Gario

I think this arrangement is meant to catch you off guard, and with these ears at least it succeeded. I was expecting something with some powerful synths with Rockos at the helm, but that opening is deceptively charming before it takes the track off the rails. The guitar work was nice in the beginning with what is admittedly a simple synth that I didn't enjoy much in the beginning, but this track goes well off the rails a minute into it and it couldn't make me happier. I do not think this will be everyone's cup of tea being it really does move in some weird and interesting directions throughout, but being something everyone can enjoy isn't what this site is about. I can nitpick the beginning synth a bit and it's use throughout the song wasn't great, but overall I think this arrangement could hardly be changed to improve anything without fundamentally changing what it is, and what it is would be an ever changing experiment on a simple if pleasant source. I like it, not everyone will but I know it'll be a hit with people who like eclectic electronic music that dares to deceive you with great acoustic instrumentation early on. YES

Interesting source, don't hear too much of this game on this site. Making it into a metal arrangement is a great idea, and the guitar work is pretty good to back this all up. The backing instruments are pretty thin. The strings are hollow, and the brass sounds like it's being played in a church across the street.. I can see strings and brass working, but they all have to sound like they're in the same room as the guitar and drums if you want them to blend well. The mixing is also a significant issue, especially for these instruments at 1:07 - that brass is supposed to be in the lead, but it's barely audible over the rhythm guitar. The solution isn't to just make them louder, either, since all that reverb will overwhelm the track before they sound remotely in the front of the mix. Those samples really need some cleaning up so that everything sounds in the same space, and then the mixing needs to be reworked. There are moments where the lead gets lost behind the rhythm, as well (such as at 2:07 - end), so it's not just the backing instruments that need work. It's a good idea, and the arrangement is well personalized, but I think this needs work before it can get to the front page. NO

I like this one, it has a really cool groove which changes the somber tone of the source. However, the arrangement is quite static; after the introduction of that legato lead at 0:45 the track is more than happy to rest on it's laurels. Don't get me wrong, the groove, the lead, the synths, etc., blend fantastically, but after 0:45 it's nothing but that instrument combination with some drum fills. The ear tunes out of the song after a minute of this, since it's all the same textures and instruments. Remove some instruments sometimes, add a different instrument, make some changes to the arrangement after a while of using all the instruments at your disposal so that the ears have a break from the instrumentation so that they'll be fresh when you decide to bring all the instruments back again. What's here is damn fine, but it's only so long before one wants to listen to something else. NO

So I can see this arrangement working - there is a version of this that I could easily say YES to, but this has some items holding it back. This is essentially variations on a theme, which for such a short theme is a great way to approach it. The opening is conservative to establish the theme, then it varies the theme once the idea has been cemented - perfectly fine way to arrange the song, has a good length for such an idea, and it has some nice production (mixing and the like). Also meaty drums, we all like those. The idea of variations is to move away from the idea, though. It goes in the right direction at 0:52, using some nice subtractive arranging, but returning to the same style shifted a key at 1:16 isn't enough variation. This track has a good start, but it plays too safe with the source material for it to be engaging as a variation track, so it all feels like it's staying in the same place and retreading the same music over and over again. The instrument quality isn't the highest but it's on the threshold of passable, but the music just doesn't go anywhere. If you're gonna do variations really explore how you can vary the source and take it in new directions, but otherwise perhaps think about what you want the music to do over the entire track and make some music with the source, because at the moment it just sounds like the source textures repeating themselves with a kick in the back. NO

Repetitive? Samey? Conservative? I don't know what mix my colleagues were listening to, this one really went places with the source using clever harmonization and neat lead work in the second half of the arrangement. If this were a minute longer the instrumentation could've gotten static, but this is a very short track so it doesn't have the time to wear out it's welcome - a perk to writing a sub-3 minute track. The criticisms on the production values hold, for sure - this one hits the limiter a lot, especially at the beginning with those instrument hits against the percussion - but it mellows out when the instruments aren't slamming at the same time as the percussion. When you have a kick and snare that loud you gotta use some side chaining, and you definitely shouldn't have them hit all at once like at the beginning of the track, that's a production nightmare to deal with. Production could use work, but I don't think it cripples an otherwise fantastic arrangement. YES

Has a really interesting harmony to it - it's like it's not constrained to any traditional flow, but it still works, y'know? Good luck getting over the last 5% of polish, it sounds cool.

