DarkSim

I'm just about recovering from that solo... damn! Love those drum fills at the end of it as well. What a great package this is. The perfect cocktail for OCRemix - an ancient source tune brought right up to date with a fantastic arrangement. My gut instinct tells me that it's over the bar as-is, however MW is absolutely right with his production crits. The clashes between guitars at 0:56 and 1:03 are easily avoidable with some stereo spacing and EQ/volume adjustment, and the following section with the brass needs bumping up in the mix. There's a loud splash cymbal at 1:23 that needs turning down. I'm not too bothered about the kick and snare - they sound OK to me, but it's always worth having a look to see if your EQ could be tightened up. Although I'd love to see this tightened up with another production pass, I'm going to vote with my gut on this one. I think there's more than enough to like about it, and the key elements are all handled well enough to cover the shortcomings of the secondary ones. YES

Great source tune, and it's clear you want to do it justice and pay tribute to the character of the original. The choruses sound great, I do like that synth that plays the melody at 1:27, although it's fairly vanilla. The rest of the instrumentation sounds very 16-bit FM, much like the original source, and especially the bass sounds almost indistinguishable from the source. Did you use soundfonts for this? There's nothing wrong with that inherently, but there are a few occasions in this remix where it's crying out for some more interesting sound design to hold my attention, particularly the long sections where the bass is playing by itself. At 4:30 you add some background arps and a pad and it sounds a lot better. However, that brings me to the next point - it's a long source, and an even longer remix! I was fully ready for it to end at 4:30, but then it keeps going, for almost 3 more minutes! I definitely think you could cut at least 2 minutes of material and not miss it. At the end, I'm not sure why the bassline needs to come back in and then just fade out. The phasing pad around 6:48 would have been a perfect way to properly end it. I did appreciate some of the automated effects on the bass though to mix up the character of the sound a little more. Production-wise, it does sound like a thin mix. I often found myself thinking that it could use an extra layer in there to fill out the soundscape some more. There's a lot of space available, and when the string-like pad comes in at 4:30 then the sound feels much fuller. Some tasteful pads would go a long way towards helping with this in other sections, as well as an overall mastering pass. Playing the remix and source one after another, you can hear the source fills out the soundscape a lot more evenly, despite being 16-bit. This feels like one of those remixes that's torn between a cover and an original interpretation, and it's just leaning too far towards the source for me at the moment. When you retain so much of the original's character, it's hard to hear your own stamp on it. There's definitely some rearrangement going on, but for me it's not distinguishable enough. Think of opportunities you have to take ideas from the source and run with them yourself. There's a part at 3:50 in the source where there's some cool syncopation on the bassline. In your remix, at 2:05, it's much less syncopated, and as such doesn't sound as interesting. To summarise, I'd say it needs condensing down into a really juicy track. Take all the best bits and get rid of any bars/repetitions that don't need to be there. Fill out the soundscape either by adding layers or adjusting the mastering. As it stands, it's a great tribute to a cool source tune, and it'd be nice to hear this one again! NO

