Chimpazilla

This is a light, dreamy mix which is pleasant to hear. I think the performances are good generally, the slightly off-kilter writing fits the mood of the source tune well. I agree with XPRT that the leads are often mixed too far into the soundscape while strum guitars are too dominant on the sides. None of the mixing is dealbreaker for me though. I do agree with Larry that the source is under-represented for an OCR mix. I think this would be a fairly easy fix by putting the source melody into the sourceless sections subtly using a bell or some other backing timbre. The ending of the track is disappointing as it just drops off with no proper ending. I agree with DarkSim that the arrangement could have been better utilized to control the energy with full sections and softer breakdowns. I would love to have all these issues addressed, but the most important one for me is the lack of overt source use, 38.84% just isn't enough for us. NO (resubmit)

I'm going to have to agree with the NOs on this one. The strings and brass are exposed enough for their fakeness to stick out. The arrangement is nice, but the samples aren't strong enough to carry it. The panning is quite heavy, in particular you have low brass and low strings sitting alone on the right side and you have harp and some bells completely on the left side, which feels very unbalanced. When the drum groove starts up at 1:48 it doesn't jive with the rest of the arrangement at all. It sounds like a leftover from a different song that got left in accidentally, and the drums drop out abruptly at 2:14. The ending feels like an afterthought. And as with your other tracks, mastering has been completely overlooked. This one's not quite ready for prime-time! NO

Great performances here, and super arrangement. In-game vocal clips must be removed. I agree with my peers that the mixing is less than ideal, a bit on the muddy/overcrowded side, but I don't find any of it to be dealbreaker. Take out the game audio and let's get this one posted. YES (conditional on removal of game audio)

OOF that drop is startling. It wouldn't be, if there were any sort of buildup to it, but there is literally zero, so it just slams the listener in the chest. I jumped out of my skin a bit at that drop. When it hits, the timbres used are so different from what came before that it is sonically shocking. The sounds themselves aren't bad, but the lack of signaling makes them feel totally out of place, and as MW stated, I can't quite get over it throughout the rest of the piece. MW said the kick was too loud, I don't think it is too loud, and it won't sound too loud if the drop section has some sort of buildup to prepare the listener for it. The arrangement itself is creative and well crafted. The mixing is good if a tiny bit muddy, but I feel like there might be a bit too much crispiness on the highs. Prophetik has some good advice about the mixing that makes sense to address. Mainly for me though, the disparity between loud and quiet sections is too high. I think this is a fairly easy fix though, with some kind of buildup writing to bridge them better than this. NO (resubmit)

This is a great arrangement, performances are tight. I agree that the machine-gun kicks are distracting and off-timed, and I also agree that the choir/vocal sound is not good, it is too heavy in the mid-lows. The mixing is on the muddy side which doesn't bother me too much until 1:16 at which point the choir and backing elements (is that brass, I can't tell) are so loud that I cannot hear the lead guitar in the middle at all. Starting at 3:12 there is a solo string (I think) doing something but it's so buried I can barely identify it. I feel like this arrangement is close to passing, but it needs another round of mixing, balancing, and EQ treatment to make the soundscape less muddled and let the elements breathe throughout the piece. Be careful about relying too heavily on panning as a mixing device, instead EQ the elements so they aren't in each other's way in the frequency spectrum. NO (resubmit)

Wow those first two minutes are LONG. I'm at 2:30 and the track is just barely getting going and peak volume is still -9db. At 2:45, things are changing but it still feels like a ramp-up. Ok, now at 3:08 there's finally what I would call a "drop" but the textures are so thin and anemic. The brass sounds weak and terrible and so do the drums which are also written extremely simply. The writing is verbatim to source, no source issues here. It's a very interesting concept to arrange this theme into a spaghetti western, but there's just way too little going on in the first three minutes, and the production overall needs serious work. This mix might be a lot of fun with ambience going on in the background, such as sounds of a western town, people talking, whiskey bottles clanking, and horses walking and snorting. But for this to work, the instrumental production needs to improve by a significant amount. NO

Aw STAHP it haha! I would have YESsed the track originally if the low end hadn't been so borked. I didn't change anything about the track or collab in any way, I just put it through my normal final mix/master processes and it meets my production bar now, and it would do so sounding like this even if someone else had done it! So I think my YES vote counts. (If anyone disagrees, then fine, let it get five YES votes before passing!)

