Gario

Contact Information Your ReMixer name: Sebastien Skaf Your real name: Sebastien Skaf Your email address: Your website: http://sebastienskaf.soundcloud.com/ Your userid: 23598 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest Name of arrangement: Children of the Night Name of individual song(s) arranged: Bloody Tears Link to the original soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjazC45Qkww Source Usage The source usage here is pretty straightforward. Notes I made a drum and bass remix this time, which is rather different from what I've submitted in the past, but I think it turned out alright. I pumped the tempo up to 170 - a familiar symptom of drum and bass, so I had the choice of either raising tempo of the source to 170 or lowering it to half that, and I chose the latter. As a result it sounds slower than what we're used to from Bloody Tears, but I think it allowed more room for the drum & bass style to breathe. Originally I had incorporated samples of the famous "The children of the night, what music they make" line from the 1931 Dracula, but I removed it when I realized it was still under copyright. I stuck with the track name, though. Thanks

Remixer- That Andy GuyName- Andrew Massonhttp://soundcloud.com/that-andy-guyuser ID: 29681Game Remixed: Chip's Challenge (PC)Name of Arrangement: "Da Funk do you Know Bout Chip"Song Remixed: Chip 2 Link to original music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsOFHqPMDXonote: I couldn't find any concrete info on the original composer, but if you may know, then be sure to share that with meI played this game entirely too much when we got our first computer when I was around 6 years old. This music has stuck with me since then and I figured a funky spin on the tune would be a good fit. That and the title of the track kind of drives home the fact that not too many people I know have even played the game, but hopefully fans of the game come out of hiding to enjoy this mix!

ReMixer name: Arvangath Real Name: Andrés Márquez Email address: // Your website: https://soundcloud.com/arvangath/sets/video-game-composition-showcase-playlist User Id: 33696 The song file is attached to this email. Name of the game(s) arranged: Street Fighter 5 // Street Fighter III Third Strike Name of arrangement: A Reflection of Tyranny Name of individual songs arranged: "Crazy Chilli Dog" or "Urien's Stage" - applies to both games in which different versions of the song appear. Link to the original work and information about the composer: The tracks for Street Fighter: 3rd Strike were composed by Hideki Okugawa, and the pertinent track would be Track 20 - "Urien Stage -CRAZY CHILI DOG" with a duration of 2:33, as indicated by the information found about the aforementioned game's OST official release under the name "STREET FIGHTER III 3rd STRIKE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK" (1999) - Voice samples from VA Lawrence Bayne used in this arrangement. Source: http://vgmdb.net/album/3128 Recently, Urien came as a Street Fighter V DLC character, and showcases an Orchestral arrangement that has its unique qualities, but pays due homage to the theme from 3rd strike via the main chord progression used. Inspiration and reasons behind this arrangement: I've always been in love with Fighting games and their music. Where I live, one of the few entertainments were arcades, and when I was really young, I used to go there with my brother, and I vividly remember playing Third Strike and falling in love with Ryu, Q and Urien. Urien's stage theme has played loops in my head since those days, and particularly, the voice used by Urien's VA sticked with me. A powerful and commanding growl, almost like a rabid dog that yelled "GET READY TO DIE" or "CRUSH" and particularly - "AEGIS REFLECTOR" With this arrangement, I intended to reflect what I perceived 3rd Strike as - a powerful, fast and upbeat skullcrushing game, with great animations and sound design, that helped me fall in love with games even more, I'm mainly a bassist and recording artist nowadays, but I want to get better at everything related to Audio Production. I started making covers in YouTube as part of a contest, and to improve my Audio skills, since I'm an aspiring composer and sound designer for Video Games. I'm actually a Lawyer, living in one of the poorest countries of the world, but OC remix has accompanied me in the worst times of my life here, and I love the site and Videogame OSTs in general.I want to get out of here and obtain a job doing what I love - SFX and songs for videogames. Link to the Original 3rd strike song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k1Znk7P75c Link to the current SFV song (sorry for the extended version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLQU07VN_dI Link to this cover on my YouTube Channel:

Agreeing with a lot of what the others said about this - messy up until 1:10, then it starts to really shine (though with a screaming sax that's too loud toward the end). I have a few more specific critiques to give, but everyone on here is pretty much on point as to the issues here. The mixing in the beginning has a middleground that every instrument is fighting to take space in, while lacking any real foreground or background; that specifically makes it sound like one soupy mess for over a minute. While it gets better after the 1:10 mark, I don't think the mixing is perfect after, either - it's a great improvement to have a foreground, but the middleground still has too much competing for space there. Having nearly a quarter of your track sound really messy and hard to follow, followed by three quarters sounding pretty damn good (though not perfect, either)... It's pretty hard for me to justify passing this as it stands. Really clean up the first minute of the track, tone the sax at the end down a bit so it doesn't sound as piercing and I think you'd be good to go, as it's a really great arrangement otherwise. NO (P.S. Jazz flute is the bomb and I'm so damn happy you incorporate it in there)

Man, I've got to say, between this track and the dubstep variation of Star Wolf's theme you had on the WIP boards, you know how to get some solid mileage out of it, and to be honest I love both of them (albiet for very different reasons). I'm really enjoying the power of the epic orchestral style here, and the lyrics are actually pretty powerful (and fitting of Star Wolf's character, from what I can tell). Unfortunately, both of your Star Wolf arrangements share a similar issue, as well: I'm not hearing enough Star Wolf in this arrangement. If someone can hear more source in this please correct me, but this is what I pull from this track: 0:09 - 0:13 0:57 - 1:31 2:10 - 2:45 2:56 - 3:03 3:53 - 4:28 115s/278s (the last seven seconds are just silence - I won't count them) ~41% Source Stopwatching this, I'm getting pretty shy of 50%, and I don't quite feel there's justification outside of using this method this time around. I wasn't catching virtually any source in the singing, but perhaps someone with a more attentive ear can correct me on that. So what I'm saying here is that this is too liberal for OCR as it stands. Given the structure of this track I could see this being easily corrected via the use of Star wolf's theme as texture in the background of the more open portions (which you start the track off doing - 0:09 - 0:13 is a perfectly good way to get source out of that). More of that and I could see this getting over that 50% mark without too much issue. The performance is fitting, and gets pretty exciting, but it has a few issues that hold this back, as well. The vocalist, while having a great voice, does tend to go flat from time to time. A re-recording would fix this, but if you don't want to trouble the singer a little bit of pitch correction software would also work to touch this up without issue. I know autotune gets a lot of bad rep (thanks, T-pain), but it's actually a tool for making minor tuning corrections like that, so don't be afraid to use it in leu of making the singer work extra hard. There's also an odd moment from 3:11 to 3:29 where the singer sounds like she's off a beat. An easy fix in a DAW would be just to shift her back a beat for that portion, so I suggest doing so. As a final note, the singing comes off as too dry against the backing instruments; put a little more reverb on it so that it sounds like it's being sung in the same room as the backing instruments. I really do enjoy this one, but I think it could use a little more work before we post it up on OCR. Do send it back our way with these adjustments in mind, as I think it's a great arrangement. NO

EVAL Well, this was a pretty full of energy! You got some nice, meaty drums, the side chaining to really back them up, and the glitchy, something-step sound overall does the source wonders. I think the main thing that I will comment on is that your lead has a bit too much portamento to it. When it's really juiced up on the portamento the notes often just sound flat rather than sliding to them properly. As a rule of thumb, if the note spent more time sliding than it did on the note, it's not going to be recognized as that note, so tone it down when it's supposed to be landing on the notes (like at 1:36 - it sounds pretty rough there). I will also note that it would be nice to hear at least one other instrument used as a lead from time to time, as that lead starts to wear on you after nearly five minutes. Otherwise, I think you have something worth submitting, here. It'd be a borderline case even as is, but if you take Starphoenix and my word for the lead and switch it out once or twice for something else, and tweak the portamento where it makes the lead sound too swanky I think you'll have a pretty solid chance at getting posted.