Wow, where do I start with this epic track! There's a lot to digest here, and some great feedback from Kris already, but as I listened without reading the other J's feedback, I'll give my initial thoughts. First off, I was really impressed for the first 45 seconds or so. The mood was dark, brooding, loved the sound design and atmosphere, and was excited to see where it would go. As the track progressed, however, it felt more and more like you had built this great foundation, but everything else was tacked on, never really having its moment to shine. There are tons of effects employed, but none of them feel particularly naturally implemented. The transition at 1:45-1:49 with the stuttering is one example of this. Forgive me if this isn't the case, but it feels like you're still learning a lot of the tools you have at your disposal, and your production hasn't caught up with your ambitions just yet. That's not a bad thing! You should always be pushing yourself to learn and improve, and OCR is definitely the right place to do that. I'll bullet point some areas that I think you should definitely focus on for the fastest improvement: Mixing - Kris made some great points earlier. Give elements room to breathe in the mix, and avoid crowding the same frequencies, particularly in the low end Dynamics - Your track is 6 and a half minutes long, but the energy levels are high throughout. Give the listener a break! It does wonders for the flow of a track, and helps you as a producer highlight the areas you want the listener to pay particular attention to. Transitions - Part of a good arrangement is moving between sections smoothly and logically. If you're using stutter or glitching effects, make sure that they're not too jarring, and there's a reason you're using them. Would the transition sound better without them? Drops (for this genre) - Typically these will be the high points of your track. Make sure they're memorable and worth the wait. This links back to dynamics, but you want maximum impact after a drop. Don't reveal all your tricks before these! The final drop at 5:36 is the best of the lot, but it has a Mario sample that sounds like it's been chopped out early, which dampens the impact. There's also the distorted vocal sample beforehand that possibly makes the Mario sample unnecessary. See previous point. Length - Make sure you're not outstaying your welcome with the track length. I know it's tempting to loop another 4 or 8 bars if you're really pleased with how something sounds, but don't worry - that's what the repeat button is for! Try and distil all your best ideas, and be ruthless with things that aren't necessary. I'm sure that even with a couple of minutes trimmed off this, it would still sound awesome, and you wouldn't miss the cut parts. I can tell you're bursting with ideas for this one, but I think it still needs a lot of work to get where it deserves to be. I'd love to pass this one in some form in future, but for now it's a NO

Right out of the gate, the balance feels a bit lopsided, with a lot of high and a lot of low. Looking at the frequency spectrum, I can see your kick's fundamental is at 50Hz. Normally it's not such a problem, but the kick is playing so often throughout, that it's adding a lot of sonic energy (ha!) into the piece, which may mean you're having to overcompensate in other areas to make them stand out more. It's a very ambitious, busy mix, with lots of parts jostling for position. I think the reason the kick is way down there at 50Hz is because there's no room left in the lows, so you're forced into the sub range to avoid total mud. You've just about got away with it as well. Interesting source tune for a Sonic game. Feels quite laid-back with a pretty good groove. You've done a great job injecting some urgency and energy into it. It's so frenetic that it feels like a 5-minute track condensed into half that time. It's full to bursting with creativity, and it's great to hear you realising an idea you had many years ago. I've got to commend you on your efforts, but sometimes less can be more, and I'd say there's perhaps one too many elements in here. The cello would be my sacrifice, although you've justified it with an outrageous solo, so you got me there. Again, you've got away with this one. The fadeout is abrupt, and quite unexpected actually, given the intro fanfare. I was expecting a similarly lavish ending, but there's nothing wrong with the idea - just perhaps let it fade for another bar or two for a smoother transition. In future I'd encourage you to keep pushing your creativity, but be disciplined with the execution to avoid overwhelming the mix. It's a tentative yes from me as well, although I'm sure there could be some work done on the mastering side to get the balance sounding better. YES

I just got done reviewing your other submission, and my criticism for that piece was that there wasn't enough original material blended in a cohesive way with the source. Thankfully, that's not the case here. The bassline is present throughout, but using that as a building block, you've got plenty of original stuff layered on top, including an always-welcome solo at 0:56! I also really like how you've introduced a 5-note phrase that isn't in the source, but feels like it should be, from 1:14. Might have been nice to throw that phrase in as a verse/chorus before the solo as well, to reconnect with it afterwards, but it works well as-is. It's a short source and a short remix, which works to its benefit. Any longer and that bassline would have needed a changeup, but you've made a good decision to end it before it outstays its welcome. Production isn't the cleanest, but it's not egregiously quiet on my setup. Something about the open hi-hat still sounds a little off (might be compression, or velocity changes in the hits affecting the samples in some way), but it's not a dealbreaker. It is light in the highs, which takes some of the shine off the guitar soloing, but as with your other submission, I can hear all the instruments clearly enough. I'm pleased I reviewed your 2 tracks in this order, because my major gripe from the other one has been rectified already here. Although there's room for improvement in the production, I think this has the legs to get over the line. YES

