MindWanderer

Yep, ditto from me. A solid arrangement. I'm getting both Chrono Trigger and Duck Tales vibes off of it--never a bad thing! There's a little bit of pumping still, but it's subtle and easily overlooked. The lead is indeed a little quiet but in this soundscape that works just fine. YES

Better. The lengthy and repetitive middle section has been shortened, and that was my biggest concern. Still a bit muddy because of how busy it is, but I'm more than happy with the improvements. YES

8 years later Obviously I wasn't around back then to hear your original submission, but you sure know what you're doing now! It's a gorgeous, clean soundscape with great energy and an exciting mix of electronic and Asian instruments. Well worth the wait. YES

Why is this so quiet? It peaks at -3.87dB Unfortunately, it's still problematic. The leads are easier to hear, but at the expense of everything else. It's very busy, and many of the backing elements churn together into a wall of white noise. You have multiple synths, orchestral elements, and the cymbals all fighting for a heavily overlapping sound spectrum. I can hear distinct parts only by focusing on them very closely, and even then not very well. Usually only the lead, the snare and one pad are clearly audible. Everything else is mush. The arrangement is also relentless. High energy is good, but energy that's consistent at the same high level is exhausting. You have a bridge, where the melody takes a break and the percussion slows down, but everything else is still going full-bore. When you have that much going on, it's really difficult to clean things up and make every part shine. You may have to cut parts. I would consider first cutting half or more of the parts, then adding them back in one at a time and playing with the levels and EQ to make sure you can still hear everything distinctly; if you can't, stop. I like the part writing, and I'm excited about the arrangement in general. But I'm afraid it's still a NO (resubmit)

Yeah, it doesn't start off as anything more than a well-executed cover, but the riffing that starts at 1:41 is delightful. Great sound and an excellent performance. NutS's criticisms are certainly valid. The backing is certainly repetitive, which makes the overly-loud "thwack" on the kick and snare really stand out. They also tend to drown out the guitars, which indeed step on each other a fair bit. But it's nowhere near enough reason to send this back. Excellent work overall and a worthy post. YES

Pretty solid work. There's a bit of hiss to the soundscape, mostly caused by the white noise sweep pad, but otherwise it's rich and clean. It's a bit conservative but there are extra layers and harmony added in, and some changes to the pacing that make it distinct from the source. Has a nice breakdown, too, although it segues into a repetitive ending. I think this one might be your big break! YES Edit 9/13: I don't know how I missed that buzzing that comes in with the goat bells. It's definitely a problem that needs to be addressed. As for the buzzing that starts at 0:53, it sounds like it's mostly driven by the bass, and I think most likely a bit of a high pass on that will clear up the worst of it. YES/CONDITIONAL (on fixing clipping/buzzing).

NutS nails everything I was going to say. There are some interesting ideas here, but the samples, production, and pacing are all areas that need work here. NO

I always get excited when I see a remix made with LMMS, it has such potential! But sadly, this one has some issues. I would normally be OK with a fake-sounding gothic intro to a techno remix, but it goes on for a while and starts to get grating. Then in the main part of the arrangement, the sounds remain pretty low-quality--they sound very MIDI-ish, especially the lead saw that starts at 1:00. The percussion is also very thin and vanilla, and the bass that sounds like a quacking duck goes on for a long time. 2:05-end is better; the lead is much better (still on the vanilla side but the LFO helps), but the bass is really quiet. The arrangement here is really cool, though. I like the arrangement a lot overall, but the quality of the sounds is well short of what we usually look for. I don't know what OS you're using, but LMMS supports soundfonts, and most Windows VST's work with it in Windows or under Wine. The soundscape is also fairly thin throughout, with both the bass and high end being fairly quiet. I'd like to hear another stab at this, but this version I have to give a NO

It's an eclectic mix, keeps you guessing despite flowing smoothly. The guitar work is a little gritty and sits oddly with the clean rest of the soundscape, but that's more a stylistic thing than an objective complaint. Kind of reminds me of the Life is Strange OST. Given how strange the rest of the arrangement was, the fade-out didn't bother me at all, it was just another oddity. It's original and memorable. Let's get it up. YES

Sorry, but I'm going to do exactly what Gario was worried we'd do. The transition after the first 30 seconds makes it sound like it's going to be a "variations"-style arrangement, which I can get behind, but there was just one other variation. And that one was really repetitive. I even checked out Chopin's "Aeolian Harp" to see where Gario was coming from, and there's no comparison. This remix consists of three sections of 9-second loops repeated three times each, and one more unlooped section at the end, for a total of ten repetitions of the same simple melody. It's a bold idea, but it's not enough to anchor an entire remix on, IMO. There are a few other approaches you could use to turn such a short source into a full remix: adding original writing or another game source, layering it with other harmonies or even melodies, and adding additional parts are the usual ways. But I personally wouldn't vote in favor of this one even with a world-class performance. NO

There may be a lot in here that doesn't scream Nightwish, but plenty does. It's pretty darn epic in any event. The lyrics are really hard to make out, but that's my only crit. This is going into my own playlist for sure. YES

Solid Tripp production, as ever. A fairly straightforward arrangement but the orchestration is sufficient. It's not a terribly memorable arrangement, sort of half-ambient, but it gets the job done. YES

