Gario

Gaius Christianus Canorus https://gaiuschristianuscanorus.com/ Front Mission: Gun Hazard Festal Procession Approach to a Shrine Masashi Hamauzu, SNES http://vgmdb.net/album/2681 Track on Yotube I don't usually like writing notes about works, but for the sake of interest in arrangement: The original piece is characterized by an ostinato figure built on fourths, over which there are some choral sections and bells. In my opinion, the part of greatest importance to the track is the ostinato itself; the rest is more or less added on as texture. Keeping this in mind, the arrangement is more focused on the ostinato, developing it through variation, hocketing, canon, inversion, and harmonization so that no part of the arrangement sounds like the original aside from the base notes. I used bells and bowls exclusively, if only because they're the only instruments I have of any worth; much more sonorous than plucked strings and keyboards. The choral section does appear, to tie it closer to the original, though I use a cluster of struck bowls to simulate a large bell's slightly off intonation and harmonics. As for the cymbals, the intent was using patterns similar to Coptic chant, though the samples I required don't exist and I had to settle for Chinese cymbals. A triangle was also intended, but lack of well recorded playing in the Coptic style reduced it to cymbals alone. The resemblance to gamelan was not intended.

RebeccaETripp Rebecca Tripp http://www.crystalechosound.com/ ID: 48262 Game: Legend of Zelda Oracle of Seasons Song's Remixed: Temple Ruins Song Title: Seeds in the Frost Here’s a link to a video with the track:

An update: due to the status of the album (basically it's on indefinite hold due to it being rejected) Argle requested that we release this outside of the album. To quote him: I'm removing the 'Projects' tag from this, so we can release this any time.

EVAL Well, this is certainly a different approach to the arrangement - it's almost calm with it's 80's flair when most really push the pumping industrial aspect of the source. You almost forget that there are pretty catchy themes behind the more mechanical elements, which this does a nice job bringing out. I love the style, and I like the arrangement. The production is okay, as well, though it could still use some fixes to the mixing; while it's not an extreme issue throughout, there is still little sense of what should be in the background, what should be in the middle and what should be at the front of the mix. In this case, the pads are mixed in a way where they sound like they're in the middle of the mix when they'd better serve in the background. The lead that comes in at 1:16 sits in the middle of the mix when it would serve us better closer to the front. Little things like this help keep the listener focused on the important things while allowing the structural portions to do the necessary work. The pacing in the middle (1:47 - 2:53) is pretty slow. Slow isn't inherently bad, and you'll get different opinions on it from different judges, but stacking two or three distinctive yet slow sections in a shorter arrangement like this makes the piece drag. 2:18-2:20 sounded like it really wanted to bump the pace at an appropriate time, but it cuts short like an incomplete thought. To be honest, the style and overall quality might still land you a pass on this, but the vote would be close. I personally would send this back to you on the panel due to the mixing concerns and some pacing issues. It's a pretty borderline track as it is, so with a little spitshine on the mixing you'll likely have a good pass on your hands.

Hit about 40%. I didn't have glasses when I first looked, so I squinted through the cloud cover; you could see it well enough that way. My eyes hurt afterward, though. But yeah, with someone else's glasses I got to see it clearly, and it was pretty cool.

