GrayLightning

Continuing my guest series, I've invited one of the community's more well known experts on this genre, Xelebes to chime in as he did before with the previous gabber mix.

In this context, do you mean now or then?

Yeah this is way too basic in structure and instrumentation. The instruments and synths are definitely too thin. I would consider adding pads and more texture. There's no clarity with any single instrument - which is fine in general but something needs to stand out beyond that less than pleasing lead that appears at 1:50. Production is most basic. There's no fx processing or anything going on in the mixing or mastering department to make this stand out. This is a decent framework, now it needs more ideas, supporting material, compositional evolution and execution of these ideas. Not bad, but go for more creative liberties next time. Keep working at it and use our WIP/Completed forum next time for getting more feedback from our forum goers. NO

I had some concerns when I was listening to the WIP versions of this and I'm happy to hear that mythril fixed my main arrangement vs source material concerns. I have no beef with the arrangement. I do agree mildly with the criticism noted above, but on the other hand I think that applies to a lot of rap music. On the basis of our standards and of the genre, I think this is definite yes for me. Good pacing for the genre, very cool rap and lyrics and it's executed competently. Great use of sound fx is the icing on the cake. Very creative and worthy of making it to OCR in my book. Mythril is becoming the posterboy of most improved mixer of 2005. YES

Vig hit the nail on the head. The vocals are indeed nice. But I have to agree with vig, with the main criticism point. The mix has very little substance beyond the really nice beat/percussion and lead. I also thought the mix could have benefitted from some sort of evolution. It seems to be in a state of no change throughout, then repeating the previous passages later on in the mix with little change/evolution. Sorry guys. Hate to no you guys. I think it's really pretty and a cool listen but I don't think it's ready for primetime yet per the above statements. NO

This version sounds a bit drier than the original. While it is clearer, maybe it's just me, but the atmosphere doesn't seem to be as dense and interesting. I think there were some good and bad things in this resubmission. Drums and percussion were substantially more interesting and stronger. They sounded really limp and bland before. But now it's got more panache. Some parts like at around 2:32 with that weird screetchy synth way on the left distract me. It sounds ugly and too thin. It adds chaos to the mix. I don't think it blends well at all. Some of my other gripes from before remain. I think you could work more on the focus, at one point before getting to the end sections, it keeps repeating over and over without much evolution. I'd like to hear a little more reverb on some of the instruments to give it density and atmosphere - the string pad and choirs for example. Indeed a good foundation, but I still think more work needs to be done. Please work on this more, it's really promising, but my vote from before still stands. NO, resubmit.

I wasn't feeling the vocal fx either. The mix seems to have too many ideas not fleshed out enough. Every few minutes a new concept is introduced but it doesn't seem to lead into anything. There is a lack of cohesion here. My other gripe in the mix is it relies on the basics. You have one or two elements going then it's supplemented by basic drums and perc. The synth designs were aight. But they sounded rather vanilla to me. I'd like to hear more personal flair with this aspect, especially since it's so integral to this kind of mix. This is fun, catchy and a nice effort, but it needs more work and polish; particularly in the concept and execution. Keep at it, you're putting out promising works. NO

You guys forgot the big ben reference?

Both previous votes confirmed. Very very basic arrangement, if any. Use our Works in Progress/Completed forum for mixes, before submitting. There's some clipping/distortion also especially when the pads swell along with the loud kick drum. N.O.

Exactly... 5 Yes so far and the majority... You guys aren't serious about yesing this mix are you? This is like fun and entertaining on some levels sure, but passing this mix? I can not think of a mix of this quality that we've passed since I've joined the panel. I don't say this as a slight towards this mix, but I don't think we've passed anything this questionable in a long time. This sounds like something that we would have passed 2-3 years ago, but certainly I don't see it passing now. Considering this, I want to request a thorough consideration or full panel vote with zircon and I want to request djp to weigh in/consider overriding - if only for the record. With all avenues pursued, I will respect the ultimate decision on this mix, but at this point, I can't agree to letting things go without further evaluation of this. I'm imploring the panel to reconsider this. It's not that the mix is horrible, it's pretty fun for what it is... but I don't see under what context this has earned OCR placement with respect to our bar, with respect to what we have rejected in the last year or two. I would describe the mix as basic. It goes through the cliche motions of the genre. Basic, cheesy plain synths. I can't stand the high pitched vocals. The era of chipmunks is over. I don't wanna make blanket statements about genres, but I don't see what kind of draw chipmunk vocals add to a mix. There's lots of other sound fx here that help supplement a basic mix. The arrangement I thought was ok. On the positive side of things, I did like how he turned a fairly simple source material to something with the happy driven nature as this mix turned out to be. Production was alright in my book. There was good usage of panning and the mixing and mastering was adequate, but beyond that both the samples and synth designs were basic and vanilla, if not below average for me. Goofy and fun are the terms of the day, but where does this stand out in the quality department? The arrangement is basic, as is the production. This is not there yet in my book. NO

Quoted for emphasis. Fred and Ethel Mertz, the one and only Wingless. Liontamer's vote is confirmed. N.O. from me as well for same the same reason. I suggest you post this at our WIP/Completed forum though, this will be enjoyed by some of the forum goers.

