GrayLightning

good arrangement, nice production, but what makes this for me is the guitar work. The supporting work is stellar. The intro on the other hand, I have to agree with Vig on, I felt it sounded cheap and out of place. However, that is one flaw, big as it is, is something I am willing to ignore and let the artist be true to his artistic vision - much to my chagrin though. Good work overall, and certainly passable. YES

Larry pretty much hit the nail on the head here. This sounds more like a quickly made RA demo than anything. There's really not much going on in here beyond the lead and percussion. Things still sounded relatively thin and empty. The arrangement is straightforward and underdeveloped. On top of that everything sounded very mechanical, especially noticeable with the perfectly timed hand percussion. It came off as static. I did like the use of the gamelan/chromatic perc stuff and the ending was really nice, but at this point, it's not anywhere near what we'd expect. In my view, this needs a lot more work, personal touches. It sounds like you did this quickly and just submitted it. I prefer your more thought out originals. NO

The real Lightning round: - straightforward and basic arrangement. Structure, and pacing is too similiar except the note and tempo are obviously different. Consider changing up the progression or expanding the melody or harmonic support or adding more instrumental and compositional backing. - lo-fi sounding instruments - the woodwind was ok, I don't expect too much more from free offerings (or what sounds like it anyway) - lovely set timbral combinations. Really enjoyable vibe. - I personally enjoyed the tubular bell section. Again, the arrangement is the major downfall here, the production isn't hot, neither are the samples but I didn't find them that displeasing. Work on the arrangement next time, that aspect needs a major overhaul. Weak/abrupt ending to boot. NO

Let me state, I am extremely familiar with this source material. It's one of my favorite game soundtrack pieces ever made, so I have high expectations. My arrangement concerns may not be shared by the others, but I think this much too straightfoward. Ooh boy, this is has a range of issues. - Questionable notes all over the place - especially when you start pitch bending. Yikes. - Limited arrangement. The structure and pacing is fairly conservative. I like the additions you added here and there. They added a breath of fresh air, but overall this is a lot more limited than what I'm used to hearing from you. - Production issues are pervasive. The instruments just don't gel. Everything sounds like it's in its own soundspace. Everything is flooded with reverb. Everything is overcompressed and loud. Everything just sounds like a wash of sounds and reverb creating a wall of sound. There's no depth in terms of front to back, everything is in your face. This makes it tiring for the ears to listen to on headphones. - I love the strings and the composition, a bit too much reverb though. The tail gets messy. - Love the guitar and rhythm, but again gets repetitive and those bends as cited above, need to be cleaned up. This mix lacks a lot of polish that was present in your CC mix that's on the panel now. This needs a bunch of work at this point. Still, this has that cool Roe-style/sound. But again, where's the arrangement ... where's the polish? I feel like we're constantly harping on the same issues with you sometimes. NO

Compy, there's obviously misunderstanding going on. I stated one set of facts, I was not dismissing or putting down the other set.

You forgot about me, thanks. Okay this just sounded as "if you don't have enough tracks on OCR, your tutorials/guides/helpings at Remixing101 are nothing worth". Careful, Gray. But you're right on one thing... that discussion has nothing to do here if it goes any further. Nah, you're misreading into things. Anyone who has demonstrated abilities or knowledge, certainly can write one, however, getting mixes posted consistently is tangible proof of a certain level of understanding. We're talking about basic guides here, not rocket-science.

There's certainly room for criticism, but I think Zircon is getting much too much attention in this regard, and indeed unfair criticism mingled with other stuff. His tutorial is what it is, a good entry point for beginners. It's no Holy Grail, and he isn't making it out to be. I do understand the concern here noted by po, josh and kaijin on the matter, but the guide is what it is - nothing more. I'm not even sure I'd call this a guide or tutorial. It's almost more of a canon/group of information that I think is beneficial for novice mixers. Like I said, I understand the concers and can agree on some level. However, there are concerns that Zircon isn't experienced enough to write these things, but if he isn't who can or will? No one has done so, since Jivemaster. I don't agree one has to necessarily be a legend in the scene or have a degree in music to write something of this nature either. Accessibility of information of this nature and of this level is certainly most helpful for the majority of people - remember, most mixers in the scene haven't been around for more than a few months/year or two. I feel anyone who can consistently get several mixes up at OCR is capable of writing guides on the topic. Again, it is what it is. I don't have a doubt that the good of his "guide", ultimately outweighs the bad here. As far as the other issues, if you have something to say about his recommendations, etc. Those are probably better dealt with in the remixing forum or out of this thread. Everyone just chill. Things got a bit heated above and it's better not to involve our moderation if possible. Let's move on before this escalates.

Pretty much already covered by everyone else. But this is just too basic, and comes off as FL noob-ish mix. Which isn't to say it's bad, but there are no fundemental elements that stand out really. I enjoyed the pacing and the structure of the mix, but there was little meat here. Compounding the problems of the mix is the subpar samples/synths and there is nothing done in the production aspect to lift the sound quality issues. The guitar sounds gritty and ugly, snare is too dark and limp, and the piano is lifeless. Careful fx processing, eqing would help this significantly. Unfortunately these are rather complex and lengthy suggestions that wouldn't really be covered well in detail within the context of this review. Not bad, but basic in any event. Keep working at it, you show promise, but it would be helpful if you looked through the remixing and wip forums at our site to get further feedback and information. Jim Holland chimes in briefly NO

Credit that to Dhsu.

