Chimpazilla

I concur with my fellow Js here entirely on all points. This is indeed a beautiful, emotional arrangement of this source. But the production needs some fixes before we can post it. There are a couple of issues causing the master to be overcompressed, as is very evident at the busy section starting at 2:34. That final big section is so loud, flat and overcompressed, it sounds crackly, especially when the bass drum hits, as everything is playing at once in the same frequency range. The soundscape is super crowded, giving the final master almost zero audible dynamics. With some proper EQ treatment, you'll be able to get this mix sounding louder without being crunchy and fatiguing as it is now. From the intro all the way until 1:36, there is some low-end content that is inaudible but is surely causing your mastering to be overcompressed. You will want to EQ out all low frequencies that are unneeded in each instrument, at the very minimum you will want to cut everything below 30Hz as this is mostly inaudible. Low-end rumble only steals your mastering headroom and makes clean mastering harder or impossible. The next issue is the surprisingly loud high-frequency dog-whistle sound at 15K Hz that DarkSim pointed out, happening starting at 1:46 and getting worse at 2:00. It is utterly ear-piercing and has to be removed or scaled way back. So, those two issues must be fixed. Then, focus on removing lows from any instrument that doesn't need lows. I suggest low-cutting each instrument while it is soloed, move the EQ up the frequency range and listen until the fundamental of the sound begins to change, then back it off a little. You don't want to change the character of the sound, only cut out low frequencies that are unnecessary. That will clear up your soundscape extremely well. Hopefully after you've done this, each element will sound more clear and they won't be competing in the same frequency range, and there will be room for that big bass drum when it hits, without causing your master limiter to constantly max out. The outro writing is somewhat abrupt but it works well enough. However your render cuts off before the end of the final reverb tail. Either render the entire tail, or fade it out so there is a smooth resolution of the sound, instead of a cutoff which there is now. I hope to hear this again as it is a lovely emotive interpretation of this source tune. NO (resubmit)

Ok I'm torn on this one. The arrangement and performances are terrific, this is a great remix of this source! It could surely be mixed more cleanly, it does feel a bit flat, but dealbreakingly so? I'm not so sure. If this doesn't pass, I do agree that the mix should get some EQ treatment, as DarkSim explained, removing lows from every element that isn't kick or bass, and an EQ notch in the bass to make room for the kick (or even a very light touch of sidechaining, very slight gain reduction, super fast attack and release) will also help. I can't quite see rejecting this excellent arrangement based on EQ alone. Leads could indeed stand to be a touch wider, but I understand keeping them centered since the rhythm guitars are super wide. I am going to listen to this a few more times before I vote, I can't simply put the third NO on this on EQ alone. Edit 10/12 - I asked Larry to chime in on this one, after I listened again with fresh ears today and still found the mixing to be adequate. He agrees with me. The arrangement and performances are great and people will enjoy this mix. Our bar for production is high but I disagree with the NO votes that this mixing isn't good enough to post. Let's do this. YES

Wow, what a unique take on some really old and well-known (and remixed to death) themes. I agree totally with MW on his comments. The changed harmonic structure of this mix from the original is really super cool. I also really like the dead-stops with one simple sfx as the bridge to the next section. The mixing is very full and the master is way too loud giving the soundscape almost no dynamics which is a shame, and MW is right that the low-end is light and everything is smooshed into the mids. The mixing could really be improved by carefully EQing all lows out of everything that's not kick or bass, and doing some extensive sidechaining on pretty much every element (lightly and in varying amounts) to allow the kick to breathe (it's really quiet and buried as is) and all the other elements to be more distinct. My ears are getting fatigued upon repeat listens because the mixing is so dense. And the fadeout ending is... arg, why... I hate fadeouts but I can't reject this mix on a fadeout. I'm really torn on sending this back for some mixing adjustments but ultimately what's here works well enough. The arrangement is so creative and I think people are going to really like this one. YES (borderline due to fatiguing mix/master)