Well first off, this sounds great. Bass is a tad boomy, but compared to the source it's actually stylistically similar. Drumkit packs some punch, but it's possible the compression is acting on it a little too much. You can hear it in the hats particularly during the B sections. No major crits on the production side though. It's drums, 2 guitars and a bass and you can hear all parts clearly enough. Love the fast soloing/scale runs that are present in the source and remix at 0:20. Arrangement is essentially a cover for the first 2 minutes, with an ABAB structure, but then it's all original and actually a really nice rhythm section break, before it ends with some chunky chords and a satisfying drum fill. I feel like there's definitely a place on OCR for this with some arrangement tweaks. I'd like to see the break section in the middle, then maybe some more original material (solo?) over the top of the final run-through of the AB section, to make it less of an obvious cover and stamp your own mark on it. At the moment it sounds more like one idea tacked on to the end of the other, rather than one cohesive piece. NO (resubmit)

Hey, thanks for the submission! A trailer music composer sounds like a cool job. I can hear the cinematic influence is there in abundance, although it's definitely more of a trailer than a full film at the moment. A minute of material, which is a cover version of the source tune, repeated and fading out is not what we look for on the judges' panel. Don't get me wrong, it's a great start, and I would definitely encourage you to pursue this track to submit to us again once it's finished, but it needs a lot more work. Try and work in some original material, and tell a cohesive story from beginning to end using the arrangement. Production sounds good, although it's heavy in the low-end so watch out for that. Hope to hear this one back again once it's finished! NO

OK, for the first 2 minutes I was worried that this was going to just be a decent cover. Sounds very MIDI-rippy, albeit with some nice instrumentation. After 2 minutes though, we get the Neon X treatment: double-time percussion, a slick solo, some chord changeups, different arps, then back to some familiar territory with the soft arp, before... a fadeout?! Man, I was fully primed for another run-through of the main melody with that double-time percussion and new arp, with a few original flourishes thrown in for the finale. This remix sounds great, but it feels like it's missing its 3rd act. There's 2 minutes of source, then some great original work, and it's crying out for a big finish that brings the two together in a more satisfying way. I may be way out of line here, but I subscribe to you on YouTube and I see how productive you are. Your remixes are great, and I see no reason this shouldn't be featured on OCRemix, but the ending does sound like it was rushed out. I get the YouTube grind is hard, but some extra time spent on the ending/final section would elevate this track from "passable" to "one of the best Aquatic Ambiance remixes of all time". YES Edit: Still not exactly the finish I was hoping for, but it resolves a lot better now. Still got goosebumps in the middle. Big thanks to Neon X for being so receptive to the feedback and willing to change the fadeout to a more satisfying ending! Edit 2: One of the best Aquatic Ambiance remixes OF ALL TIME BAYBEEEEE

Vintage David Wise? Synthwave? Great title? I'm excited! Starts off fantastically, it's exactly what I was expecting. Delightful, sweet-sounding arpeggio and great atmosphere with that textured pad. Nice detail in the effects as well. There's a problem with the harmony throughout the A section though, with the two hits at the end of the phrase. It sounds like some notes are clashing, and can be heard first at 0:18, then 0:21 and 0:27, then onward as that section is repeated. Whatever synth you're using to accentuate those notes is either too detuned, or playing the wrong notes. I'm afraid it just doesn't sound good - try a brassier sound, or maybe save the harmony for later in the track for impact. I did find myself hoping for the drop to hit after the first 8 bars, and the percussion to kick in then. You made us wait for the 17th bar, and I was expecting a much harder drop after waiting so long, but unfortunately the mix is severely lacking punch once the percussion lands. The snare is all in the high-end, and the kick's really soft. You can tell how soft the kick is when the toms come in and sound louder and have more presence. The toms sound great - just get the kick and snare to match their presence and you'll be sorted there. Arrangement is good, I especially like how you transition out of the 'ticking clock' middle section. Always difficult to change smoothly to a half-tempo section and back out, but it's done well here. I appreciate the effort to add a countermelody/counter-arp for the final chorus, but it's getting lost in the mixing, as the synth chosen sounds too similar to the backing. Try adjusting the mix, or designing the synth to have some more clarity to it. I'd really love to hear this one again, and hopefully the fixes won't take too long. I'd say the harmonies and snare punchiness are must-fixes, but if you want to chop out bars 9-16 and switch up that synth in the final chorus, I reckon it'd sound even better. Looking forward to hearing it! NO (resubmit)

