looks like the drums is what makes it feel that way. Rework the drums. Compress, pan, and make it more complex, add fills and such. Think like a drummer. The deliberately off-key pitch bends or seriously detuned stuff at 3:25 and forth has a very cool feel, but that doesn't mean they sound good. After 4 minutes, it feels you've made me waste half of the time listening to this, as it felt like the same thing over and over. A break in between, and then back again, with some alteration. There's a lack of general direction with this, it's not really going much anywhere. Like my remix of the Faron Woods music from Zelda: Twilight Princess, it lacks direction. You gotta give the remix some place to go, a climax, and then you gotta lead the listener there. Still, it's overall a pretty cool thing, and with a little work, you can make 3:25 and forth the big thing of the mix, then add little breadcrumbs on the road thare, and you're half way to a submittable thing. The rest would involve tweaking adsr, velocities, and overall mixing-related stuff like adding reverb, compressing, EQing, and such, where it is due, to the extent it is due, plus seeing where it isn't. So, more work is needed, but a good job so far. While the song of time has been heard over and over again in more or less listenable versions, this is listenable. With some work, it'll be good. Nice job so far!

This is without having heard the first version, so it's a fresh perspective in that sense. There's some notes that get lost in the slow attack of the string in the intro. The third note in the remix sounds really out of place, sample-wise. I wouldn't use that sample there. Also, it seems panned to the center while the others are more to the left. It's not a big deal, but when it's solo, it bothers me. You've got great drums here, tho they could use a little more bass when there are no other low range instruments playing. Before 1:30, the short notes on strings should build up, rather than cool down. You can cool down, but when the timpani roll comes in, let the strings join in. Really! Nice break at 2:30. Feels natural and overall good. The slow strings are holding the whole remix back a bit. Try switching to a solo horn or something. 3:48, nice change in rhythm... followed by another break. It feels a bit uncalled for, as it didn't get intense enough before the break. Still, it's still playing smoothly, so it's just a matter of personal taste. The whole remix has a bit of an anti-climactic feel. It builds up to... a break. And then into... another. And finally... a cool ending, in the calmer sense of the word. I'd say it could pass the judges evaluation, but I'd prefer a grande finale, a really intense section somewhere. Even as it is, it's a really good piece of music.

I started out with trackers and ordinary walkman earphones. It's one thing to produce professional mixes with professional equipment (which tends to require a professional budget), it's another to create music worth listening to, learning to build arrangements, playing, making mixes that don't sound bad. 5$ radioshack headphones probably work fine while arranging. When you're ready to focus on mixing it together right, try it out with speakers, earphones, headphones, plug it to the TV, anything to hear things to improve on. Everyone doesn't have 500$ headphones to listen through, and those that do are audiophiles that probably only listen to high-quality studio recordings anyway. I'm doing okay with relatively cheap headphones, earphones, and a couple of bigger speakers at my church. Most of my music sounds decent through all of those. There's no point in spending a fortune on equipment long before you need it. For great arrangement, check out artists like Necros, Purple Motion, Jester, and other veterans on www.modarchive.com as those guys took cheap and now way outdated tools to create music I think sounds just as good as professional quality recordings. What they don't have in bit depth, they make up in arrangement skill. Best of all, tracker formats (xm, it, s3m, mod, and others) are opened by trackers, so you can see how the legends put their stuff together. I'm just saying that's what got me into music.

I think the idea is better than the result, at this point. The choice of instruments isn't the best. The piano feels a bit too weak, the strings are very GM. The signature is among my favourites nowadays, and not everyone can make something like that as most programs by default run in 4/4. Good use of the signature, too. It needs a better count-in, fixing the velocities on the intro piano to match what someone would play might do the trick. It gets a little repetitive a little too soon, so it needs more variation, especially as short as it is. When I started out using trackers to write music, I got the advice never to repeat yourself. Never run the same thing twice in a row. There's a few places where this advice could help you perfect this remix. The drums in the background should be given a little more room, a little more volume. I don't know where they fit in, but the break at 1:19 is one place I'd do something about, and using the drums there doesn't seem like a bad idea. And what's with the ending? It comes out of nowhere. The remix starts, plays, and then it stops. You should build a bigger ending, or leave more room for the one you've got. You're lacking the grande finale feel that most mixes should have. Laptop speakers and being too lazy to get my headphones prevents me from giving too much in-depth feedback on the mix, but what I can say is that it's not bad. I like the idea of the Gerudo Desert theme like you described, but you're not quite there yet. While on one hand, I don't know how persian dance music sounds, but this is cheesy beyond what sounds good. This thing is worth completing, worth listening to. Keep at it.