Rexy pm'd me about this since it wasn't in the panel. This is from the current batch. I'm adding this with the rest since URL seems to be working now. -Gray ------------------------------ CONTACT INFO: ReMixers: Prophecy, Rexy Real names: Jason Miller (Prophecy), Bev Wooff (Rexy) Emails: dj_prophec@yahoo.com (Prophecy), bev.wooff@gmail.com (Rexy) Prophecy's Website: http://www.prophetikmusic.com User IDs: 5176 (Prophecy), 7528 (Rexy) REMIX INFO: Remix title: Dream An Eastern Peace Game covered: Yoshi's Island (AKA Super Mario World 2/Super Mario Advance 3) Song covered: Castle & Fortress Song link: --- This track is remembered by many as the winning submission for the Peoples Remix Competition 48 (or v2-22). Since that stage the track has been given a few production evaluations to eventually reach its OCR Sub version. ~~~ Rexy wrote the master arrangement, and I formatted/produced it to create this song. The final product is essentially a simple prayer for the peace in the Middle East. I attempted to sing/chant in Hebrew, and Arabic. I sincerely hope you enjoy it. ---Jason "Prophecy" Miller of http://www.Prophetikmusic.com/ So yeah, I'm nowhere close to Mario's biggest fan, but I love the music score. When announced for PRC 48 I wanted to give it my all, and working with Prophecy has made an exciting ride from start to finish. Whether you reject this or not, you can't deny the fact that the intertwining of our skills was a blast, and who knows; we may even collab again in the future. Thank you, goodnight and god bless. Peace out, -Rexy- ~~~ P.S. Should this song get passed, we request that Prophecy's blurb gets used in the writeup. Thanks again, and have a nice day

It's distorting on both my monitors and headphones regardless. It's pretty bad/annoying on my side. I'd like to see it addressed if possible. I'll at least ask josh or po about this. I can't remember us letting issues of this nature through in recent memory without at least pursuing the request. My vote is a YES though. (full vote later) Edit: Josh has the project file and will be sending us a new version soon. ------------------------------------------------------ Josh sent a new version (edited first link) to fix the other issues and tweak other stuff. I don't hear any other distortion/clipping issues. Anyone wanna double check that? I also like the new production changes he made here. Everything has more punch beyond the drums/perc. The piano in particular is cleaner and stronger. The arrangement to me really works. I'm not a huge fan of the original (I prefer Overworld 2 ). But this arrangement transforms average material into something very listenable. It's got a chill vibe and is presented very nicely. I thought the main beat got a bit repetitive and it was a tad on the simple side, but the percussion additions definitely took it to a different level. Piano and bass lines were really the focal and most positive point of the mix for me. Synth sections and other background material really complimented the piece. Production as a whole is good, punchy and clean. I wish it were a bit longer too. But it's short and sweet, and more importantly not underdeveloped. Very enjoyable collab you two. YES

Maybe just one more? Thanks for the comments though.

Yeah, I heard clipping at around 1:07 and 1:30, 1:31. I asked analoq and he confirmed to me that he heard it also. I'm going to ask josh or po to see how feasible or easy would it be for them to do a quick fix.

Page edited. Fun is fun and off topic is off topic, but this is getting overboard now. Let's please get back on track to reviews.

I forgot to vote on this while on the panel. The reverb at times could have been a bit denser and darker for my taste. I'd like to have heard this mix with some more bottom end at times. Nice mix. Good instrumental, and percussive variation throughtout. I'm looking forward to hearing more from you.