The mix has an industrial sound right away and that's super cool. I really like the detuned piano. I have also never heard of a painting being an inspiration for music, at least in terms of mixing, and I'm not sure that's an approach that works for music, especially when the painting can be described as blurred or smeared or muddy. The listener will most likely not have seen the painting and cannot make the connection but they do hear the blurry/smeary/muddy effect. What I'm hearing is that this track is mixed the way you intended it to be and it is very full yet very gritty. The arrangement doesn't evolve much once it gets going, with only the arp giving it a different energy feeling and only briefly. The ending does appear rather abruptly but it works well enough. I have listened to this several times now and it is growing on me. I think the smeary industrialish soundscape creates a very interesting and dystopian vibe. A clearer lead instrument here or there would be very nice but a leadless arrangement works just fine. My main concern is lack of energy evolution throughout the piece; it ends up being very static in terms of soundscape as well as arrangement. All that said, I'm liking this more and more as I keep listening. It's weird and interesting and giving me the feels. I think this mix stands alone well enough to convey what it was intended to convey. This may not pass, and it surely won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm a sucker for weird, unique remixes full of emotion. YES

I hear how the instrumentation and vibe are the same as Ben's remixed version, but as Larry pointed out there are nice personalizations. The arrangement builds to a nice crescendo as more and more elements are added, and the mixing of all the elements works well. It's an exciting and nicely personalized version of these sources and an enjoyable listen. @prophetik musicThe Necrodancer remixes needed to retain not only a similar vibe but also the exact structure of Danny's originals because the arrangements needed to accommodate the shopkeeper vocals! That was an interesting element to work around! (And so funny to hear the actual shopkeeper vocals playing over your own remix) YES

This mix is very conservative in terms of source representation and the instrumentation and vibe are similar to source. As the other two Js have pointed out, there aren't a lot of new ideas presented until the sax joins in and that is a weak sound, although the writing there is really nice once it begins interpreting and soloing. The sound palette is cohesive for sure, but the entire mix sounds extremely dated. The mixing works well enough but lacks any sparkle and the low end is on the weak side. The drums feel very weak and every drum element is located dead center of the soundstage making the entire drum track very flat and lifeless. MW is right, this mix would have fit right in 15 years ago. The energy of the piece never evolves or changes as it moves along, making it feel longer than it should, at least up to the point of the solo. Perhaps if this were redone with more modern sounds and more unique elements and writing appearing earlier in the arrangement this would be a much more exciting mix, but as it stands now it's just too plain as well as too conservative. The idea is solid and I would love to hear this again with some sound and writing improvements. NO (resubmit)

The opening does sound like a straight cover, almost midi-rippy as DS said, but once the beats kick in I'm onboard, I love the soundscape and groove even though it is so conservative still. The mix sounds dynamite. Then the original/interpreted section begins at 2:24 which is just awesome! But what the heck, I'm in the middle of a full-on drop section, and it fades out??? I may be in the minority here by actually saying no to this, and I apologize because this mix sounds so good, but I feel (as the others have pointed out) that this is indeed not a full arrangement, even at the length of 3:27. If you came this far with it, why not finish? Instead of a fadeout, what my ears are expecting is some kind of resolution. It could be a second breakdown (something a bit longer, epic, and story-telling) followed by another full section (revisiting the source motifs but with new elements or drum groove or something) and then a proper cooldown and ending, or if that sounds like too much, skip the additional full section and just make a drumless cooldown lasting 30-60 seconds, featuring the original writing again, and controlling the energy down toward a proper conclusion. Make it make sense! MW said he has never rejected a track purely for a fadeout ending, and in eight years as a judge, neither have I (although I find them super disappointing every single time). But in this case, the sudden fadeout truncates the track at its fullest section and it just doesn't feel right. PLEASE finish this track because I love what's here. The production is on point and even though the master is super loud it never sounds overcompressed, so I have no production crits at all, great work. But DarkSim said it very well when he said that the extra arrangement work would elevate this mix from "passable" to "one of the best Aquatic Ambiance remixes of all time." Good luck to you on the rest of this vote. This track may pass, and people will surely enjoy it, but this might be one of those tracks where, a couple of years from now, you feel regret at having missed the opportunity to have really polished this arrangement to the awesomeness that it can clearly be! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edit 8-29-22: Neon X sent in a revised version with a proper outro, and it works for me. Upon listening today, I hear the over-hyped highs Larry was talking about. Not sure how I missed that before. Regardless, this revision gets the job done for me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edit 8-30-22: Longer version is just what I was looking for. Perfection! YES

