Gario

Well, you say conservative, but no covers, but it needs to be in the same genre... I can't think of anything other than a few very specific songs that could qualify as this. Another issue that I could see is that this restricts people who simply can't write in a similar genre to the game in question will just be left out - that makes it tough to gather the proper participants in such a compo.

Five workshop mods at the moment, actually - currently, Rozovian, Flexstyle, ambient, Level 99 and myself all hold that position. Understand that we do other things for this site as well, though, so while some aren't as active in here as others, they're often working hard in other areas in the site behind the scenes. Gario General information Real name: Gregory Nourse Location: Palos Verdes Estate, California, USA Occupation: Electrical Engineer (Student), General Contractor Preferred method of contact: Skype (TheGreatGario), PM Also reachable by: AIM, Newgrounds PM (Gario), FB Five OSTs I recommend: Dragonseed, Megaman Soccer, Final Fantasy 8, Utopia (SNES), Saga 2/3 (Final Fantasy Legends, in USA) About me: I have my degree in Music Theory and Composition from UNM (back in 2008... hard to believe it's been that long already), and as such I've actually had a lot of experience listening to all sorts of styles of music (both tonal and atonal). As such, one area I'm particularly keen on is arrangement, voice leading and orchestration of the track. As of 2008 I've done a lot of work on my own learning the ins and outs of production, so I can give some solid advice on that front, as well. I'd like to be as diligent as possible on these boards, though unfortunately I've only had time to browse them actively once a week, roughly. If you send out a PM I'd be happy to direct some Mod Review justice your way, though - a friendly request often serves you well!

MOD REVIEW Alright, let's see what we've got here. The arrangement has got the theme all in it... in the baseline. While I can't necessarily fault you for that (site rules don't prohibit this, after all), it does make it difficult to write the piece in a way that the listener will focus on it as the theme. Unfortunately, I find that after the first iteration or so of the theme the track seems to lose focus of the source, having a lot of distraction caused by the neat stuff you wrote above the baseline. It's unfortunately human nature that we'll focus on the upper lines, which makes it actually hard to associate it with the source, in this case. In short - the source doesn't seem to be the focus of this arrangement, and I think the judges would call you on that. That snare sounds weird. It needs to have a tighter sound, and it needs to be tonally higher - it sounds messy and unfitting with the song, as it is. The soundscape sounds like it's missing the middle if it's EQ range, which makes it sound hollow overall. Either make the instruments that you have fill this space better, or use an instrument to fill that space (pads work wonders for this - just be sure to watch for clipping!). I like the structure of the arrangement - it balances the piece out nicely, and it makes good sense. However, I fear the source isn't focused enough in here, the soundscape sounds hollow and the snare needs a makeover. After you do that, send it to Mod review and I'll get to it right away (at least, sooner than I did this time). Also, thanks for the PM - I meant what I said in that thread earlier. I'd like to catch fallthrough Mod reviews, if at all possible, so I'm glad you called me on my offer in that thread.

Derp, yeah, Mod review is still a thing. I admit I need to get in there and do my part more often. If the thread is over a month old, though, oftentimes it slipped behind the cracks and the reviewers just missed it before it got pushed off the front page. If people find that happening, a PM to a mod can often help get it the attention it needs. Late response is late.

Huh, sounds like my first effective foray into a more trance style didn't fly among audiences as well as I'd have hoped. I don't mind if people vote for others rather than myself (especially since people really pulled out all the stops this round), but I do find it odd that people think it's bland or uninspired. I just wanted to do something that different (that is, not 9-bit) for this round, that's all. *Shrug* Oh well, I still find it enjoyable.

Heh, looks like you had a lot of fun with these things, here. They sound kind of like Pogo music, which is always a good thing.

♪~ Happy birthday, OA, Hope your birthday's OK! Judge more mixes the next day, instead eat cake today! ~♪

Yeah, also look into the sounds of brushes that are used for the snare. It's different, but it's certainly in nearly all jazz music.

