MindWanderer

I have to concur with the above. The approach is neat, but the harsh and loud melodica is an issue. And even though you do make use of three themes, the arrangement is only 2:40 long and leans heavily on the Water Island hook, the backing is repetitive (admittedly, intentionally), and the ending fades out, all of which combine to make the track feel underdeveloped. The judges above gave you some good advice, not the least of which was to hit up our workshop forum/Discord for more involved feedback, and I hope you take it to heart. NO

I'm with proph on this one, to the point where I'm not even sure I listened to the same track as Larry and Kris, and checked the thread to see if there was an update I missed. On my setup, the kick is loud and clear, and the snare even moreso. The trumpet sounds great, full stop. There's plenty of high end, whether it's being created by a synth or the trumpet. On the other hand, I definitely do hear the complaints about the whistle: it's a little shrill, and when it's not exposed, all its harmonics are being squeezed and it sounds pretty bland. The saw that starts at 1:42 is also overpowering. The guitar is indeed pretty quiet, and it's a shame the fairly vanilla synths were used when you had access to such a great alternative lead. The piercing leads are the only major concern I have, and they're not remotely worth sending this back, From, me, this gets a wholehearted YES Update 6/20: I listened to this again on my good headphones, and I have a better appreciation for what everyone else is saying about the kicks. The bass and kicks overlap a lot in the subbass range, and that makes them a lot harder to hear. On headphones with less bass response, the kicks are covered up less. That said, the kicks are usually doubled up with the snare, which provides enough rhythm for me, and it's not like the soundscape needs the kick's bass presence. Oddly, I think the harmonics on that deep bass are also what's conflicting with the trumpet a little---which is not how physics is supposed to work, but it's what I hear. No change to my vote.

I'm afraid I have to agree with all the criticisms above. The flute is painfully loud and bright, the clarinet performance is squeaky, the soundscape is thin and lacking in character, and the overall arrangement is short and underdeveloped. That's not to say I dislike everything here! The non-clarinet performances are solid, the concept is very good, and the arrangement that is there is well-done. The flute riffing is a highlight. But the issues mentioned above are critical ones. NO

This is an odd one for me. The integration of the two sources is very smooth, in no small part because they're similar in tone to begin with. And I would say that this remix maintains that same tone, if not for the trap trappings. The sound palette is extremely simple, even primitive, but the synths are chosen carefully and used appropriately. 2:15-2:38 is the most problematic part, because the vanilla sounds aren't adequate to carry the sinister tone you're going for here, and it just sounds discordant. I think this would have benefited from more modern sound design, but what's used here isn't disqualifying. Due to the samples, I wouldn't call this a layup, but everything else about it is done quite well. YES

Beautiful, rich interpretation of the source material. Clearly written and performed by someone passionate about the work, which is odd given that it's a lesser-known track off the OST. It's a little simpler than other Bluelighter mixes I recall, but there's certainly enough depth to hold up. YES

Frankentrack, indeed. I've been mulling over for this one for quite some time because I didn't know what to make of it. It doesn't sound nearly as disjointed as it ought to, given its backstory, but it definitely goes in quite a variety of directions. But just because I'm having a tough time formulating a description of it, or even an opinion, doesn't mean I can't vote on the merits. And it has plenty of them. It's an achievement of arrangement on several levels, as well as being plenty creative. No reason at all not to give this a YES

Nice synthwave upgrade to a source that doesn't have a lot to it. I found it a tad repetitive, but that's understandable for a mix that's supposed to be mellow, even moreso one that's inspired by trap. Fits the brief, well done. YES

I definitely get the surf rock influence here, even without you having called it out specifically. I have to admit I'm getting a little fatigued with intentionally lo-fi production, but it's not technically a dealbreaker. You can still hear all the parts. The biggest problem is that because the tone is kind of mushy, it makes the track sound more repetitive than it really is. The style works better with lyrics, where a repetitive structure is more natural. Other than that, there's nothing objectionable here. It's a very creative take, executed as intended. YES

