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Rozovian

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  1. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from Wassup Thunder in An OverClocked Christmas v.XVII   
    Good job everyone who got something done this year. It'll be interesting to hear what you all have come up with.
    About this, the server is slow, so you should probably use smaller images on the main page. We're a bit spoiled with most big sites being fast, so a lot of them don't bother will optimizing image size. But it's pretty noticeable here.
    I like the general vibe of the new colors, feels more wintry, though the background is a bit too bright for my liking.
    Overall, it's an improvement, and should indeed make updating a lot easier. I've worked with php, where you can easily update an element that shows up on multiple pages. Requires a different server setup, though. In html, this is probably the best approach, though in 17 more years the page is gonna be loooong. But by then you'll have learned javascript and can do some show/hide things. And linking to anchors/bookmarks. And more.
    Good job.
  2. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from Dyne in An OverClocked Christmas v.XVII   
    Good job everyone who got something done this year. It'll be interesting to hear what you all have come up with.
    About this, the server is slow, so you should probably use smaller images on the main page. We're a bit spoiled with most big sites being fast, so a lot of them don't bother will optimizing image size. But it's pretty noticeable here.
    I like the general vibe of the new colors, feels more wintry, though the background is a bit too bright for my liking.
    Overall, it's an improvement, and should indeed make updating a lot easier. I've worked with php, where you can easily update an element that shows up on multiple pages. Requires a different server setup, though. In html, this is probably the best approach, though in 17 more years the page is gonna be loooong. But by then you'll have learned javascript and can do some show/hide things. And linking to anchors/bookmarks. And more.
    Good job.
  3. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from Xaleph in An OverClocked Christmas v.XVII   
    Good job everyone who got something done this year. It'll be interesting to hear what you all have come up with.
    About this, the server is slow, so you should probably use smaller images on the main page. We're a bit spoiled with most big sites being fast, so a lot of them don't bother will optimizing image size. But it's pretty noticeable here.
    I like the general vibe of the new colors, feels more wintry, though the background is a bit too bright for my liking.
    Overall, it's an improvement, and should indeed make updating a lot easier. I've worked with php, where you can easily update an element that shows up on multiple pages. Requires a different server setup, though. In html, this is probably the best approach, though in 17 more years the page is gonna be loooong. But by then you'll have learned javascript and can do some show/hide things. And linking to anchors/bookmarks. And more.
    Good job.
  4. Haha
    Rozovian got a reaction from HoboKa in An Open Letter to the Judges of OverClocked ReMix   
    Sounds like someone got rejected and is trying to deflect. I've done that too, in at least one bad attempt at humor. Some good points here, but I think they get lost in an unhelpfully negative attitude.
    Since OP supposedly won't respond, let's just talk about some of the points being made here. I'll ignore the ones conflating tracks passing the panel with tracks being good, because not every track is suited for ocr and vice versa.
    The standards could benefit from an update along the lines of OP's suggestion of a LUFS number. Useful reference. I propose a range, so people aren't making their ballads and bangers equally loud.
    Nepotism! Like hoboka and platonist and velkku and a bunch of other familiar names among the recent rejections.
    I kind'a agree, actually. I would have liked to read a bunch of positive remarks from a minimum number of judges on my Frozen Rose track which bypassed the panel and got direct-posted. But from a listener, non-remixer, non-direct-posted pov, direct posts look a bit sus. No specific suggestion on how to improve here.
    Regarding album tracks, especially regarding those selected for an initial remix flood, they've been discussed internally on an album eval thread... Could that thread be made public after the album is released? In part so the remixers get to read about their tracks, which is nice and/or useful, but also to add transparency to the process, even if it isn't during the process.
    I think it could be made more clear what a resub is. Have it in the submissions standards/guidelines/instructions/recipe and/or in a sticky in the judges' decisions subforum.
    For those unaware, a resub is a re-submitted track, one that has already been rejected by the judges. To have the improved version go through the entire judging process is a waste of time and energy, when all it takes is for the same judges to revisit their previous points and see if the new version has solved the problems without introducing any big new ones. Hence why resubs get fast-tracked to the panel.
    I'm not sure a resub has to be given a "no, resub" vote to get to be a resub. That too could be clarified.
    The waiting time. Argh.