I hear the source clearly and continuously despite the key change. Wow, this is a cool beat. I'm really loving the acoustic elements along with synth timbres, and ethnic strings (is that a Koto) that appears at 1:28. The dark piano fits perfectly as a backdrop and makes me think of a rainy street at night in a city somewhere (the rain sfx are giving me feelz). There are so many new instruments introduced as the arrangement moves along, so while the energy stays chill throughout, the overall presentation remains fresh and interesting. The mix/master is indeed loud but super clean; it never feels or sounds overcompressed and everything is well audible as I would expect from DDRKirby. Love it. YES

Another lovely interpretation from Rebecca. As usual, the track appears to not be mastered; the peak max is -5db at the loudest point, although the track spends most of its time around -9 or -8, which is super quiet. I do not understand why the mastering critiques we give on each submission are never implemented or even acknowledged. This remains disappointing. The articulations are passable, although with consistent feedback from the judges I'm not clear on why no attempts are made to address the very specific issues that appear in each submission (unnatural releases and vibratos, thin/robotic textures). Larry is right though, the evolving textures an introduction of various instrumentation as the piece moves along keep the arrangement fresh and appealing. YES

This is definitely a straight cover, two playthroughs of the theme and a fadeout, which is not what we look for. But it sounds very good! The production is good although as my fellow Js have pointed out, the mix is loud and low-end heavy. The master compressor is working too hard, causing some unwanted sizzle and a high RMS value (-8.9db RMS is quite loud for an orchestral track, and at that volume it sounds overcompressed). If you wanted to stretch this out into a full, real arrangement, including some unique, interpreted sections, perhaps some original writing somewhere as well, with the mastering tamed somewhat, we would love to hear it! NO

This is quite a conservative arrangement, but the soloing with the violin, trumpet and guitar are great and fit the vibe perfectly. It starts off sounding just like a cover but I like the faster surf-rock style. I wish original writing kicked in sooner than 1:11, though, but the trumpet writing is particularly good. The guitar and organ soloing are also quite good. The mixing though is a problem. Every element is playing in the middle of the frequency range and in the middle of the stereo field. I actually opened up Ozone Imager to see if I was imagining this, but the Imager confirms that even in the fullest section, everything is playing in the middle, nearly mono. The mix will need to be cleaned up, cutting out unnecessary lows from everything other than kick and bass (this will clear out a ton of mud), and ideally placing some backing elements more widely in the soundscape (leads should be more centered but not mono). This will give the mix a nice, full soundscape without elements piling on top of each other in the middle. NO (resubmit)

The piano playing does sound disjointed to me too, a little behind the beat here and there. I hear this especially between 0:32-0:45, right before the synth lead begins. The drums are weak, quiet and fairly repetitive other than a few fills here and there. The bass is in there somewhere but wow it's quietly mixed. When the synth lead enters, it is a very simple, vanilla sound. This lead is quite loud and it is panned very widely, and it competes with the piano in the stereo field, rather than the synth being panned more centered in the soundscape. To my ears, the piano and synth are playing on top of each other rather than the lead having its own space in the mix. When the guitar comes in, it sounds super quiet and almost entirely mono to me. I would expect a backing guitar to be a wider sound than the lead. Everything playing has too much lows, giving the mix a muddy feel. The piano and lead both have so much in the low end that I can barely hear the bass playing. The mixing and stereo-field placement of instruments make the track feel odd to me, as if each element were playing in its own separate universe, not really gelling with the other instruments. I do like the changed groove of this arrangement from the original, this beat is much more mellow and groovy than the march pattern in the source tune. The energy of the remix arrangement however doesn't evolve or change too much once established, giving it a repetitive feel despite new elements entering as it moves along. I think this is a good start but the mixing and stereo placement just feel too strange to me, the arrangement is repetitive, and the instruments are mostly on autopilot all the way through other than the synth lead which noodles along over it. NO

