MrKyle

Like the arrangmenet and the mix. Definitely feel the Laguna Tides connection. To me, they feel like companion pieces. Great to listen to back-to-back. Funny, I mentally/emotionally want a Sonic Casino Zone remix to form a trifecta...

DOOOOOOOPE. Love the very intentional vibrato work and the overall clean, thick metal mixing. Well done. It is one of the best metal/hard rock covers that I've heard yet on OC!

Love the tone. Both the smooth ride of the Rhodes and the plucky twang from guitars (a little bridge-play in there?) I do like the whole progression of the track, but I could've taken the first half extended out all the way to the end. The soloing was just fine, but that vibe in the beginning was really pulled me in. But no matter, nice work Leandro!

So well mixed! This comes across so nicely. Kudos on the effort here. Going to let this one roll on repeat for a while...

Really enjoyable listen. Not a go to genre for me either, but I enjoyed this and it definitely fits with the general Mario-ragtime writing feel over the many iterations of the series. For me, I think the lead mandolin (your maybe calling it Middle? "MandolinM" above) could be EQ'd a bit to allow it to sit in the mix somewhat more comfortably. Perhaps tinker with reducing the low end and boosting near 350 Hz and add some sparkle with slight boosts around 7k. Side-chaining as well might prove to offer some interesting results.

Moved to "Finished". I'm there, but I am still eager to hear any critiques for specific improvement!

Nice pair of tracks. The Opening piece builds a nice emotional swell and the Ending conjures a feeling of continuation and unknowing. Let's start with the staccato violin though. For me, on both tracks the instrument is too mechanical and could use some humanization to both rhythm and attack. It is a rhythm instrument in your arrangement (at least seems so) but is pulled out of the mix as a lead part. I would decide how you want to use it and re-arrange it more accordingly. The other aspect that jumps out at me, and take this with a grain of salt due to the system I am on right now (not my usual setup), but the stereo image feels like it could widen up somewhat. That could just be the staccato violin narrowing my attention though.

+1 on modifying your mic setup. There are tons of article out there on techniques and methodologies. Choose the one that best suits your capabilities (your room, your piano, your recording device/interface) and give it another go. The performance was rather nice actually. You play quite well. I think the reverb just assaulted the details of what it could have been, so it is hard to judge things beyond that. When it comes time to remix and you want to touch the reverb, look to Pensado for some tips (http://www.pensadosplace.tv/category/into-the-lair/). Some of his vocal reverb advice is magical on piano. Looking forward to the next take through a multi-mic setup! Keep at it!

New posting with two versions (top). Mastered just a bit differently and I wondered if folks had a preference for one over the other. F1 vs. F2. Cheers, MrKyle

Double bump? I haven't made any changes to this recently as I think I've settled on something fairly solid. I'm totally willing to put it back on the block though with the mod feedback. Don't want to go into over-tweaking mode beforehand, as that is a cyclical and dangerous place to get caught in!

Super polished and clean production. Not my usual cuppa, but I enjoyed the various layers of this mix a lot. And thank you djp for the lol of the day with your opening remark.

Bump! No new edits, just a reminder as requested.

I don't know that I've heard a jam like this on OCR before... not that I've listened to them all of course. But this arrangement is very fresh to me. It sticks to that Sonic-speed/punch/momentum combination that the OSTs all possess but with a nicely polished interpretation and production. Great listen. Looping this one. Edit: Gran Turismo! That's what was coming to mind with this. Those crescendo-ing synth/guitar stabs are just great.

Very cool idea. My mind immediately went to counterpoint melodies being tapped, multiple panning automations, some kind of singular timpani/kick blend that hits occasionally...for emphasis Awesome man. You should develop this.

Alright, WIP #5. A couple of fade tweaks, ambiance adjustments, automation fixes that I had missed, and a smidgen of mastering. Moving to Mod Review!

Sorry! Everytime I play it through I like this composition, so to me, that says a lot. Regarding the shaker, it's the intro few seconds before it finds rhythm. The randomness is in the velocity, the volume of the shaking, and again, this is to me, it feels a bit too dynamic. Is there a reverb on it? I think it muddles it a bit in the beginning, but sits better after that. My random comment was referring to the velocity, not the timing, my bad. The erhu generally sounds pretty good. The vibrato in the section after the quieter break (short, 4-5 note runs?) is what jumped out. But! Let me say that if you are going for something more playful and toy-like (like many Mario themes are) then it totally works. I guess coming out of the quieter, more delicate section preceding those runs, my mind is expecting something similar. So, since I don't know what exactly you're going for, I can't really say. If your goal is a more natural timbre, I would say ease off the vibrato a hair. But, overall, this a great piece.