    An automated system would be nice, one that takes in the tracks and creates the appropriate judging threads and updates some page or forum thread about the progress of them all. Initial eval, views, posts, maybe also votes. But that's a big coding challenge. Not to mention the initial eval might be a form rejection, simply a statement that the track clearly doesn't meet the standards, vague as they might be.
    I suppose a possible solution for this is to give people viewing access to the subforum overview or whatever, the names of threads and the number of replies on each. Might be what OP suggested, just using the wrong words.
    Having the entire community be the judge negates the need for a panel in the first place, and lets every beginner with a posse overrule more experienced folks. Not a good idea. And it would create an imbalance in attention even if the crowd doesn't get to vote. There'd be a lot of attention on Zelda and Final Fantasy remixes, while other games would be largely ignored. And that assumes the remixers are cool with their possibly rejected tracks being scrutinized by everyone.
    I don't think the remixers usually want rejected remixes to be available to people, so them being removed by default is reasonable. Remixers can always opt-out of this default, opt-in to having the link left in. When submitting something that's more of an experiment and not being sure it's fit for ocr but wanting to try submitting anyway, that makes sense. When planning on resubbing if rejected, link removal makes a lot more sense.
    Submissions standards might be a misnomer. Unless standards can work in reverse, and the standards list things that are cause for quick and easy rejections, while tracks that don't fail those standards are more closely evaluated. That's how I'd interpret how they work. Is standards the best term for that? Dunno.
    Finally:
    Quoted for irony. Possibly intentional.
    I do think OP's greater point about transparency and feedback is a valid one. I've been staff, I've seen some of the staff subforums, I'm on and very occasionally check staff discord. So I have some amount of insight here, something not everyone has. And I remember my frustration with a community I greatly enjoyed but with a staff that walls itself off to make a lot of decisions in private. I've ranted about the feedback checklist and a bunch of things, often because there was little involvement with the community before those things were brought out. The things themselves weren't necessarily bad, but presented in a decree-from-on-high kind of way. I think there's a failure or unwillingness to leverage the strengths of the community, which is that it's actually a community.
    So maybe there's a few points here worth talking about.
    edit: forgot to mention mastering. do we count preparing a mix for ocr as mastering? because if so, it's all fine. otherwise maybe a bit of pedantry on that point is in order.
  5. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from Master Mi in Raw, unprocessed and realistic high-quality drum sample libraries   
    Seems like your main problem is platform specific, so I'd do an experiment:
    Upload with more headroom. Spotify recommends -1 dB True Peak. The article on their site said it's to avoid distortion or clipping when encoding to lower quality. Or something like that.
    I'd even go as far as to upload it as wav, highest quality, more than 1 dB of headroom. And maybe just the hats and cymbals. If I don't hear a problem with that, I can start stepping back towards my previous upload until I replicate the problem.
    --
    As for samples, I wouldn't mind some samples for layering, normal drums and other percussion and weirdly recorded ones and other useful sounds. Any recommendations?
  6. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from LegoNenen in How to use this forum   
    This is the video game music remixing forum. Here you can get feedback on your remixes, and provide the same for others. Whether or not your remix is intended to be submitted to OC ReMix, you can post it here. 
    Threads
    One thread per remix, one remix per thread. Exception: albums, see below.
    Don't make a new thread just for an update. We're okay with a new thread for a remix you're picking up again after many years since last update. If you can't find the old thread with search or other means, you can make a new thread.
    Don't post too many threads at once. It feels like spam, which might make listeners ignore you.
    Set the title of your thread with the name of the game. Information such as the song(s) remixed or the genre might also be of interest to listeners.
    Use a thread prefix to let listeners know what state your remix is in. Use thread tags to make your work easier to find based on keywords.
    If you're asking for general feedback on your music making, you may include several remixes in a thread (please include this in the thread title), but we recommend focusing on a single track at a time. Albums are an exception, of course.
    When your remix is finished, and you want to submit it to OC ReMix, follow these instructions. You may also request an evaluation (previously "mod review") before submitting.
    Releases
    Individual tracks, music videos, and albums of video game remixes can be released here.
    Albums
    You can release your VGM remix albums here. The one-track-per-thread/one-thread-per-track policy obviously doesn't apply to albums.
    If you're looking to submit an album to OC ReMix, read the relevant parts of the Project Guidelines and the Project Guide, or contact one of the Project Evaluators.
    If you're already a posted OC ReMixer, or in the To Be Posted-queue, you can post in Community to promote albums you're involved in. That includes VGM, remix albums, and original music.
