Gario

damn, no kidding keeping the old guard alive, baby

Really great sounding intro, like others have said on here, and I think the soundscape is really cool (that lead at 0:33 doesn't sound like it'll work, but darn it, it just does). Source seems to be there, as others have pointed out, but it's definitely not a straight forward arrangement, either, so props to the cool arranging. There's a really great arrangement in this, but it does get buried behind the unbalanced mixing. While you can hear everything, the kick and snare are just thrown too far in front of the mix, so as a result everything else suffers. You can't reach any acceptable dynamic with anything else - the leads, the harmony, the textures - due to the kick and snare just taking so much of the space up. Honestly this is probably a quick fix: turn down the kick and snare in the mix, and/or decrease the output on whatever compressor or limiter is on those instruments, then turn up the rest of the mix's levels to compensate for the space that the percussion was taking. It'd balance the mix of the arrangement and would really allow for the rest of it to shine, which considering the strength of the arrangement would be fantastic. Hopefully you can send this right back to us with that fix made up for us. NO

The best you can do on that front is to find the songs you're thinking about on already made MIDI files that you can find on the internet (try vgmusic.com, for a nice collection of MIDI arrangements), but you'd be putting the accuracy of the music in the hands of folk who may or may not have cared about that, or who did their best but made mistakes.

This is a remix that stands on the strength of the arrangement, and the good news is that the arrangement is quite strong. The source harmonies were just a suggestion for this track, so it has a lot of fun exploring just how many ways you can harmonize the super star theme, particularly by evolving it into a texture for the SMB overworld theme. It's clever, and as Mindwanderer states it's pretty much that one idea fully explored into a song. The overall arrangement is quite static, unfortunately. The mixing has some nitpicks at best (lead could pop some more in the mix), but the biggest issue with this is that there's little room for the listener to relax their ears in the arrangement. In fact, without that break on the ears at 0:58 I probably would've rejected this on this alone, but fortunately there are moments of reprieve throughout the first half that break up the arrangement. Perhaps not enough for my tastes, but enough to consider this merely a flaw rather than a dealbreaker. The second half of the track has absolutely no breaks in texture, which is really pushing it for me but at the same time it's not a very long song so while the textures overstay their welcome the song isn't long enough to matter as much. Could've use the ending to change the soundscape one more time and ended it proper rather than fade out the ending, too, but everyone else mentioned the fadeout so I won't dwell on it here. Otherwise, it has very competent production values, and it explores an arrangement idea quite thoroughly. Had the arrangement been weaker I probably would've rejected this for being too static, but gosh darn it the idea is too cool to hold back on the panel. Do take these critiques to heart, though; change the soundscape and density of the arrangement up more, as it can be very tiring to listen to something this consistently dense more than once. I do recommend everyone listen to it at least once, though, since it's a pretty cool arrangement. YES

Wait whaaat you released a new album? Definitely gonna give this a listen tomorrow, you've never disappointed!

Doing swell, @Abadoss, plan on getting this back to staff sometime early October. Just have a few small touches and then this should be on it's way

Great remix of a game that I've gotten a *lot* of mileage out of (it's a great game to do variant runs through). Always great to see music coming from this game getting posted, since it's really a treasure of a soundtrack. The album is pretty slick, too, so be sure to check out the Pixel Mixers' album for Octopath, as well.

Megaman 3, can't say I ever tire of remixes from there. There are some solid arrangement ideas in this one, with some nice subtractive ideas to the melody to give it a nice bounce from time to time (like at 2:07), and some overall good harmony ideas. The solo flowed pretty well, and added some nice spice to the track right when it needed it. The instrument quality isn't bad (vanilla, but not bad), but their use throughout the track grows stale over the whole track. The same pads do the same thing throughout the track, and the lead is pretty much the same until the very end (when they drop out in favor of bringing that piano). I can skip around the whole track and lose track of where in the song I am since there really is little sonic variance to the track. The pads, while cool, are also muddy - probably too may notes in the harmonies that crowds the space, if I had to make a guess, and the attached reverb being too wet doesn't help. Gotta clean up them pads, since right now it's more like soup backing up the rest of the track. Mixing-wise the leads pop out a bit too much, as well; they should be blended into the mixing balance better, once those pads are fixed, too. Plenty to like, here, but overall the static arrangement and mixing issues are holding this one back. Clean those items up and this could be a fun little track to post. NO

Technically I'm a two finger kind of guy, but when I'm using a mouse with more than the left, right & mouse wheel I use three fingers for the three buttons on top (but it's essentially the two finger set-up with an extra button added). Not something I normally think about, but an interesting question nonetheless.

