Chimpazilla

Well I love this. I'm a YES here and not even borderline or conditional. I find this arrangement of a relatively simple source to be full and transformative, full of a range of dynamics and emotions. The overall levels here are much better than usual. Peak max is still -3db but that is better than -8db or -10db on some other mixes. I share Larry's thoughts on the buzzy bassoon, that is unfortunate and could probably be EQd to remove the offending buzz (or, replace the sample with a buzzless bassoon), but it doesn't bother me enough to reject. I'm not the biggest fan of hard-panning things left and right, as the harp and bells/glock are here, but not a dealbreaker by any means. The more I listen to this, the more I am transported to a mystical forest in which I'm not sure if I will find friend or foe! Super lovely feels in this arrangement, love it, gotta go with it. YES

Cool source! I am finding this arrangement fantastic. I don't hear those two notes as being wrong, not at all, I like the harmony in fact. I'm with XPRT, I don't know what's going on there (weird mode?) but I like it. The vocal clip at the slowed-down section is killer although it could have been louder and with more effects/delay. I think this arrangement is interesting and cool and I love the synthwave style and the overall vibe. My biggest complaint is the mixing, I hear too much lows coming out of absolutely everything and it's muddying things up. If you cut unneeded lows out of everything that isn't kick or bass, the low end would sound cleaner and much tighter too; as it stands, the low end has this loose feel that's a little uncomfortable if that makes sense. Some of the instruments sound almost flabby, I think due to stray lows and even rumble that can easily be EQd out. The mix could also benefit from slightly stronger sidechaining, not for pumping effect but for mixing clarity and added groove. The mixing isn't optimal but it isn't a dealbreaker for me. I think the track is great. YES

Cool, if ancient, source tune! I'm loving it. The arrangement is conservative yet fully transformed into metal. The arrangement opens strongly, but the brass and strings sound fake right off the bat. When the lead guitar starts at 0:17, I don't feel like I'm hearing lead writing but instead some kind of nebulous backing material, and this writing conflicts heavily with the string writing at that point, so my mind is a bit confused. Also the mixing is flat and the lead guitar is mushing into the soundscape rather than riding above it and standing out. There is so much distortion on the lead guitar so I don't hear/feel its fundamental punching through. Starting at 1:06, the brass is trying to carry the lead writing, but the sample sounds so weak and thin and the attack is uncomfortably slow. The string that follows, playing the lead, is equally thin and anemic, with inhuman sounding attacks. The soloing at 1:33 is better mixing-wise (in terms of the lead riding above the backing soundscape), but the mixing of that lead guitar is odd to me, it is sooooo wide, it sits at the exact same space in the soundscape as the backing chugs, leaving the center empty except for the kick and snare. At 2:06, it's back to the initial lead guitar which is mixed so weakly and the writing again conflicts with the backing string writing. The drums are mixed well enough, but that crash sound is super weak and almost cartoonishly out of place with the rest of the kit. I love the concept of this, but I think there are some major mixing and instrument-sample fixes that need to be addressed before this one is ready for the front page. NO (resubmit)

This is a loud master. The 0db limiter ceiling is allowing the master to clip and register a true-peak of 3.3db. Very few dynamics in this mix (waveform sausage). Although the arrangement is quite conservative to the source in terms of writing and instrumentation, there are good harmonic and melodic personalizations. I am not hearing anything too harmonically strange, it all works for me. The drums are disappointing. The kick is weak and there isn't strong enough sidechaining for it to punch through well enough. The drum groove never changes once established, other than the occasional fill. The hat groove is simple and repetitive. The overall arrangement feels very repetitive because there is no break in the drum action and because the instrumentation never changes throughout the piece. I'm borderline on this decision. It's a good and fun mix but several things are adding up to a resub vote from me: similarity to the source in style and instrumentation, repetitive energy level, lack of instrumental variation, lack of drum groove variation, weak drum mixing and minimal sidechaining, and a hot/clipping master. I hope to hear it again though, a few changes can easily get this track on the front page! NO (please resubmit)

Jordan's tracks always sound ZOMG GOOD to me, his production is the best I've ever heard and this one is no exception.... but.... after the intro, it is two exact repetitions of break/bridge and drop, and no outro (super abrupt ending). I layered the parts over each other to make sure and both sections are identical with nothing added or removed. Are we passing arrangement like that? What's here is groovus maximus and production delight, but I'm thinking, based on our standards, NO If our standards have changed or I've gotten it wrong (as Larry thinks this level of repetition is ok), someone please let me know.

