MindWanderer

As a fan of neither Sonic Heroes nor Team Sonic Racing, I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but after listening to it, I definitely get it! Strings and trumpets over a "driving" rock beat would make this a great track to race to. It's a little repetitive, but not too much so, and it's a short track. The key change at 1:32 doesn't do quite enough to hold my interest, personally. But that cello solo at 1:53---who thinks of putting a cello solo in a racing track? It works great, although some of the playing in that section, notable the cello/violin harmonies, sound off-key to me. As I'm not a performer, I'm going to give this a tentative yes, but if another judge with more background with stringed instruments wants to comment on those, I'd be all ears. YES

WUB WUBWUBWUB wubbawuba WUB WUB WUB Joking aside, this is the perfect treatment for this source. An "obvious" concept perhaps, but it's an obscure game (which should be less so), and the execution is flawless. Everything I'm looking for is there: source usage, interpretation, production, and it's fun as hell to boot. Yes please. YES

This is a neat concept. The chanting blends in really well, and is a novel idea. The instrumentation in the intro isn't anything I've quite heard before, either. However, there isn't much else to this. After the intro, it's a piano lead, a synth bass beat, and some ambient "Darth Vader" breathing noises. After the vocals are added a minute in, there isn't really anything new, except some fake-sounding violins that join at 1:32. The whole arrangement is barely two minutes long and has only about a minute of ideas in it. It's a good foundation, but it needs more development to make it to the front page, IMHO. NO

Allow me to walk through my thought process while listening to this: 0:00-0:43: Okay, really vanilla so far, nothing I haven't heard a dozen times for this source. 0:43-1:20: The industrial beats are a nice touch. Maybe this will get interesting. 1:20-2:00: Nice drop into a nice soundscape. I'm digging it, but I'm still not sure this is interpetive enough. 2:00-2:22: Getting there. Nice harmonies, nice arp. 2:22-3:12: WHAT IS THIS?!?!? Holy hell, this sounds good. 3:12-3:26: ...and it's a fade-out, with absolutely no wind-down. It just... stops. So out of 3 1/2 minutes, there's about a minute I absolutely adore and about a minute that's pretty darn good. But that ending... in my almost 800 votes on this panel, I cannot recall having ever been let down this badly by an ending. Now, I've never sent a remix back just for having a fade-out ending. And I'm not about to start now. I'm finding myself digging deep to try to find a reason to vote against this, which isn't really fair. And I'm not succeeding. Production pumps just a little bit but is clear, it's definitely good on both source material and interpretation. But I want to. Edit 8/30: Much better. The loop back to the main AA theme is less exciting than I'd like it to be, putting the best part in the middle rather than the climax. Still, it's clearly a much more complete mix now. YES

Well, this is neat. It opens up with an eclectic mix of synths, then drops in a piano and some classic EDM bass. Nice mix of traditional and unique sounds throughout, always with clean, crisp production. It's a solid blend of the two sources, too. Great work for this kind of compo; you'd never know this was a mashup if you didn't know the source tunes. I can't think of anything to complain about. Just a good job all around. YES

So... I get what this is going for. It's very intentional. But to me, it sounds absolutely horrible. As I did the last time Michael sent in one of his experimental remixes that I just couldn't stand, I'm going to abstain from voting. I just can't evaluate this based on all our usual criteria when the fundamental sound of it is so off-putting.

I listened to the source track first, and thought how well it would go with DDR Kirby's usual frenetic artisinal chiptunes. I saw the title of the remix but thought it was a joke or a reference or something. But nope, it really is chill, to my surprise. It's certainly a creative interpretation of the source material, but it's all there. I don't have any issues with production, everything is clear and crisp, not at all too loud IMHO. It is a little repetitive, but for chillhop that's to be expected. This hits all the marks. YES

I voted on the original track, but I'll be honest, I only vaguely remember it. This remix is definitely still repetitive, but there's a progressive aspect to it. Parts get added and dropped throughout, and it's enough to create a feeling of dynamism. However, the first half (0:34-1:44) is substantially similar to the second (2:09-3:20). There are some changed parts, but they're pretty subtle. That's 1:10 out of a 3:37 arrangement, almost a third. I swear there's a Discord message notification at 1:20 and 2:54. It gets me every time. So this isn't bad, but the loop is too much for me. With some more original part-writing in the second half, I'd be happy to approve this. NO

Well, this was not what I was expecting from these two sources! Grungy, lo-fi synths with some almost industrial percussion. The "fake guitar" sounds more like a fake erhu during the glides. I don't know what to call this. I was in that compo, too. It sounds good, though! Despite the grunge, everything sounds clear, for the most part. The percussion is on the loud side, but it's not a dealbreaker. The two sources are cleverly interwoven, and it wasn't hard to track what was taken from the source material. It's weird and I don't know that everyone will love it, but it hits all the guidelines for sure. YES