Well, I've been mulling this one over for 3 days. There's a certain sound in there that I recognise, but can't for the life of me remember where I've heard it before. I felt like I'd be able to provide better feedback if I could dredge up that connection from the recesses of my memory, but after hours of searching, I'm coming up empty. The sound I'm referring to is that reversed tail from the piano that starts to appear around 1:10, and is particularly evocative from 1:20-1:28 as the detuning starts to take effect. My closest guess is that I've heard it on the soundtrack to a David Firth cartoon (the Salad Fingers guy), and looking at their soundtracks I can believe it was something by Boards of Canada or Aphex Twin. Anyway, all this rambling and head-scratching may be relevant to me making some sort of point here regarding Mr. Hudak's offering. Michael often challenges the listener with his experimental style, pushing the limits of what may be considered music in some cases. Here we have a very recognisable (and pleasant!) melody throughout, that's been chopped around so as to provide a rhythmic texture in lieu of traditional percussion or effects. For the first minute or so I wasn't sold, but once the reversed samples come in and the timbre feels a little darker, then I was hooked. Like the association with something I've heard but can't place, this track just teases and tugs at the melody, forcing the listener to go off on tangents of imagination, trying to piece things together. It's both intriguing and maddening at the same time, hearing delightful, sonorous piano chords that then vanish in an instant, and knowing that there's a beautiful melody in there somewhere that's never quite played how you'd wish to hear it. The increasing white noise from 2:04-2:37 I don't think was a good choice, as it seems to stick out from the rest of the composition both in terms of mixing, and stylistic choice. The majority of the other sounds are a few seconds long at most, so to have white noise ramping up for 33 seconds without any chopping or changing felt strange to hear. You mention in your writeup that you intentionally didn't want wind or rain recordings as a backing, instead preferring to use the short chops for texture. I think that was largely achieved, so I have to ask why the white noise (which sounds a bit like rain) was needed? Once again, fascinating stuff from Michael. I think I'm in a similar headspace when it comes to some of his tracks, however I do have to be in the mood to listen to them. This one definitely isn't going to be for everyone, but I just can't help but give it a YES

I love the direction you've gone with this. The pulsating bass is a trademark opening for a dark synthwave track, but the 6/8 spin you've put on it adds a freshness and a level of intrigue once the percussion arrives at 0:18. The rhythmic patterns formed between the kick and bass sound great, and I appreciate the attention to detail with the velocity automation on both samples. It helps the backing flow very smoothly. There's another nice pairing in here too, not just the kick and bass. The melody is countered by the intense-sounding chord progression underneath, which hints at the source, but is something entirely transformed with those new chords. The sound design is on-point here throughout, but my favourite patch is the downright apocalyptic FX pad during the choruses at 1:00 and 2:08 that's straight out of the Upside Down. Tying the whole thing together is a very cohesive timbre between all the patches and instruments, that's a difficult thing to achieve. Nice job there! I do have some points for improvement though. Some of the spacey-bell-synth thing is verging on clipping, particularly noticeable at 1:42, but elsewhere as well. There's some distortion being introduced by the track-level compressor, so I'd suggest dialling that back so that your master chain has some headroom to work with. Also on the mastering, the low-end is way too hot. It sounds fine on my headphones, but anything with a decent sub bass will probably sound like a huge mess. That said, I'm OK with letting it slide because I popped it into my DAW and rolled off the low-end, and it didn't sound significantly better. Finally, where's the ending? The drama and intensity of the piece just drifted away and dissolved. That was a big anticlimax, and something to improve in future. YES