    Hosting
    Some online hosting services offer streamed playback of the audio uploaded. The problem is that these sometimes compress the sound quality, which might make the music sound worse than is actually in the file, and might mask some problems in the mix.
    Instead, use a hosting service or web space that doesn't do this. Some of them have a streaming option. There are many free services for hosting your remixes, whether finished or works in progress. These are a few that we like.
    Tindeck | Box | Dropbox | Google Drive | Soundcloud*
    * Uses stream compression, but it's a music hosting site, and some users find the ability to timestamp comments useful.
    Feedback
    When posting a remix, consider if there's something in particular you want feedback on, and feel free to mention that in the post. You might also want to mention any particular purpose of the remix, such as whether you're looking to submit it to the site or not.
    Just like you want feedback on your remix, other people want feedback on theirs. Let them know what you thought of their remix, what they did well, what they could improve on, and they might return the favor.
    You can also get feedback by asking people on the OC ReMix works-in-progress irc channel: #ocrwip at irc.esper.net.
    You can also just ask remixers, judges, workshop mods, and others by sending them a PM or contacting them by other means. Most people on the site are cool and approachable. We're all game music nerds anyway, aren't we?
    Getting feedback
    The Checklist
    A feedback checklist was developed to cover common problems in remixes submitted to OC ReMix. Feel free to use this to enhance your feedback to others, or to critically listen to your own track. Check (typically with an X) the boxes that apply. Then delete the lines that don't apply, so it's easier to read.
    Guides to remixing
    Tutorials category | zircon's guide to getting started | Rozovian's remixing guide
    Workshop Discussion
  7. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from LegoNenen in What is evaluation and when do I use it?   
    When you're ready to submit a remix to OC ReMix, but you're not sure if the remix fits the site's submission standards:
    Add a link to the source (the original track(s) which was/were remixed) in the same post as the most recent update of the remix. YouTube is a good resource for sources. Change the prefix on the first post to Ready for Review. If you have any questions or special concerns, feel free to include them in the post as well. Post a new post in your thread so it's near the top of the board. This is important if you're changing the tags of a thread that's already a few weeks old; less so if the thread is already near the top of the board. Wait a week or two. If you don't get a response from an Evaluator by then, PM one or two of them. They're supposed to review your track within a few days. Sometimes it just takes a little longer. When you've received an evaluation, the Evaluator will either mark your thread as Work-in-Progress, indicating you need to keep working on it, or Complete, indicating that they think it's ready to submit. Keep in mind:
    Don't use Ready for Review for remixes not intended to be submitted to OC ReMix. Don't use Ready for Review for remixes that you don't think are ready to be submitted. Don't use Ready for Review just because you've received no other feedback on your remix. Don't use Ready for Review on the same remix over and over again. The evaluation team is not a substitute for regular listeners and your own critical listening. Don't use Ready for Review on albums. There's a different process for releasing official OC ReMix albums. Read more here. The Evaluators are not judges. They're selected because their grasp of the submission standards is good enough to be an indicator of what the judges might say. They can still be wrong, and the judges aren't always unanimous either. A positive evaluation is not a guarantee of passing the judges' panel, nor is a negative evaluation a guarantee that the remix won't pass the panel.
    Don't make any changes to the track while waiting for the evaluation. Evaluators want to listen to the version you think is ready for submission. If you have things to change, do it before asking for the evaluation, or possibly after the evaluation is made.
    It's okay for other people to comment on/review a track marked for evaluation. Ready for Review just means that an Evaluator will also come and review it, not that they're the only ones who may.
    Remixes that are Ready for Review
    Workshop Discussion
  8. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from HLEET in How do I improve at critiquing music?   
    I wrote a bit on feedback in my remixing guide, back when. It's less about giving good feedback and more about identifying it among the feedback you get, but it might still be useful to you.
    The checklist mentioned above.
    I think good feedback comes from good listening. This means understanding what you're listening to, understanding the artist's intention but also a typical listener's reaction and negotiating some kind of useful response out of that. Knowledge, whether music theory, audio engineering, performance, sound design, mixing, music history or anything else is also useful, so learning any of that will help.
    Be aware of the artist's intention. On this site you might come across releases, works-in-progress, experiments and all kinds of things, and some of it is made with to suit ocr's standards and some of it isn't. And elsewhere on the internet ocr's standards aren't relevant (the vgm interpretation stuff anyway).