I'm not going to come down quite as hard on this as my colleagues. I love the sound design. I didn't have any trouble picking out the lead, though I agree it could be a bit punchier. Percussion wasn't great, but I felt like it was servicable for the genre (though barely). But I do feel like this is not enough ideas spread over too much time. The 1:07 intro more than wears out its welcome. Then 1:07-2:15 is nearly duplicated by 2:15-3:23. There's a solo after that, but it uses the same tones as the main verse from before and nearly identical percussion. It's also far, far too quiet. I had to jack up my volume to about 95% to hear it clearly. You have over 7dB of headroom on this, and there's just no excuse for that. I'd love to hear an improved version of this, as I did really like the sound of it, for the most part. NO (resubmit)

I like it. It's mellow with a nice tone to it. I'd say that the reverb is a little over the top, and some of the synths occasionally sound like they're trying and failing to be real instruments---the shrill saw at 2:06 in particular doesn't fit well---but otherwise production is fine. The arrangement is a little long and rambling, but there's hardly any copypasta, and it forms a sort of extended bookend. I don't have any substantial objections. It's a fine remix. YES

i came out of this feeling exactly the same way. There's a good hook here, but that's really it. By 2:35 you've heard everything this has to offer. In fact, I could make a case that by 1:50, you know what this is all about, and actually listening through it doesn't come with anything unexpected. There's also something about the mode that strikes me as off. It feels like it's not quite settling into one. Maybe one of our judges with a better background in music theory can put a name to it, if they hear what I hear. I think the foundation is fine, and I don't hear any egregious production issues, for what it is. It just needs more ideas. NO

Interesting. The Chinese instrumentation is odd because it's clearly not a Chinese arrangement, but it works. It's unique and has a great sound to it. There are a couple of moments of minor dissonance, and I do think the middle section drags a little---1:18-3:10 is nearly two minutes that go at a near-constant tone and energy level. There's no copypasta, though. No major complaints. It'll do nicely as part of the album mixflood. YES

Nice and simple approach. Great solo bridge, that's some fantastic lead writing there. I enjoyed this a lot. However, the writing in other aspects left something to be desired. The percussion in particular is a real weak point: the samples are really low-quality, and they're on autopilot for the entire arrangement. They wear out their welcome very quickly, well before the short arrangement is over. The instrumentation never changes throughout: it's always the same lead (until the change to piano at the end), the same pads, the same sweeps. Also the pad is occasionally off-key. Structurally, there's a lot of copypasta going on. There are some mild changes in pads and sweeps between the various loops of the main Gemini Man theme, but you have to be listening closely for them. Mostly it sounds like a brief, lo-fi intro, two loops of the same thing, the bridge, another loop of the same thing, and finally another loop played by piano that's otherwise identical. This is a great start, and you clearly know how to write melody. Now you just need to work on varying things up to keep them fresh across repetitions. NO (resubmit)

Cool premise. As someone who's been forced into Minecraft Pigstep dance parties with my kid, I approve. It's a great arrangement that really captures the style of the DOOM Eternal soundtrack. The bass chugs are iconic and instantly identifiable. You know exactly what this mix is going to be in the one second from 0:22 to 0:23. And it delivers. Production is another story. The soundscape is pretty muddy, very heavy in the mids. The bass has little bass, the cymbals have very little trebel. It lacks inpact as a result. I did A/B comparisons to DOOM to make sure it wasn't an intentional homage, because it is a very unique approach, but no. Here's a particularly good comparison track, where you can really feel the low end of the bass and hear the sizzle of the cymbals. That's lacking in this remix. I love the arrangement to pieces, and the performance is great. It just needs some more EQ work to really shine. NO (please resubmit)

Hm... the first minute or so is really similar to the original, just with extra synth-bongos and a saw replacing the guitar. Then another loop with some more layered drums and pads. Then some subtractive breakdowns, and finally a climax with everything thrown together. Considering the changes to genre, instrumentation, and energy, the whole package comes across as strangely conservative. I think this is mostly because the melodic structure is essentially unchanged, even though the treatment of it is. This is mastered far too quietly. There's plenty of headroom and no compression. The soundscape is also a little mushy, with lots of layers in the lows but a dropoff in frequencies above 400 Hz. In the mids to highs there's just the lead and a bit of the bongos and cymbals. The cut-off ending isn't doing this any favors. Other than it being too quiet (a fairly simple fix), I don't think there's any single thing that sinks this, but as a package it's underwhelming. A richer soundscape and a more transformative interpretation would do this a world of good. It's a cool and obscure source, though, so I do hope to see this remix evolved a bit more. NO (resubmit)