Well, this track certainly starts off strong, and most individual moments sound great on their own. I do understand where the other judges are coming from on this, though; the greatest weakness of this track is the sections sound disparate from one another, with two sections sounding uplifting (2:09 - 3:00, 5:21 - 6:19) and two sounding very dramatic (0:00 - 2:09, 3:00 - 5:21). There is some connecting instrumental glue bridging the sections, but there could've been more effort integrating the motifs and ideas from each section to the other sections, just to make sure we all know it's the same song. Heck, just continuing some of the singing to the end would've been plenty to tie it all together. Concerning the production values, they're quite good. At 2:44 - 3:00 the instruments get crowded so the melody gets lost behind everything else, so lightening up on the dynamics of the textures would've been a good idea. The singing is very pretty if breathy (stylistic choice most likely), and the samples are humanized well enough for our purposes. I think this is certainly flawed as the arrangement is tied together with some bridges and a recapped section at the end, but I also believe turning this down would make perfection an enemy of good. Keep a song's cohesion in mind when arranging longer tracks like this, and it'll be perfect, but I still enjoyed it and believe others will, too. YES

ALBUM UPDATE: This album will be resubmitted to OCR on July 13th, so that is the final final cutoff date for anyone who still would like to participate. After that there will be no more accepted submissions. I thank everyone who has shown continued interest in this project, and look forward to this chapter in OCR's history being closed. Let's end it on a high note, everyone!

I agree once again with Darksword that this isn't a violation of 4.3 in the standards, but of 4.1, which is as follows: The issue isn't that there isn't enough source - there is plenty of source, even only accounting for the backing music. The issue is that this isn't a genre of music, it's a genre of entertainment. I think the performance was great, but this isn't music, this is a performance. It's just not in our field. We can evaluate the music (which I even said was close to passable), but we shouldn't be posting with the rest of the audio drama. If someone posted a scene from a movie they were making because it has a video game arrangement/remix they made in the background we'd reject it on the same grounds. It's a little strange, but perhaps there needs to be just a little bit more clarification than having it implied in the standards. I suppose it's reasonable to not expect non-music submissions being posted, but I see this as equal to posting a really well done painting of Mario being posted. Could be fantastic, but that's not what this site is about.

Concerning where this album is at, I'll likely only be looking at roughly finished products that require minor touch-ups at best. I always have plans to resubmit the album within a two month frame, so to be safe I would assume that's how much time you have, though it does tend to get delayed for various reasons. The front page is where you can find the tracks that are available, and I look forward to seeing what you have in mind.

Going okay, it's on me to finish this up, been kinda between a few things which makes this lag. @TimComposer Give me a DM and we can discuss. You still have time to work on something, if you would like.

Rebecca, coming in with an orchestral arrangement of one of my favorite games (shame on you Prophetik for not finishing it!). The arrangement is certainly up to par, with a lot of cool original writing to keep things interesting. The live instruments sound great, but those arco strings do not. I don't know what library you use, but there are better ones out there, even for free, and automating the volume envelopes can help make the strings sound less stiff, to boot. Concerning the rest of the instruments they're very dry, which not only exposes the issue of realism among your strings and bassoon (which while not perfect isn't as distracting as the strings), also makes the performance sound unnatural even with the live instruments. Basic reverb is a must if you want the instruments to blend in a believable fashion, since right now it really does sound like a bunch of performances that are happening in different places. I like this, but I don't think this reaches our bar as it stands. Please try to make the strings sound like they're phrased appropriately with volume envelopes (or use a different VST for the strings), and more importantly please blend the instruments with some reverb. NO