Wow, this was one of the few that have been eval'd by Level 99 & Emunator, way back when. It would be nice if they dropped by periodically to say hello to the WIP boards again, from time to time, as they're pretty cool dudes. But I digress - time to give it an eval, Gario-style! EVAL Alright, you've spent quite a bit of time on this, and I do think you're close. The idea is interesting, and the source is recognizable. The production is in pretty good shape, to boot - I'm not hearing things like overcompression or limiting errors in this, which is good. You're probably tired of hearing the humanization issues on this, so I'll rephrase it in a way that might be more useful - your articulations are mechanical. Particularly, the attack envelope of your samples all swell when a real performer might only do such swelling at the beginning of a phrase. This afflicts most of your samples (solo violin, oboe, backing strings), so it's something that can't be ignored, if you presented this to the panel. Fortunately, most samplers that I've seen have knobs that allow you to adjust the attack of your sample, so decreasing the 'attack' of your samples will give you a tighter articulation. If that swell is inherent in the sample itself that's unlucky, but there's still hope in that samplers sometimes also offer an adjustment of where to start in the sample. Start after the inherent swell fo the sample and viola! Tighter articulation. I would highly suggest considering the phrasing of your instrumental lines, and focusing a little on when it makes sense for something to swell and when it makes no sense to do so, and adjust accordingly. I spent a lot of time on that (as it's the most noticeable concern), but I will also quickly point out that the mixing doesn't have enough focus to it. I hear a particular instrument (such as at 0:15 and 0:46) that pops out whenever it's around - that guitar. It really makes more sense as a supporting instrument, but it's mixed in a way that brings it to the front, at the cost of your more melodic instruments (like your violin and oboe). Past 1:45 it becomes difficult to follow your track, because of how things are mixed - there's little for the listener to grab onto, which results in the track sounding like it meanders. The strings sound like they should be the focus at that point, but they are mixed pretty far in the background (and have the aforementioned swelling that squashes their sound). Pay careful attention to your mixing. I do hope some of that helps you out. I hate to say this would still not pass the panel in its current condition, but I would be doing you no favors if I weren't honest. Pay attention to your articulations, and mix it in such a way that the listener can follow the most important elements and it'll fare better. Best of luck!

Alright, with a few responses in tow, I'll weigh in with my thoughts, here. Harmonically, I found little issue with it. It's unconventional; it utilizes bi-tonality for some portions of the track (such as at 2:40 - 2:58), and some of the moments that MW mentioned (like 0:41) have an intentionally downtuned triangle wave which makes it sound like it's clashing. The track isn't going to be to everyone's taste harmonically, as it dips in and out of tonality periodically, but I can't immediately mark this as wrong, either. Much like Uboichi's arrangement, I can't say moments of non-tonality qualifies as 'wrong', here... but that's admittedly up for debate, and a less important debate than the production discussion. I stand with Liontamer's assessment that being in mono dampen's the impact. However, know that I brought this to the table to clarify and codify the standing on chiptune a little bit further. Rushjet1's track is great, but realize that his track utilized the VRC6 chip (the famous Konami chip that expands the NES sound capabilities), while this is purely native hardware. If stereo spread and possibly tweaking EQ levels a tad is all we're talking about in order to improve their production to acceptable levels (as Liontamer suggested), then that would be great to inform future chiptune artists who plan on submitting. If the density of sound was not up to production quality standards (like MW was saying) then that's a different beast entirely and should be clarified in a completely different manner. As I agree with Liontamer on this, though, I'll give it the finishing vote. NO

The improvements are present, and though I don't think the harmonic issues were resolved I don't QUITE see them as deal-breaking. They're unusual, and they clash fairly hard for about two seconds in the track, but the rest of the track is great to compensate for it. It's borderline, but I think it'll be alright. YES

Man, I do wish MindWanderer didn't point out the excessive copy/pasta, as I think this is a great sounding arrangement... but yeah. I will note that at 2:54 the drum pattern omits the snare, which DOES give it a slightly different sound at first, but I don't think that was enough to mitigate the fact that the repetition goes on for such a long stretch of the track. The 1:44 - 211 repetition I didn't feel was nearly as offensive since it was used to lead into something different and interesting, which plays with the audiences expectations a bit. The synths were generally pretty vanilla, but they're used to good effect in this, as they really push the rave genre forward (and it works well with the source). The dirty bass that comes in and the use of SFX for accent does wonders for the track, as well. Great production, fun track, but the repetition at 2:54 is a deal breaker here. Thanks for sending it our way, though, and I do recommend others to listen to the Materia Collective album that this came off of, I'm certain others will enjoy it there! NO

