Chimpazilla   Judges ⚖️

I have to agree with my fellow Js, the overall mix is overly quiet and needs proper mastering to increase the overall volume while preserving appropriate dynamics. But the bigger issue is the sample quality. The strings (solo cello and string ensemble in particular) are dealbreakingly bad, and they play for so much of the track that they are totally distracting. The brass starting at 3:23 suffers from the same fake uncanny-valley problem. I think there are flutes in there, but as MW said they are almost inaudible. I agree with proph and MW that this is an excellent blending of these themes into a cohesive and emotional story. Clearly a lot of time and heart went into writing this, and it is really a very beautiful composition. I can imagine this with vastly better instrument samples, or better yet live played instruments, and it would be outstanding. But as it stands currently, it sounds like an orchestral mock-up or wip instead of a finished product. I would certainly love to hear it again with better instruments! NO (resubmit)

Right from the get-go I'm loving the wide, alive stereo soundscape. I love the gentle trap vibe happening here with the 808 bass and trap hats. All the elements fit together well and this is mixed to perfection, mastering is appropriate. Oh, awesome glassy/synthwavey lead starting at 2:29. So many arps going in the background, but the soundscape doesn't sound overcrowded and the leads shine through. This is just excellent, let's go. YES

Those opening notes were so quiet (How quiet were they? They were so quiet) that I thought my audio card had failed. But once I can hear it, the track sounds and feels great. This soundscape has that empty-yet-full feeling that I really like. Very chill vibe going on here. I love the wispy/crackly pads and delicate arps underlaying the soundscape. The drum groove is almost outstaying its welcome as the breakdown begins. The breakdown is soft and luscious. I love the lead that begins at 2:33, it sounds so lonely, wistful and moody. This is definitely a sparse soundscape, and the drum groove could use some variation, possibly even just some additional or varied percussion here and there, but overall this is a lovely soft synthwavey lo-fi experience. It will need a proper name before posting it. YES

This is ambient, lovely, meditative, and well performed. All the sources are well represented and flow together swimmingly (see what I did thar?). The mix is lovely, soft, engaging. Performances are great and mixing/balancing is adequate. Master is on the quiet side, but that isn't an issue. YES

What a gorgeous source tune! Ok on to the remix. The intro is already super loud. The piano sounds very rigid and blocky, the timing with the violin is frequently off, and there are moments where the notes don't match, such as at 0:14 and again at 0:40; the piano and violin are playing different notes. At 0:33, the soundscape is now very heavy and the percussion sounds very loud, dry and very overcompressed. By 0:58 I am already hearing overcompression pumping across the track. At 1:49 the entire soundscape is smashed to smithereens, with crunching and unwanted pumping. The addition of the Hitler recording is a bit shocking and it's a very bold and interesting choice. I can see how this recording adds to the theme and feel of the track. I was alarmed when I heard it at first, not even because it is Hitler but because the recording is way too loud and dry, it dominates the track while it is playing. I think you can keep this idea, it's good, but it has to be mixed better. You need to turn the volume of it way down, and give it a touch of reverb so it sounds nestled into the soundscape instead of being heavily on top of it. It is menacing, but does not need to be THIS menacing. At 1:49 there is a note progression that makes no sense, I'm not sure if that was intentional but it does not sound good to me. At 2:34, the previously established soundscape stops abruptly and there is a short piano-only outro. This piano part sounds pasted on, as there's no flow from the previous section which was stopped absolutely cold. This is awkward. Ok, listening to it again, what about doing a very short white noise sweep to wrap up the previous section right before that last bit of piano? The sweep should stop abruptly right where you have the rest of the instruments stopping. That would make your abrupt outro idea work. I think you've crafted something very moody and cool here, but it needs a mixing overhaul. Go through and re-balance the volumes of things, most especially lower the industrial percussion volumes because they are too loud. Check the notes of the piano and violin, and make sure they match where they are both playing the same line. It would be very good if you could do some humanization on the piano so it sounds less blocky and gridlocked, and more natural/real. Lower the volume of the Hitler recording and add some reverb to make it fit into the soundscape. EQ all instruments so that nothing is playing in the low-lows other than bass and bass-drums. This will clear out inaudible mud and give you more mastering headroom. The last critique is the mastering, it is waaaaay too heavy and hot. Lower the gain on your final limiter by several db (I'm thinking 5ish), such that the overall track doesn't have that crunching and unwanted pumping. I look forward to hearing this one again. NO (resubmit)