How could you not mention how awesome it is that Tuberz just did an amazing imitation of Holy Wars while remaining a mashup of the two souces? I am very disappointed that you missed that. btw, your arrangement is fucking awesome for that, Tuberz.

As mentioned previously, there are no Kickstarters or such planned in the foreseeable future for projects like this. However, if you're feeling passionate about the music being made on here Overclocked ReMix is always accepting donations - on the top left of the screen is a donate button, which can help the site out overall in site-related costs, if you're so inclined. Just throwing that out there. Also, this album WILL be epically huge - it just won't have the same kind of coverage or benefits as the FF6 album had (such as CDs being sent to backers, and such). 50+ tracks on an album is pretty damn epic, as far as albums go.

Oh my, I am quite interested. I haven't wrote for an orchestra in a while - this would be a nice way to break my hiatus. I do hope your kick starter ends on a great note.

Damn, I couldn't make it. Oh well, maybe next time.

Okay, well if you don't mind this is going to be moved to originals, then. If it's not a remix then it doesn't belong in here, unfortunately. I would like to hear an honest remix from you sometime, though - you do have the chops to get something good produced.

Yeah, there were a few interesting people in the Workshop forums a few days ago. Interesting to say the least, but that's not the norm. Most people are still pretty receptive in Workshop, so don't be afraid to go in there. If people are abusive they generally get taken care of pretty quickly.

Happy birthday, Stevo!

Uploading mine right now. Wish I could've had about an hour more time to refine the details a little better, but I think it's still competitive as it stands. Edit: And submit!

I'll be uploading mine in about 15 minutes - I hope the net doesn't go too slow for me, this time around.

Hope for what? As far as it goes, balance out the tracks and the piece will be fine. If you hope to be posted as an OCR submission then I don't see it passing through the panels due to a lack of significant representation of the source.

Well, no one is trolling you, so don't dwell on that too much. The site policies only apply to submissions, anyhow (you're not breaking forum rules, yet), so as of yet you're not "breaking rules" by defying them - I'm just heading you off from disappointment if you ever decide to submit. Again, that's my job. That's fine - it's a suggestion, as Willrock pointed out, as well as the reasoning behind my suggestion. No, if you were concise that entire paragraph would've been reduced to "I'm clear and concise". You would have lost very little meaning if you cut the rest of the paragraph out (as well as not accidentally imply that others in here spent their childhoods with sex, drugs and all that jazz). Concise means to say as much as you can in as few words as possible - you only have half of that down. Learn the other half and you can express more with the space and time given.

Okay you two, take it down a notch, we're getting off topic. Timaeus222 has some criticism, and Insanctuary doesn't necessarily agree with it. Timaeus, you made your point well enough. Insanctuary, it's not worth the integrity of the thread to fight with him - just take it in stride, if you don't agree, and move on. If anyone has comments about the song, by all means continue, but commenting on one another's personal integrity is getting out of hand and disrupting the thread. Please take it down a notch, both of you. As a side note, I think you might enjoy the PPR forum on this site, Insanctuary - the kinds of arguments you bring up are fair game in there, if you find topics you're passionate about. It's just not what the workshop is for; keep it about the music if possible, peeps

You now have one thread. I'm discussing getting your accounts merged, as well - next time there are issues please PM a mod. For this track, it's pretty peaceful. Some of the instruments sound a little weird, for my taste (like at 1:22, that fading lead is distracting). Overall the melody could use to stand out more, so people could follow it easier, as well. The drums are very repetitive - I highly suggest not relying on the same beat throughout the track. Vary it up more often. That applies to the piece as a whole; variety is your friend. While it's relatively tight, it is a pretty boring listen. I'm still quite happy that you're doing a Grassland remix - that is still my favorite source from that game. I'll see what I can do so you can edit this thread with ease - hang tight on it. Edit: DS merged your former accounts - that should make things easier for all of us, I think.