I have no problem hearing the source connections in this mix. The mixing though is very flat and lifeless. The vocal chants sound dry and they are sitting on top of the soundscape instead of living within it. I do love the idea of this arrangement, but I have to agree that the soundscape palette sounds the same throughout and as MW said I've lost interest at the two-minute mark. Some of the elements sound very rigid, for example the plucked string that begins at 2:35. It is rigidly timed as well as mostly hidden within the soundscape. The track requires a mixing overhaul with EQ to bring each element into it's own place in the soundscape, and also a drumless breakdown would be nice to break up the repetitive energy level. The drum pattern remains mostly unchanged once it begins, and it eventually becomes fatiguing. Dropping out a few elements and adding new and surprising ones would also help break up the feel of this. NO

This mix sounds surprisingly good for having been made on a phone, I wouldn't have thought that was possible. The arrangement is short yet effective. But ultimately I agree with my fellow judges on every point they made. The production just sounds a bit too rough. The elements need a good EQ treatment to remove lows from everything that isn't kick or bass. Some sidechaining of all the elements in varying amounts would clear up the soundscape quite a bit and get the arrangement grooving a bit better, reduce the load on your master limiter, and the drums will punch through better. You've done a lot with some very vanilla sounds. The track overall is mastered very loud and SPAN shows me it is clipping like crazy. I attribute this primarily to less than optimal EQ treatment throughout the track, this is a very common issue. If you're this talented on a phone app, you're gonna be crushing it with a DAW. Get yourself a DAW and do this (with this theme or another one) again, and please let us hear it! NO

The orchestra here is very full and layered in unique and interesting ways. I do love the switch to 3/4. Some of the writing, especially lead writing sounds a bit stiff (mostly where strings are playing lead) but overall the instrumental execution is terrific. The brass sounds especially good to me. Arrangement stays fresh as it moves along. Many lovely interpretations of the source theme. It's a luscious waltz. YES

This is an eclectic mix of sounds if ever there was one. I love it, everything gels together amazingly and the arrangement moves along like a spooky adventure story. So many changeups here, rhythmically, energetically and instrumentally, all while sounding cohesive. Mixing and mastering are on point. Loaded with ear-candy. The leadwork near the end, with the string backing, is utterly epic (I wish that part was longer). I'm giving this two snaps, a twist, and a triple YES YES YES

I haven't heard the original submission, but I like the soundscape here, very grungy dystopian. The chug guitars and drums sound very good although they are too repetitive; there are very few drum-pattern changeups. The arrangement is very repetitive; the energy level is the same throughout the majority of the track. At 0:35, what is that sound playing lead? It is definitely not a lead sound, and probably would work better as a layer or backing element. If it is a guitar, it has been distorted and fuzzified way too much. At 0:53 the lead works a little better but still sounds odd to me. At 1:10 that non-lead sound returns and doesn't work at all. Generally, the leads in this track are too fuzzy and diffuse to work as leads, so the track sounds essentially leadless, which hurts the arrangement in terms of repetition. I think what is here could potentially work, if some proper leads were applied to each section, with writing variation and perhaps a solo in one section, but what's here now is just too loopy and repetitive. Also, the ending is quite abrupt and the final sfx is cut off before it finishes. NO