Hi peeps, Game: Legend of Mana Title: I got potion! Orig. title: Wanderer's Path \ Source: https://youtu.be/b9OZwTLtrl4 I was originally working on this for a compilation aaaages ago, but I dropped off the map before it pulled together. I came back to it and thought I'd submit it. - Remixer name: jane Remixer ID: 28584 Actual name: Toby McCasker https://twitter.com/jane_tobes

ReMixer Name: AnalogStik Real Name: John Montoya E-mail: Website: http://www.johnmontoya.info User ID: 30916 Original Game: Sonic 2 Song Remixed: Chemical Plant Zone Submission Link: Submission Name: Chemical Rave Zone Note: Considering it's available for purchase, if this remix is accepted I will send you the .mp3 via Google Drive. Description: In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of one of the most iconic video game characters of all time, The Materia Collective proudly presents "Mobius: Sonic the Hedgehog Remixed." Over 80 arrangers and musicians have lovingly crafted 58 tracks that reinterpret both classic and current Sonic themes into a speedy amalgamation of Rock, Orchestral, Jazz, Funk and Electronica. Loudr: https://loudr.fm/release/mobius-sonic-the-hedgehog-remixed/eM6WS iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mobius-sonic-hedgehog-remixed/id1125506304 Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/1PFnUOrwUGiHwe81xA3JGU?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

Contact Info: Remixer name - Phonetic Hero Real name - Pete Lepley Email adress - Site: https://soundcloud.com/phonetichero, https://twitter.com/PhoneticHero User ID - 44763 Submission Info: Name of game - Sonic 2, Sonic 3D (Saturn) Name of arrangement - Conflagration Source names (and links) - Gwyn, Lord of Cinder Composers: Motoi Sakuraba Additional: Gonna start with a little about what I've been up to, and a bit about how this remix came to be in the first place - I've been freelancing full time for about a year and a half as of this submission, and without a single doubt, it's been the hardest I've ever worked in my life. I'm going on almost a full year of working every single night with very few exceptions, though I knew the first couple/few years would be a grind to gain experience and work my way up. I've been scraping by for the most part, but I'm also very happy and grateful to be doing what I'm doing (if a little exhausted at times). This remix was "commissioned" by a friend who helped me out when I got financially sucker-punched and was at a very low point, and I can't thank him enough for saving my career from going dormant for a time. As for the remix itself, I've taken a few opportunities lately to try to improve my orchestral work. I've also never played Dark Souls before haha, but the source track has a mournful-yet-resolute vibe that really gripped me after hearing it. I tried to expand on that and stay true to the source, despite having pretty limited context for it in-game. Hopefully I did right by it! Thanks for listening, and a humongous heartfelt shout out to all my friends and fans who have helped me get to where I am today <3

ReMixer name: LcsDornelesReal name: Lucas Dorneles da SilvaEmail address: Website: https://soundcloud.com/lucas-dornelesUserid: 34018Submission InformationGame(s) arranged: Chrono CrossName of arrangement: Still A DreamerName of individual song(s) arranged: RADICAL DREAMERS ~The Jewel That Has Not Been Stolen~ Mp3 File:

ReMixer Name: DS Vocalist Name: Meg Real Names: David Sylvester, Megan Lesko (only wishes to have a mention) Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ds394 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_99CLE91nwBG7zNXQ9YUiA UserID: 34014 Game: Star Fox 64 Arrangement Title: Dark Hero (ft. Meg) Source: Starwolf's Theme Comments: "When the time comes, just act!" Other than playing Star Fox 64 as a kid, my obsession with Star Fox started out (as any n00b would with a lesser known franchise) with Smash Bros. and listening to the soundtracks that had been placed into the game, especially Space Battleground (which I at first never would have believed to be from Star Fox of all things, it's just too epic). So as I slowly started delving deeper into the soundtrack, the Star Fox Assault version of the Star Wolf was just so epic and classy that I was like "How could something this cool be in Star Fox?!". Fast forward a few months, when I was decently versed in the Star Fox OSTs, I attended a Regional Music Festival, and one song we played had a motif in it that sounded just like the Star Wolf theme, but with a different chord progression. I took that to heart, and I ran with it when I got home. I fiddled around with it for hours on my piano, coming up with ostinatos, basslines, extensions to the progression, instrumentations, and so on. Eventually, I had in my mind the idea for a full-blown epic orchestral mix of Star Wolf that was not just what Assault did. Forgot where in my thought processes this came from, but sometime I just knew I needed a vocalist. I even wrote about a counter-melody and an entire batch of lyrics before I knew how the heck I was gonna do it. Then one day, I thought about a girl that I knew who happened to sing pretty well in the school musical, so I showed her the instrumental and without even knowing what game the melody was from she was all into the epicness. So after a few days of frantic recording, we got it down and brought to life this modern, non-conventional take on a classic melody for the overlooked anti-heroes of Star Wolf. Thank you so much for taking the time to review this, looking forward to seeing your criticism DS (David)

ReMixer Name: LongBoxofChocolate Real Names: Trevor Burch, Daniel Perry, Aaron Schmitt, Nick Bello, Philippe Delage http://youtube.com/longboxofchocolate https://soundcloud.com/longboxofchocolate Game: Undertale Title: Glitterbomb Source: Death by Glamour Link: Hey everyone, Described internally as nothing short of "hot, bright, and aggressively fabulous," this is a disco glam rock (is that a thing?) cover of Undertale's Death by Glamour. Our saxophonist and resident cool-dude Hank led the charge, saying: "The original track is so funny to me because Mettaton is just so ridiculous and all over the place. I really wanted to grab that wild spirit." With that goal in mind, I think we were successful in really pushing the limit of just how many fat tracks we could cram into a single tune. Other notable highlights for me include the opportunity to incorporate dance synths into a rock band setting, Hank's interpretation of the half-time breakdowns and killer sax runs across the entire board. Some may think it's over the top; we think it's just right. So regardless of what the panel decides, Glitterbomb will remain one of my favorite overall tracks in the band's portfolio. Cheers!

Required infos ReMixer name: AtmoSage Name of game arranged : Kirby & The Amazing Mirror Name of arrangement : Jazzy Condiments Name of individual song arranged : Mustard Mountain Additional infos Link to the original soundtrack : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0ZCwramhCU Comments about the mix: Kirby & the Amazing Mirror really marked my childhood. When I re-discovered the soundtrack not long ago, I felt some sort of Jazzy/Blues vibe floating through ''mustard mountain'', so I decided to make this track(on FL Studio, as always), to make this vibe come to life.I still got a lot to learn, but I had a lot of fun making this, especially the last part

Hey, it's me again, with another solo-piano arrangement from another of my favorite Kirby games (since Kirby can't get enough love!) I always loved Canvas Curse's soundtrack, since it was pretty much all made up of remixes of other tunes from the series, often with vastly different interpretations. Since for some reason I've always associated the sounds in Canvas Curse's compositions with colorful, abstract art and grand cityscapes, I tried to capture that in my arrangement. I added some chromatic chords in the B section of the melody, and generally favored the wider, fuller sound and varying moods of Canvas Curse's "Tiny Town" theme, all while retaining the airy feel of the original "Bubbly Clouds". Here's a link to the track: Contact information: ReMixer name - jdaster64 Real name - Jonathan Aldrich E-mail address - Website - www.youtube.com/jdaster64piano, jdaster64.tumblr.com User Id - 31995 Thanks a bunch! ~ Jonathan "jdaster64" Aldric

EVAL ... was that Mars from Holst's 'The Planets' at 3:28 and 4:00? Nice touch. *ahem* Honestly, the performance is great, and the sources are cleverly arranged. If I had to critique it, there are one or two moments of hesitation that, while probably intentional, sound more like that - hesitation. It's super nitpicky, and something that others will probably not care about, so don't worry too much about it. Really not much else to add, though; if you submit this, it'd very likely pass, so send it off with my blessings.