Actually, I'm doing my job pretty well, which is specifically to judge a track early before it gets sent into the panel. The liberal issue that I'm pointing out wouldn't be noticed outside of the site because it's specifically something that has to do with site policies. As mentioned previously, a lot of people can't specifically hear something that sounds like the source material, which isn't an issue unless you plan on submitting this to OCR, in which case I can promise that it'd be rejected on that ground. I hear the consistent connections with the alternating bell motif that you mentioned. The issue with making a connection with such a small element, though, is that it's a very common element in a whole lot of music. Unfortunately, basing something on a theme like that doesn't distinguish it from being based on something like, for example, the famous Jaws sequence (it has that same motif). Of course you didn't base your song off of that, but there is literally no context within the piece to actually make it sound like it's specifically from Earthbound. Ironically, those "laughable bass sounds" you mention are the recognizable elements of that source - without them the source isn't recognizable as Earthbound's "Zombie Paper". Again, this is specifically a submission requirement - on it's own, that isn't an issue. On it's own, it's a cool piece that is inspired by Earthbound. If you wanted to submit then it'd be rejected on those grounds guaranteed - if you don't plan on submitting this to the site then don't worry about being liberal, as that's not an issue otherwise. I understand, the connection that you're trying to make is an emotional one - that is, your story and how that actually ties into the setting of the game. I do get it. Without an explanation, though, listeners wouldn't make that connection on their own, so to make up for that musicians on this site reference the source in a recognizable manner. Without enough recognizable source, people will not make the connections on their own that you want them to. I agree that it would be very hard to incorporate such silliness into a remix like this, like you said - I think most people would agree that this track would be very difficult to remix for that reason, in fact. That's all I'm suggesting, and I think Timeaus222 wouldn't mind if that's all you did - toning it down a little is pretty much all you need to do, in that case, to make it not pierce anymore. That is fine, I understand that; I didn't want you to add a bunch of things to keep it bouncing. Going to near silence for that long of a period takes the listener out of your story, though - it's like a movie that wants to insert peace from chaos in the movie by adding a black screen for a solid five minutes (probably more, if we're going to make this relative to the length of an average movie). You lose the audiences attention, and they lose track of what the story was in the first place. I don't suggest making that portion louder, or adding more elements to it; as you said you wanted it to be peace within chaos (and believe it or not, that's technically good form, too). I did suggest adding some slight movement within the instrument that you already have, like having a semitone movement in one of the notes in that harmony, or something. That will keep the peace while keeping the audience engaged better with the story. Though I answered these above, here's a recap - being too liberal is not an issue at all unless you plan on submitting to the site. The long silence, rather than creating a break from the chaos, has the tendency to disengage the listener if there is too little for the listener to hold over that time, which is the opposite reaction that you'd want from your listeners if you're trying to get them engaged in a story. Indeed. Actually, "Profesional" means that one gets paid for what they do, while "Amateur" means that the person does not get paid for his/her work. That's it - if you've ever been paid for your work then you're a professional. Otherwise, like most members in this community you are an amateur, which isn't a negative thing at all. If that hobo gets change thrown at him for his dances, believe it or not that means that he's a "professional". It doesn't necessarily mean that he's good, just that he gets paid for his work. The more you know. Being clear and concise are virtues; over-fabrication and needlessly compounding one's messages creates only confusion. The only reason one would need to confound others would be because they feel the content of their messages doesn't stand on it's own merit. Expressing oneself in a short and clear manner is something that will help you in all walks of life - show that the content of your posts hold on their own merit and practice concise writing here.

I can't hear a thing in this arrangement. The bass does have too much ambient sound, which makes it clip everything out. The snare is absolutely terrible, as it's dry and piercing. I like the trumpet harmonization, though - shame I can't hear it most of the time. It's a pretty repetitive arrangement, too. Consider varying it up a bit, from time to time, as it's boring after the first iteration. Though it'll probably go in one ear and out the other, two comments on your track (one of them doesn't even mention your remix - it simply reiterates a common meme) doesn't make it an untouchable track. Deleting unfavorable comments also doesn't make the track untouchable. Getting upset at people trying to be helpful also doesn't help your track out at all, though it does make you a laughing stock in a community of musicians. I'd advise against it. Or as jnwake so elegantly puts it - Don't fuck around.