Welp, at least we don't have any issues with source use here! Unfortunately I agree with my fellow NOs. Everything after 2:10 is so unique and weird and cool, but up until that point it is just the original source midi, played in the stiffest and driest way possible, no humanization. It's a player piano basically until the strings come in, and the pizzicato and staccato strings can play the fast lines but the legato strings drag, making it feel very awkward when all the strings are playing together. Then we get the harpsicord and xylophone which both sound extremely stiff, followed by more mushy legato strings (attacks are way too long) and it just sounds weird to me. Even if the rest of the sequencing were perfect, I would be sending this back just for the legato line starting at 1:34. The full section starting at 1:46 sounds a little better, but again, every single element sounds so stiff and uncanny. I love this idea! But it absolutely needs more attention to humanization in the first two minutes, and possibly some variations in writing so it isn't just the same midi from the source tune repeated that many times. I'd love to hear it again with improvements made though! NO

Wow, that is a LOT to go through during the production of this remix. I feel for you; computer issues and DAW issues and soundcard issues all together does sound like literal hell to me too. I have no doubt that the jump from FL10 (32 bit) to FL20 (64 bit) mid-production was a nightmare. I didn't see all that detail written in the first submission. I remember this submission, I liked it a lot! But it was ridiculoud and clipping and pumping. Now the render has some mastering on it, which is great and the unwanted pumping and overcompression artifacts are gone. The arrangement has been extended and varied in terms of the beat and energy level. There's a drumless breakdown just as I had suggested. I still feel like more could be done to add interest, more ear candy and surprises, and some of the instruments sound blocky such as the piano that lacks any humanization or dynamics, but this is a massive improvement from the previous submission. I think the arrangement is interesting and moody and cool, with good use of sfx. I don't see anything holding it back from being posted now. Nice work! You switched my NO to a YES Edit 4/24/24: Listened to *ninth* update, still cool with YES vote.

Aw, poor Emu! I can totally relate to the feelings of inferiority that this track must have inspired. Because it's all kinds of freakin' amazing. HOLY SHIT indeed. Somebody here is a psytrance expert. The elements go together so well in this mix; all the synth stuff, the ethereal vocals, and grungy guitars. The arrangement is excellent, everyone's ideas fit together so well. The mixing and mastering are top notch. I could listen to the 15 minute version too. Just truly awesome. My one nitpick would be just a couple of db louder on the bass. YES PLEASE

WHOA. That Banshee source sounds more like something I would expect to hear in Twilight Princess than in anything Mario Kart! Clearly I did not play Mario Kart 64! But it sounds like a tune that would inspire Michael! The source song is full of arpeggio, sharp bells and plucks, creepy strings, ominous bass, and dissonance, very Twilight Princess. The remix seems to be primarily the arp from the source song played over and over in a billion unique ways, along with the chord progressions and horror strings. Wow, this is super cool. So many different elements, forming a constantly evolving emotive soundscape, with that empty-yet-full feel that I love. So much variation, holds my interest all the way through, making me wonder what is around the next corner. Definitely has a comic-nightmare vibe, which is so unsettling. Production and mastering are ace. Thank you Michael, I dig this maximally. YES

Yep, lo-fi is definitely the style du jour right now, and Wes has dived in with both feet and he is doing a great job with these arrangements. I haven't heard this one before so I'm coming in cold on it, which is unusual for an Emu arrangement! I love the chill vibe of this, the gritty badass sub bass, lots of ear candy and emotive keys, drums fit just right, awesome evolving arrangement, mastered to perfection, love it. Gud job, guyz! YES