Hi, I want to submit my arrangement of "Cave Dweller Concert" by David Wise. It can be found on my SoundCloud profile under the following URL: ReMixer name : germanjazzguy real name: Patrick Schürmann user-ID: 33770 Game: Donkey Kong Country Name of arrangement: Encountering The World's Ancestors Songs arranged: Cave Dweller Concert (original arrangement can be found here:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZcyxhtQluk Composer of Source: David Wise Cave Dweller Concert has always been one of the songs from the DKC score which I didn't really mind about. It was just there when you're playing the cave levels in DKC and yeah, that was all I had thought about it... until january 2014 when I happened to hear the ENTIRE piece (which means including the calliope lead und flute parts in the end) on YouTube. I especially found the Calliope part beginning around 1:47 very atmospheric, it always gives me the chills when I hear it. Around this time (more precise: when I first got beyond 1:47 listening to this tune because of it not resetting itself due to a bonus stage in the game before this time!) I realized that it is a true soundtrack-masterpiece (well, better late than never, one might say) and started to play it on piano. Two years later, I started working with a new soundfont, which had a great goblins-synth sample...and outstanding vibraphone samples...and there was also a timpani on it...and, hey! if you put together two measures of 1/32-notes played by claves and let the touch response gradually rise and decay, it sounds like a bat that is flying... o.k., when this all together shouted CAVE DWELLER CONCERT!!!!!!, I also got the message and started to work on this Remix. Inspired by some church music scales, I wrote the goblins solo that starts around 2:51, then invented a new intro based on a d pedal point and arranged the A-theme of Cave Dweller Concert for Vibraphone and a Synthesizer. This arrangement is the result. I hope you like it! germanjazzguy

For the record, I marked this as Super Metroid as that's the 'Ur' example of this source, and I didn't see anything from the Metroid Prime source that differentiated the two. Since he said it was an arrangement of Metroid Prime I also included that source, too. I find this to be a pretty well balanced arrangement, myself. The arrangement, while being a touch static, does do different things with the elements that it has to keep it interesting throughout the track. I'm not hearing the over-compression issues mentioned; any pumping sounds intentional in this rather than a mistake. At best, perhaps the bass drum causes a little overcompression when it hits, but it's pretty minor, if it's there; it's not nearly enough to bring down the track as a whole. There IS a random note at 3:15 that sounds like a rendering error, though; it's like the volume shoots up for a moment then normalizes. Things like that happen to me sometimes when I change the envelope too quickly, so keep an eye on things like that. I'm not getting the same vibes as MW on this one - I thought that while it drags on a little bit it doesn't get offensively static. The arrangement has good form to it, and there are some neat things (wubs, arpeggios, etc.) that keep the listener interested for a ~3 1/2 minute track. YES

Superman for the Sega Genesis? Didn't even know it existed, but it sounds like it could be better than the more... infamous installments. But I digress. I like the style that you have going here - sounds like a blend of classic rock with some more electronic elements, and I dig that. The mixing of it is a bit questionable, though; the guitar tends to be pushed more to the back of the mix, and the bass is mixed too close to the front. When many things go at once (especially at 2:28) the mix gets very muddy, with all of the instruments fighting for the front of the mix. Figure out what elements are important and what elements should be in the background, and mix them appropriately. The EQ balance throughout seems to also be off. It's partly because the bass is mixed so close to the front, but overall the EQ is pretty bass heavy, and lacks in the higher EQ department, which makes the track sound dull. Balance your upper EQ a bit in this track, either by using brighter instruments or raising the high EQ a bit for a few instruments; that'll give the arrangement a cleaner, crisper sound overall. As far as the arrangement goes, MindWanderer is right: it's a bit too conservative for OCR, as it stands. While there is a nice breather section at 1:16 and some soloing lead work at 2:13, for the most part it repeats the same arrangement multiple times, which is very close to the source material. The fact that there is a lot of copy/pasta throughout also works against you, as much of the track sounds like padding due to this. Great source, some solid performances and nice synth work throughout, but the arrangement does bar this from OCR a bit. For the future, do pay attention to your mixing and EQ balance, as well. NO