What an awesome approach to this source tune. This mix is dynamic and exciting. I wish the super quiet sections weren't as long though, the fast paced sections are such a rush! Larry is right that the mixing causes the sounds to blend together into an amorphous mass, and that's a shame. Some strategic EQ treatment would fix that, in particular cutting lows out of instruments that don't need them, freeing up the low end to breathe. The track sounds very heavily compressed, evident mainly in the fullest sections, and I would prefer a fuller low end overall (the eq treatment I suggested will go a long way toward fixing that). There's too much sub-bass, causing the lows to drop out further, and the mix sounds a bit crispy. You'd get a fuller master out of this by carefully cutting sub-rumble out of everything. It sounds counterintuitive to say that cutting lows gets you more/fuller lows, but it's true. My biggest complaint though is the same as prophetik, that low brass has a slow attack that makes the writing sound behind the beat. The brass generally is the weak spot in your instrumentation. All of that sounds negative, but overall this mix is totally awesome. If it doesn't pass, I suggest making these changes and sending it back to us, in particular if you could get a better low-brass patch that would be great. Edit 4/22/22: I initially went "yes" on this track because I love it so much, but seeing all the NOs I listened again, this time on headphones. That slow-attack brass patch really sticks out, and the flute patch has a similar issue. I believe both patches need to be swapped out for something with a faster, more natural attack. And the over-compression and overall too-crispy sound is overwhelming on headphones. Please take my EQ suggestions to heart, cut out all unnecessary sub-rumble, and your master will be able to breathe without driving your compressors so hard. Then please send this delightful arrangement back to us! NO (please resubmit)

Where's the bass? The lack of lows on this mix gives it almost a punk feel, oddly I'm not finding this to bother me too much. The flute is an interesting choice, and I hear why prophetik said that section sounds like the timing's off. I think it's the bass? Almost sounds like the bass is trying to play a swing pattern. As for the section with the lead guitar playing down, I can only assume that was a stylistic choice. I could nitpick this mix even more, but it's still a fun listen and the arrangement and performances are good. Overall I feel like this mix is trying not to take itself too seriously. I'm with Larry on letting this one pass. YES

I remember this one as I mastered it for the album. I loved it then and I love it now, it's cool and creepy and well put together with fun elements. Easy YES

What a cool unique approach to this track! I love it as a trap beat. I love the blend of sounds used here, and the bendy lead is excellent. There's a lot to love about this mix. It's not quite there for me though for a couple of reasons. The parts used are copy/pasted exactly in the first and second half, although they are not all playing at the same times, they are layered in different ways. This counts as variation, but just barely, because by the end it feels very repetitive. The trap beat having no variation throughout the track adds to the repetitiveness, something as simple as adding a shaker loop or changing the trap hat loop to something new as the arrangement moves along would help break it up. I don't have the problem with the strings that Larry has, I think they sound fine in this palette. (personal opinion incoming) I think the entire track would groove so much better if you would sidechain the kick to the various elements, in differing amounts. Sidechaining isn't always just a pumpy effect, it can be used as a mixing tactic to mesh things together. For example, I sidechain every element in my tracks, all with a quick attack and release, 2:1 ratio. Bass gets the heaviest (10-12db of gain reduction), pads get almost that much, backing plucks I give around 6db of gain reduction, and leads and even perc loops I give 1-3db of gain reduction (too subtle to notice, but cleans up the mixing quite a bit). If you try this, I can almost guarantee the whole thing is going to sound more cohesive. As it is now, the elements compete for attention when everything is playing and I can barely hear the kick or bass when it's all full, and sometimes I feel like the leads are just riding on top of the soundscape instead of fitting into it. I would love to hear this again with some better sidechaining done, but even if you don't, it needs some of the copy/pasta writing to be varied between the first and second repetitions. I do hope to hear this again soon though, it's really not that far from passing and it's an enjoyable listen! NO (please resubmit)

Track is loud. LOUD. LOOOOOUUUUDDDD did ya hear me say it, it's LOWD. Cubase tells me it's contained at -0.5db peak but SPAN is telling me it's clipping all through the track. Maybe just dial the master back a hair? Other than that, production here is absolutely ace. This is a super fun, energetic track, I think it would fit nicely into an action movie. I love all the elements and writing. There are small unique elements added in each section (piano writing, soft plucks, various screamy/squelchy things), but they are small additions/variations that are buried under a tsunami of the same writing, instrumentation and arrangement over and over. I'm gonna toss this back for an arrangement trim, I think two minutes could be deleted without losing anything. As it stands it's just too repetitive. NO (but please resubmit)

This is a lovely arrangement of a beautiful, emotional theme. I'm agonizing over whether it should pass, but ultimately I'm with my fellow judges pointing out the production issues. XPRT is right that the harp needs a bass trim, it's booming in the lows. The winds don't sound great, the clarinet sustains sound awkward. The flute patch has constant vibrato which sounds very unnatural. The piano needs humanization to avoid sounding clunky. The strings are the worst of it for me though, the attacks are all the same making them sound very choppy and the patch sounds flat generally. The chords are gorgeous, they deserve better legato treatment than this. The glock does get quite loud at 2:25. There's a small rendering error/pop at 1:07. And of course, the mastering is falling short at -7db peak. Even if you do no mastering, perhaps just normalizing the track to somewhere around -0.5db to -1db would put the track in a better volume range compared to other tracks. This is a lovely tune but I think the production issues drag it just under the bar. I'd love to hear it again with those issues addressed. NO (resubmit)