Oh, a piano arrangement? That's pretty boss. It blends with some synth accompaniment? That's pretty darn cool, too; I actually really think this is an effective style. It kind of reminds me of older music from Narada Decade. The synths are super vanilla, but honestly the piano blending with them actually justifies them well enough in my book. There are a few things that throw me off in this. The production, while not having any glaring errors, sounds dull and quiet. The dullness is due to a lack of upper & upper mid's. You've got enough instruments that could cover this space; the piano, the snare, the backing pads, etc., but they all sound like they've been lowpassed pretty hard. The levels are generally very quiet, with them getting to an acceptable level only when everything is together. I'm not against dynamic variety, and that's not a dealbreaker or anything, but consider using a compressor to get 2-3 dBs of sound of this without too much loss. The mixing in this is acceptable (with a moment or two of being too crowded, like at 1:57), but those drums really sound like an afterthought. If you want them to be effective they need to come through the mix. The kick sounds completely non-existent, and the snare + crash have no presence at all. To be honest you'd likely get a similar effect without them (using the louder keyboard and faster pace to change the mood), but if you intend on using them you'll need to make them more noticeable in the arrangment. The arrangement is really interesting, and the themes blend well. Like the others said, it's super obvious where the themes are to the point where the stopwatch isn't necessary, but it's certainly appreciated. There didn't seem to be much structure to it, though - it seems to drag quite a bit while sounding like it's meandering most of the time. The complete stop in the middle doesn't help this aspect, though whether or not that's a 'mistake' is more due to personal taste than anything. Structure is important to a long track like this; without direction it just sounds like you're messing around on the piano and trying out a few ideas rather than presenting a coherent track. I like the style, and where it shines I really enjoy this piece. However, the lack of structure, the mixing and dull EQ levels puts me squarely on the other side of my peers. Hopefully you could take a look at least at the mixing and EQ aspects, if you don't want to go back and tweak the arrangement at all (though that would be ideal - cutting unnecessary parts to help keep the track more focused and structured). Good luck with the rest of the vote. NO

This is some really solid stuff, here! The production is crisp, and the performances are quite good. Nitpicking the performance a little, the acoustic portion in the beginning has some slightly wavering timing issues, but they're not a big deal. The arrangement on this one is pretty conservative. The change in style is good, and there is a neat change-up in the middle there, but it does stick really close to the source, if not too close. The copy/pasta repeat of 0:45 - 1:33 at 1:45 - 2:32 drives this home, being a deal-breaking issue in it's own right. The resulting ending just cutting out is also a problem, which branches from that section just being a repeat of an earlier portion. Y'all got some serious chops, though. Give the 1:45 - 2:32 some more attention and variation, give this a proper ending and this would be a pretty easy pass. As it stands, though, I don't think we can ignore the heavy copy/pasta in this. Best of luck, and thanks for sending it our way! NO

Note: If this passes it'll need an original title. - Gario Hello my name is Caleb Flint and I do a project called Zelda Metal. Someone online told me about this community and I am really happy to come across it. I had no idea is existed! I hope you guys enjoy my arrangement. More song are coming soon! Caleb Flint

*PROJECT MIX* for the Sigma Fortress ReMix Gauntlet album Your ReMixer name: pu_freak Name of game(s) arranged: Mega Man X, Mega Man X2 Name of arrangement: X's Demise Name of individual song(s) arranged: Spark Mandrill Theme (X1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfb79vnpcxk X-Hunter Stage 1 & 2 (X2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyIeHJmrbhs Your own comments about the mix: The Sigma Fortress ReMix Gauntlet (SFRG) in the summer of 2016 was a great opportunity to put my new equipment to the test - since I had bought it six months before. It allowed me to try new genres for some mixes, but it also allowed me to up my production skills for my 'traditional' genres. My second entry for the SFRG was one of those more traditional mixes, since my first entry was my (quite short) first shot at an electronic mix and didn't get too many points. So, not wanting to let my team down, it was time to make a long (nearly 7 minutes long) mix in a genre I excel at. And it worked The goal of the round was to mix your Maverick theme (Spark Mandrill in my case) with the X-Hunter Stage 1 & 2 theme from Mega Man X2. Since every Mega Man X track is high-energy and upbeat, I wanted to do the exact opposite: a dramatic, sad version of the X-Hunter theme, infused with bits of Spark Mandrill. This would be the theme that could be played if X was defeated by the X-Hunters in said stage (hence the name). I imagine the track starting with a close-up of X's defeated body, then zooming a bit out to see the room they fought in, heavily damaged. At around 1:24 the violin sets in, and it zooms further out to see the world in flames since the Mavericks won. I guess I visualize too much I've added a glimmer of hope at 3:20, where the music gets a bit lighter and sweeter, where X gets up and going into a last stand/battle scene at 4:34. Without a happy ending though, since X is truly defeated at the end... Right, time for a source breakdown: 0:00 - 0:33: Original 0:33 - 1:24: Background melody of X-Hunter stage as lead melody (keeps playing basically the entire time, but since it's the only melody here, I'll count it as source) 1:24 - 1:57: Spark Mandrill intro (0:14 in the Spark Mandrill video) is played by violins on top of X-Hunter stage 2:30 - 3:17: Main melody from X-Hunter stage is played as lead melody 3:29 - 4:26: Adaptation of part 'B' of the Spark Mandrill theme (0:38 in the Spark Mandrill video) is played without the X-Hunter background melody 4:34 - 5:23: Basically just a straight cover of the X-Hunter stage 5:41 - 6:21: Spark Mandrill intro (0:14 in the Spark Mandrill video) now played on piano Total source usage: 310 seconds out of 400 (78%) Cheers!