I'm having a hard time figuring out whether or not the key problems are still present, or if the instruments themselves are responsible for the odd feel I get from this. Sometimes, it sounds like there's still stuff clashing, sometimes it sounds just overall odd - tho not in a bad way. Overall, I'm impressed, there's a lot of new stuff, in terms of texture and variation. The drums are way better. They can still be improved, but they don't stand out as badly as they did before. They serve their purpose. The clap is a little too... much, in lack of other words. I can't say whether it should be shorter, more compressed, or just less loud. The drums in the background at 1:08-> are really cool. With laptop speakers, it's hard to determine how good they'd sound if they were louder, but at these levels, they're cool. The break at 2:08 is a little too abrupt and a little too total, yet the noisy pad stays at the same level as before. I'd increase the cutoff, lower it by an octave, or use shorter notes with some release. Makes the break feel more like a break than a stop. While there's not much build-up, I do like the big finish, before the long ending. I still think the ending's funny, and now the mix has a much better dynamic curve. There's still things to be tweaked and tweaks to be revised before it's submittable (imho), but it's not bad anymore. Hope you take this as a compliment. Good luck!

Boring drums. I do nbotice there's variation but they're still boring. The whole piece is boring, as there's rarely much that provides momentum. I like the arrangement, but it's way too repetitive, in terms of dynamics. The bass instrument gives it a very cheesy electronic feel, while the rest is pretty cool electronica-jazz-ambient thing. I like how laid-back it is, it's got a really cool sound. So do something about the drums, maybe shove them further into the background and bring them up when they should be more up-front. Make the theme a little more obvious. Change the bass, please. Overall, this piece is cool. Boring at the moment, but cool anyway. It needs a few fixes, but is already worth listening to.

I think much of its sound comes from how it's played. There's slides and stuff that give it the cool sound. Try mixing the signals of a saw and a sqare somehow, on a track with pitch bends and stuff, see if you can make it sound good. Metallia kansalle...!!

Kong in Concert? http://dkcproject.ocremix.org/download.html

I spend a lot of time playing guitar, using the computer as an amp. And I've got a mac, older than yours. The thing is, you might damage the sound card if you run your guitar through an amp before plugging it into the mac. Keep the levels down, or use an amp sim on the computer. Another thing is to get a mic, and put that in front of your amp and play as you normally do, just recording it from the mic. Watch the levels tho, and make sure you're not getting too much noise from other stuff in your house or wherever you're recording. If you're recording into garageband, I'd recommend plugging the guitar straight into the computer and edding an amp simulator effect. It lacks some of the features of real amps, and has a slight delay, but worked for me. Still does, tho I'm using Logic nowadays.

Thanks guys! So what I need to do is unstiff the velocities (especially on the recorders), use another set of samples for the brass, figure out what OA was saying about all the shorter duration isntruments, like the guitar and marcato string... ...And figure out where to go with this. Any suggestions on where, what, and how?

Wow, this is great! It sounds like recorded instruments rather than samples. You've got a nice intensity-curve to it, too. Overall, it sounds great. I am missing the original 3/4 version, tho. This is just one of those themes that work best in that signature. You don't need it, I just prefer it like that. Anyway, your remix is also a bit repetitive and the mood is the same throughout, although the mood isn't the problem, the repetitiveness is. You might raise it a note or so nearing the end of it, that could be enough. It sounds very professional. It's a little short, but so's the source. Overall, this could be approved by the judges. At least, judging from what comes out of my laptop speakers.

