GrayLightning

One would think Larry's bad smell would have pushed you away into the darkest corners of the WIP forum.

Paige 4 Judge!

Nah it wasn't put down majorly. You do realize we reject a lot of mixers with years of mixing or music experience. Your mix had some interesting concepts and arrangement ideas, some components were there, some where not. It needed a lot of work on several fronts. So it was your third mix, it's a good start, and you need to keep it up. Music is a long endeavor, one that's hopefully worth it to you. But it's one that you need to constantly keep working on. There really is no substitute for experience. Keep at it and don't give up.

Fixed. New Option. C: Liontamer Smells.

If there's anything LiquidNeon has it's his trademark chipmunk-esque voices. They're a bit silly, but I guess at least you have a noteable characteristic. Your goal was accomplished, you were indeed able to create a frenzied mix, but really I'm not sure how accessible this is. I feel the arrangement is pretty basic. There's sped up sections with very little expansion in the conceptual ideas of either the structure or the melodic or harmonic content of the source material. Larry hit the nail on the head, this mix lacks power. This mix has no balls. There's no bottom end. The whole mix sounds very very thin and sparse. Leads are tinny and and the beats lack any phatness. This needs more eq work, additions to pump things up and some more compression. Keep at it Liquid, you have some neat ideas, but the execution and presentation need more polish. NO

You better bring your best effort when you want to arrange source material of this amazing quality. This mix is just a very basic interpretation of the source material. With new synth lead and more driving percussion used additively almost. The conceptual interpretation of the mix is not very daring at all, and on the production side this is just too basic in synth design, production processing. Weak, abrupt, pointless ending. Don't get me wrong, this isn't bad at all. This is a competent effort, especially for a first submission. Please use our wip forums for future feedback on this or your other works. Keep at it and best of luck next time. NO

Yeah the music box is definitely off and funky. I actually really like the style and some of the arrangement concepts, but this track is just messy conceptually and in execution. I liked the choir pad and strings sections but the writing of these instruments is just compositionally very sparse, the result is this thin sound throughout. You put too much reverb on the mix, the drums are plagued with wierd reverb/delay feedbacks, they just don't sound at all good, but worse of all mess up the track. Suddenly changing dry to wet, then at the end wet to dry music box is a concept that just doesn't work in how it was executed. If you want to do something like this use layering with two tracks with different reverb sends, or different layers, one dry and one wet, or even use reverb automation. Needs a lot of work. NO

Which was that?

I agree. The arrangement is ok, but it's pretty sparse most of the time. Also that high pitched lead is really too much. I wouldn't use something like that unless you have a very dense and full mix you want to cut through. Oh also, yeah I love my reverbs as analoq noted. But this is a mess. You don't flood the whole mix with a gloss of reverb. Use it on an instrument by instrument basis and use sends. Use reverb cleverly to benefit the mix, not destroy it, as is the case here. Needs more work on a lot of areas as noted by me and prior judges. NO

Arrangement is way too scant, if at all measurable to be even considered. As harmony said it sounds like a cover with rap and beats on top. Harmony stole the words out of my mouth, the lyrics here are very gimmicky and don't convey or bring anything interesting to the table. Wierd note cut off at 1:11. Also your brass and strings have no release. The note to note transitions without the release need some work. Great beatwork though, one of the highlights of the mix. The piece is put together pretty well, for what it is, and the production is of good quality, but I hear nothing revolutionary your personal touch here. Lyrics are gimmicky. No Arrangement of value to boot. I have to wonder if you made this only to compare it with DCT's mix. You said in DCT's mix thread, "But anyway, I need to thank you guys for inspiring my latest remix." So you made this in only a few days/hours? This is lacking the typical attention paid to all aspects of a mix that we've come to enjoy and expect from you Star. NO

We have a bitrate limit of 192 KBPS. I am in agreement with larry. Nothing really bad here. But where's the arrangement? Consider resubmitting this with more expansion, arrangement - play with the melody, structure, harmony - bring something new to the table. Coverish mixes that aren't explored/developed will not do well in the panel, and will certainly not pass me. Pretty enjoyable on several levels for what it is though, but a NO Override.

I was going to write a longer write up on this a few days ago, but Dan came to the same conclusion that I was wrestling with for some weeks now. I agree to some extent with the criticisms noted, but at the end of the day, the arrangement here is just on the ball and the issues and problems aren't major enough for me to deny it. My sentiments exactly. Hope to hear more from you soon Jive. Do try to submit more than one mix per year, ok? YES

Excellent, but that isn't much of a surprise, is it?

Thumbs up. First comment!