This is funky and cool and I'm chair dancing to it. Herb Alpert - Rise comes through instantly with the bassline and trumpet lines. This mix captures that late 70s funk/disco vibe well. I wish there was just a bit more variation in the overall beat; the track establishes an energy level on the first note and it stays the same all throughout. This isn't the greatest kick sample, it is all mid-and-top with very little beef, it is too sharp, and it sounds quite fake compared to the organic instrument soundscape (something softer and more natural would have been better) but I'm not super bothered by it, especially once the trumpet begins. The piano is so cool but it is mixed super flat, what a shame. The trumpet comes in loud and proud by comparison. The trumpet sounds great but I feel like the flat piano mixing is a lost opportunity for extra awesomeness. The arrangement has a repetitive feel due to the energy level never changing, but there is a lot of creativity in the performances. I feel the looseness in the performance that Larry mentioned. It almost sounds like the elements are sometimes behind the beat, and it's a little distracting. I would have really loved some additional and/or varied percussion elements coming in and out of this arrangement to vary the feel and energy, this can be a note for next time. What's here is too cool, funky and fun not to pass, but I am in borderline territory here due to the issues I've mentioned. Larry and Brad are right about that final splash... oof. Just to throw this question out there to the other Js, is there any issue with passing a mix that so closely resembles a non-vgm source? If it's all good, then YES

The plucked instruments in the first half are sheer delight! What a luscious vibe you've set up. The instrument palette is just wonderful and well executed. The mix is full and beautiful. But starting at the 2:00 mark, there is sidechaining that is too deep and long for the percussion being used, and it sounds/feels stilted and unnatural. When the kick enters at 2:56, that sidechaining is even heavier. WOW that's heavy. Clearly it is a stylistic choice (heart beat), and sometimes that works (often in a much more sparse soundscape) but I am not sure it works here. You've got such a full, beautiful soundscape and it's all dented with this intense heavy sidechaining. I think the issue for me is that every element in the mix is being sidechained this hard. In my mixes I sidechain absolutely everything but not by the same amounts. Bass and low pads usually get the deepest sidechaining, plucks and backing elements get softer/less sidechaining, leads and perc loops get minimal sidechaining (for mixing and groove purposes only). I feel like if the leads and backing plucks and percs were less heavily sidechained, this mix would still sound huge but way more natural. Often times I am telling people to sidechain their elements to make the track groove because it's not grooving without it, but in this case I feel like the groove of the track is actually ruined by this much sidechaining. I agree with MW that the mix, especially the second half, is very instrument dense. I can't quite tell if balance is a problem or not, due to the heavy sidechaining over it. Then at 4:03 you also added super heavy gating. It's just too much for me. On a third listen through, I feel like my heart is trying to beat in resonance with this and not in a good way. I also dislike fadeout endings although it's not a dealbreaker it is just a final disappointment in this case. I actually love this arrangement and the beautiful instrumentation. The sidechaining is killing it for me. If I could hear it without the heavy (everything getting the same amount) sidechaining, and with that gating also dialed back, then I could comment on the balance of leads vs. backing. I won't be upset if this passes because it is lovely, but if it doesn't pass, please structure the sidechaining so not everything is getting it as deeply; make it sound and feel just a little less jarring, and let's hear it again. You can still get a heartbeat effect without giving your listeners an actual heart attack! TL;DR - If I'm saying there's too much sidechaining, there's probably too much sidechaining NO (please resubmit) Edit 1/21/23: Listening again, I am no longer sure that the ducking at the 2:00 is intentional. It sounds like it could just be master overcompression rather than sidechaining, which is worse. In judging another track, I was linked to another mix that, in my opinion, does that super-deep sidechaining thing right. The ducks on PTR's track are extremely deep but also very fast release. Also, you can easily hear that the lead instruments are not getting ducked as hard or deep as the bass and backing plucks, which makes it sound more natural and purposeful, and less disorienting.