I'll bring this up with dave tonight and Israfel's mix as well, both of which have been gathering more mold than liontamer's fro. "I break-a yo face!" [/Lady and the Tramp] Your retorts are as old and as late as the mold on your fro. YE *YE - New panel inside joke*

I didn't vote on the previous one, but from the beginning this was immediately problematic. The synths sound so over eq'd. There's a lot of sharp treble and nothing else going on throughout the mix. We have the lead, some basic background instrumentation supporting it and a very loud drum pattern throughout. Sure it's a dance mix and supposed to sound loud. But this got immediately repetitive and dull. The concept and execution works as a good framework. I'd like to hear you add more supporting material, evolution of the structure. As it is now, it gets really redundant not even halfway through. The sound FX work (sometimes) and are nice reminders of the game, but when they're this overused it ceases to be of interest. I'd also like to hear some instrumentation change ups as well. The texture of the piece was really stagnant with the same sounding basic instruments throughout. More variety and evolution please. Enjoyable on some levels but needs a lot more work in my view. This shows promise and I'd like to hear a revamp of this with a lot more work (not few small edits). Keep at it though. NO

This isn't by McNoods, it is an Israfel mix.

it's funny that you mention that, because i was thinking the same thing with regard to all of these similar BEST SONG EVOR replies in this thread i think it's only human nature to want to agree with your friends/peers/group and epsecially people you look up to (in this case that would be any of the judges or DJP). and i have seen this behavior on just about every internet forum i've ever visited. i wish i knew the psychological term for this.... anyways, my point is take a look in the mirror and you'll see the same thing. just a little sumthin sumthin for you guys to think about. like i said before, this is just human nature, and hopefully if you all understand that then we will see less of this unnecessary debate in a freakin remix review thread There's one major difference po!, decorum. If you are citing that several judges have praised this mix, it's only natural as several of us have heard the mix and have been waiting for it to be posted. There's a difference between that and the cloak and dagger cheap attacks against harmony, djp or this mix. There is plenty of room for disagreement and constructive criticism; but when it becomes almost malevolent and immature behavior - that is the concern we have raised. The behavior of the group djp mentioned is surprising and indeed shocking. I expected more mature behavior from fellow veterans of this scene.

I know a little about this game (I have a collab mix from it here at OCR and I beat the game like four times.) This is not a midi rip, but there are two sides to this mix. One section with new additions and one section with fairly conservative takes of the source material (with some minor additions). Battle of Olympus was a splendid game so it's nice to see more people submit material from this game. I'd like to see you integrate these two sections more. Additionally beyond the two main sections of this mix, these two are way too conservative. I'd like to see you play with the melody or harmony more. Change up something, the rhythm the tempo or even the structure. The key is to for expansion. I do like the new material you've added in the intro, and especially in the middle section. The bass line was also particularly fun, but beyond that the arrangement aspects still need a lot more work from what we'd expect in an OCR mix. Production as you yourself have noted is in part bland. The samples are below average, but there's not much done in the production department to make it interesting or sound better. We've had a bunch of trackers submit stuff with more sophisticated work in this regard. It's not just the samples, it's what you do with them. Decent effort and a fun listen (for my own nostalgic reasons) but this is below the bar in almost all categories. Keep at it, you have some good ideas but need more experience and polish. Visit our Remixing forum and try to get some other trackers to help you out. NO

Larry suggested we invite Suzumebachi for a guest vote: I really enjoyed this. The source material was short and basic, but this mix really captures the spirit of the original, yet takes it into new uncharted territory at the same time. The vibe and the texture of the mix is wonderful and like a rose, as it goes on the mix continues to bloom. The section especially at around the 2 minute mark was wonderful as the textures continued to evolve and expand. Enjoyed this a lot. Good arrangement and good production makes it a YES. I do have one gripe, that cheap zelda sound fx ending. I thought it was really out of place.

I'm torn on this one. I don't think it's Blad's best effort. We don't have a requirement of having someone outdo their previous submissions to get back on OCR, but to clarify, when something like this is a bit of a scaled back effort in the arrangement and production then it is something to cite and it's noticeable. The arrangement starts off as analoq cited, but then gets more and more engaging and interesting. Which is difficult since this source material is interesting. But ultimately I think some of NO criticisms hold here. A lot of it sounds similar but lacking the impact of your other stuff. There is a missing link here and when the top notes are exposed alone they do sound overly thin. Hate to agree with larry and darke but the rehash statement holds a little water. The production is vanilla. I'm not talking about samples, a lot of people use low end or free samples very well, but here there's nothing going on beyond the simple sample. I'd like to hear some EQ work to give this more body and some reverb to give this a little more density and space. The the latter half of the mix was really great. I'm torn. I'm gonna have to go with a borderline NO. I'd like to see this one polished just a bit more.

This is creative and very enjoyable, but I'd like some of these production issues fixed. The only issues I have really are the ones analoq cited. Can we get the mixer to resubmit it and fix the clipping and that wonky cut off ending? NO until those issues are fixed. Everything else is nice.