Well, this is a tough one! There's a lot to like here. The sound palette is great - the rythmn guitar in particular sounds chunky and clean, and there's some nice layering of the backing synths too. Nice to hear you using the 5th string on that bass as well, with those low B notes in there! That synth lead you use at around the 1:20 mark is classic, and it's awesome how you're blending the synth sounds with the stringed instruments. It sounds much more like a lead synth than the one at 0:36, which does sound lacklustre in comparison to the rest of the mix. The arrangement leaves a lot to be desired, unfortunately. I like how you've tried to mix things up a bit with a break in the middle, and dropping out the percussion for a couple of bars just before the finale, but really there's very little new from the source's A/B/A/B-with-a-little-extra-oomph pattern. It's ever so nearly there, and I did spend well over an hour deliberating this decision, but I'm afraid I'll have to send this one back for another go. At the moment, it sounds like a great cover, with some quiet lead synths in places where they could afford to be bolder. More original stuff, more engaging leads, let's have it back! NO (resubmit)

You're doing a lot of things right with this remix. Opening pluck arp and bass arp work well together to grab the listener's attention, and the crackly effects are ok for a bit of atmosphere. Opening the filter up on the bass arp is also a nice touch to vary the sound. I also really enjoyed the solo at 3:23. Some nice detail in the pitchbends and 2-note chords that worked well with the bass at 3:46. 2 major areas you could improve are the lead synths and the percussion. The lead synth sounds so thin that it gets buried behind that bass for the most part. It's only when they get doubled up in the B section and parts of the solo that the leads start to have the body and presence needed. I mean, they're called leads for a reason - make them stand out! There's a decent attempt at making the lead sound more interesting by varying the panning, however when you move the lead around the stereo space so much, it can be distracting to the listener. I think if you make the leads bolder, you can back off the panning changes and instead use tools like ping-pong delay to fill out the stereo space whilst keeping the listener focused on the melody, not where it's coming from. Percussion-wise, the main offender here is the snare. Similar to the lead, it's far too thin and doesn't pack anywhere near enough punch in the mids to drive the beat. I can hear you're using 2 separate samples at different points, alternating between them for a spell in the first verse, so you already have that good habit, which is great! Did you try layering different samples on top of each other already? If your snare is missing some punch in the mids, just find a sample with some weight to it and layer it up with your existing one. See how they sound together. Don't forget you can tune the samples as well, which is always worth experimenting with whether you're layering them or not. The hi-hat patterns are good, and I like the effort you've made with the fills and fast repetition that almost sounds like a glitch effect. Again the samples are pretty weak, and I'm sure you could find something with a little more presence and clarity in the highs. It could just be a mixing issue though, as they're pretty quiet as a whole. The arrangement is straightforward, which is fine, although due to the fairly vanilla sound design, it did start feeling repetitive by the end. I'd definitely love to hear this one come back again with a revamped and upgraded sound design. Slightly louder mastering overall would be appreciated as well - it's a bit on the quiet side as-is. That said, it's a very cool interpretation of the source that deserves a little more time to do itself justice. NO (resubmit)