Haha, I remember this from the WIP boards; it does seem that you took the limiting advice to heart, because this does sound pretty beefy now compared to when you started. The guitar work is tight, and the drums really have a lot of power behind them; this is a really fun cover. Improvements aside, I do wish you requested a mod evaluation then as well, because I would've been able to tell you the arrangement was too conservative for OCR as it stands. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but it's not something that we can post due to how close it is to the source. MindWanderer is also correct in that the drums are balanced too close to the front, which costs you the presence of your guitar and bass. It's a small balancing fix, but still something you can pay attention to in your next arrangement. I was never sure what the silence in the beginning was about, save for the drums setting the beat, there really isn't anything from 0:00 - 0:18 that justifies its existence. Starting from 0:18 and going from there would be a much cleaner approach, and it would catch the listener's attention right away. I really liked this in the WIP boards, but it's not something we can accept due to how conservative it is. Thanks for sending it our way, though! NO

This is a very tough call. The performances are phenomenal, and overall the listening experience is incredible. On the other hand, the shifts in pacing and mood pushes the 'multiple arrangements placed next to one another' sound that we don't like in medleys. On the other OTHER hand, the transitions are not bad, either - there was effort to make it sound like a cohesive track, and it does show. On the other other other hand, though, you called this Chrono Trigger Medley... Really. Just saying, there. I disagree with the comment that individually the arrangements are too conservative, as there are a lot of cool details behind the scene that keeps things interesting (like the string textures behind the forest theme, and reharmonizations for the Ocean Palace), not to mention the related but original material used to bridge the sections. If the pacing didn't shift between sections this would be an easy YES on the books, but with those fairly large swings in mood and pacing it makes it much more difficult to give it a clean pass. MindWanderer's observations are not wrong, but I think the transitions are just good enough to consider this something of a musical suite rather than a disjointed series of arrangements slapped together. I'm going to swing just to the other side of things here, but I can see others going for the NO on it. Oh, I think the violins sound great, personally - the more distinct harshness make them great for solo performances and duets. Might be just me, though. YES

Sure, I'll help clarify. Also, thanks for the link - Newgrounds, while unconventional, certainly hosts well enough. Hey, I used it for the longest time, myself (might get around to posting more of my music there someday), though if you submit simply attaching the 192kbps Mp3 to the e-mail is preferable. First, as far as being conservative is concerned if the track sounds too precise to the source then it's not eligible to be a posted remix. It's also ineligible if the arrangement has too little connection to the source material - OCR is all about that sweet spot between having the source recognizable while putting your own spin on it. It's not objectively a good or bad thing how conservative or liberal a track is, but when we do mod evaluations here we need to consider what will be post-able on OCR, and that's just the site requirement for posting material. This falls within the parameter, so don't worry too much about it this time. As far as 'static' goes, it's an informal term used to mean when the soundscape sounds the same for long stretches of time. If you don't change it up for long periods, the music starts to sound the same, which is tiring to the listener. In this track's case, the bass, the drums, the texture, etc., sounds like it's all used in the same way from 0:10 to 1:30, going through the source twice relatively straight. The change in melodic instrument helps change things up a bit, but the fact remains that the rest of the instruments are all being used in a similar manner, using similar textures and patterns for a long period of time without break. 'Vanilla' simply means the synths sound basic and/or like common premade synths from a program utilized without some form of personalization. Granted, I do hear the use of EQ envelopes to keep it interesting at some parts, which helps alleviate this issue somewhat, but it's not quite enough in that first section. I'll paste a nice summary of this term here, used in another thread: Again, this applies more to the first half of the track than the second, so keep that in mind. I may make this a sticky someday, since it's a lot to write out. As far as the drums, to put it simply: yes, the kick is not loud enough. From what I can tell the kick doesn't have much bass EQ, so either tweaking the EQ so it has more bass or finding a kick with more low end would help considerably. I do catch two snares in this, and one IS very wet. I'm likely talking about the dry snare, and I'm not talking about more than a few clicks of reverb on it; it's just so it matches the wetness of the other instruments. Hope that helps.