Hey, most of my tracks on Newgrounds have an above 4.00 score, too, with virtually all of my latest (November 2012+) landing in a solid +4.50 range. Just saying that it actually means very little, as that actually is a reflection of how few listeners are able to find your music before it gets moved into obscurity. If your listens for your tracks are below 2000, and/or the votes are sub-20 then in my experience the score is kind of a crapshoot on Newgrounds; it simply reflects what the first 10 or so people thought about your music. With a sample size like that it's tough to get a good gauge on the quality of what you're producing. Just saying - Newgrounds' scoring is flawed, I wouldn't recommend using it as proof of anything.

Before I give this a gander, I suggest that you shorten your thread title in the future - it's highly distracting with no real purpose other than to be an eyesore to people (that is, to gather attention in that manner). I understand that is actually a reasonable goal (garnering attention, that is), but if all threads had titles like that it would be an absolute mess in these forums. Nothing personal, just trying to keep things clean in here. On to the music... Huh, actually this remix is pretty good, for what it is. Took a boring theme and actually made it into something relatively listenable... though I think most people on here are having some trouble hearing the source. If you don't mind, would you break the source material down for us? That is, give time stamps from your track that compare to the source (like, for example, at 0:56 in your track the rumble from the source is there). I'm unfortunately preoccupied with some stuff, atm, so I have less than ample time to comb a 8 1/2+ piece for source usage, but from a first listen it is difficult for most listeners to hear it. Personally, I could do with less highs from the hats/cymbals, as they tend to distract from the rest of the interesting stuff in the mix (high hertz SFX pierce music, causing many listeners to pay attention to that instead). Just lowering their volume a touch would do wonders for this piece. That "piercing" sound that Timeaus222 is mentioning at 1:05 sounds intentional. While it's neat, I can understand his concern - it is a little distracting at that point due to how loud it is in comparison to the rest of the mix (in comparison to other portions where it occurs, like 4:57, where there's more in the mix to help balance it out). I think he's in the right there - this is about the balance of sound, which is actually a technical issue (not really an artistic one) - I would suggest simply mixing that high pierce a little down. It's a nitpick, but I just thought you'd like to know the reason why people suggest mixing it down a bit. The fadeout/fadein that actually lasts a minute (3:18 - 4:19) is very distracting, as it covers nearly an eighth of the piece (technically, the fadeout starts at 3:50, but the music starting at 3:18 is relatively quiet and has very little variation, so it sounds like it's a part of the FO). I can see what you're doing, but the fadeout being that large makes the piece a bit too disjoint. I'd suggest at least including some variations in the 3:18 - 3:50 portion - not necessarily more notes, just perhaps some more noticeable note motions, to keep things moving more in that section. Actually, believe it or not I like this track - most things pointed out are nitpicks to a pretty good track. Two large issues, though, are the liberal nature of the track (virtually no one yet can recognize the source, as of yet - a little help pointing us in the right direction might be helpful, though), and the extra long fade in the middle, and the first is only an issue if you submit the track to OCR. I would like to mention, though, that while you really are a pretty good producer, I'd suggest a touch of humility when speaking with people on the forum. Many of them are very experienced arrangers/composers in the field of music, in their own right, and many times there's no way to even tell of this fact. Alienating people here could mean accidentally burning bridges that would've been nice to establish, and I don't like seeing talent becoming disconnected with the rest of the community due to poor communication. Anyway, actually a good arrangement - as long as you can tell me where the source is in the track. I might even suggest submitting it to the site with a little TLC, provided you can show that there is at least ~50% source usage in it.