Hello there! Thank you! Love the ambition with this one. Those vocals matched with the pulsating bass and dramatic, cinematic instrumentation remind me of the Theme from Farscape. Instantly though, the vocals seem far too quiet. They're a huge point of interest within the mix, but I'm straining to hear them. What I do hear sounds great, although could benefit from a little layering at key points for emphasis, and some more reverb/delay/backing harmonies to really fill them out. There's definitely space in the mix for them to sit right in the middle of, so it may just be a case of turning them up and seeing how it sounds. One thing I've learned when using vocals is to be bold and confident when applying them, especially if you're not used to implementing them in a mix. These sound too tentative for me as it stands. Arrangement-wise, the energy levels are pretty even throughout the piece. A break section somewhere wouldn't go amiss, and although it starts dramatically, the sense of drama soon fades as there's no release of tension and build again. There's the briefest of breaks at 3:27, for about 4 seconds, but notice what a difference that tiny break makes once the vocals return at 3:31. This is really close, and may not require all that much tinkering to get it sounding far better. I'd love for you to take another crack at that vocal mixing as a must-fix, and if there's anywhere you could fit a more substantial break section in, that would be a welcome addition. NO (resubmit)

What a playful, innocent interpretation of the theme! The recorders serve to accentuate the childlike qualities, and I like how they've been layered to provide a bit more texture to the sound. Superb instrumentation choices throughout. Those little descending runs on the clarinet at 1:24 and 2:59 put me in mind of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", and you've got a glockenspiel in there too as perhaps another nod to that. I didn't hear the original submission, but everything sounds great to me on the production side. Awesome job! YES

I'm on board with the arrangement here. The source isn't the most inspiring thing in the world, but I love the connection you made with Radiohead, and fusing the two together was a great decision. The dreamy vocals that drift in and out add much more feeling to the piece than I feel they should, sparse as they are. A delightful touch. The mixing does leave something more to be desired, however - particularly right from the get-go that hiss just sounds like the piano was recorded with a terrible mic. Thankfully, the hiss soon becomes hidden in a wash of reverb, which I guess is one way to do it..! Fortunately though, the massive amount of reverb on everything doesn't completely kill the details, and you've just about gotten away with it. What I found most interesting was actually the ending, where all we hear are the loooooong reverberations playing back against each other and building these intricate resonant textures. I found myself wishing you'd explored that avenue further, with some cleaner production to better highlight the patterns ebbing and flowing from the feedback, without accentuating the 'crackle'. As it stands, I'd say there's enough here to pass, if I put down some of the production drawbacks as going for a 'lo-fi' aesthetic. I certainly enjoyed floating off for a few minutes whilst listening to it. YES

What a cool little source tune! Glad you brought this one to my attention. I must get round to playing Hollow Knight one day. Love the sound design right out of the gate. Usually I'm drawn to bass or leads, but in this track it's the effects and atmospheric flourishes that really stand out for me. Those skittering panned sounds, or the usage of LFOs from 0:20-0:30 are very well executed. When the bass does come in, it's surprisingly basic, sounding like a plain saw wave from the C64's SID chip. As the high-cut filter opens up, it starts to sound a bit nicer, but I think some sidechaining against the kick would make a world of difference to it. Particularly towards the end, from 2:22-3:04, there's less bounce to the bass than I expect for these type of sections. The euphonium and cello work so well with the sound palette you've chosen. 3:04-3:26 is a great way to finish off the arrangement showcasing those instruments, followed by that nice resolving chord with some more atmospheric pads. I'm not 100% sold on the four-on-the-floor sections, but most of the sound design is stellar. The bass could be tweaked to give it a bit more character and bounce, although on balance there's more than enough to like about this one. YES

Super cool reimagining of this source, with great performances. It's a shame the vocals aren't able to be clearly heard, although the tone of the voice sounds beautiful, and fits the genre perfectly. Not sure if some tweaking on the production side could bring out the lyrics more clearly, but it might be something to look into. My major problem with this track is the mastering, which has left in a ton of clipping. It's clearly audible in the choruses for extended periods. While I appreciate there is a dynamic range in the track and it's not an over-compressed sausage waveform, another pass over this to remove the clipping is a must. There's also a strange overall character to the sound, which seems to leave it feeling both loud and quiet at the same time. I notice there's a lot of sub-bass present in the 30-35Hz range, which could be contributing to the sensation of the track feeling loud, without contributing too much to the overall clarity of sound. I think addressing some of the sub bass would go a long way to fixing the clipping, and if the vocals can be cleaned up any more, that would be appreciated. Other than that, excellent work! NO (resubmit)