Strange, I've had trouble clicking with the source on this one every time I approached it in the panel, then after I play through the Chrono Cross remaster the source just clicks with me. Funny how that works. Anyway, I think the opening of this arrangement is an excellent example of "Less is More": it's open, airy, and personalizes the arrangement by removing elements of a source rather than adding them. It gives room for a few subtle yet tasty harmonization changes that add a lot of flavor to the track that would've gone unnoticed otherwise (I hear that bit of mixture at 0:49, very tasty). It is otherwise orchestrated well, and though the arrangement becomes more conservative as it proceeds that doesn't take away the personal touch that it was given at the outset. The sample usage is alright, but some more effort could've been put into giving it more body with consistent sounding reverb across the instruments and some less stilted samples. The vox and organ are the biggest offenders here of sounding dry compared to everything else, as well as being stiff. Most other instruments are at an acceptable level of realism, so these items really do stand out in the arrangement. You do great work, Rebecca, so we know even in 2020 you're capable of better in these departments. I agree with DjP on this, though: don't judge a remix based on past experience with an artist and evaluate it on it's own merits, and this is certainly above the bar. While conservative, it does a good job bringing out what made this track special by trimming the fat of the original, so to say, and brings the elements back together for a nice, comfortable listen. I dig it, let's post it. YES

Pretty straightforward arrangement - in a lot of places it sounds like a sound upgrade, even - but there's definitely enough expansion on the source to make it your own thing. I like the overall soundscape on this for the most part (we'll swing back to that). One nice thing that this track does is it keeps the soundscape interesting; while the arrangement is straightforward it never remains too static in the soundscape so there's always at least something fresh to keep my attention with. Nice work on that. The opening has some really cool licks in the sine wave, but it gets hidden by the rest of the soundscape (the bass, particularly). I love me some straight sine wave, but you need to be careful when using is since it's so easy to lose in a soundscape. Thickening your sines with reverb, saturation, heck, just about anything would help the listener grab it. As is it's cool if you hear it, but it doesn't detract too much if it's buried since the otherwise atmospheric soundscape carries itself just fine otherwise. Would've been better if folk could, y'know, hear it, since it is really cool what you did with it. The snare at 1:37 - 3:30 could use some release. I understand the you're contrasting when the track fills up that soundscape with the clipped snare, but it's a bit too clipped for that section since it makes the drums sound like a thin drum machine. Then again, maybe that was what you were going for, but combined with the choral sample it's distracting for that minute or two. Speaking of, yes, that choral sample as mentioned by my colleagues is... well the word often used is "low quality", but I prefer to say it's thin. It's a pad, so by design it's supposed to fill in the gaps in the soundscape, but right now it just doesn't do it's job very well. Partly because of the register it holds (mid-upper range), and partly because the sample itself is thin, it could used a note or two in the lower registers to help fill out the pad better, with some reverb to help it fill the soundscape better. The sample isn't the greatest, either, but there are things that could've been done with it to better satisfy it's role as a pad regardless. I've got a lot of nitpicks and retreaded ground, but that doesn't cover what this track brings to the table: an atmospheric, chill track that ramps up it's groove into a nice thumpin' beat. The drums (after 3:30) sound pretty great, and that bassline throughout is chunky and nice. Honestly while I echo the complaint over the choral sample and it's use, I don't think it sinks the entire track as a whole, though if this does get sent back to you I do hope you take another look at that sample and see if you can improve what you have, if using different samples or synths isn't an option. Nice work overall. YES

I'm not gonna lie, this sounds like MMX6 decided to have a Chronotrigger Zeal themed stage. Not something you'd think you'd need, but it's something you're glad is there for you to listen to. Good stuff.

I do love me some synthwave, so I do enjoy the direction that was taken here. The source is pretty tranquil, so it's a neat idea to transform it in such an aggressive manner. The arrangement, while understandable, doesn't feel balanced. The melody is pretty hard to follow, only really becoming prominent at 1:51, which is halfway into the track. I do hear something that can function as a melody prior at 0:42, but once the other texture comes in at 0:56 it becomes hard to hear as such. Because of this the arrangement feels lopsided - half being bridging material that uses cool textures that eventually lead into things that the listener can hook onto, but by then half the song is over. The mixing in this comes in two flavors - piercing and muddy. There are moments where everything seems to be mixed in the same way which makes it hard to follow any individual element of the arrangement, such as at 0:56, and other moments where there's something that pierces through the track in a distracting manner, such as at 1:51 with that melody (great that it's distinct, but it really stands out against the rest of the arrangement). Give your mix more focus, with a clear background and foreground when there's mostly a textural blend, and when the melody comes in at 1:51 bring that mix down for that melody so that it doesn't stand out so much. I really like the break given at 2:18, and when things really come together at 2:36 it sounds pretty great. The striking chords could use perhaps less dense chords; the timbre of that instrument is harmonically rich, so it sounds almost dissonant when it strikes. Taking out a note would probably make those strikes cleaner and clearer, and would help the mixing out in that section to boot, since it does get muddy when that instrument hits. Overall I think there's a pretty cool track to listen to in this, but I don't agree that this is ready for the front page. It needs some TLC on the mixing and the melody needs to stand out better at the beginning. Cleaning up the section at 2:36 would help elevate this track quite a bit, too. It's okay, but it needs some polish before I feel it's ready for the front page. NO

No joke, I downloaded it again a few weeks ago and played through it again. It's seriously one of the best free games on the internet, easily up there with the likes of Cave Story and Deltarune (Ch. 1 & 2). Don't care that it's a necro, just putting it out there that this game is still great.