Orchestral metal, it's bombastic and loud, as all good things should be. The source is quite clear and the arrangement is pretty good, to boot. The production values are good, but it's certainly where this track lags the most. I will agree with my fellow judges that the mixing is the weak point of this arrangement, with many instruments getting drown in the wash of sound, but I don't think it's a case where the important melody carrying instruments are being drown but instead the textures fighting to be heard to where most just sound like a wall of sound. You'd get a greater deal of appreciation of the backing instruments if each were more distinctly able to be heard - that string counterpoint that happens at 3:12 for example would be a whole lot more impressive if it wasn't competing with the horns, the guitar texture, the vox, etc., but I will grant at the same time that it's not the most important element of the track at that point. The arrangement is full of things like this; if you want to have a tone of cool textures you need to have a soundscape that can accommodate them, otherwise people mistake the activity with "mud". That isn't enough to sink the arrangement in my mind since the genre tends to be pretty forgiving toward this style of wall-of-sound arranging, and I don't hear too much clipping or production artifacts beside that. The "live" instruments aren't of the best quality, either, but they're pretty drown in the mix so the quality doesn't impact the overall track, either. The performances are pretty spot on, though (even the machine gun drums that some have issue with - there isn't a timing issue, that's just how that style of drumming sounds in this kind of music, trust me), and the arrangement is really cool besides. Yeah, while I think this has some issues I don't think this is below the bar. Good work, but do pay attention to your mixing and ask whether some instruments are necessary in your arrangement next time. With your style of music "Less is More" could help bring your music to new heights. YES

I like the approach, the arrangement works very well. I'm afraid that I agree with Proph and MW on the production, though; while there are a lot of cool background elements that make this track come alive (like the piano later in the track), it's just too easy to lose it in the mix. Even the classic Eurosynth stabs are lacking in the mix behind that all powerful kick. Short review, but the strengths and weaknesses of this track are pretty easy to spot. Solid arrangement and awesome style, but the mixing needs another pass so we can hear the other instruments better and the master should be decreased to prevent the clipping that's happening on every kick. NO

Okay, that middle bit with the actual Yoshi's Island reference is quite good, along with that Yoshi's Story reference it honestly does sell the arrangement for me - on that end, anyway. I'll admit that I agree that the mixing of this one is questionable, with some instruments just pulling too far to the front. However, giving this a few listens I do not think it actually brings this below the OCR bar. The judges critiquing the mixing of this aren't wrong, and it would be great if the mixing was better blended, but I don't think this is below our standards. Short and sweet, I like it. YES

Yeah, I agree with Darkesword, this is spoken audio with an arrangement backing it. It's cool, but it's not exactly what OCR is for. I could see this being resub'd with just the music, though, since it's a pretty cool guitar/wind arrangement on it's own. As others have mentioned the timing of some of the instruments are off (those stabs from the sax roughly 1:15 in are a stand out example of something not landing on the offbeat as intended), and some of the notes aren't as clean as they can be (that sax slip-up at 1:09, for example), but it's not quite a deal breaker in my opinion; it adds to the live effect of the arrangement. The singing at the end should probably be re-recorded if this is resubmitted, though; the man's singing was flat, and the note the woman ends on is flat. The singing was a nice addition, but some autotuning or re-recording would help it quite a bit. Unfortunately I don't believe we can take this as is. If you want to resend this without the narrative and fix the singing at the end I think this would have a good chance, and if some of the loose performances were tightened up even through post production this would likely have a home on here. NO

This song definitely leans into it's strengths: it's big, bombastic, and very loud. It's not the most complicated arrangement when it's reflecting the source, but to be honest the track is better for it; too much complexity with a track this loud and you lose all of the detail under the wash (I have to deal with this a lot in my own arrangements - the struggle is real). That doesn't mean that this track doesn't run into this issue of a loss of clarity due to loudness; anything that ain't the supersaw or square bassline is pretty much lost entirely, dipping out due to heavy overcompression. Honestly this sounds great for a soundcloud, where you need the track to be as loud as possible in order to compete with other tracks of this genre, but I agree with the others when they say toning down the mastering so that we can hear the rest of the track would be of great benefit overall. I hear the issues others have on the arrangement - the repetition of the material starting at about 1:30 - and I agree that some flourish would do nothing but help the track, but it's not the primary item of focus. Nonetheless, if this one is going back then you should take a look at giving the listeners a reason to listen to that section again. This is less an issue on the dancefloor since the reason people listen there is to stomp to the beat, but it's nonetheless something that would only benefit the track if you made some small variances to keep the listeners guessing, especially for such a short track. I like this track, boisterous synths and all, but I agree that this is overmastered and overcompressed at the cost of clarity. Tone down the compression, and give that repeat section some more love, and I think this track would be great. NO (old) EDIT (07/19/2023): Listened to the revision, the levels are down so everything can be heard more clearly, and I hear the neat little accompaniment added to that repeated section. I think that addresses our issues well enough, let's go. YES