Cool sound palette once again. That saw lead is a little vanilla, but it reminds me of old Amiga sounds, particularly from dodgy fast-food tie-in McDonaldland, and it definitely fits with the synthwave/vaporwave style. At first, I thought the lead was a little on the thin side, lacking some low-mid, however when it's doubled at 1:20 it adds emphasis and sounds great. Arrangement is conservative for the first couple of minutes, sticking close to the source, but once the half-tempo section begins from 2:13, we're treated to a decent solo, before the track winds down. The wind effects for the intro and outro could have had some more care taken on them to make them sound a bit more interesting. At the moment it sounds just like a white noise generator with a bandpass filter applied, and doesn't do much for establishing atmosphere. Percussion is crunchy, and while I don't have a problem with the sequencing, or the overall cohesiveness of the kit, there's some distortion in the 'kick' sample (whatever's on the beat) from 0:20-0:40 that could be mistaken for clipping if it were louder. It's obviously not clipping, but the level of distortion sounded quite rough on the ears. I like the idea of texturising the percussion though, to offset the clean leads and dreamy pads. It's a short and sweet remix, which has a few points for improvement, but does enough for me YES

This feels like a spiritual successor to Dirty Coins, and it's amazing to hear how bLiNd's production has improved from what was an already excellent level. The overall feel of the track is much more laid-back than Dirty Coins, going for a trap aesthetic rather than dubstep, and following the evolution of the EDM landscape since 2013. Arrangement wise, it doesn't have one of those climactic moments that are present in Jordan's trance mixes, but the track does build in intensity slowly as elements are added. I guess the 'drop' is at 2:24, but as we've already heard the elements individually beforehand, some of the impact is lessened. I always enjoy hearing ethnic instruments used in electronic music - and learning their names - so I'm glad the kamancheh gets a run out for this one! As with the presentation of the main theme though, a bit more variation and experimentation with the instrument wouldn't have gone amiss. Minor criticisms aside though, this definitely does enough to pass. Congratulations on 20 years remixing! YES

You're getting all Pulp Fiction on us, aren't you? That opening guitar is spot on for the sound you were going for, and the instrumentation throughout is well-chosen. On first listen, I thought the violin was ever so slightly flat, but on reflection, the tuning fits the style well. That trumpet sounds great too, you did an awesome job there! I like the arrangement, because it pays unmistakable homage to the source, yet your individuality shines through in the organ and guitar solos, and of course the live violin and trumpet performances are great to hear. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the coconut-shell percussion, particularly the lowered-pitch parts from 1:52. The mixing exposes the sound too much, so it doesn't sound like it's part of the main band. Pitch-shifting the samples only serves to further distract from the otherwise excellent soloing. 2:03-2:16 was my favourite part, and I love how it segues back to the source theme for the final chorus. The overall energy of the piece is definitely higher than that of the source tune, and it's a really fun listen. Makes me want to hit repeat. YES

Surprisingly modest mastering for a metal track - I had to turn my volume up a bit to match my usual listening level. Let's start with a colour-coded arrangement breakdown (yes! Fancy!). Sections in the same colour are repeated. At-a-glance, you can see that the arrangement is very conservative, and the track contains 40% repetition. The whole section from 0:12-1:24 is just copy-pasted (a proper copy-paste, no variation in anything) immediately afterwards, followed by a run-through of the B section again with doubled lead guitars, and more urgent drum programming fitting of a climactic ending. Source structure is the same (sans intro/outro and final B section, although the intro and outro use the pre-verse heavily). Performances are great and sound very natural. I'm particularly a fan of the drum programming. I'm not sure if anything was played live, although I'm 100% sure on the copy-paste. The mix is busy, but never crosses the line into pure mud, although it could be cleaner. There are no dynamics to speak of, which is a shame because it starts busy and ends busy, with no respite in the middle. That's the same as the source, which is a point for improvement. I'd like to hear more expansion - a break, a solo - some more original material that stamps your own mark on it. At the moment, this feels like a cover more than anything. Add to that the repetition, and I'm afraid it's a NO