Oooh, I kinda love this. Fantastic expansion on the theme, and some really lovely textures that ties the whole thing together. The fade out at the end made me a little sad since I kept hearing new things in there as it was fading out, but then again if you're gonna fade out that's the right way to go about it. Short and sweet, just like the source. I dig it.

Mmm, very chill, very relaxing. Lovin' the jazzy chords used throughout. Nice production, too. I like it, if this is a WIP (like it says in the tag) I hope to hear the final product.

Adding my two cents to the mix, this is a gorgeous arrangement that stays in the same place sonically throughout. I love where the sound is, don't get me wrong - it's a great combination of clean and crunchy that gives a lot of flavor - but it centers around the same arp loop and drum pattern (with fills) throughout. With a whole theme that one could play with and the ability to drop out that admittedly great sounding arp periodically (as well as change up that drum pattern from time to time), there are so many more places that you can (and probably should) take this, as right now this sounds like a proof of concept. Mind you, a great proof of concept, but still otherwise incomplete for what it could be. I look forward to where you take this one, because it sounds fantastic so far.

Pretty much a fantasia on the Temple of Time theme, and it sounds just fantastic throughout. It's not hard to hear the source in this one throughout (especially with that lovely timestamp that Prophetik gave), and due to how short the source is there are a lot of nice slices and dices of that source material to expand it as musically as possible. Production is also clean, and that organ is just sounding delightful. I must disagree with adding a compressor to the track, though; dynamic range of this scale is not only not bad, it's necessary to have this level of variance if you want the instrument to sound realistic. This is just how solo organ performances sound, if you're familiar with organist solo music (here's a lovely example of that dynamic range, in practice). Please do not compress it, as that would drain quite a bit of realism out of the track. Yeah, one of the easiest votes of the year for me, great work! YES

There isn't much to add that the others haven't hit: great arrangement, solid orchestration, and a awesome source, to boot. The sample quality is a hair under par, but they're not terrible, either. The piano has a different reverb setting so it doesn't sound like it's being played in the same space as the rest of the instruments so it sounds pretty jarring when it comes in. That all being said, it's a tough call on my part since what's good here is really good, but it's certainly not without it's flaws. I think it's just good enough to be posted, though. In the future, though, while your dynamics and phrasing are good do try to be on the lookout for some better sounding samples since these do hold your skill back, here; you might give something like BBC's free orchestra VST a shot, if you haven't already. Also be careful to make sure your instruments all sound like they share the same space; that piano's disjointed reverb almost tipped me into giving this a NO, but fortunately it doesn't last too long, in my opinion. Orchestral arrangements can benefit from one reverb effect applying to all the instruments at once rather than instruments individually, just to avoid this particular problem. Good remix, not perfect but I think good enough, and something that you can use to springboard into something fresh and new moving forward. Well done! YES

EVAL Mmm, glad I've been following this gem - it's matured into something really cool, not gonna lie. I think the arrangement is pretty clear, though I still recommend sending timestamps with any submission e-mail; makes the judgment process much faster. Actually, that's really advice that any submission could follow: timestamps make judges happy and less likely to miss any references in the track, if they're subtle. Anyhoo, the production is quite good, and for the most part the mix is clear. The supersaw at 1:56 could come out more to the front of the mix, as it carries the most recognizable part of the source. 4:04 could use less going on there, too, since the mix get crowded for a short time there, which I'm not sure a mixdown could fix. The overall EQ balance sounds heavy in the upper range, to my ears, though I'd probably need to put it through a spectral analyzer to be sure. Could use some high pass on a few of the noisier instruments to give that space some breathing room. To be frank, though, these are nit picks; if you submit this as is I'd be very surprised if it got anything less than a YES. You've been working on this for some time, so I recommend sending it out there so you can explore new territory. Great work!