Nice adaptation of this source to solo piano. It is quite conservative but has good personalization. I agree with my peers that the piano does not have the most pleasant tone; it comes off as tinny, overly sharp, and missing some beefiness. I especially agree with prophetik about the overuse of the sustain pedal, most noticeable during the big chords and builds; as more notes are dogpiled on top it becomes rather muddy. I also agree with prophetik that there seems to be some quantization that is making the performance more robotic than it should be. All of this does lead to the uncanny valley. I can see how this bothered Larry enough for a NO vote, and I'm into borderline territory myself due to these issues, but I am in agreement with the other Js that the track is still over our bar. The production and mastering are competent, and the mix sounds good. YES

Clicks, pops, reverses, dry and wet sounds together yet so separate. Soundscape is empty yet full. Luscious piano mangled all to hell. Rain. Oh gosh I love this weird style. It sounds to me like the track is being broadcast through some experimental new radio that receives sonic transmissions from an adjacent dimension. Music being crunched through some unimaginable electric device. It definitely isn't for everyone, but for me, it gives me goosebumps on top of goosebumps with all the weird feels. Source aplenty; let's do this. YES

The guys are right, this mix takes too long to get going, and the sounds used are very simple and vanilla and they lack interest. That opening bassline has extreme sidechaining on it which sounds distracting with nothing else playing with it, and when the kick comes in, wow it's loud. Too loud for the soft and simple instrumentation in this mix. At the 2:00 mark there is some harmonic dissonance that is unpleasant. The arrangement itself does show promise, however. I suggest you take this track to our workshop forum and get some specific advice on how to fix this mix. Generally, you need better sounds, more varied sounds, more interesting writing (it is repetitive now), better balancing and mixing. I suggest spending some time learning how and when to sidechain. You have the bass super heavily sidechained but nothing else in the mix is sidechained so the mix lacks a cohesive groove. Make sure you are listening on good speakers in a well set up room, or on good headphones. Still some work to do to learn the techniques, but as Larry said, this arrangement shows your potential, please keep going. NO

What a glorious source tune! It has Star Wars vibes for me. I am glad the remix is as conservative as it is, since the source tune is long and non-repetitive. I find this arrangement fantastic, it's full of varied and exciting instrumentation and detail. The breakdown is utterly lovely, although I'm not a fan of the panning, I prefer things be more centered and mixed front-to-back and narrow-to-wide rather than left-and-right. That said, the arrangement and performances are excellent and an easy pass for me. The mixing is also quite good. The mastering is indeed super loud. I don't hear any egregious artifacts, but it's right on the cusp for me, it's almost-nearly pumpy but not quite. Pushing the master this hard has flattened the overall dynamics though, which is unfortunate. I don't find this mastering to be dealbreaking, but in case the track doesn't pass, I recommend the following. On your master chain, lower the input gain by several db, I lower up to 10 or 12db sometimes on my electronic mixes (I do this first thing before I even begin to write, it makes it easier to mix). Then, gradually bring the level back up gently through more than one compressor. I use three or four of them in my chain, each for a various purpose, ending with a mastering compressor and then final limiter set to -0.5db ceiling (avoids unwanted clipping especially when uploaded to YouTube). Doing it this way should allow you to still have nice full dynamics while giving the track a solid beefy sound and no overcompression artifacts or pumping. Edit 8/11/23: New version is not better but worse. It sounds even more overcompressed and now I hear artifacts and unwanted crunching and pumping. I would flip to NO if this is the version we go with. I'll stick with my YES for now while we sort through this. YES