Cool, groovy synthwave track here, that's got me tapping my feet and chair dancing. The glitching is in fact a speed bump instead of a driving factor, it comes off as sounding like a rendering error rather than a cool effect, but luckily the glitches are brief. Fadeout ending, I agree "boo to fadeouts" and in this case it seems that at 2:35 the ideas ran dry and you just let the backing track roll until the fadeout. Another complaint is that I wish the lead timbre would change to something more unique for a section or two; the leads used here are rather vanilla and sound basically the same throughout the mix. Otherwise, track is groovus maximus. I love the speed changeups, good sidechaining, serviceable mixing (I'd prefer just a touch more lows but what's here works). I love the Dracula laughing sfx. Overall, I'm a little more borderline than the other Js, but to quote Liontamer, "on the seesaw of what works vs. what doesn't, more of it works than doesn't." (Ok so that was more of a paraphrase than direct quote!) It's an enjoyable listen. YES (semi-borderline)

You've changed the harmonies here. I'm not well-enough versed in music theory to comment on it, but wow it feels dark, and not necessarily in a good way. The way that piano sounds, it could almost fit in a season-one Westworld episode, old-school (sounds like an upright) yet apocalyptic. I think the other Js nailed it, this track just comes off sounding overly sparse, instrument-wise and writing-wise. I like the idea of a "space mix" but just leaving the soundscape bare and depressing doesn't really accomplish that. What about adding a proper bass instrument, and maybe some "spacey" sfx? Sweeps and chimes, beeps and boops, and whooshing effects? The piano and e-piano in the mix have way too many lows, perhaps since they are trying to cover the entire spectrum? To me the mix has a muddy low end without having a proper low end, if that makes sense. Very interesting idea and a great start, but more is needed to make this a complete arrangement. I'm actually going to batsignal @prophetik musicand have him make some comments about the harmonies, I think that might be helpful. The section between 2:08-2:35 bothers me the most, harmonically. NO

Gonna have to agree with my fellow judges on their comments. The idea for this track is solid, but the lack of variation in sounds is problematic. The 8-bit drums never change other than a few dropouts in the final section. 8-bit is cool but doesn't really compliment the piano and lead sounds you've used, so the drums sound weak and sizzly in the mix. I think it would be a fun idea to extend the intro, maybe with more 8-bit sounds, leading to the drop, but then at the drop replace the drums with something more substantial, and vary the writing a bit, perhaps with a few fills. The pads don't bother me all that much, but the pad feels like it's barely there, like a whisper. Perhaps additional padding here and there could add interest to the mix, something with more texture or movement, or additional backing elements and/or ear candy. As for lead writing, it is very close to the source much of the time, and there are two sections that repeat verbatim. The writing variations you have done are great, but since the entire track has the same lead sound, the writing feels stale by the end. By the time the piano lead shows up, the track is just about over. The ending is super abrupt and the reverb tail is cut off before it finishes. What is here sounds good but has some structural defects to be worked on before it can pass. NO

Batsignaled... ok I'm here! Listening. I LOVE the concept here, omg it's great. Fun beat. The squelchy bits are awesome. I really love all the sounds used, and the glitching is cool. Bassline is solid, I love the pitch drops. The beat does get repetitive after awhile but there are so many unique things going on that it isn't a problem. There is a ton of ear candy and creativity all throughout the track. The arrangement is fairly liberal although I feel like there is plenty of source here, with many variations of the melody line and chord structure. But... the mixing is tanking this. Every element is blasting me at the same volume and in the same frequency. There are so many awesome elements but none of them ever gets to shine, they are all competing. I should be hearing a lead stand out at some point, and growls standing out at other points, but as it stands everything is the same volume. I don't hear any (or enough) sidechaining which is a shame because this arrangement could really be grooving. A track like this without sidechaining has such an awkward feel. I want to bob my head but I feel like the instruments aren't bobbing their heads! The drums should be punching through so hard but most of the time they are buried under the wall of sound. The entire mix also needs EQ treatment, most especially removing lows from anything that isn't kick or bass. When you try to mix and master a track where everything has low-end content, your compressors are going to be working overtime, especially when the kick hits, which leads to an overcompressed too-loud mix. This mix hits -5db RMS at its loudest point which is insanely loud. The mix is fatiguing to listen to. Also, some of the vocal clips, most notably Mario's "hoo" is painfully dry and sticks out of the soundscape uncomfortably. Final gripe is fadeout ending. While not technically an OCR dealbreaker, I am always disappointed by a fadeout when a proper outro to wrap up the ideas and drop the listener off at the curb would be so much better. So to summarize, the track needs a mixing overhaul. Start with rebalancing the volumes so things aren't all playing at equal loudness. Do some EQ work so there are no stray lows playing in any element that doesn't belong down at the bottom. When you do this, don't cut frequency enough to change the character of the sound, just make sure nothing is playing that doesn't need to be. Experiment with some sidechaining. In my mixes I sidechain everything, in varying amounts. This will make the track groove and breathe. Finally, you can make those vocal clips fit in better by lowering their volume and giving them a good amount of reverb. Ping-pong delay is also fun to do with vocal clips for emphasis (just don't do it on every one of them). That all may sound negative but I really dig this arrangement! This is the kind of track I personally love to mix. If you want help with this, I'd be glad to help, just let me know. NO (please resubmit)