I really like the arrangement in this one. All the sounds are pleasing. The style and the vibe is great. I never thought someone would finally do this theme justice, and I think Roetaka has. My main beef here is some of the sloppy stuff going on, particularly during the busier sections, things sound just a bit off. Secondarily, your ritartandos are a bit ify. These are two things that could be addressed. I'm going with a borderline YES, mostly cause I think the arrangement is really powerful and outweighs the flaws, however, I can see why others will NO this. Keep working at it.

Yeah thanks for that clarification on the stance. It's all good.

This is chaotic in almost all degrees, during the busier sections of the mix. The timing all sounds off. The guitar, drums, chromatic bell/percussion all sound off not only compositionally but texturally - they just don't fit. It's a shame too though, cause I love all the chromatic bell type instruments here. This needs a lot of work, more than we have time to go detail by detail. I suggest you post this or your other works in our WIP/Completed for OCR Mixes forum. Keep at it, I'd really love to hear this with more polish. NO

Too straight-foward an arrangement. I didn't mind the tone of the guitar lead, but everything else was really detrimental to the mix. There was a lot of clutter, no sense of space or placement in the mix. Something wonky is definitely going on in the bottom end. It doesn't sit well with me. It sounds really dirty and brittle and distorted. Your lead guitar had some really cool moments though! Quite enjoyable stuff. But overall, this mix is treading into coverish material. Work on the arrangement and production. NO

Lots of production problems plague this mix, like distortion on the instruments at 1:32 then lots of crackling in the audio soon after, and in other instances elsewhere too. The arrangement was a good framework but not there yet. I think Liontamer articulated the issue in this case well. In addition I thought the percussion was generally out of place and very basic throughout. The claps definitely felt out of place. Consider adding more compositional elements and using better synths to compliment the pads and strings. Above average, but still needs a lot of work. NO

My arrangements tend to be liberal and can divide opinions. In this case, I wanted to explore some of the other elements. Cheers for giving it another chance though and reposting a follow up. It's cool and interesting to hear you found some enjoyment though for other reasons. Thanks.

The mix has finally seen the light of day at ocr, after 3 years in the making! Told you, you should have submitted it years ago. Regardless, quality and extremely unique work.

This mix was just posted. Thread bumped for viewability.

Finally a Dune mix, and it's great to see someone attempt to mix this amazing piece. The problem though is this is a minor arrangement. The original was already chill/ambientish/new ageish, here this is in some ways a watered down version without much brought into the table until the the 2 min mark with the new lead synth. I'd like to hear this mix to have more expansion on that level and integration with the two concepts here. Right now you have a first 60%ish of the mix as conservative then the latter parts with some new material additions. I'd like to see this introduced earlier on, and the mix perhaps extended another minute. It's definitely an above average effort in this regard, but I'd like to see more. The synth lead, I'm not sure if this really works well in this context. Sounds like a harsh portamento mono synth that's a little abrassive and ruins the mood and serenity of the mix. (Might be personal taste though). Production in general is ok. You have a lot of basic synths and samples that do the job, but they don't necessarily stand out too much in any department. Nice mix, but not really there yet in both the categories of arrangement and production. Keep at it, this is a promising framework, but NO.

Basic arrangement, very basic production and substandard samples/synths. Darn near a minor upgrade of the original. There's virtually no arrangement concepts brought to the table in this mix. Post your mixes to the WIP/Completed forum in the future before submitting. NO

This is really cool stuff. I thought the source materials were soo crappy. One of em even had a cheaply used chipmunkish lead that sounded so poorly executed. Bleh. This arrangement takes the source to new levels and has a lot of ornamentation that adds personal spice to the mix. I wish the recording was better though, it sounds a bit distant and lacking in upper ranges. I would have worked on EQing to help fix the recording issues. This needs a bit of high end and rolling off some middle/low end. Minor gripe though. Enjoyable and very good work Blad. YES

Good orchestration in general. The arrangement though is very underdeveloped and feels like it touches on one theme and moves on and keeps moving on. On the production - if you're stuck with these samples. I'd like to hear more reverb here, the intimacy of the mix doesn't give it any space and depth, especially with how sparse this is. The brass section for example sounds really small and not in the back as it would in a real orchestra set up. There's better free soundfont options out there, check those out and ask around in our Remixing forum. This is a NO, but keep working at it. You have good ideas that should be explored.

I really like the synth here, but yeah this is much too much reverb. Tone it down a lot. Cool string/pad bends at the end. Everything sounds like mush blended together. This isn't an orchestral/ambient mix... Above average no question, but needs a lot of attention paid to the execution. It's just lacking right now. But those synth sections were quite tite and I should restate that again. The rest of the mix though, needs a lot of work in the production and delivery department. NO

Very top heavy indeed. Everything comes off as lo-fi sounding and the synth and leads sound really harsh. It's a neat arrangement and some good ideas are presented, but the execution is lacking. I also feel it's a bit underdeveloped conceptually, with a rushed ending to boot. I'd like to hear you work on this more as it has potential. Keep working at it. I'm looking forward to hearing more from you. NO

What more is there to add here? None. Main issues are underdeveloped arrrangement and basic production. I'd like to hear this with some more reverb treatment in the future, for more of a european sound. Needs a lot of work on these two main categories. Nice orchestration though, but way below the bar at this point. NO

Some compositional sections of the mix sounded a bit basic for my tastes, but overall this was a job well done. Blind does a nice job in arranging the source material. I think the key strength of this mix is the execution of the ideas - good and accessible structure and pacing for this style of music. Production is very well done too. Everything is put together wonderfully. A quality mix in all areas, and deserving of postage. There's no reason to decline this. YES