I like the 4/4 adaptation, but the overall sound of this mix just doesn't hit the mark. The instrumentation sounds dated and the drums especially sound almost comically weak. Filtering the drums from 0:31-1:07 makes that section sound even more lo-fi and minimal but not in a good way. The arrangement sounds very conservative and similar to the source tune even with the time signature change, due to the similarity of instrumentation. This really isn't a bad remix, but I am reading the other Js' words and I agree with them pretty much completely: the lack of humanization, the similarity of the instrumentation and writing to the source tune (other than the 4/4 change), along with weak and over-filtered drums puts this just under the bar for me. I'd love to hear this again with some more unique elements added, different lead sounds, more varied and impactful drum grooves, some additional ear candy or effects, and just more interesting elements overall. NO (resubmit)

Very unusual intro! Not my favorite part of the track (although with repeated listens it is growing on me), but it quickly transitions into some smooth, funky beats that marry the two themes completely seamlessly. Lots of detail in the mix, and the production is good. I like the piano solo quite a bit, wish there was more of it! The arrangement is terrific. I think this mix is great except for one problem. The master is hitting +5db peak. I don't hear compression artifacts, but I think it's a good idea to revisit the mastering and make sure there is a reasonable ceiling set so there are no issues when uploading the track to YouTube. YES (conditional on setting proper final limiter ceiling)

Nice 3/4 intro, then the source translates quite well to a 4/4 groove. I love the style here and the production is really good. The sounds used are good and everything is produced clearly. The kick could definitely use a little more click for it to punch through but it's strong and beefy enough. The arrangement has some similar sounding sections, especially because that saw lead plays for so much of the arrangement, but there is always at least one unique element playing some little countermelody or variation on the source writing that keeps it fresh. The breakdown varies the energy of the arrangement just right. I love the backing deep brass near the end. The end comes off a tad abrupt but not a dealbreaker. Very fun and enjoyable listen. On the mastering side, it's a bit loud, and SPAN indicates some clipping, although I don't hear any overcompression artifacts. I recommend making your final limiter ceiling more like -0.3 or -0.5, rather than 0, because the 0 ceiling can sometimes cause some unwanted clipping. YES

I'm going to trust Prophetik for his explanation about the notes that don't work. I hear it but I lack the knowledge to describe it like he did. The arrangement has a tremendous amount of unpleasant disharmony. One reason for the dissonance is the fact that you chose to use an 808 trap-style bass. In actual trap, the 808 bass often is off-key in comparison to the other instrumentation and vocals, and the 808 bass bends all over the place, and it is expected in a trap song and usually works well. In this case you have such a melodic arrangement with so many melodies and countermelodies, that this 808 bass just makes it sound more messy harmonically. Also, and this is my personal opinion and certainly not a dealbreaker for this track, but I don't feel that a trap bass and drums work well with the much more bright, melodic synths you have going in this arrangement. But the biggest issue is all that dissonance. NO

Dear OCRemix community! I believe I have finally made something that I can submit to OCRemix. I have carefully read the submission instructions. Although it is clearly stated that "chiptunes" are discouraged, I still wanted to give it a shot as some of the my favourite remixes in this community are chiptunes already! I have provided all the required information as a list below, including a OneDrive link and a short paragraph about the inspirations. Looking forward to your feedback. Kind regards, Nedim Gökhan (Nwgo) Aydın ReMixer Name: Nwgo Real Name: Nedim Gökhan Aydın E-mail: Websites: none User ID: 34259 Game: Undertale Title: NoMercy Arranged Song: Megalovania (originally composed by Toby Fox, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDgQdr8ZkTw) Comments: There is an artist called "Paptircem", who started an online challenge where she prepares a music sample by following the poll results on Instagram and followers respond with a cover/remix to that. I have made a chiptune remix, the community and the artist liked it, which encouraged me a lot. I have been listening to chiptunes since my teen years and since 2 years I have been specifically reading, watching, learning and working on chiptunes in my free time. This semester, my work at university did not leave me any time to produce anything satisfying, thus I have made a poll on my own instagram and asked for songs that may sound nice as chiptune. One of my students suggested Megalovania, which excited me a lot since I've recently completed Undertale and loved it. Megalovania is an amazing low-bit, chiptune-ish song which blew the minds of thousands of fans around the world. I was planning to do simple, a few minutes long projects in a few days for each suggestion, but Megalovania took 3 months to fully satisfy me. There are lots of arpeggios and short, plucky notes here. The song starts with the notes from the bridge part of the original song. We hear the original melodies from the song that are re-arranged with chiptune instruments, which ultimately changes A LOT to result in an original scramble of notes and tones, still respecting the original scale and melody. In the final part, there are faint non-chiptune sounds (choir, cello and flute) used. I had a final fight clip on my mind, including the infamous "No Mercy" fighting scene, flowey's fight, gathering colorful hearts and the final scene of full pacifist ending where all the heroes were watching the scenery. I wanted to name it "NoMercy" since I wanted to put the feeling of "constantly increasing pressure" and a constantly transforming badass boss fight. Tried to fill it with my feelings, I hope I could do it in the correct way.