I love this track. It's full of little details and interesting timbres. The arrangement is well crafted. The lyrics speak to me and are well performed and effected. I mastered it and now it's perfect. What's not to love? YES

previous decision remixer: ad.mixx name: Aaron Corbitt game: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team source tune: Sky Tower Summit name of arrangement: Cowboy Chimpazilla comments: I fell in love with this mix when I first heard it, and the lyrics really spoke to me. But I had to agree with my fellow judges that the low end had no punch and was too quiet. I asked that Aaron address the issues and send it right back. He made some changes and reached out to me for a listen. I felt it still wasn't mastered well enough for the quality of the track. We got to talking, and Aaron asked me if I'd be willing to final mix and master it, which is something I love to do. He sent me a zip of stems and I did my magic tricks. We both think it sounds excellent now! Submitted for your approval. And Aaron and I are discussing some collabs too! ad.mixx comments: From my side, this came together fairly quickly. About two weeks as compared to months it's taken me on some songs. Mystery dungeon has great music, and as soon as I heard this song I knew I had to make it into a beat. The composition is note for note mystery dungeon, but I added some soft spoken vocals onto it to give it more edge. The source is dramatic and tense, and I wanted to keep that same kind of energy while changing the style entirely. I believe it succeeds on that front, and hopefully the vocals are catchy enough to keep people bopping their heads. Awhile after finishing the arrangement, Chimpazilla offered to do some mixing and mastering on the song, and it absolutely shattered my world what she did with it. I liked the song, but she came and absolutely brought out every single element to make it pop. I'd say this would have been a pretty mediocre post if she hadn't come along so thank you to her so much. I think you all will enjoy the final product. Full lyrics are in previous decision link.

This one is really close for me. I really like it. The mix could use some production improvements, the drums sound muddled and high-passed to me. The track could use some strategic EQ work to make sure everything is playing in its optimal range, most importantly cutting lows/mud out of anything not playing lows. The main arp is played by the same filtered piano throughout the entire track; the second half would have benefited from that arp being played by something a little different. The transitions effects are indeed way too loud. But, the arrangement is lovely, the sound choices work well and the vocals fit super nicely, the track has a very emotional vibe to it. YES

Truly awesome sound and writing ideas here, so much potential, but I'm afraid I'm on the side of the NOs here. Nearly half the arrangement is intro. At 1:30 I'm expecting a drop, following the sweep, but the energy remains the same as in the intro even with a new drum groove and guitar lead added. The lack of bass takes all the energy out of that section. If that first section had some real bass in it, it would sound more like a drop. As it stands, what should be a drop sounds almost like it could be an outro. At 2:22, there is some real bass present but only until 2:27 when it fades away again. Five seconds of bass! The arrangement plods along in first gear until the outro which arrives way too soon. This arrangement has no structure in my opinion, it's half intro and the rest is rambly. In the outro, that dance piano sounds very weak too. The lack of bass is a dealbreaker by itself, for me, unfortunately. I love the ideas you're working with here but this arrangement and the mixing need work. NO (resubmit)

What an awesome arrangement of this theme. I really like it, but I have to agree with Larry on the choir. Since it is so prominent in the track once it enters at 1:37, it needs to sound excellent, and it doesn't. The sound itself is weak/flat and it has no interest to it. Some sidechaining, filter movement, or even a mild trancegate effect would help, but the timbre itself is weak. I think the arrangement would open up if this choir (I mean an upgraded version of the choir) was replaced after awhile by some other kind of pad, something evolving or effected so it doesn't sound so flat, something different to add interest for the listener. I hear what Larry is saying about the beats plodding during their respective sections, but I think the constant drum loop won't sound so stale if there's something more interesting going on in the background. That choir/pad is the big offender to me. This track is very close, but that pad is bad enough that it would be a shame to post it when it can be easily fixed. NO (but please resubmit)

This mix has a few issues. It is a good start and has definite potential but it feels disjointed in a number of ways. I'm not sure the timbres fit together as well as they could. As MW pointed out, there's a problem with some of the leads, the one at 1:05 sounds like it's being played by a pad and it's way too weak. I like the fact that you changed up the lead instruments a lot, that's definitely a positive! Something happened to the melody writing at 2:08 and again at 2:20, it sounds like the writing of the two timbres playing together clashes with each other, making that little section sound awkward. The breakdown from 2:22 to 2:35 sounds choppy and awkward. At 3:00 there is a vocal or some kind of backing element that sounds very out of tune. On a repeat listen it sounds like it might be the flute from the intro, which only works by itself because of how it is written. The track also has no groove because I can't hear any sidechaining on anything, which also causes the kick to be buried when the soundscape is full. There is some fun synth writing in the track and I think there is potential here but it still needs some work. NO