    Then comes the psychology of how to actually deliver the feedback in a way that's constructive. I've screwed up on this a few times (apparently the word mediocre means bad), and you will too, probably. Don't tell the artist what to do. Offer your perspective. Suggestions are fine, but be more descriptive than prescriptive. There's a saying about how usually when people say something's wrong they're right, and when they say what's wrong they're not. I try to offer multiple solutions when I identify a problem, as in "you might be able to solve this by EQ-carving some space in the other instruments, or side-chain compressing them out of the way". That gives the artist options to consider rather than directives to obey.
    If you make music (I haven't seen you around), think about the feedback you'd want on your mixes, and how you'd want it delivered. And then write it a little softer, a little nicer than that, because tone is difficult to convey in text.
    I'm not exactly in my best head space right now, so this might not be entirely coherent. I hope it's still useful.
  9. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from Souperion in An OverClocked Christmas v.XVI   
    This seems like a fun idea.
    I might join. No promises.
  10. Haha
    Rozovian reacted to Cyril the Wolf in An OverClocked Christmas v.XVI   
    Maybe if I add this to my bookmarks bar or something on my browser I'll remember to submit something in time.
    But for real - my mother in law literally complained I hadn't done one the last couple of years so I guess I better
  11. Thanks
    Rozovian got a reaction from Rapidkirby3k in Mixing sounds uneven in my music/remixes.   
    Grab yourself a well-mixed track in roughly the style you're going for, and aim to mix similarly. Compare. Especially check that your lows aren't too loud, as they'll eat up a lot of headroom, and that your leads are bright enough, ie have enough high frequency content. It's okay that yours isn't as loud, mixing is more important than loudness, and loudness is easier when things are well mixed. Turn down your reference track accordingly.
    You get used to the sound of your track as you're working on it, so make a habit of using a reference track to reset your ears so you can tell when you have too much reverb, too much compression, too much bass, too much of anything.
    You can also check your mix by turning down the listening volume and mixing on super-quiet, because then you'll only hear what's most important in the mix. Use this to check that background things stay in the background and the important things are the loudest. Compare with your reference track like this too.
    Use decent mixing headphones.
  12. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from Seth Skoda in An OverClocked Christmas v.XV   
    How do I put this...
    I would love to do a Christmas tune for a twelfth year in a row but that seems like an awfully big lift for me. 🤪  We shall see.
  13. Haha
    Rozovian got a reaction from Seth Skoda in An OverClocked Christmas v.XV   
    I can't count. Thirteenth.
  14. Haha
    Rozovian got a reaction from The Vodoú Queen in An OverClocked Christmas v.XV   
    I can't count. Thirteenth.
  15. Haha
    Rozovian got a reaction from The Vodoú Queen in An OverClocked Christmas v.XV   
    How do I put this...
    I would love to do a Christmas tune for a twelfth year in a row but that seems like an awfully big lift for me. 🤪  We shall see.
  16. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from Wassup Thunder in An OverClocked Christmas v.XV   
    How do I put this...
    I would love to do a Christmas tune for a twelfth year in a row but that seems like an awfully big lift for me. 🤪  We shall see.
  17. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from Lampje4life in An OverClocked Christmas v.XV   
    How do I put this...
    I would love to do a Christmas tune for a twelfth year in a row but that seems like an awfully big lift for me. 🤪  We shall see.
  18. Like
    Rozovian reacted to Argle in An OverClocked Christmas v.XV   
    I would love to do a Christmas tune for a second year in a row but that seems like an awfully big lift for me. 🤪  We shall see.
  19. Thanks
    Rozovian got a reaction from HoboKa in End Enigma (terranigma)   
    I don't think so. It'd have to be on the old laptop, then. If that even starts up anymore.
    Time to give music making another shot?
  20. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from WillRock in Does anybody else think Green Hill Zone sounds sad?   
    Cmaj7. A C7 is an Edim over that C. Flat 5th. Tritone for the E. And that REALLY really wants to resolve somewhere, probably to an F or C# chord.
  21. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from Garpocalypse in Does anybody else think Green Hill Zone sounds sad?   
    Cmaj7. A C7 is an Edim over that C. Flat 5th. Tritone for the E. And that REALLY really wants to resolve somewhere, probably to an F or C# chord.