Your ReMixer name: Pixel Pirates Your real name: Tobaunta Torkelsson & Fredrik Vinterstjärna Your email address: Your website: pixelpirates.nu Your userid: 37469 Name of game(s) arranged: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Name of arrangement: Pixels Pirate Valley Name of individual song(s) arranged: Gerudo Valley

Hi, thanks for everything you do! Contact information: ReMixer name: MelodicImmersion Real name: Paul Email: SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/paul-devito-270647719 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5sDfv940zBF6stqk7aCNPQ UserID: 38216 Submission Information: Game arranged: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Arrangement: "Giant Flying Sand Worm" Song arranged: "Molgera" Original song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlF0-Qs2xkI&ab_channel=Magnus619666 In short, this is Molgera's theme from Wind Waker arranged with a full orchestra to sound as EPIC as possible! This arrangement was originally made for the OST Composing Jam: Pastime II, a "game jam" all about making music inspired by favorite games and anime, hosted by the benevolent Lone Rabbit. Learn more about the jam here: https://ostcompjam.alonerabbit.com/ Follow Lone Rabbit on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoneRabbit9 Molgera's theme from Wind Waker is my favorite song from the series and one of my favorite game tracks of all time, so it was an absolute honor to cover it! I'm a fan of Epic music and it's my go to style as a composer. I've always felt that Molgera's theme has the potential to hit way harder and bigger, especially as tiny Toon Link toughs it out with the most intimidating boss in the game. At the time I wrote this, it had only been a few months since I began getting more serious about the quality of my mixing and mastering. If my mix is lacking in any way, I'd love to know so I can improve. But most importantly, enjoy! Thanks again, Paul

Remixer name: Bluelighter ID forum: 21840 Game & Songs: Final Fantasy X & Underwater Ruins ; No Hopes, No Dreams Composer: Junya Nakano & Nobuo Uemastu & Masashi Hamauzu Hi OCR! Here is a piano arrangement of two themes heard at the beginning of the game. In the history, it was when Tidus (the main character) discovered a desolated word. J. Nakano made an atmosphere track for Underwater Ruins, a little scary. However, the melody had some delicacy. I’ve tried to adapt this in my arrangement (parts 1 to 3 and 9, cf. breackdown). About part 3, it the same melody but with a more marked rhythm like in the original. There was also a stressful side in the original piece. At part 1 and 4, we retrieve the strange harmony of the original. At part 4, I’ve added some ornaments based on these harmonies. “No hopes, no dreams” (N. Uematsu) came naturally after “Underwater”. Musically, some common harmonies allowed me to make my transition. These parts (6 to 8 ) are more powerful with a more marked rhythm. The piece ends by parts 9, delicate part similar to part 2. Enjoy ! BREAKDOWN 1- 0'00 Underwater (1'04-2'00) 2- 0'26 Underwater (0'-0'30) 3- 1'27 Underwater (0'30-1'04) 4- 2’00 Underwater (1'04-2'00) 5- 2’29 No Hopes (0'23-0'38) 6- 2’44 No Hopes (0'10-0'23, the key transposition) & Underwater (0'30-1'04) 7- 2’58 No Hope (0'38-1'20) 8- 3’25 No Hopes (0'23-0'38) 9- 3'43 Underwater (0'-0'30)