Ooo, more Octopath Traveler - never a bad thing! Also a fairly underappreciated track from the game, since it's from the "secret" final dungeon; so much excellent content hidden behind side quests. Well, what can you do. Smooth as butter synthwave, excellent cello and sax performances from your partners, and an arrangement that fits the source like a glove. Mixing is clear, as well, and the production is good. I've one nitpick on this track: it doesn't sound like it has as much low end as it could, for a synthwave track. The genre is made on having nice and healthy lows, and while this isn't bad the track has headroom to play with where you could've gotten more out of it. The high end is also non-existent after about 19k, too, so the overall track doesn't quite sound as crisp as it could. Mind you, these are granular nitpicks; the production is still very good, and the arrangement is far above par. An easy pick for the front page, for sure, so great job! YES

Hoi! Remixer name: Jorito Real name: Jorrith Schaap Email: Userid: 3899 ReMixer name: Chromatic Apparatus: https://ocremix.org/artist/17324/chromatic-apparatus ReMixer name: Bobbie Jane Desforges Email: (and with her recording engineer Eleanor Hébert at , with whom I did all communications) Website: https://www.eleanorhebert.com (Bobbie Jane doesn't have an artist profile and is fine with linking to Eleanor's site) Submission information: Name of Game(s) Remixed: Octopath Traveler Name of Arrangement: At Finis Gate Names of songs arranged: The Gate at Finis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNyLiLlP-DM) Link to the remix: Comments about the mix: Wrote this track for the Pixel Mixers Octopath Traveler album, "Echoes of Eight". Originally I opted to do the main theme, but got stuck and wasn't feeling it, so I was glad that this particular track, "The Gate at Finis" became available again. Due to the arp that's one of the main motifs of the source track, I was instantly inspired to do a synthwave/chillwave style track again. Since it was a collaboration album, I also needed a minimum of two guests (something I initially almost forgot about). I already had a saxophone part written and was originally wanted to just stick with samples for it, but due to the collaborative nature of the album, I decided to reach out to find a saxophone. Help arrived in the form of Eleanor Hébert, who handled the sax recording and recruited Bobbie Jane Desforges to perform the part. I also needed another instrument, and decided to go for the cello for this track, an unconventional choice for this genre. I think it works very well in the more cinematic middle section of the track, and it also goes hand in hand nicely with my vague notion to create an EP in this style, with some less conventional instruments, similar to the Okami track I created earlier. As is usual with my electronic/synthwave inspired tracks, there's lots of synth layering and octaves going on to create this particular sound, some effects and transitions to keep the flow and bounce in it, and in general a good amount of care to make the entire track flow nicely. I'm rather proud of how it all came out, especially since the past 2 years have been pretty unproductive musically, and it's good to get back into the swing of things. And of course a big thank you to Bobbie Jane, Eleanor and Chromatic Apparatus for their performances that brought the track to the next level. Arrangement, production, vocals, electric guitar: Jorito Saxophone: Bobbie Jane Desforges Saxophone recording engineer: Eleanor Hébert Cello: Chromatic Apparatus Doeidoei, Jorrith

Not enough Turtles 2 in here, and glad to hear something solid from a respectable arranger approach it. Seems the big issue with this prior was that the bass was too heavy in the mix which caused the other instruments to get drown out. While I do still some mud in the mix in the upper-mid range (1k-6k), which does have the lead get drown behind everything else from time to time (such as at 0:49), but the effect isn't so extreme as to make it impossible to hear the leads. Just something that could be improved. Not easy to take old arrangements (with different workflows and such) and make everything perfect, so I'll say it seems you've fixed the initial issue just fine, and whatever lingering issues aren't enough to bring it below the bar. The arrangement is spicy, and the production is pretty darn good regardless. Wasn't around for the original judgment, but I think this works for us now. Nice work! YES

Hmm, do you mind if I ask what you mean by pre-made phrases? Despite my experience in the field I've never heard of em', so perhaps I can learn something new.

Well, this has been a soundtrack that I've been listening to more and more since it's come out, and it's one of the best from the chapter, to boot. Great choice on source, and the amount of meat added to the arrangement is on full display right from the outset. The production is clean, the instruments all sound great, and the drums hit you hard in the face. Stylistically it's very fitting to the source material, as well. The mixing overall is quite good, but there are moments where we lose the lead behind everything else that's in play. This is evident at 0:47, but it's even more prominent of an issue at 2:52 when there are more textures that are in play. Everything sounds great, but be sure to remember who the main hook in the show's gonna be, which is generally your lead. The arrangement is pretty conservative, but it does take some liberties with the lead and harmonies from time to time, and the shift to a heavier glitch hop style does some real lifting in making the track your own. Some of the counter melodies aren't really hitting me right, particularly at 2:36 - 2:43 and 3:07 - 3:38. The fourths held under the lead don't blend well with the harmonies below, and sound stiff when played in parallel like that. If you're gonna double in parallel always make sure it makes sense in the harmonies you're laying out, at the very least, otherwise the doublings can sound odd or even wrongly dissonant. Compared to the rest of the overall quality, though, these are relative nit picks. This is a nice, strong package given what's here, and even if it's a hair on the conservative side I believe it's got enough personality to have it stand out as your own. Nice work! YES