  22. Like
    Rozovian reacted to WillRock in Does anybody else think Green Hill Zone sounds sad?   
    I'm late to the party on this one but I want to throw my hat into the ring and point out I never ever once considered this song to be in a minor key. 
    The song starts out in C Major, it's the opening of the piece and stays in the root note chord for 8 bars, so the introduction is 100% in a major key. However, that synth part during that section puts a lot of emphasis on unresolved chords - the chords in that opening riff have an Em to Dm little riff going on, before going up to F, then back down again to Em and Dm, with Dm holding over the C root chord, which leaves some serious tension because you're expecting it to resolve to C, and it doesn't. Then it goes Dm, Em, F twice, then there's one more F chord, before it resolves on Em to finish the sequence - all over that C root. The interesting thing about the E chord is that over a C root, that creates a Cmaj7 chord, which is a very cool little jazzy thing - it's a C chord with a B on the top - it's SO close to resolving because that B wants to be a C really, but it just doesn't QUITE get there, which leaves that tension just there enough while giving things a decent resolution to the progression - however, it leaves things a little unfulfilled, which is why you don't feel "happy" when hearing it. 

    Another song in the Key of C that is undeniably happy with similar ideas is Metropolis Zone - that also has some cool synthy chords playing over a C major Root - but the different there is that both the beginning and ending of those little riffs start and end with a C major chord - they unquestionably resolve completely, which makes them sound more...fulfilling? Well either way, that's the difference between why you're feeling sadder about Green Hill.

    Then of course, the piece plays around with that F-Em-D-C chord sequence over that popular melody (Which is a descending sequence - much of Green Hill Zone is descending, which has been already pointed out, which I agree adds to the whole sad feel - you want something happy, move upwards and resolve with straight major chords, forget sevenths!). On top of that, you've got a cool descending arp thing in the background, which is doing descending sevenths of all those chords. So that sequence starts with F major yeah? You've got an arp thats going E-C-A-F in the background, and it's doing the same thing for all the chords in that section. So you've got a feeling of unresolved tension constantly - those chords play around a lot with F and E, but even when it resolves to C major at the end, because it's keeping that seventh in there, it's not quite resolving properly in the ear of the listener - it's very pretty, but it sounds sad.
    Basically, the reason you're feeling melancholic when you listen to this song is because of all the unresolved tension created by the chords and backing elements. There's probably more to it than that but yup, throw some sevenths in there and suddenly everything feels slightly sadder. 
  23. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from Master Mi in Fair use of (muted) video material for visual enhancement of own compositions and remixes   
    I'm no lawyer. This is uneducated opinion.
    btw remixing the song, without licensing it, might not be covered by fair use, depending on... things. If you want to be safe when it comes to all this, get a license. Game music is usually fine to remix (probably not ok to sell the remix), but commercially released music is different.
    1. Purpose and character of the use
    The first factor is "the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes." To justify the use as fair, one must demonstrate how it either advances knowledge or the progress of the arts through the addition of something new.
    Quoth Wikipedia. It's transformative, in that it's not the original audio of neither the trailers nor the original song. And your own cut of the video material. Can't say if that's enough, but I would think so. Educational purpose though? Nope. But it might "advance ... the progress of the arts" though.
    2. Nature of the copyrighted work
    Fact vs. fiction, ideas vs. expression. This kind of stuff. You're not copying an idea, you're copying the expression itself, the video material, but re-cut. The material is fiction. The material is published. What else might matter?
    3. Amount and substantiality
    You're presumably using a lot of the material you can find. A trailer itself is not the whole game, but it is a complete video that's been cut, mixed, released.
    4. Effect upon work's value
    The fourth factor measures the effect that the allegedly infringing use has had on the copyright owner's ability to exploit his original work.
    In this case, a positive effect, if any, on the trailer. Maybe also on the song.
    So as far as I, non-lawyer, can tell: You're probably OK on the first and fourth factor, maybe not on the middle two. All are supposed to be considered.
  24. Like
    Rozovian got a reaction from Garpocalypse in Fair use of (muted) video material for visual enhancement of own compositions and remixes   
    I'm no lawyer. This is uneducated opinion.
    btw remixing the song, without licensing it, might not be covered by fair use, depending on... things. If you want to be safe when it comes to all this, get a license. Game music is usually fine to remix (probably not ok to sell the remix), but commercially released music is different.