The Bravely Second sfx would have to be removed, first and foremost. This soundscape is really repetitive once it gets going. The arrangement seems to be multiple repeats of the same thing, followed by a fadeout. As the other two Js have said, there's a concern that the guitar in the arrangement is taken right from the source song. Regardless, the arrangement continues on in a very repetitive and non-evolving way. The energy, instrumentation and writing just repeat over and over, until the fadeout. That isn't enough arrangement creativity and development for OCR. The volume balancing needs another pass as well, as the clicky percussion is way too loud, and lead plucks are pushed backward into the soundscape. The mastering is on the loud side but I don't hear any over-compression artifacts but it's right on the cusp of that. NO

This is the third time I am evaluating this track. Re-reading my two previous votes, and listening now, I have to say WOW you have come a LONG way in your production skills, and as Emunator said, I admire your persistence with this, that is how a producer can get good, just keep doing and learning and trying. This really sounds loads better than the first two submissions. Give yourself credit for the progress you've made, it shows. My complaint however is still the same as in the last version, the arrangement is leaving me flat in terms of how it develops. There isn't a lot of motif going on and so the arrangement lacks structure and ends up sounding nebulous and repetitive as the same bass, pads, plucks and drums play the same patterns again and again and again. My suggestion is to vary things at different intervals: change instruments, change drum groove, vary the bassline writing, or add more lead motif over the top of it, something that is a memorable hook. What you are using as lead motif (which is the lead motif in the source) is so repetitive in this arrangement that it doesn't sound like a lead but more like a countermelody or backing element, making the track sound leadless, if that makes sense. At 1:48-2:30, that section would benefit from having some original lead motif written right over what you have here. It feels like a great soundscape to really say something with a motif, but nothing is being said there, it's a lush backdrop but nothing in front. If this one still doesn't end up passing our panel, and especially if you are frustrated, I suggest starting something new to work on, keeping all of our critiques in mind. Sometimes it is easier to start something new, doing things right from the get-go, rather than continuing to hack away at something you have worked with long enough that it haunts your dreams! It sucks to ditch an arrangement you've invested time into, but we have all done that (multiple times, most of us here), we have taken the lessons-learned from it and moved forward with more skill under our belts. NO

What an unique way to re-imagine this source. I love the 6/4 time signature throughout most of it, ending in a lovely 3/4 arpeggio. I think there's enough source, it just takes over a minute to get into the motif, but the chord structure is there even in the intro. Interesting selection of instruments, setting a very purposeful creepy mood. Things are mixed and volume-balanced well enough, although I agree with MW that the overall result is a bit more lo-fi than would be ideal. The buzzy synth adds to the muddy feeling of the mixing; that really isn't a good sound. In addition, the overall master is missing a final level of sparkle that would really make this arrangement shine. Overall though, the mixing crits are not dealbreaking for me, this is too cool, let's go. YES

I am remiss in not getting around to this one sooner, having been chimp-signaled! I know proph and I discussed this in the Discords but I failed to vote. So, now I will. Right off the bat, I see that the peak max is hitting 1.7db so something has happened on the mastering side, either a limiter fail or a failure to limit. I don't hear any over-compression artifacts, but I wonder if YouTube encoding/compression will cause artifacts on a file that goes over 0db. I just don't know. This song feels overstuffed to me, like there are too many elements, and too many varied ideas and sounds happening at the same time. Nothing is clashing dealbreakingly, but it just kind of feels like too much stuff, too much of the time. I feel like there is so much going on that nothing is coming through very clearly, the mixing is muddled. It is hard to get a super clean mix with this many elements. As others have pointed out, the bass lacks presence. I agree this would probably be solved by EQing the lowest frequencies out of all elements other than kick and bass; really nothing should be playing below 150-200-ish Hz other than kick and bass. Also, sidechaining should be used so that when the kick hits, it isn't conflicting with the bass (or anything else) which causes frequencies to dogpile, which reduces mastering headroom. I'm not hearing much sidechaining in the mix, if any? I sidechain everything in my mixes, not so much for effect as for mixing clarity. The bass playing from 2:34-3:02 does not sound good at all. The patch is playing a full octave below what it is capable of playing, and I can hear it groaning under the strain. That section is cool, but it needs a bass that can play those low/sub notes to support it. At 3:38, the bass has a similar problem; it sounds like it is trying to keep up but just can't hit those low notes, and it feels uncomfortable. I do love the vibe and energy of this track! I recognize some of my own earlier efforts in this mix however, back when I wanted to throw too many competing ideas in together. Sometimes it makes sense to go through and remove things when that happens, and focus on the elements you really want in the mix, and make them shine. Reading through the preceding votes, everyone digs this arrangement, and I do too! But there are tons of critiques and suggestions given regarding the sound choices and mixing. I can understand voting YES to put this track on OCR, but I am going to say that some of these issues should be cleared up first. If this passes, it will be one of those tracks the artist looks back on a few years from now and says "oof." At a minimum, please make sure your master is limited at 0db. Also, please go through and EQ things so that nothing is playing in the low end (below 150Hz at the very least) other than your kick and bass. Replace bass patches that aren't able to carry the low notes. Do some sidechaining to avoid things competing whenever the kick hits. When this is mixed better, as everyone else is saying, this will be a tremendously good track. NO (resubmit, borderline)