First of all, let me clarify our policy: We don't generally review works in progress. That's what the Post Your Game ReMixes forum is for. We have workshop moderators there who can review works prior to their being submitted to us for final consideration. And make no mistake, this is definitely a work in progress. It fades out just after the 2 minute mark without really reaching any type of conclusion. More importantly, this is a cover. It's an epic cinematic reinstrumentation of the original source material, which is already done in as close to that style as the SNES could achieve. It's arranged quite well, for what it is, but this isn't what we look for. A ReMix for our site has to be transformative in some respect, not just a sound upgrade or modernization. Production-wise, this is pretty good. The instruments are reasonably well-realized. However, the drums are overpowering: they're very loud and dominate the soundscape every time they hit. They also cause audible clipping, with both distortion and pumping. I strongly recommend taking this over to the WIP forums if you choose to pursue this further, or to take your next arrangement. They'll be able to give you more personalized, and more importantly, more timely feedback. NO

This might have just as well been kept in the same submission thread as the other track. It's the same approach to a similar source with the exact same production. See my vote there. NO (resubmit)

Interesting approach. The source material is simple, short, and repetitive, so this remix basically just uses it as a bassline and builds a wholly original arrangement on top of it. And it largely works. It's clearly novel yet never drops the source. However, when I say "never," I mean never. The simple 12-note bassline never lets up for a second over the entire 2 1/2 minutes. Mercifully, it's a short arrangement. And it does a lot with that simple refrain, from black atmospheric to classic rock solos. Production isn't perfect. It's very quiet overall, especially so for the genre. I A/B'ed it with another remix that happened to be in my playlist, and it was notably quieter... than a Rebecca Tripp mix. So yeah, that's a problem. It's also mid-heavy; just a smidge light in the lows but palpably light in the highs. Overall I think this falls just short on production grounds. It would be a Conditional at best to throw a compressor on there, but I think it would really benefit from some more breadth of soundscape, and that's not a 5-minute fix. I do think it's a fairly simple fix, though, so I hope this gets resubmitted. NO (resubmit)

Production and theme are great. It's creative and transformative for sure. The integration of synth and ethnic sounds is tricky to pull off but always fun. This uses an elegantly crafted soundscape with rich atmosphere. However, it drags. The general tone and energy level are constant for its 4 1/2-minute length. Nothing gets repeated per se, but everything sounds the same. The vox are nearly always there and doing basically the same thing. Same for the bass, the pads, and the drums. I lost interest at about the 2 minute mark and nothing pulled me back. This would be great as part of a score for a movie or game, with great emotive ambience. But as a standalone track I can't get into it. NO

Yep, nothing groundbreaking, but pleasant for all that. The sound palette is vanilla but the spectrum is full. I didn't have any concerns about it being meandering or distorted. I'm happy with it. YES

Yep, it's fine. Does everything right that Rebecca always gets right, and the parts she could do better with are no worse than usual. YES

The surf rock/spaghetti western tone is basically the same as the original, so I needed to see a lot of creativity in the additional material to consider it sufficiently transformative. I was worried up until 1:11 when the original writing kicks in. At that point it definitely kicks things up a notch in the writing department, so good work there. Unfortunately, the sound quality is a problem for me. Was the intent to make this sound like a period-appropriate cassette recording? Because there's some heavy saturation which sounds like it may have been deliberate. Highs and lows alike are absent, with nearly all the sounds taking up the middle frequency bands. Everything is clear, but it sounds like mush. The violin in particular is so heavily treated that it doesn't sound like a live performance at all; it sounds like it was sampled from a deteriorating audio tape. The trumpet sounds better but still sounds like it was put through the same processing as everything else. Clean this up and give everything a crisper sound and I think this could be great. I can't vote for it in its current state, though. NO (resubmit)

Guillaume's performances never disappoint, and this is no exception. Beautifully expressive playing as usual. You'd never know this remix was based on two source tracks. It does get a little repetitive, especially by the final bookend, but there's more than enough transformation to keep it going. That's the closest thing I have to criticism here; otherwise this is great overall. YES

I hear the connections well enough to trust the breakdown and Brad's verification. Production sounds fine to me. Everything is clear, and while I recognize Brad's concerns about volume unevenness, I wouldn't even bring it up, it's so minor to me. There are about 3 seconds of silence at the beginning that could be pruned out, and frankly I don't see the need for a fade-in. While I dislike fade-out endings, this one was executed just fine, and while I wouldn't lop off a full 20 seconds of it, I would lop off 10 seconds. The arrangement and performance are top-notch, of course. It sounds weirdly like a medley at times, with some slightly abrupt transitions, but the whole is still plenty cohesive. YES