This one's definitely something different. The beginning threw me off hard, with the combination of instruments sounding like a disaster as far as timing goes (the different attacks quickly coming together like that is what causes this). I'm glad I stuck with it, though, since the harmonizations and theme combinations are very clever, and it's otherwise pretty well produced, to boot. There are a few things that throw me off, though. The arpeggios at 0:47 & 2:13 sound off, like the notes themselves are a step or two too high. The lead balance at 1:21 & 2:48 was a bit off for me, as well, since it seems to be drown behind the textures and drums. The e-piano that supports the whole track is actually really cool, with all the different textures and counterpoints it has with the leading instruments. It's very dry, though, which makes its presence less pronounced than it should be. The reverb level is fine, so raising the levels a bit would help give it the attention it deserves. I'm a lot closer on this than I initially thought I would be, but that opening part really turns listeners off before it can show what it has to offer. Fix the very beginning, fix the arpeggios and balance the leads better in the mix and I think this would be good to go. NO

Contact Information • fxsnowy • Adrian Bureu
 • Soundcloud.com/fxsnowy • 25684Submission Information • Megaman X3 and Megaman X5
 • Thermoception • Doppler Stage 1 (X3) and Dark Necrobat Stage (X5)My round 2 arrangement from the 2015 Sigma Fortress Remix Gauntlet. My original idea was a loose semi-realistic funky rock vibe with some added retro cheesiness.Source Breakdown :
0 - 0:15 Doppler0:37 - 0:47 Doppler0:48 - 1:10 Necrobat1:21 - 1:47 Doppler1:52 - 2:15 Doppler2:15 - 2:36 Necrobat2:48 - 3:20 Doppler

Oh, absolutely resub if you want to give it another go. I personally never add the RESUB tag, since I was literally putting that qualifier on every single track I rejected. In this case I would strongly suggest resub'ing once you alter/vary/restructure the sections that are repeated almost verbatum (like I said, a little variation is there, but the copy/paste is very noticeable), as I think everything else is quite strong in this. Again, it was good enough for me to entirely miss the copy/pasta at first glance (which I still feel pretty awful about, by the way), so you were not far from the bar, there. Resubs are generally prioritized, so if you make good on the changes and submit it we put it on the panel ahead of the inbox, so by all means do send this in again if you want to make the requested changes.

Oh, this is pretty cool - I'm digging this a whole lot. I can totally imagine this being in an alternate FF6 game, where Terra is the enemy and this is her battle theme... and then you get roasted. Along with the other 50 soldiers. Okay, so that actually does happen in FF6, but whatever; this is the battle music they heard, I'm sure. As for the track, the style is exciting and the synths, while kind of 'nilla are well used. Being a fan of making them chips sing myself, I felt their usage was far more interesting in the first half than they were in the second. The 'Terra' portion really had them using slides, gating and all sorts of other interesting effects to really squeeze as much out of those synths as you could, while the Decisive battle had them pretty much playing straight with a little vibrato. It's not a big deal, but it does emphasize the vanilla nature of the synth a bit. The production is solid on this - punchy and strong throughout. The mixing of the theme at 1:05 is a tad too loud, which causes the backing instruments to cut out a bit, and the square at 1:27 is buried, but overall you do a great job with the overall instrument balance, as well. The arrangement is slick, too; playing the themes side-by-side and then layering them together at the end does a great job setting the listener up for the combination. My gripes are relatively minor, and I think this really does kick you into high gear, so great work on this one! YES Edit (08/21): Hmm, well personally between the two versions I far prefer the first. The issues I had with the first one (leads getting drown) is amplified while trying to bring out the texture, and the overall production quality suffers for it. I would put it as borderline at best if the second version were used, in fact; while I'll retain my YES I would much prefer the first version (likely much to Liontamer's dismay).