As Larry pointed out, the piano sounds very fake and prominent, especially since it opens up the track and it is so exposed. Other than that, I think this track is interesting and well produced. It sounds really nice on my system. There are a lot of little details and I like the chopped vocals a lot. Unfortunately I have to side with the NOs here because after the first half my ears are ready to hear something new. Since the soundscape is so full and busy, the repetition of the same elements becomes exhausting. There is a missed opportunity to really open this track up and add some new sounds for a nice sonic thrill, but it never arrives. Even dropping some of the elements like the vocal or piano during the second half (potentially bringing them back in for the finale) would really open it up. But as it stands now, it's just too repetitive. I would love to hear this again, with the piano sample improved and with some new arrangement ideas or different sound elements in the second half . NO (resubmit)

Ok so I absolutely dig this song! But the guys are right, the lows are a problem. This could be posted and it wouldn't be awful per se but it would be a darn shame to post it with such a weak low end. The kick and that 808 bass need to slam. I did a quickie fix to the wav, I put a sharp low-cut at 25Hz (which cuts out a ton of mud, mud doesn't master nicely) and then put a whopping big amount of MB compression just on 125Hz and below, and this is how much better it sounds just from that: Cowboy with bumped lows It even sounds better balanced this way. So I would suggest bumping your lows, either in mixing or on your master, and send it right back so we can get this posted to the front page! NO (but please fix lows and send back)

My favorite kind of music is any that elicits FEELS. WOW this does that so well. I adore Michael's signature glitching. The arrangement ideas, the filtering, the flutter and wow, the amazing details are all just top notch, as is the production. My only gripe is that I want more of it. This is all kinds of awesome. YES, WOW

I really like the vibe of this remix! The production could be improved massively with one small change, better sidechaining of the big saw lead. That huge saw dominates the soundscape, as others have pointed out even the beefy kick cannot compete. A nice deep sidechaining of that timbre would fix it entirely for me. A louder and snappier snare would also be welcomed. Other than those issues, this arrangement is fun and interesting, although I wish it was longer and the end seems to just drop off. But what's here is too good not to post to the front page. YES

I like the instrumentation palette here, but I have almost 1,000 hours into BotW and I can not hear ANY Hateno in this arrangement. I'm open to being proven wrong if someone wants to do an extensive timestamp, but as it stands, I cannot even conceptualize Hateno while listening to this arrangement. (This may be one of those occasions where Larry comes in and says "I hear it, you guys are crazy!" and I'll gladly eat my words if that happens.) I have no problem with the mixing or production with what's here, but the lack of source connection is a dealbreaker. This is my opinion and not OCR canon, but I feel that if the listener has to reach that hard to recognize the source tune, or follow a detailed timestamp in order to recognize the source tune, then the remix isn't really capturing the original well enough to be an OC ReMix. NO

Oh gosh. This is one I'd love to say yes to but I don't think it's quite there. The performances are fun and energetic but the arrangement is just too conservative for too long. All the way to 1:42 when the ocarina takes over the lead, the mix is verbatim to source in writing and style (other than the addition of the kick). There is some variation of the source writing only after the breakdown, but at 2:14 it's right back to the source writing in the same soundscape. The addition of the guitars at 2:30 is nice, although as my fellow Js pointed out, the overcompression pumping is really evident there. The final segment with the chiptune instruments is sooooo cool! I'm so sad that this little bit of deviation from the source instrumentation comes so late in the arrangement and plays for such a short time. I really love that part. This mix is just too conservative for too long to pass our standards. I would love to hear it again with more chiptune or even another style introduced, or some original writing for a few bars, (or, both!) to break up the OoT Gerudo style and writing we're all used to. The mastering is the other issue, the mix ends up sounding quiet even while hitting -12db RMS (a reasonable yet loud-enough number) and peaking at 1.4db (clipping). The pumping is audible after 2:30. My best advice for a clean master of any mix is as follows: 1. Lower the input gain into your master channel by a few db (anywhere from 5-10db), this will give you a huge amount of mixing room. 2. EQ out the low end of everything that isn't kick or bass at 150Hz at the very least. 3. Apply a monomaker on your master at 100-150Hz. 4. Bring the mix up to your final volume in stages using a couple of light applications of compression before your final limiter, and set the final ceiling to -0.3db or something close. NO (but I'd love a resubmit)