djpretzel

Great write-up from @Liontamer on an absolute standout track. I try to avoid superlatives of this particular nature, but for me this is going to be my definitive arrangement that I think of, for this source. I've always loved the melody, and I've always found the lyrics to be a strange oscillation between poetic and... somewhat odd. This version makes everything fit together, for me, makes all the pieces click in a way that I feel like I've somehow always needed... at one point I wanted to do my own country western vocal take (!!) on this, which I still think could sound good & is a genre equally underrepresented in the VGM arrangement scene, but some of the appeal there would have overlapped with the appeal here: taking Uematsu's timeless ballad and giving it a bit more longing, placing it geographically further south, giving it air & sand & wood & fire, making it come from somewhere a little deeper & a little further... Congrats to @CNDR, @Jorito, @Earth Kid & @chriskaudio - quite, quite, quite good; the type of arrangement I will think of & trigger related neurons whenever I think of the album itself, by proxy. You simply must give it a moment!

@Subz1987 Actually, @Liontamer found out what the real issue is - special characters in filenames that aren't encoded right, which are causing issues on Apple devices. We will be updating the zip shortly to address this. UPDATE: zip files on all three mirrors updated with filenames that should no longer causes issues on Apple, etc. devices!

@Subz1987 I just double-checked from mirror 2, and did not have the same issue - all files were there. If the zip downloaded partially, you should have gotten errors when unzipping. Another possibility is that, depending on where you unzipped, certain filenames may have been too long? At any rate, I don't think there's an issue with the zip itself, based on my test.

What an arrangement by @TSori & co.! Heard this source so many times, but I confess that I've always felt that, while immensely popular, there were still some untapped arrangement possibilities & new gold to be mined, and that's exactly what they've done. Opening electric bass just has that grease, that visceral presence.... reminds me of Queen biting the dust, etc., trumpet is always great (I might have played with the reverb and dialed it down for different sections), marimba is a happy surprise, and basically everything else gels... except the drums. I always listen to a piece before reading judge comments, as much as possible, to avoid biasing my own thoughts, but I was relieved that they all picked up on some of the same timing issues I did, and the synthetic nature of the snare. The groove is SO GOOD that it withstands these weaknesses, but some of the fills are outside the pocket in a way that almost sounds quantized to the wrong subdivision, which when paired with an already synthetic snare, makes it sound like a really, really, really good funk band is for some reason playing along with a drum machine that's not quite aligned. I think a more acoustic snare with more timbral variation, a BPM bump of 1 or 2, and a tightening/realignment of the feel for most of the fills would have served this production well, but as stated it's so damn creative & good that these problems aren't deal-breakers. This source absolutely needed to be arranged/inspired in this fashion, and the result is smooth, funky gold!

Super-fun follow-up to @TheManPF's debut mix; I love the creative, fearless arrangement style & willingness to shoot for novel juxtapositions!

Has anyone seen The Amazing World of Gumball? Because I swear this has the same energy... I've heard drums mixed like this before, somewhere (maybe it was Boredoms?), but before we get to that, one thing is abundantly obvious: Kyana can DRUM!! Goodness gracious... I confess that I'm probably more tempted to "excuse" or attribute to intentional aesthetic choice the drum mixing, based on how solid the performance is - it's not how we should really approach evaluation, but it's hard for me to process throwing down such a badass performance and then being.... nonchalant?... about how it's mixed. The kick hits me the weirdest.... drier than a Cabernet in the Gobi, EQ curve that makes it sound more like a cochlea misfire at times... but it's a sound. And in the zany & boisterous context of the overall arrangement, it's a sound that ultimately works well enough for me. Other judges covered various highs & lows already, but the sink-or-swim factor for most seems to be the less-orthodox production, and I side with the approval votes. YES

@Liontamer got the writeup but I wanted to chime in since it's @DCT (!!) - great to see/hear new music after a hiatus, and that electric guitar solo was sweet!

I particularly liked the layered/distant choir, here; it blends nicely with the pads and creates an ambient oasis, but you can still make out individual articulations and voices and details, and it's quite striking; a lesser choir sample would have worked, given the usage is masked/blended, but I sure am glad we got this one instead - elevates the mix.

Absolutely love the synth brass leads on this - just the right analog warmth, buttery, uses the range well... melancholy meditation on some absolutely stellar source melodies. Feels like a different vibe than many of @Hemophiliac's other works, but absolutely clicks.

Never gave this one the time of day, for some reason, which is weird in retrospect since I like Alex Kidd AND Shinobi...

Got it!

Extensive vocoder... and it's NOT @Jorito?!? So much fun! The sax solo put it over the top, for me, but the whole thing is just a blast. The glitching/record stops at the very end are a little less 1970's/disco, but very much in keeping with the mix title, and the hook reminds me a little of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky". I was coincidentally JUST playing this (gorgeous, creative) game, and while I will always remain a dog person, it's a unique & extremely well-done experience. Amazing to think that composer Nurykabe had a Faxanadu mix posted wayyyyyyy back in 2009; time flies!

Superb debut from @suikun - I have Pianoteq AND the SWAM plugins, and I haven't been able to get them to sound nearly this good I'd love to see a project file or screenshots of some of the automation curves; as he writes, physically-modeled instruments are like a double-edged sword in that they can do anything you tell them to & are more flexible than sample-based alternatives... BUT you have to know what to tell them to do! I think having a background actually playing violin must help; I find the SWAM brass instruments more intuitive, probably because I played euphonium. At any rate, this sounds excellent, and is exposed & articulated in ways that require and benefit from such flexibility. The verb/space adds realism and unifies the three instruments, and I love the super-high sustain note. I've been an evangelist for physical modeling for a long time, and while they're not cheap, Modartt & SWAM represent the state of the art. I think eventually we'll have an AI layer that can add artifacts and increase realism even further, or a hybrid approach that also employs samples in some form (technically the SWAM flutes do this, on the attacks) - it's all very neat stuff, and I love to geek out on it... Speaking of geeking out, for the life of me I can't read this mix title without thinking of TNG's "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra"

Fully embraces the wubs; I dug the arsenal of Serum-style basses being fired in succession, and the overall attitude is HEAVY but also slick. Great stuff!