Short and sweet, lovely performances. Definitely a cover, but this is an effective and pleasant genre adaptation. The arrangement is short. I prefer a longer, more realized arrangement than this, but what's here is enough for me. There are variations throughout the piece, the drums change just enough to give a slightly different vibe every few bars. The guitar playing is emotional. I wish there was a proper outro; dropping it off cold like this confirms for me that there hasn't been a lot of thought put into the arrangement, other than doing a soft rock cover version. I feel like the instrument volume balancing is fine. I'm not bothered by the panning; the lead sounds about 20-25% panned right, and the rhythm guitar is panned more like 40-50% left, and the bass is centered. It sounds fine to me both on my monitors and headphones. The master is weird! There is a peak ceiling of -1.2db which seems excessive (I prefer -0.5), and I see an RMS value of -7.4db RMS which is very loud, heavy-EDM loud. Although this limiter smashing is causing the piece to lack any kind of volume dynamics, I do not hear any over-compression artifacts at all (aside from expected "amp stuff"), either on monitors or my headphones. I'm curious @Gario where are you picking up on artifacts? If they are there, I wonder how I am missing them. While I did have to turn my volume down to evaluate this track, I'm not worried about it being over-loud on YouTube since they do their own compression and normalizing. Although I am somewhat let down by the short length and lack of arrangement creativity, I don't find any issues holding this lovely soft piece from being posted in its current form. YES

Gaspode has edited his submission with new info and a new song upload, just fyi. He explained the changes in his submission post, so click on that to see what he wrote.

"Building beats and bassline around it" count me in for this, it's a great concept and it works! The source seems to be asking for that treatment. This is definitely a low-key chill vibe, I would not call it "lo-fi" though. The "fi" is high. Very relaxing groove, good arrangement and instrumentation, nicely produced. Nothing earth shattering, but very nice. Let's do this. YES

This arrangement has such a unique feel, as proph said it is full of space. Really nice 3D soundscape. The low end is full and satisfying, and there's just enough going on in the mids and highs to keep it interesting yet sparse. I love soundscapes like this. Piano sounds terrific. Such interesting sounds in the mix, like the breathy synth starting at 2:06. Balancing, mixing and mastering are on point. What a cool arrangement of this material, love it. YES

Well hello there! Great source tune, and I like the concept for the remix in chiptune! But I have to agree with my fellow Js that this arrangement comes off really repetitive as well as very conservative to the source tune. And the production is odd, I think the low end is broken? There is activity below 40Hz (mostly inaudible) and a dent between 40-80Hz, I can't say I've ever heard or seen a low end like this! The inaudible low-end content makes the master overblown without even sounding loud or having any impact. This production just isn't cutting it. The reverb on the chiptune is fine, but the overall balancing and mixing isn't there; the drums are too weak and the leads are too loud. Perhaps take this track to our workshop for further feedback. MW is right, this is a good start! Now take the time to learn proper production and arrangement skills. Everyone starts somewhere, welcome to OCR! NO

I really like this arrangement and concept, and the synthwave instruments are used well. I understand Larry's vote though. Like most of Gaspode's productions, the sound design falls just a bit short; it could be crisper, cleaner and more impactful. It certainly isn't bad enough to sink the vote, imo, but it would be great to bump the production up to the next level on these awesome arrangements. YES