Remixer: Chimpazilla Game: Pony Island Name of arrangement: Run Pony Run Source tune: Enter Pony Shameless Self-Panel™ here, but I wanted to get more feedback on this one and also subject all my favorite Js' ears to some foul wubbery. I went through a dubstep phase in 2018 and wrote a few similar tracks but this was the only one that was a proper remix. I never submitted it because I had plans to make a Pony Island remix album; I started a couple of other tracks but computer problems and health problems put a stop to my progress. So, Run Pony Run sat on my SoundCloud gathering dust. I decided it was time for a necromaster and submission. I had never heard of Pony Island until this remix (Diabolus ex Machina) came through our inbox in 2016. I immediately loved the simple 8-bit source tune because it was in an unexpected style (8-bit trap!). My son and I bought Pony Island and played through it that night, and it made a heavy impression on me. The game itself is rather simple but the deceptively-lighthearted story continues to evolve in some very surprising, and very dark, ways. I really, really like this game. (note to self, play through game again) If you have time to kill and don't want to play it yourself (and if you want to laugh) here is Markiplier playing through the game. While I really liked the Adventure Awry source tune used in Diabolus, I found that Enter Pony really resonated with me and seemed to lend itself to a dubstep style. I put in a LOT of time on this remix. All those wubs were crafted, sequenced, processed, rendered, chopped and/or re-processed and rendered again, multiple times. In this file there are renders of renders of renders. Each time I rendered a part out, it freed up my computer for more processing. I was happy with the vibe I created, and I still like it today and I hope others will too (you guys promised me dubstep isn't dead and I trust you on this!). A couple of months after I uploaded this to my Soundcloud, I received a message from Jonah Senzel. He had combed the interwebz for remixes of his OST and found mine among a few others. So he reached out to say hello and thanks, and to ask for my address so he could send me a signed copy of his OST on vinyl. I was very flattered and I still have that album here (although I haven't had a turntable in... God knows how long!). I have done a full source-use timestamp, if anyone wants to see it please ask, but the remix is 81% source. Generally, there are source motifs playing in various combinations throughout the track with the exception of the wub-only sections after the breakdown and even those are interspersed with snippets of source motifs. I hope you all dig this!

I do love the early 90s feel added to this arrangement, the brass hits and scratching fit the vibe perfectly. Other than this though, as my fellow Js have stated, you did too good a job recreating the track almost entirely. The arrangement is much too conservative for OCR standards, although the production is very good (mastering could be louder). I would actually love to hear this again, remade into a proper remix with some writing variation, instrumentation variation, drum pattern variation, arrangement variation (a short original B section, a proper drumless breakdown, drop the vocals at some point and introduce leadwork, short solos, etc.), maybe do some glitch work on those vocals for a few bars, add some ear candy here and there, proper ending instead of fadeout. There are so many fun things that could be done to set this apart from the original and have a very enjoyable remix! NO