Remix name: Terra: [Magitek Perfect] ReMixer: Oceansandrew Sources: Terra, The Decisive Battle This started as a fun track that was mixed live at one of the OverClocked ReMix panels at MAGfest in 2017, and while I didn't finish the entire thing that day, what I had started felt really cool and dynamic, so I finished it out. It features a drum and bass backing with a Super Audio Cart lead, and some string stabs. Later on I added some classic Uematsu organ backing to really give it a classic Final Fantasy flavor. Initially I was trying to mix Terra's theme with Celes's theme, but it wasn't working like I wanted it to, so instead, I combined it with the FF6 boss battle. Not only did the two themes mesh together well (best example of this is at 2:47), but it also gave the song a different narrative feel. This definitely has a badass fighting feel to it, and you could imagine it being the backing track of an intense FF6 anime fight or something. I hope people get pumped up listening to this.

Alright, we got an update on this, so anyone who was a NO or conditional should give this another look. I gave this a YES before, so it's only a stronger YES for me. His message: Dear Judges, I want to thank you for the substantive feedback, it's very clear en specific! As Gario pointed out, I intended that background flute to play some jazz-like harmonies, but I guess it didn't work out too well. I've changed almost every part of the flute to something more acceptable (I hope). Nearly every note should be in harmony with the original scale of the piece now, but I kept the imperfect pitches so it will still sound human. I'm happy to read that some of you agree with the trumpet parts. It's been a long process to get it sounding like that, and not spending 140 euro's on a higher quality vst. I really wanted to meet Liontamer's criticism more here, but due to all the effects and edits on the trumpet it has become... "unstable". Even something simple as changing the velocity of a note is very delicate work now and I reckon has a high chance of impacting the piece in a negative way, so I picked the safest option here and let the part be. With the exception of boosting mid-high frequencies by 3 Db to make it sound just a teensy bit fresher. I've tried to speed up the intro some as DragonAvenger would've liked, but it killed the intended mood for me and I think that would be a shame, so I'm sorry for not making that change, DragonAvenger. And lastly, I've given the drums more variation and made them play some differing rhythms now and then to hopefully break up that metronome-like feeling. I also considered to change the whole set for a more realistic-sounding one as I obtained better drum libraries since I submitted this piece. In the end I decided not to do this since you've asked me for a *quick* fix and I presume you don't want me to alter the music too much as, from what I can gather, the track is very close to sufficing. Wandering too far from the original seems like a risky move. I hope you'll agree with the changes that I made (and didn't make) and that you'll give this track a YES. Even if it doesn't make it through, I'll be sure to send you some more game remixes in the future that I hope you'll like!:) Yours sincerely, Vijay van der Weijden

Man, I've given this so many false starts when trying to give this a fair, proper evaluation it's kind of crazy. No idea why this hangs me up so much, but it's so borderline and it's hard to put into words what takes it down for me. Reading what my peers have said, however, it's helped me put it into more definite terms, so kudos to them for that. Anyway, first the good: the style is slick and oddly fitting to the source. The oldschool EDM fits this like a glove when by all accounts I wouldn't have thought it would. The retro synths all work together, and the drums compliment your soundscape choices. While long, the subtractive arranging that occurs throughout does ensure that it's different enough to justify that length. The production, while not perfect when everything crowds is still nice and loud for most of the track without really sending production red flags like unintentional overcompession. Lots of sidechaining and such against the drums, but that seems both intentional and fitting. The largest issues that hangs me up on this, though, is the repetitive use of textures throughout this track. Nothing ever is combined in the same way twice, but the textures are repeated over and over again, which makes the track feel like it's at the same energy level throughout. The static nature really makes the track feel like it's dragging on, there - you'd really need to introduce more fresh elements throughout rather than recycling material so heavily. The drums (specifically the toms, for me) also really crowd yours soundscape too much; I'm not against the kick being so heavy, but the toms above them have too much volume and too much reverb, which kills everything else below them. The track is borderline too crowded throughout, so there's really no room for something like that. As Larry states, this feels too "same-y", which is due to the heavy use of recycling throughout. I'm onboard for most of the other elements in this: the style and general arrangement structure are good, with the production being close to acceptable. Add some more fresh material in there and clean up the crowded soundscape a bit and I could see myself giving this a thumbs up. NO