This is interesting, you've taken my advice and managed to get rid of many of the things I liked about it and, I'm sorry to say, haven't improved as much as I had hoped. However, the way you've changed it shows promise, and I want to see where this remix can go. There are notes clashing with each other because of the key they're in, different melodies playing in different key on top of each other, that's the clashing sound. I liked the old intro better, so use that, and throw in the theme a little earlier, like at 0:19, where another instrument - in the old version, comes in. In the old version, it got boring right about then. There's a low-range pad in the background, which I think is responsible for some of the key problems. I'm not sure the solo instrument you've used is tuned right. I gotta say, I liked the instruments in the earlier version more, especially the crazy pad you used from the intro and on. I like the drum patterns you've used, but not the sounds themselves. I dunno if you sequenced those yourself of used a loop. At this stage, they're quite raw, but so's pretty much everythying. You've fit the theme pretty much everywhere. It gets repetitive, annoyingly so. Find anyther piece of the source to play, play something original, or let the remix chill for a little. By the way, it's a pretty difficult theme to work with, because of the weird harmonics in the source, so I can understand some of the problems you've displayed. Overall, it's a step back in terms of art, but a step forth in terms of ability. Keep at it. I'm here when you feel ready for the next feedback round. Also, I added you to my MSN list, we can talk details there.

My remix of Faron Woods A midi for comparison. Note that vgmusic is blocking remote access to files, so click the link jus above the second point, or copy-paste this url: http://vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/wii/Faron_Woods.mid I make any feedback on WIPs sound like I know what I'm talking about. Here your chance to tell me what flaws my mix has. Note that I'm not done with it, it's got some percussion issues and I might redo one of the later parts into a more grand... thing. The stuff I'm most keen to have some feedback on is the overall arrangement, if it's too close to source; if there too much or wrong type of reverb, any EQ issues such as too much in the high range or too little in the low, or high-range samples gritting up the soundscape. Do note that I appreciate feedback on anything and everything. -rho

Overall, I had trouble finding thje parts that are from source. Either I haven't quite memorized Kefka's theme, or that's not where it's from. Or, they're sneakishly hiddened someplacewhere in somekinda form. Anyway, this is a nice deviation from the usual newb techno I've heard a little too much of lately. I like the rythm the bass sets up, and props for using an organ instead of a standard synth. I like its sound, tho the same theme over and over again gets a little repetitive, but there's still variation enough to keep it from being more than moderately annoyingly so. You might want to find some piece of the original to fit in somewhere, break away from the two/three chords' progression you've used throughout. Also, when the drums come in, keep the hihat doing something, it sounds a little too empty to have just bass and snare. Note that it doesn't have to be the same as when it does come in the current version. Here's an idea, switch from pizzicato to staccato when you want to power up the mix. Break away from rhythm and beat just before letting everything crash down into a grande finale. Then, end the mix. It'll be a little short, but since there's just the same theme repetated with different instruments, you'd either have to add something (possible remove something as well), or keep it short. Overall, sound quality is all nice. You might want to avoid repeating yourself as much as you currently do. The hihat could need some kind of fill every once in a while, and you should keep an ear out for dynamics - less intense and more intense areas of the song. Dynamics is good. But more importantly, relisten to the original and incorporate more of that into this. It'll give you a better idea of what to add - even if it's just to end it - without repeating what you've played so far. This is a piece I'd gladly download once it's finished, so keep working on it.

It's a great source to remix, beautiful, and I can imagine a number of different ways to go with it. I'm not a big fan of bleepy synths, and while I find it annoyingly repetitive, it doesn't sound bad. The piano intro is beautiful, but the hihat doesn't quite fit in, at least not in the intro. The snare seems to have something of a plate reverb that doesn't sound good. Whatever it is, tweak it, or use another sample. Towards the end, it gets a more epic feel, whatever voxy synth you've got really adds a sense of scope. You should build towards a grande finale using that. And I'm really liking the break 1:12-1:20. This is all nice. I'd prefer to have this orchestral, but that's me. This is a good piece, worth developing further, and submitting.