Ya know, at the beginning of this I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but by the end it was a really enjoyable listen. The drums sound pretty weak to introduce the track, and the piano is a little behind the beat on some occasions before the synth comes in. Once it gets going though, everything seems to click as a whole, and it's much more than the sum of its parts. The extended synth soloing, and the character of that (admittedly slightly basic... but let's call it 'retro') sound put me in mind of Kool & The Gang's 'Summer Madness' from 1974. Indeed, if you were going to pursue this kind of genre in future, that track is a good place to start for inspiration. The percussion, although very generic-sounding, has some decent variation and fills, providing a solid foundation for the piano and synth to do their thing. The arpeggiated electric guitar chords and subtle pad do enough to bolster the dynamics and fill out the soundscape nicely. The drums peter out somewhat disappointingly, however the piano performance seems to get tighter towards the end, which is a good way to finish. YES

Really enjoyed this! Your 'Through the Castle' remix from 2012 was always a favourite of mine, and it's great to hear how you've matured as an artist over those 10 years. Very fitting that this one is from SMW2 as well. The remix sequel to the game's sequel Sound design is amazing in this one. The 3/4 time signature makes it sound so playful and mischievous, even though it hits hard. Top stuff!

And here I was expecting Belinda Carlisle. Very nice, atmospheric intro. Love the natural sounds of the cello, trumpet and especially that oud! The synth bass was a surprise addition, and the synth percussion certainly raised my eyebrows. There's some lovely interplay between the trumpet and oud round the 1:00-1:20 mark, and then the violin is introduced as well - another fine piece to the ensemble. By this point the percussion is beginning to feel too static, and thankfully there's a break at 2:01. During the break, the cello and violin do a great job of 'bookending' the frequency spectrum for the trumpet to sit in the middle, doing some great soloing. Moving back to the simplified source melody (thanks for the source breakdown!) at 2:46, the synth percussion comes back in, and I'm sorry to say, really kills the mood. I find myself asking why you'd need the synth elements at all - you've got such a cool sound that's established in the intro, and all the natural parts can fill out the soundscape. Not only that, but there is absolutely no variation in that kick-kick-kick-snare pattern for 3 minutes of the entire 4:21 track length. The only variation is the occasional appearance of a very-much-lost-in-the-desert 808 clap! Worst of all, the groove is so straight and metronomic that it kills all the natural flair of the live performances. The droning sidechained synth pad in the background just adds to the soporific effect of the backing. I will say that I do like the synth bass - it's a cool sound that doesn't feel out of place with the other instruments. That said, there's a definite dodgy note at 1:38, which sounds worst on the bass because it's meant to be anchoring the track. You can get away with some funky scales, especially in this style of music, when playing the melody. Not on the bassline though - you want that to be solid. As the track comes to a close, I find myself being slowly anaesthetised by that backing, and there doesn't seem to be a clue that the track is ending. No intensity increase, or decrease - it just stops. Some more focus on arrangement would be worth implementing to the track as a whole, though I appreciate that would be difficult with so many collaborators. Overall it's a difficult one to call because I think there are some amazing performances, and a lot of creativity and effort has clearly gone into this to bring it all together. Unfortunately, it may be a case of 'too many cooks spoil the broth', and the percussion in particular needs a complete overhaul to do justice to the other performances. If you're dead set on having synth percussion and other elements, then take a leaf out of zircon's book and check out The Koto Chill from The World Circuit album, or one of my favourite ethnic-plus-beats bands the Afro-Celt Sound System. Vary the percussion so that it enhances the other elements, not puts them to sleep. I hope you can rework this one and give it some more direction, in addition to the improvements needed to the backing. NO (resubmit)