Solid track, right here. The ethereal source translated will to some heavy, chuggin' metal. Enjoyed it quite a bit throughout. It's a bit cluttered at the timestamps mentioned by the others, and the mixing in the first half of the piece de-emphasizes the lead a bit too much for my tastes. Larry made a great point on the rhythm chugs hitting slightly off-beat for a few seconds in the track, too (at 2:31-2:34). The the positives far exceed the negatives, though - this is definitely something that should be put up on our front page. Great work! YES

I've had to listen to this for two evaluations, and it's remained pretty much the exact same. The mixing is loud, but it's metal loud - it fits the bill well enough, even if it gets overly crowded toward the end with the metal and synths. I've noted that the notes at 1:41 - 1:43 don't work for me at all, but two seconds out of the whole track doesn't sink it for me. I think one could nitpick that the synths are often pretty plain, but I don't mind that too much with the rest of the track being solid metal fare. Otherwise, the arrangement is pretty solid work. It's perfectly fine to post for me, and was a pretty cool addition to the album. YES

ReMixer Name: DusK Real Name: Dustin Branscum Email: Website: http://www.itstartsatdusk.com User ID: 24328 Game: Sonic 3 & Knuckles, because it's one game dammit Arrangement Name: "Hedgehog Elimination Engine" Song Arranged: "Minor Bosses", I think? Platform: Sega Genesis Composer: Sachio Ogawa, Tatsuyuki Maeda, Jun Senoue, Howard Drossin, and/or Michael Jackson Release Year: 1994 Link to source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDr0oy2Tnr8 Comments: I'm honestly not sure why I never submitted this, considering I'm actually really happy with it. I originally took it because I felt like this source is really under-appreciated, and I wanted more under-appreciated music to get some recognition on Speeding Towards Adventures. I feel like this is kind of a throwback to my earlier mixing style; just taking stuff that I liked, turning it metal as hell, and throwing in some synth for flavor. I also feel like my synthwork has improved a lot since then as well. It's like an enhanced remake of my remixing style. Damn, I wish S3&K would get an enhanced remake.

Deia and MindWanderer are spot on with the humanization of the harp, piano and flute, and I've got to second the concerns with the meandering nature of this track, as well. The arrangement sounds like it works toward a goal, but it never reaches anything that ultimately satisfies this, which is an issue. The lack of highs is also a concern, though it doesn't concern me as much as the other two issues do. Yeah, I actually think the sound design choices in this were great, and the track really fills out well with some good production, to boot. I'm not sold on a lot of the background textures and how they harmonize, but listening to the source it seems to have similar issues, as well. I still think this could be harmonized better anyway (and definitely should), but I acknowledge that it's not entirely your fault, either. Not too much more to add on my part. Cool track, there are some things to fix in the arrangement and humanization before we can post this up. Best of luck! NO

Wow, I actually really enjoy the acoustic work in this track, and the arrangement is quite good, to boot (if a little light on source, though I think I hear enough). I'm not going to pass this, though, due to the incredibly loud upper-mid EQs that punch through the track relentlessly when the music goes into overdrive; it is physically painful, in fact. Tone down your upper mids considerably and balance your EQ levels significantly. The mixing in this is also an issue. While it sounds fine with the acoustic guitar alone, the addition of distorted guitar and drums has everything drown under that distortion. Bring down those levels, and bring those drums out better. I like the direction taken on this, but I can't give it my thumbs up, for now. Take a look at those issues and see if you can improve the production on this; I here a pretty cool song under the issues, here! NO