Contact Information Username: timaeus222 Name: Truong-Son Nguyen http://soundcloud.com/timaeus222 https://hand-held-thumbs.hostingerapp.com/ ID: 24526 Submission Information Games: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links ReMix Title: The Arc That Spans The Heavens Consoles/Platforms: Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows OST Composers: uncredited/unknown (previously discussed with Larry) Source Tunes: Zuzu Boyle Theme (attached) Comments: "I've been having a lot of fun with Yu-Gi-Oh lately, both Duel Links and Master Duel (released early January 2022). Basically, Duel Links uses ~60% the board size of the real life game, with half of the Life Points and about half the deck size. The meta of this game changes fairly quickly, but right now it's rather diverse. The Melodious deck was part of the meta few months ago but is still semi-relevant (the current meta consists of several Arc-V decks like Odd-Eyes, D/D/D, and Galaxy). The character who uses the deck is Zuzu Boyle, whose theme is used in this ReMix. The title is based on the phrase the main character of the Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V anime says when he performs a 'Pendulum Summon': "Swing! Pendulum of the Souls! Draw an arc of light on the skies! Pendulum Summon!" I haven't done Jazz Fusion in a really long time, but I instantly felt that kind of inspiration from this theme, and wrote this in about 3 days, using a similar sound pool to the Kirby ReMix "Kirbland" I did as a Twitter challenge. You might hear references to zircon and Joshua Morse here and there. Out of all the elements in this mix, I enjoyed writing the drum (Groove Bias) and bass (Trilian Jaco Bass) parts the most, especially the bass solo! Hope you guys stay well, and keep on ReMixing! No source breakdown this time, as I think there are fairly direct connections to be made. :-)" Extra Info: As previously discussed, I have no idea who the music artist is and Konami doesn't seem to be very open with revealing the composer name. Very weird.

Mix will need a proper name to post. Your ReMixer name : NaderGator Your website(s) : www.nadergator.com Your userid (number, not name) on our forums : https://ocremix.org/community/profile/38199-nadergator/ Name of game(s) arranged : Yie Ar Kung Fu 1 & 2 Name of arrangement : Yie Ar Kung-Fu (tribute) Name of individual song(s) arranged : kf-theme.midi , yiear2.midi Additional information about game including composer, system, etc. (if it has not yet been added to the site): MSX SYSTEM kungfu 1&2 remix Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site): stock in game midi Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc: inspired by the melody of yie ar kung fu 1 and yie ar kung fu 2 on MSX system , remixed with synthesizers, improved drums and sound effects Thank you, Nader

Lovely 6/4 source tune! The remix does start out sounding like a major sound upgrade; it is essentially a cover from the beginning until the whistle lead begins at 1:37 (whistle is beautiful). I agree with Brad that the bells and some percussion are too loud, nearly piercing. I feel like there are enough creative variations and additions to this source to be transformative. The choir is very interesting and haunting. The complete changeup at 3:15 may not be everyone's cup of tea but I totally dig it, I love arrangements that tell a story. (Although I do agree with Joe when he said "you need to depart from the source more, WHOA not that much!") It does turn out to be a very unique arrangement. The mixing is good despite insane amounts of reverb on absolutely everything (and probably too much lows in the reverbs). My only mixing complaint is that there is a great deal of low frequency energy in the mix, most notable at the ending; the choir has some straight-up rumble between 20-100Hz that could have been EQ'd out to create a cleaner and less loud master. Other than that, like Wes said, I dig it. YES