I believe that is because elements of form/structure and production are more generally defined and more generally agreed upon on a scale of valence (positive-negative; e.g., unintended pops and clicks = negative, a well executed flourish = positive). Music composition and music theory do indeed have their own laws (Physics/Mathematics), and if reviewers/judges alike could comment on these specifically, then that could surely be helpful. What isn't helpful is when opinions quickly slip into the mix of what is already a critical process and thoughts start running through the reviewer's/judge's heads which end up coming out as "I wouldn't use sus9 chords during that bridge because they don't really sound good" when according to composition/theory, sus9 chords aren't violating any musical principle. Likewise, you would need some pretty detailed information from the remixer/composer on what they were trying to accomplish with any given piece to be able to give them useful feedback on their work. You may hone in on the usage of a particular instrument in a mix and disagree with how it was used, writing detailed notes a plenty on why that is, and they may all be totally valid points ... but are ultimately useless to the remixer/composer because they aren't relevant to their goals for that remix/composition. It's a delicate line. Subjectivity is simply one way of organizing our thoughts on a matter. But when the point-blank established process is: listen to WsIP, give feedback, make improvements, (repeat n times), submit, and ultimately get music accepted and posted, then the subjectivity can convolute and agitate instead of be constructive. I have yet to see a WIP get posted where the remixer/composer asks, "please tell me how to write my song and be appropriately creative." That said, if someone is remixing the MGS4 title theme and they try really hard to use the vocal melody of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" as a counterpoint melody, someone might need to speak up.

Such a fun mix. The energy is pretty mellow throughout and the arrangement is straightforward but there are some nice embellishments and they are well mixed. The vocal work is really a nice change of pace. You kept a tight mix, flowed well, and made it unique. Chicken dinner!

I wonder if Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Coro" would pass. I've always thought that track was dope. Or Vijay Iyer's "Little Pocket Sized Demons". Subjective is subjective, objective is objective. Remixers really just need the objective (and it is super helpful). But don't blur the lines. Just as we should let the Judges judge, let the artists...art

WIP #4 Mixing updates and a few tweaks here and there. I'm liking this one. I'll let this sit throughout the weekend and move to Mod Review if all is well.

This one is going up with little to no contest I imagine. Really enjoy the minimalist piano creeping over the theme and your woodwind work is exceptional. The orchestral percussions... I'm always on the fence about because I think they are the hardest to engineer (one of those things that just sounds incredible when recorded live), but you know, they don't detract here. Awesome.

fxsnowy, I really like this. The phrasing is really nice with the intentional pauses and breaks. The Eastern instrumentation is well-chosen in my opinion and the arrangement is unique. I like the very clean and clear presentation of all of the instruments timbres. The erhu (is that Mini Erhu I hear?) was the only instrument that stood out in a bad way. The nong/vibrato was distracting. The shaker was a bit unnatural sounding, perhaps too random and too much variance instead of organized writing. Keep up the great work. This will be a winner for sure.

No joke, I started thinking about the philosophy of music regarding solo performances and multi-instrumental performances. When a composition does that, it wins in my book. Love the dynamics and the slightly narrowed jazz piano tone.

WIP #3 Thanks Timaeus. So I've made some mix improvements (EQing, comp, reverb, volume adjustments), adjusted the gating guitar section to be more fluid, and worked on the piano along with some stratification, a bit. I'm not too worried about the source usage as that is throughout the composition save the intro/outro (which are still counterpunctual and matching in key). Regarding the piano, I'm going for a staccato sound. Street salsa performers especially can have a nice strong and quick attack to their playing and I'm hoping to at least give a tip-of-the-hat to that emphatic playing style. I don't really want it to sound too classical. The dynamic range should be open, but with big, strong key striking the note velocities are going to naturally be at more similar levels. I am however trying to work with the mix of the piano as well as how its components and other instruments used as effect layers are fitting. Taking a step back (and a few days) and coming back for a listen, gives me a good feeling about the mix. I'm also getting some feedback from salsa dancers, which had been pretty positive with other useful notes.

Latest: WIP 2 Took a minute, but here is a new mix with the guitars added, slight composition changes, and some new changes to the dynamics. I've done a bit with the outro as well. The mixing work is more worked through, but not fully. Let me know what you all think thus far. Oh yeah, and the name has changed Cheers. MrKyle