Gotta agree with MW that this sounds like a very old remix, I'll use the dreaded word "dated" here. That said, I think it's not that far from becoming "nostalgic" rather than "dated" with some mixing improvements. The main things I hear are volume imbalances and lack of sidechaining. Some instruments are excessively loud. The intro organ is quite loud. When the first lead hits at 0:27 it is so much louder than the rest of the soundscape that it is quite distracting. It doesn't help that the sound used is very static and unchanging (no filter movement or any effects of interest). The drums generally sound very weak and tame; the snare has no bulk to it, it's all sizzle, same with hats. If a drum sound isn't working for you and you've applied a billion fixes to it (as I see that you did from your writeup), time to replace it with something that works. Maybe go through Splice.com, they always have up-to-date samples of everything. The lead at 1:38 also comes in startlingly loud compared to the backing. I can't hear any bass at all in this mix. You've got some lovely arpeggios that are getting clobbered by the loud leads. So yeah, the mix needs a rebalance. I think the kick might actually be ok but it comes across as weak, I think due to the next thing I'll talk about which is sidechaining. But first, I recommend applying EQ to every element in this mix, cutting unnecessary lows out of everything that isn't kick or bass. Example: pads don't need to be heard lower than 100-ish Hz generally, same with plucks, other backing elements and most leads, you can cut the lows out of these elements allowing kick and bass to be the only elements playing in the lowest ranges. Hat loops and high-end elements can take even stronger EQing-out of lows. You'd be surprised how many useless lows and inaudible rumble are in elements in a mix, stealing mastering headroom. Apply the EQ gently enough not to change the character of the sound, just to cut out useless rumble and inaudible lows. You'll be amazed at how much this simple trick cleans up your soundscape, and your mastering compressor will thank you. NOW for the sidechaining. Sidechaining can be used to clean up a mix when applied gently, and of course it can be used for an effect when applied heavily. In this mix I think both methods can be used. If this were my mix, I'd sidechain your kick to your bass fairly heavily (8-10db of gain reduction) but with a quick release, heavy enough to hear it almost pumping if you solo kick and bass. Then I'd sidechain the pads similarly but less gain reduction than bass (more like 6db GR), not quite enough to hear the pumping but enough that the kick punches through when it hits. Then, sidechain the other elements including your leads. Yes, you can sidechain leads! It will add some groove to the arrangement and also clean up the mixing, provided it is applied gently enough (low ratio, very quick release, and high enough threshold that you can't hear pumping at all in the mix, only about 3db of gain reduction). When everything is sidechained purposefully, gently, in varying amounts, sanely... the mix will come to life. I know that was a wall of text but I see that you're trying hard to learn this and I remember being in that position myself and how hard I worked at it. Please keep going! (If not on this remix, maybe on something new, using what you've learned.) This is a cute arrangement and I think it will work with better mixing. NO (resubmit)

Hard disagree with DarkSim that the remix must sound better than the original. If that were true, no one would remix anything from certain games! If I had a dime for every remix I've heard that was not as good as the source, well I'd have a shitload of dimes! Yet, those remixes are still great in their own ways. I think as long as the mix sounds good on it's own and is produced well with enough variation, that gets it done for OCR's standards. In Rebecca's case she often melds multiple sources into a cohesive arrangement that tells a new story, as she has done here. Sometimes her instruments lack realism which can kill the mix, but in this track what I hear is real enough and mixed well enough not to stick out extensively as fake, although I do agree with MW about the overuse of tremolo, it's unnatural, but it does fit the vibe of this particular arrangement. I also agree with DS that the tremolo cutoffs are way too abrupt, oof. As usual, the mastering is non-existent and I honestly fail to understand why this has not been improved since we all mention it on every submission. Please reach out for assistance Rebecca, any one of us would surely be glad to help you master or learn to master your lovely arrangements! All that said, this mix transports me to that special "Rebecca Magic Place" and I think others will be transported there too. YES