You're not alone. This just sounds all like a mass of buzz. Arrangement isn't particularly expansive, and I'm afraid to say the original didn't have much musical properties in it. So I'm not really sure what it's supposed to do for the general public. Too repetitive, simple and buzzy. I like how some of this was constructed and put together, but the result overall just needs a lot of work conceptually and compositionally. Some parts reminded me of WipeOut's soundtrack, those parts I did enjoy to a degree. I did like the last sections though when the buzzy synths weren't suffocating the entire mix. NO

Too much reverb. This genre doesn't need this much reverb. Things should be more upfront and in your face. There's no meat in the mix. The synths sound thin and almost preset-ish. This is way too sparse, it definitely needs some kind of vocal work on top of this. The way it is just now, it just sounds shallow. As far as the beats, they sounded decent. I think more eq and compression work is needed though, they sound lifeless, dull (as far as sound quality) and way too far back in the stereo field. Keep practicing, but as noted by liontamer move on and consider this learning experience. Keep at it. NO

There's some nice, catchy things going on here, but it doesn't amount to much. This whole mix to me, sounds like it was built on several loops that just keeps repeating, waiting for something new and bigger to happen, and that never came. This guitar sounds horrible, I agree with Zircon, that this would be better off as a synth lead rather than what it is. Consider getting free synths like Synth 1 or SuperWaveP8. They sound much better than what I've heard here. You've showcased some nice skills, but there's more work remaining to be done. This sounds like a framework waiting for more concepts, instruments and polish. Keep at it. There's potential...but as is, this is incomplete/unfulfilled and a NO.

This mix can be summed up as chaotic. The whole arrangement, texture, instrumental/frequency combinations just clash. This needs to go back to the drawing board and recomposed one instrument at a time in my book. Find which combinations work best with each other, piece by piece. I agree with harmony's assesment, I think Larry's monitoring system is showing up more treble than there really is, again. Some of the harmonization is also questionable/doesn't sound right in my book. Especially during the thicker string sections. I like some of your arrangement ideas, and your fx processing yields some interesting results, but this needs a lot of work. As liontamer said, this needs an overhaul. Sorry, NO.

Analoq is right, this is very, very lo-fi sounding. I honestly don't know where to begin on suggestions, this needs a lot of work compositionally, conceptually and in production. For a minimalistic/atmospheric mix there's not much going on here in the way of density, or interesting atmosphere. I would use more reverb here, preferably with modulation to spice up the atmosphere. More eq work is definitely necessary. This mix is in need of more treble work, it sounds so muddy. What this needs is an anchor, perhaps start the base of such a mix with an interesting pad. The very sparse sections of the mix don't at all work either. Needs a lot more work and please use the WIP forum to get more feedback before submitting. NO

Generic arrangement, I'm afraid. There are some nice ideas here, I do like the pads and the use of it, but essentially the composition is just too basic. Drums in general were very lifeless and limp. This needs more processing work to bring it to life. This needs some attention paid to the composition as well. It repeats the same thing over and over. Yes I know, this is supposed to be club music, but there's needed polish here. Where are the hooks in here, or even more conservatively, where's the hook in this mix? Please consider posting to the WIP forum to get more feedback. This needs a lot of work compositionally and in production to give it character. Don't be discouraged, just keep working at it. Better luck next time. NO

I think I know a thing or two of this genre... This is wonderous. Great use of reverb to create an absorbing new age atmosphere. The use of percussion was a tasteful ornamentation to the piece also. Good arrangement and good production round out this quality mix. Easy YES.

Rexy has good samples, but she's still learning to use them to full potential. The key element remaining is experience with good sequencing/composition and production treatment to make the samples come alive. I doubt a resubmit is possible considering her case, at least not anytime soon. I'll be keeping this one myself. Better luck next time though Rexy and if at all possible, consider the consensus feedback for a resubmit.

Welcome. I'm the "naruto dude."

Larry's right about the arrangement. To me this mix sounds more of an additive upgrade rather than revolution. It's certainly a pleasant listen for the most part. The string pizz to me sounded off in more ways than one. It made the mix overly chaotic, also as with Larry I hear a lot of awkward notes throughout the mix. Brass stabs sounded out of place and rather thin, put some reverb on those. There's a lot of fat to trim on this one, as Larry already mentioned. By the halfway point, I thought I was listening to a 10 min. mix as it is. Considering the disparate natures of the two, the comparison is completely irrelevant and inappropriate. A chill and transportational listen, most of the time. But this needs a lot of polish at this point really. More arrangement, better attention paid to the composition. Keep working at it. NO

What is it with DKC and all the super conservative/cover mixes of it? Also I don't agree with Larry, about how the melody comes in too late. Ambient/Atmospheric music has its own rules, and I wouldn't be too constrained about that. Speaking of the melody, I don't think it really fits in with the soundscape, it sounds grating and harsh in contrast. Production in general is definitely passable though. I liked some of the ideas and concepts here. It definitely sounds like you spent time on the mix as a whole, unfortunately, much of that time wasn't spent in the arrangement phase. Especially when a piece like this is so oft-mixed, you gotta bring some neat new interpretive ideas. Creativity is the name of the game, and here it's quite lacking. Those who like covers/conservative mixes will certainly like this, but that's not what OCR is about. Hope to hear more from you soon, but please work on the arrangement next time. Mix it up. NO