Chimpazilla
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Posts posted by Chimpazilla
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I love this concept, but this mix really plods. The drums are super quiet and the beat is not very interesting. Some of the bass attacks stick out of the mix too far which exposes the fact that it's sequenced. The lyrics are cool, but the vocal needs some work, either some pitch correction or processing or perhaps some retakes as Larry suggested. The track is simplistic which can be cool but the elements in a sparse track really need to work to pull it off. As Nutritious and Larry both said, this sounds more like a wip than a finished track.
NO
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I agree with my fellow NO judges here. The concept is dynamite, and the production is tight. The track is way too repetitive though, in writing and in sounds. The beat and energy level stay the same throughout the track. The lead synth and the arp synth are both fairly vanilla, and they don't do anything interesting or ever change. There are too many sections where the lead isn't playing and nothing else interesting is coming in. Gotta give the listener some ear candy about every 8 bars to maintain interest. You could add some filter motion to things as well as change up the instrumentation during some sections. You could vary the beat somewhere or add some kind of unique bridge section. Just needs some variation.
NO
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I will co-co-sign on this one. The structure is too repetitive with two nearly identical builds and drops. The synths are very generic sounding. Lead synths are way too loud. I appreciate the stereo widening but it is almost too much, making the leads sound very separate from the drums and bass, and the soundscape is not cohesive as a result. I love the bass, the timbre and the writing, but it sounds so small in the center, too narrow and too quiet. Bass should be mono below 200 Hz, the rest of the bass timbre can have some natural stereo spread so it gels with the track. I would also suggest giving your leads a tiny bit of sidechaining, no more than 3-6ish db of GR, to let the leads groove better with the beat, as it is now it sounds very stiff. Great concept, just needs a little more variation for the two builds and drops, and some production fixes.
NO
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The transitions are indeed a bit sudden, but not jarring. It sounds like a cohesive piece. I agree the performances are loose but not in a bad way. The tambourine gets on my nerves because it isn't the greatest tambourine sound ever, it does cut through too much, and the sequencing is rigid. Still, I think this is an enjoyable piece, very sweet and relaxing.
YES
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The mixing is definitely more bold here than usual, which I think is a step in the right direction. The glock is a tad on the loud side. I love the drone. Another very well done piece!
YES
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I'm not having any issues with the mixing, it sounds great to me. The song does sound a bit repetitive, but it is very well executed and enjoyable to listen to.
YES
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I wasn't around for the first version either, but I'm loving this version. Great energy, good arrangement, mix is clean. I love the mix of instrumentation. Very enjoyable!
YES
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I have to agree with Larry. This mix sounds great, but the structure feels more like an extended wip than a finished product. The arrangement needs more development. A lead or solo somewhere would break it up and also add some nice variation and personalization. I'd prefer a real ending to a fadeout. I like what I hear so far, but I want to hear it more fleshed out with a longer arrangement.
NO (resubmit)
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What a cool idea to mix this theme in with Mario Kart. I love it! I think the production is in line with what I'd expect from any Kart source, so I have no issues with that. I'm not a fan of fadeouts, but even that fits into context. What a creative approach.
YES
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How about Sepulchre Soiree? I'm open to more suggestions.
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It does sound muddy. I feel like the bass synth is the biggest issue, it is a very cool sound, but it has a lot going on (both harmonically and in writing) and it is entirely mono, making the center of this mix very cluttered against the arps and other busy writing. (sorry to disagree with Jivemaster on this point!) I do love that bass sound but it seems to me that it is the type of patch that does better alone or with just one other synth element than in a busy mix. The drums sound tiny and distant when they should be huge. Track needs more sidechaining to let the kick through and increase the general groove. Snare is so small and centered, and it is fighting with every other mid-high element. I think the soundscape needs to be re-thought, deciding where things should sit in the mix. The track sounds overcompressed overall. I don't hear compression artifacts though, and perhaps fixing the sidechaining and soundscape placement of elements will fix the issues.
NO
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What a unique and varied mix! Interesting how the same exact motif can have many different moods within one piece. Production is good. Damn I hate fadeouts! Still, I'm onboard.
YES
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I agree with Sir_NutS and I will add a couple of things. The kick being used is a tuned kick which isn't really appropriate in this type of song, and it is not in tune with the song anyway. A plain punchy kick with a minimal tail would work better here. During the heavy parts of the song there are too many elements competing for space both in frequency and soundscape placement. The different parts also conflict sometimes in writing, which happens when there are too many complex parts playing at once. Interesting ideas but definitely needs some arrangement and production work.