The production values on this aren't great since they're hot and loud, but they're not something that sinks the track. The orchestral portion has it's sections drown one another out, though; it's hard to hear the strings behind the brass and synths, though; it could use a better balance in the mix so it's easier to hear everything, and fixing the master so that it's not so hot on the levels would certainly help since I do hear it limiting the overall track. As for the arrangement, it sounds like this is the beginning of a track rather than a complete idea. The synths sounding out of the box, nothing added to the source outside of the opening and chords, the aforementioned repetition, and the short and sudden ending all make this sound like the beginnings of an idea for a Tetris remix rather than a complete arrangement. It's the form that's contributing to this sounding incomplete - it has a 38 second opening (29% of the track), and it has what sounds like two variations of a single section (0:38 - 1:24 and 1:24 - 2:12). Where's the rest of the track? It's a good start, and it certainly could become something really cool, but at the moment it sounds like an opening and a first section. It needs a middle and an ending, at the very least, if you want the listeners to leave satisfied. The hot production and mixing should also be fixed, but the main hold-up is the arrangement and it's imbalanced opener and two sections that are slight variations of one another. I'd also suggest making sure if these vanilla synths are what you really want out of this arrangement, too, as they stand out as pretty basic synths that could be literally anything else, but that's up to you of course. NO

Heh, I remember this game, I think I picked it up at a similar time, got a real kick out of it at the time. This sounds like Pony Island ramped up to 11; I can almost hear this track being used in-game, stylistically. The arrangement easily clears the bar, and I've no commentary to offer on the production quality since it's up to your usual standards. Great work, here's hoping it goes on the front page soon. YES

Ah, I knew I recognized this, I checked it out in the WIP boards back when (though I didn't participate in the judgment last time). Based on the comments from last time I think I'm slightly to blame for the EQ balance issues since the bass ended up lacking, apparently, so ah whoops, sorry for the over-corrective advice way back when! I think this is as rich an arrangement as when I heard it before, and while it's wet it doesn't sound overbearing, for the style. Production values ain't bad, though I agree with Prophetik that the drums could've used some more mixing love - they're well done so it'd be nice to be able to hear them! They are also quite dry, compared to the rest of the soundscape. I don't hear the bass balancing issues that the track apparently had prior, so I think the EQ soundscape works well enough for the site. While I hear the mixing issues that were pointed out above, I don't think that's a deal breaker, and there's plenty of variance in the soundscape to keep thinks like the recurring vocals interesting whenever they're there, so while I hear Prophetik's concerns I think this is plenty good enough to post. Great work! YES

The front page is up to date, though if you are interested you will need to provide something quickly. While there is no schedule posted, the time allotted to submitting a finished product will be limited. I don't discourage you from trying, but there's likely little time to submit something, so heads up.

Hey, I like this source (my favorite from FF8), and I think the light touch this takes for most of the arrangement so far is a nice, different direction that folk normally take this, and the singing adds some really nice flavor to all of it. Good work, keep it up.

Ooooh, I really like the atmospheric take on that opening theme. The organ is juicy as hell, too, though that shouldn't be a surprise since this is a live recording and not a VST. Organs are just fantastic instruments when you get to use one in a huge space. Good luck on the show, and be sure to get a nice recording setup of the show for yourself; wouldn't be a bad idea to be able to sell live recordings later, for the effort you're putting in.

Gonna cheat a little bit and repeat my analysis from the album review, with some minor tweaking. I considered it postable back then, so it's pretty much a given, for me. As far as the arrangement goes, damn this one's got some energy in it. I'm feeling the direction this one took with the source, taking those themes and the like and funkifying them to 11 (... that made sense in my head, don't judge me). It does a great job using the space, as well, changing up the textures often enough to never sound static or boring. Thanks to Prophetik for the source breakdown, I won't argue with his results. Production is solid, the mixing is good throughout. The instruments that need to pop out are put in the front when they need to be, and are brought to the back of the mix when more interesting things are happening. Lovin' it, it does a great job putting a fun, fresh face on the source material. YES

Gave this a listen today to see how a recent remix of mine holds up. Not going to lie, this track holds up very well for 2002, even over 20 years later. Solid production and some fun arranging ideas, and while the style is a little dated nowadays that means very little as far as this track's overall quality - this was the shit to jam to in 2002. Even if there are few Laguna remixes to jam to on here, this one really held the fort well for the site.