The guzheng solo here is sublime; great mix, but also a great ad for ISW's library! Would love to hear @DDRKirby(ISQ) continue with the lofi-jazz & Asian influences!

@Liontamer did the writeup but I had to chime in - so creative & unique! Lovely lower viola part that hit me like a cello, had to double-check the credits, but of course the thing most will latch onto is Joshua's vocals/vocalizing; really neat stuff, reminded me of Bobby McFerrin (High praise! he's done a lot more than "Don't Worry Be Happy"!) - interesting concept overall, loved the intro strumming (which reminded me of "Iguazu" from the Insider soundtrack), and the whole enchilada applies a very acoustic, folk, "organic" incantation to Metroid's contrasting stark, electronic, sci-fi universe. Precisely the type of mix that's less "obvious" and less likely to be made, which are the ones I tend to gravitate towards - kudos to all!

I've emailed the artist requesting a unique title.

This. At two minutes in I was in the NO camp, but it eventually sold me. This is one that takes the full listen to appreciate; over the duration, I think the artist incorporates enough evolution & interpretation. I would have preferred the first third to be a little more engaging - more contrast, more drama... just "more" in general - but after that we go from borderline to "hey, I'm digging this" territory, and we basically stay there. It's close, but it's a YES

In the interest of progress, I'll weigh in and I guess my vote will count twice / be the deciding factor. I enjoy unorthodox production and, well, this is that. I can certainly see it rubbing some folk the wrong way or "sticking out" on a playlist, but I don't find the issues (volume shift on initial drop, etc.) deal-breaking, and I suppose I find them a little more subjective. I'd usually rather listen to something that surprises me and justifies that surprise with some creativity & unexpectedness, and I feel like the arrangement and sound design both deliver on that promise and help support/"explain" some of the less orthodox production choices. We look for certain things w/ regard to production, but there are always gonna be some arrangement ideas that demand lo-fi, or a "garage rock" sound, or any number of similar permutations where "polish" isn't really the point, and in those cases we have to ask whether what's here works for us. It doesn't, for some judges, but it does for others, and it does for me, so I say let's roll with it. YES YES (X2 DJP YES DECISION-SPLITTER COMBO BREAKER)

That's a heck of a gear list; jealous a bit! Everything here is good, but the ambient intro and break are, to me, the "differentiators" that make the mix stand out more, along with the unexpected-but-welcome turntablism. The ambient choir pad right at the very beginning reminds me of the music they play in Dredd when people are taking slo-mo.

First off, my apologies to @Jorito for sitting on this; I mistakenly assumed he had also contacted the panel. Glad this revised version can finally see the light of day - it's catchy, well-produced synthwave/pop, and the edits made do a lot to mitigate what I felt was a vocal that didn't quite match the rest of the track. I'm a bad-but-enthusiastic singer, and just to be clear my own Lunar mix would NEVER pass the panel today. I think this newer incarnation of this mix lands in a much better place, and while the panel did pass the original version, I would have veto'd it in that form, whereas now I'm on board. Good stuff!

Should be fixed now; thanks for reporting & for the detailed/specific example!

Beautiful mix! I actually got "Stairway to Heaven" vibes on the intro, perhaps due to the renaissance-style melodic motif & recorders. So much to love, from the mixed woodwind and brass instrumentation to the singing/choir to the oscillation between intimate & epic. French horn stands out with a solo that conveys the richness/tone of the instrument, but really everyone involved delivers, in spades - these types of things are insanely difficult to pull off & make work, so I'll echo @Liontamer's tip of the hat to coordinator/arrange extraordinaire, @Jorito. Bravo!

@evktalo Only familiar with the Genesis version of this game & its music, so this was... interesting! The source is nice enough, but I do love the less fanfare/celebratory and slightly darker direction you've taken it in, without changing the major key vibe. Lovely sound design with lots of different textures; bass slides in particular stood out. I have some very specific feedback that you can take or leave, of course: While there are elements that are cross-panned or spread out, all of the melodic leads seem center to center-left. Having at least one melodic lead (flute, one of the synths, etc.) panned center-right might make the "melodic lead space" a bit wider/dispersed, in a good way? Could also open things up to leads occasionally overlapping/harmonizing while remaining distinct. Just a thought. The backing synth line that fades in at 1'06" sticks around all the way to 1'35" or thereabouts, with the same straight sixteenth-note pattern; wondering about dropping it out for 1-2 bars and differentiating those measures as a break and/or modulating filter cutoff or something else to give it more movement/evolution over time? The switch to double-time might benefit from a longer dropout & gradual rebuild or something else to differentiate the two sections, since the same basic sounds are being employed. I think using the same sounds is fine - it sounds good at both speeds - but something more elegant & deliberate to facilitate/bridge the jump to double, maybe? Good stuff, as always!

All the Zigs were already launched (for great justice), so that's a negative. Our lawyers have unfortunately informed us that we would need specific contracts consenting to sale of digital assets as RFTs, and also that RFTs "aren't actually a thing," so with many regrets we've had to withdraw these bold plans. The ALL POLKA ALL THE TIME thing is still on, though ?