NO
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This is lovely, I love the combination of winds, bells and harp, and the bird sounds are a nice touch. I wish the overall master was a touch louder.
YES
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Mixing could certainly be improved, soundscape cleared and everything made more distinct. It sounds unnecessarily flat and mushy in that regard. But the arrangement and instrumentation remind me of an epic storytelling Genesis track from their very early days. Well done.
YES
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Whoa, cool. Kick could be louder, but hot damn.
YES
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Oh man, I love this piano playing! It's just a straight playthrough of the source though, which isn't transformative enough for OCR, but I'm loving it. I'm feeling like I'd love to add a drum groove and bassline and synths to this! I'd love to hear this again with something unique added to set it apart from the original.
NO (but I'd love it if you resubmit)
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Agreed about the bassline being mud, it's very washed out. Also, the bass writing feels too busy, or at least, it tends to clash with the drum/perc writing more than it should, rather than complimenting it. Starting at 0:30, the bass has swing and the drums don't (later on, bass and drums both have swing, which feels better). Other than that, the rest is dreamy and luscious. Rebecca, I still recommend you look into finding ways to make your soundscape more distinct, more 3D. This could be so much more lively than it is. Regardless, it is lovely.
YES
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I don't feel much connection to this source and it's a source I know well. It's a bold source to choose to remix since the source is somewhat nebulous. The synths are super simple and need some motion/interest/modulation/sidechaining or something. Beats are simple and thin. Good start but this needs some work. I agree with Larry about hitting up our workshop.
NO
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What an interesting combination of potentially-serious EDM and super silly brass and accordion, all well executed and ultimately giving this a cute comic flare. I like the total change of pace at 1:55 to a somewhat reggae groove. Oh, a trucker's gear shift haha! Nice bitcrushing. Oh wait, a second gear shift! And a third! Ok this is super fun, love it. I feel like shopping for bombs now.
YES
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I like this track! I find it fun and I'm not bothered by the glitching/pumping. I am not sure if the source material used verbatim is an audio rip, to me it changes in level of reverb from wet to dry, which indicates it has been re-created using the same synth (but I could be wrong). Where I do find an issue though is with the direct copy-paste of that last section. I agree with Larry that just something minor changed, added, etc. in that final passage to differentiate it from the previous identical passage will get the job done. Other than that it gets my vote.
NO (borderline, please resubmit)
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I think this is great now. Interesting all the way through. The track has a surprising amount of sub bass (grin). Ending feels cut off, I would prefer that last note end naturally.... but other than that this works for me. Fun track!
YES
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This music is really impressive, Nabeel. Great work!!!
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There is so much to love about this remix, it's so creative! It needs a few fixes though. Dubstep drums have got to be on point. I think the drum writing is fine, but the sounds need to improve. The kick is not a proper dubstep kick, the snare isn't heavy/loud enough, and the hats are kind of lost mixed in the center. Regarding wubs and leads playing at the same time, it works fine as long as everything has its place in the soundscape. Starting at 0:47 (and again at 3:19), there is too much going on in the same frequency range (and a lot of it is in the center) and it's too hectic, it is better at 0:58 because there's less going on (and the backing sounds wider) but the panning of the wub so far left feels unbalanced. I think this will work well if you widen the wubs/backing quite a bit leaving the lead to occupy the center (as you have it now). The lead timbres do feel quite vanilla, but the writing makes up for it I think. 1:48 really exposes the drum issues I mentioned. The solo writing starting at 2:10 feels very random and doesn't follow a contour well. If this were my track, I'd consider cutting out 1:37-2:32 entirely, that part seems unnecessary and doesn't flow well.
TL;DR - Change the kick to a solid dubstep sample, make the snare louder/more impactful, give the hats a little stereo image, widen your wubs/backing with no hard-left panning, and either re-write the solo lead so it makes more melodic sense or chop 1:37-2:32 out of the mix entirely, and this will be a yes from me. This is very cool and I'd love to see it on the front page.
NO (please resubmit)
*NO* Joe & Mac 'Caveman Calypso'
in Judges Decisions
Posted
This track sounds good to me, production/mixing is solid enough, but it sounds just like an upgraded midi file. The instruments sound sequenced but I'm not having as much trouble with fakeness as the other judges are (since my ears hear "upgraded midi file" so they aren't expecting realism). Unfortunately, even with embellishments added, the track is much too similar to the original song, even the style is identical. Sadly that makes it not a fit for OCR guidelines. Fun listen though!
NO