Nice tone. The slightly shrill leads began to grate on my nerves by the end of the second main section, and I would have preferred some sort of change there to keep things fresh. The bass blaat noises sound a little bitcrushed. But overall this sounds great and does everything it sets out to do. YES

If this ever passes, I'm pretty sure it will be the most-resubmitted remix in our history. Sadly, I don't think this is the time. The sound palette is still very vanilla, and still sounds like you made it with stock synths from LMMS. FL Studio supports dozens of really great VSTs that can give you richer and more varied sounds. Not that you didn't use a large number of different synths; it seems like it changes leads every couple of measures, but all of them are simple and generic-sounding. I agree with proph about the snares being underwhelming, but I have honestly no idea what he's talking about regarding hats, crashes, and kicks. There are hats used all over the place, keeping the 4/4 time everywhere that isn't a break; cymbals are often used as transitional elements; and the kick has an easily adequate amount of bass. The instruments that aren't leads are mostly pads and sweeps, but I hear perfectly fine amounts of reverb on everything else. I think the arrangement is suitable, and the production isn't bad, but your sample choices are letting you down. Using a hundred basic ones is not going to get you where using a dozen good ones will. Hit up our workshops, either on our forums or on Discord, and get some recommendations for free VSTs, and presets for them that will do what you want. I think this will get you most of the way there. NO

I'll be honest, and this may expose my lack of formal musical training, but like DarkSim, I can't recognize source material at all until 2:13. That's past the halfway mark, which makes this less than 50% source material. And I'm personally glad for that, because it gives me an excuse to not have to evaluate the rest of this. It's certainly interesting sound design, if utterly unpleasant. I would probably pass it if it started at 2:04. But I can't personally call the source "dominant" as-is. NO

Just what I expect from ThePlasmas. A pretty straightforward but still excellently-executed metal take on the source material. Great work. YES

This is pretty quiet, especially for a metal mix. I don't quite have to max my volume out to hear it well, but I don't see any compression or limiting going on at all, and there's a good 3dB of headroom discounting the peaks. There's plenty of room for bass in particular; the bass guitar is sitting very high in the the mix, and the kicks are very quiet and thwack-y. Meanwhile, the shrill synths are way high up there, and the lead guitar is also balanced unusually high in the spectrum. The arrangement is a ton of fun, rearranging these two (really three) sources in an eclectic, exciting way. I love me some Castlevania music even on a bad day, and while this isn't the most memorable Metroid music, it works very well here. But I feel like this needs a lot more presence in general and bass in particular to be front page-worthy. Really fill out that soundscape and this'll be in good shape. NO (resubmit)

I have a similar feeling to proph's. I think there's a little more arrangement than he's giving credit for in the first two thirds, but he's right on the money about a lack of humanization in terms of timing and velocity. I'm not normally too picky about piano humanization, but even to my ears there doesn't seem to have been any effort made in this respect. The arrangement in the last third is indeed more creative, but the humanization issues persist. The changes to tempo and timing in the score help to disguise the on-the-beat timing, and pipe organ only has so much potential variation in velocity, but the same issues exist. Great ideas, lots of fun, but the execution still needs to not sound so mechanical. NO

I didn't hear the original submission. My initial impression is that this definitely doesn't seem like a 3-NO remix, so that's a good start. Opens with environmental effects that tastefully interweave melodic elements, great way of establishing tone and source together. Loud bass drop, but I don't hear any clipping. The part with the organ is pretty darn dense, though, and seems slightly distorted. After a couple of minutes of this dark take, it transitions to piano; a smooth transition, but it's a complete tonal change. A minute and a half of this and briefly back to the dark bassy stuff before an environmental ending. I can't say I'm feeling any of proph's crits. I'm not hearing a lot of repetition; each section is at most one slow full loop of the source tune. There's plenty of atmospheric whitespace to add depth without sounding static. The mechanical piano "playing" doesn't bother me much when it's largely a synthetic piece anyway. My one big gripe is that the middle piano section really doesn't go well with the beginning/ending, but the transitions into and out of it are smooth enough that it's not jarring. Overall, it must have been a massive improvement from the first version you submitted. Strong work. YES