I love this concept (I have considered making a similar concept track or album!). This arrangement is absolutely a medley, but it plays through consistently and cohesively, no jarring transitions or wildly varied timbre changes. The intro is original, but everything is direct source from 0:40 onward. I really enjoy Gaspode's synthwave productions, although I feel like the production could be crisper, cleaner, and more impactful overall. Everything is mixed well enough, though. And the arrangement is super upbeat and happy. YES

Wow this is loud and overstuffed. By 2:00 my ears are already fatigued. The guys are right, this needs to be pared back severely. Each section can be cut by half, playing different combinations of things in each section, instead of ZOMG EVERYTHING full time. Wow. My brain literally hurts from this much stimulation. Everything is the same volume, and on top of that, the track is mastered so heavily, it is clipping all over the place and sounds super over-compressed and crunchy. All that said, I think this could be a great track! But it has to be sculpted into a workable arrangement by removing many elements from each section. In each section, one or two elements should be featured, with one or two backing elements. The featured elements can be varied in the sections, providing sonic interest and contrast. And the mastering has to be done much more gently. Right now it is mastered even more heavily than I would expect from an EDM track. NO

Square Enix sfx are a no-go right from the start, so those would need to be removed. But once it gets going, the arrangement is simplistic, underdeveloped and on the repetitive side. It needs further personalization as Larry said, by changing the writing, groove, instrumentation, melodies/countermelodies/solos etc. along the way. The track would also benefit from a proper outro instead of just stopping cold. The instrument volumes could also be re-balanced as the drums are all extremely quiet and the main lead is very loud. Nice vibe though, it's a decent start. As for the pumping, I'm suspecting it is sidechaining and not master over-compression because I don't hear any crunchy artifacts, but I could be wrong. It sounds to me like the entire mix is sidechained, using one compressor. The sidechaining is too heavy-handed, and does not release fast enough, which is made worse because there are multiple kicks in a row and not just one. This is giving a pumpy effect to the track, which is exacerbated further by the drums being generally too quiet in the mix. So it is a lot of gain reduction on the entire track, and in that volume-reduced dent, there is this very quiet kick, which feels so unnatural. In the case that the pumping is due to heavy-handed mastering, I always recommend bringing the overall volume up gently using two or three different compressors in your chain and then a final limiter. Each compressor should be using gentle settings, bringing the volume up in stages using different algorithms. This method allows more loudness with less chance of any over-compression unpleasantness. NO

Well, I really like this! The mix does have a ton of distortion and bitcrushing on it, but I think it is a reference to the source tune and the era in which it was written. I think the arrangement is great, instrumentation works really well. I love the vocal clips and I even like the nod to the right-panned hat in the original starting at 1:46. I love the little details such as switching the grungy guitar-synth to mono at 2:30. Nice touch. I don't hear overcompression artifacts. I hear a LOT of bitcrushing. The master is uberloud, though. -5.2db RMS is uberloud. And because the peak ceiling is set to 0db, SPAN is showing me that it is clipping. I don't know why that is the case, but I always set my ceiling to -0.5db just to be safe, and it never clips when I do that. Yeah this track is heavy and loud and distorted, sausage indeed! But in a good way. I dig the grittiness and energy of this. I'm passing this and not even conditional. If it does not pass however, just revisit the file and make sure things are distorted purposely and not accidentally, and don't overdo it. (Often when you distort too many elements, you lose sonic contrast and everything sounds distorted.) Then lower your master limiter gain just a hair to reduce the RMS (something more like -10db RMS is better), and I suggest lowering the final ceiling to -0.3 or -0.5 to avoid any unwanted clipping. YES

This is SO lovely. As with the previous H36T submission I judged a few days ago, it's too damn short!!! I could easily see this being twice this length, with something slow and contemplative in the middle, perhaps an impactful spoken or whispered vocal, followed by a section with some gentle yet groovy percussion. BUT.... what's here is gorgeous. It's a dreamy mood; I love the rain dripping and storm sfx and the luscious female vocal pads. We'll take it. YES