Remixer Name : Necko Mail : Game : Final Fantasy VII Remix name : Cetra's last cry Original music : You can hear the cry of the planet Composer : Nobuo Uematsu - Playstation 1 Original song link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBRAkpXTmCs Link to the cover : Hello OCRemix, For my first serious remix try, I wanted to do it in a genre I love and was not really common, black metal (or atmospheric black metal maybe). I choose songs that I feel may be great when remixed in Black Metal. For my first I choose "You can hear the cry of the planet", a very atmospheric song with a repetition that you can also find in the black metal genre. Anyway, I hope you like it. Thanks !

Huh, well I've got some commentary on this too, though it's going to come from a different direction than my peers. The grit, the dirty lo-fi effect on this... I'm not a fan, but I'm not going to hold that against you - not liking a style doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it. I will, however, agree with MindWanderer on the static nature of this track. The combination of the repeating harmonies, the overall similar textures used throughout, etc., does wear on the listener over time. Doing different things with the instruments provided, changing up the texture patterns more, etc., would help alleviate this. If that were all I'd probably still pass the track, but most of the synths and textures seem to also be restricted to the midrange EQ area, which makes the whole track sound squished. I can chalk up the bitcrushing overall to style, but there's no reason to be squishing the EQ range of your mix like this. Lift the floors and ceilings of your low & high passes (respectively) on your instruments and give them room to breath, since right now they sound unpleasantly squished. Great ideas otherwise, though, and with some minor tweaks I could see this being a solid pass. Tweak it up and send it back our way! NO

Taken section by section, I actually like this a lot. The guitar is great, the synth work is generally solid and the soundscape is nice and full. I do hear considerable crowding in the production (especially in more crowded sections, like toward the end), which would likely throw me to a borderline pass at best on this, all else being equal. However, I think MindWanderer's commentary on the jarring nature of the transitions are a more significant issue: it sounds like a lot of great ideas were just sewn together to make up a montage of tracks that lasts roughly five minutes. Individually I think there is a whole lot to like in each part; hell, if this were a preview for an upcoming album and each section was a different track on it I'd be excited to hear the album in it's entirety. As a track, though, the form makes little sense, and the sudden transitions from part to part doesn't create any sense of flow. I'm afraid I've got to go with MW on this one. NO

Rozo, always a fun time listening to his stuff since you honestly don't know how he'll take any particular source. His works are fun and varied, I like it. Anyhoo, as far as this track goes it's pretty cool. The textures are clever, if a bit repetitive from time to time (like that marimba arp in the background, for example). The arrangement makes sense for the most part, even if it's a little long all things considered (with the music sounding like it's meandering toward the end to pad for length). The production and mix are quite good, too, with the exception of the turtleshells at 0:44 getting drown a bit. The issues I have are pretty minor overall, but they're things to take a look at next time around. Speaking of the Marimba, when working in dynamics into an instrument to humanize it be careful not to copy/paste those dynamics over a short pattern; it ends up feeling mechanical for a very different reason. It's generally better to think of dynamics and level variation in terms of over a phrase rather than over a short pattern, since that's more in line with how people handle long term dynamics. Again, not a huge deal, but something to keep an eye out on for next time. To be honest, I wasn't feeling the organ as a problem. I'm listening on headphones here so maybe it translates differently on speakers, but the slight panning done on the various instruments helps give each of them their own space so they don't step on each other's toes too much, and the highs didn't seem painful to me. Then again, perhaps I just don't mind highs all that much since I have a tendancy toward that issue in my own stuff. Who knows, but I was fine with it either way. Yeah, overall it's a fun listen, despite the nitpicking I've done in here. It's a shame that I never got into the Monkey Island games way back when, since the music does seem pretty cool in it, and Rozo does a good job giving it a new feel while keeping it very true to the source. Nice work! YES