    1. Purpose and character of the use
    The first factor is "the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes." To justify the use as fair, one must demonstrate how it either advances knowledge or the progress of the arts through the addition of something new.
    Quoth Wikipedia. It's transformative, in that it's not the original audio of neither the trailers nor the original song. And your own cut of the video material. Can't say if that's enough, but I would think so. Educational purpose though? Nope. But it might "advance ... the progress of the arts" though.
    2. Nature of the copyrighted work
    Fact vs. fiction, ideas vs. expression. This kind of stuff. You're not copying an idea, you're copying the expression itself, the video material, but re-cut. The material is fiction. The material is published. What else might matter?
    3. Amount and substantiality
    You're presumably using a lot of the material you can find. A trailer itself is not the whole game, but it is a complete video that's been cut, mixed, released.
    4. Effect upon work's value
    The fourth factor measures the effect that the allegedly infringing use has had on the copyright owner's ability to exploit his original work.
    In this case, a positive effect, if any, on the trailer. Maybe also on the song.
    So as far as I, non-lawyer, can tell: You're probably OK on the first and fourth factor, maybe not on the middle two. All are supposed to be considered.
  25. Thanks
    Rozovian got a reaction from bloopasan in Megaman Zero "X the Legend" + Soul Calibur II "Raise Thy Sword" Remix : 'Polymer Soul'   
    Sorry it took so long to give this a listen. Bad year.
    Listened to the most recent version in the thread, 9a. I'm not familiar with the sources so I'll focus on the sound.
    Let's talk about the first 5 seconds. The sounds used are all good enough, you shouldn't need to replace any of them. But pick a lead and make that the most  prominent instrument. The pad swells into being rather loud. The piano plays the most identifiable melody, but it's rather muffled. The thing in the high range is bright and loud. Which is the lead? From how it's mixed, I'd say it's the high-pitch thing. From how it's written, the piano.
    The piano sounds like it could use a high pass (low cut) filter to get rid of (or with a low shelf, mitigate) some low frequencies that don't add anything musically. Don't cut too high up, but see if you can reduce that low-frequency part of the sound. That should make the piano compete less with the pad for the low range, gives you a bit of headroom, and takes away some of the proximity effect that doesn't seem to match the distant pads or the hard-panned high-pitch chirps. You might want to do something similar to that chirp thing, too.
    The next 5 second is in a different key/scale. There's a natural shift within those 5, but moving from the first 5 to the second 5 doesn't sound right. I'd experiment with transposing those 5 first seconds until the transition makes more sense.
    Your synth pluck lead, despite being doubled at times by some background harpsichord-sounding thing, is weak. Your drum+bass combo is strong and aggressive. That's a difficult combo to work with. The accompanying pads are rather loud. You've put a lot of things into the background here. I'm not sure what to suggest to improve things here, besides softer pads. Lead down an octave? Play octaves? Different backing doubling? Different lead entirely? Make it more about the drum+bass groove than about melody? The lead sound isn't bad, but I don't think it works as a lead here.
    There are some weird harmonies happening here and there. Some of it sounds intentional and unsettling, some of it more newby. I'm not gonna go over it all. Some of it might come from long releases and echoes on the instruments, some from mashing the sources together.
    The middle section or whatever, from around 1:40 is a welcome change. It goes back into a rather weak main section after that. Dynamically doesn't make much sense. I'd try either building up the middle section, or kicking off the main section with more energy. The middle section also has the loud pad problem (which btw might be a loudness or just a frequency range problem; many ways to look at it and solve it), and I'm wondering if the accompaniment there should be an octave lower, as there are a lot of instruments competing for the high range. I can hear a lot of high-range shimmer, wondering if that's an fm synth you're using for some of these sounds. In any case, the sounds aren't bad (except maybe the lead), but they end up competing, and there's a bit of a gap in the middle of the frequency range.
    There's a lot of good stuff in here, but a lot of things to improve too. Those simple, short synth blips here and there, the more rhythmic ones, I like. Very atmospheric. I also really like what's happening at 2:38-2:43. The lead coming in again isn't necessary, and if it just did that first note there, I wouldn't mind. But it's not a sound that works as a standalone. I'd try using the piano for this melody, or leaving it to just one note on the pluck lead. Or having found a different lead, maybe that'd work better. I'd try stuff.
    TL;DR: Good stuff, bad stuff, nice sounds, lead doesn't work, instruments competing... wait, opera?
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