Ok the arrangement is still bubbly, glitchy, weird and cool, but now with more added Underground™! This mix addresses my issues from the first submission. The arrangement has lots of good dynamics in terms of having several breakdowns and filtered sections to keep it fresh despite the timbres staying the same throughout. The mixing is good, master is good too despite being a tad on the hot/crispy side and also somewhat flat (needs a bass boost). I love all the details here, tiny sections of glitching or other effects that add up to a nice serving of ear candy. I love the percussion starting a 0:55 that replicates the percussion in the source, nice touch! I love the final ending! So much creativity here. Super Mario 2, aka Doki Doki Panic, was one of the first video games I ever played, way back in the day. I'm already dating myself so I'm not gonna say the exact day! But yeah I played this relentlessly with my roommate at the time, when the game came out. She walked in the door one afternoon with the NES console and cartridge. We played until 3:00am sometimes. For months. We never got all that far before being sent back to level 1 repeatedly. But my favorite theme has always been this one, the Underground. YES

I agree with my fellow Js here almost entirely. This is a great arrangement of this source, full of cool ideas! But there are production issues that are causing this mix to feel quite fatiguing. Contrary to what Brad said, I think the kick has plenty of click and I do hear some sidechaining on the bass. I think the bass sounds good, it is full yet not overdone. That kick click does seem to get lost though, when all the midrange instruments are playing. The lead sounds and all the backing arps sound nearly identical in that they are all playing in the same frequency range and soundscape position, so when everything is playing it all kind of mushes together, despite each sound being super crisp and clear on its own. There's just too much going on in the mids and highs. Each sound is very sharp, and as they stack together it becomes painful to hear. The arrangement is also balls to the wall the entire time with the exception of a bar here or there, that's not enough of a break for me to recover. The part of this arrangement that feels best to me is 0:44-0:59 where there is only one lead sound for my brain to pay attention to. Each midrange sound in this mix is quite piercy, so I can only tolerate one at a time! I did a screen grab of one of the busy sections and you can see how loud the top end of the mix is, ouch. Everything above 4K is just blasting. Also, using 0db as your limiter cutoff is causing some unwanted clipping. I always set my ceiling to -0.5 so that doesn't happen. I'm not exactly sure how to suggest fixing this mix, but at a minimum the leads have to be differentiated from any backing arps, either through EQ or soundscape placement, or changing one of the timbres so they don't sound so similar. I love this arrangement, although I would prefer a longer breakdown at some point, but this would be a YES from me if it weren't fatiguing and painful overall. Edit to add: The arrangement definitely needs a proper ending, this one feels rushed and doesn't conclude the ideas well. NO (please resubmit)

This is a lovely rock arrangement of this source tune. I agree with Larry that the source use is just too light since the vocals are the only connection to it. Larry had some good suggestions about adding a few countermelodies or other writing to reference the source tune throughout the piece. The vocals are really lovely and beautifully performed, but because of the mixing, I cannot discern the lyrics. The mixing is extremely flat and mid-heavy. I'm not seeing (on SPAN) anything egregious in the sub-40Hz range, although I suspect the low-lows of the piano and every guitar are stacking up on top of the bass to cause the overall low end to lose focus and be too loud. The master is hot, although I don't hear any artifacts. SPAN shows me the master is indeed clipping, and this seems to happen often when the final ceiling is set to 0db. I always set my final limiter to at least -0.5db to assure no clipping happens. I would probably let the mixing and mastering slide if it weren't for the source-lite problem, but all of this adds up to a resubmit for me. If this track does not pass, I suggest fixing the mixing by EQing lows out of everything that isn't kick or bass, so the low end isn't overloaded (which kills your mastering headroom). You'll also want to do a gentle EQ notch (wide-ish Q, 3-ish db GR) in all the midrange instruments somewhere between 1000-2000Hz (figure out where her fundamental is and that's the number) to allow the vocal to shine through. Right now, the vocal mushes into the soundscape. Make sure at least her primary vocal has 60-90ms of predelay on her reverb so she sounds up front. The guitar that accompanies the vocal when she sings is competing with the vocal for space in both frequency and panning. Panning that guitar much wider and letting the vocal take up most of the middle of the soundstage will go a long way toward cleaning this mix up too. Please fix this up and get it back to us! NO (please resubmit)