I could take time to nitpick the production--the lead guitar is frequently buried, for instance--but the main issue is that this is a medley of covers. For OC ReMix, Medleys need to not sounds like a bunch of individual songs strung end-to-end, and this very much does, with abrupt changes in key and tempo and no real transitions. Also each section is either a straight rock cover or very close to it. A couple of sections have some original arrangement elements tossed in, like the SFX in Boss 1 and that cowbell, but they're minimal. We look for arrangements that are more transformative interpretations than this. It's a very good medley of covers, but that's not what we look for. Thanks for submitting, though! NO

Seriously epic arrangement and performance, nice work! Ending is slightly abrupt. I could nitpick tiny production issues but I don't really see the point. This is front page-worthy for sure. YES

It's not out yet, but they had a listening party: The final phase of the final boss has some seriously epic music. Sort of Castlevania stylings with notes of Final Fantasy.

It's short and structurally conservative, but it's beautifully orchestrated and produced. My one big gripe is that it just sort of...ends. The climax ends halfway through, it sounds like it's going to build up to something more, but then there's just a brief verse and it fades out. It feels completely unfinished. It's just barely longer than the source, and that's with a lengthy intro and breakdown. I love, love how this sounds, but I'm on the fence on whether there's enough there to count as a full arrangement. Right now I'm leaning towards passing this, but I feel like it could easily go either way. YES (borderline)

I've never heard of this game, but wow, what a soundtrack. This definitely needs some representation. The performance and arrangement here are stellar. Great integration of synth and rock elements. It's a medley, for sure. The transitions at 1:46, 2:50, and 4:24 really threw me off. The rest were pretty smooth, though. The lead synth in the intro is significantly buried; the percussion in particular is very loud. This happens in a few other places as well: 1:16-1:31 with the lead guitar and 2:09-2:27 with multiple leads, just for starters. It's an issue throughout. 5:00-5:20 is seriously loud. It's peaking at over +0.5dB, definitely into waveform sausage territory. Overall, the balance is the most significant issue. The percussion is overwhelming the sound space, especially the kicks and snares. I dunno. I'm going to mull this over a bit more. Mostly it's really good but I really have to strain to hear the melody in places. Update 7/8/19: I'm not going to hold this back anymore. I still really enjoy this but the issues are real and should be addressed before we post it. NO (please resubmit)

A very pretty, if somewhat conservative take. The original content fits in perfectly and is a great extension of the source. Great emoting. The lead flute being panned left is definitely distracting. Later on there are some right-panned instruments to help balance it out, but there's not enough and there's a whole lot of time where the lead is completely exposed. However, that's my only issue and it isn't a dealbreaker. If this does get sent back, definitely move that flute to center, or maybe panned very, very slightly. This is still, in my book, a solid YES

This is better than I remember the previous version being (which, granted, was a year and change ago). The piano work is great; the opening solo really has me on board. That said, there are still some issues. Balance is still off. 0:49-0:57 is a great example of the "lead" violin being too quiet and getting covered up by the piano and cymbals. Those cymbals in particular are really greedy. That buzz I mentioned before is still there. It's really noticeable at 0:16 and 1:18. Now it sounds more like something loose on the bass. I still disagree with that brief use of synths in an otherwise acoustic piece, but that's really just my preference. The ending is really weak. It's not a fade-out, but it still just sort of trails off without concluding. Overall it's a substantial improvement. The balance in particular could be better but IMO it's easily passable now. Nice job. YES

The mixing help shows; it's a little louder and deeper than Rebecca's usual work. It's very well done. The one thing I dislike is the drone, which is loud and dnly lets up for about 10 seconds in the middle. After a couple of listens it gets really grating. But I don't think it sinks the piece. YES

No surprises here: NutS brings his usual synthwave flair, and as he said, it's a natural fit. The breakdown hits a little early, which results in it feeling a little long, but I'm nitpicking. The original riffs and noodling are superb. Can't help but YES

Yeah, no, not so much. However, with all the hours I spent on it myself, I'm surprised I never thought of Mario Maker! The Easy levels are really, really easy (as long as I can teach her to recognize automatic levels). I think I'll wait for Mario Maker 2 in June so I don't have to mess with the Wii U again, but I have high hopes. Might also get her started on Amazing Tales (a basic P&P RPG ) sometime soon, too.

I also favor arrangements over production, but the production here is really rough. Several sections are crowded and loud. 2:11-2:25 and 3:31-end are the most striking, and were actually uncomfortable to listen to. The panpipes are also inconsistent, and tend to have loud bursts. The arrangement is fun, though the variations are sometimes subtle, and the fadeout ending isn't doing it any favors. Instrument quality isn't great but is adequate. I think this mostly need another pass on volume levels. It's a good concept and the execution is entertaining, but it's hard to listen to in its current form. NO (resubmit)

Another gorgeous Tripp track. It helps that the source is gorgeous as well, but the swells, vocals, and dulcimer work here put it on a new level. Makes heavy use of the source's chord progressions rather than overt use of the source melody. Only 0:24-1:13 and 1:25-2:14 use the melody, which is 98/257 seconds, or just 38%. Historically we haven't counted chord progressions as source usage, although in this case it's very identifiable. I'm on the fence about it myself. Since there's never another melody playing on top of it I'm inclined to call it "dominant" because it isn't dominated by anything. So not a standards violation IMO. However, what makes this harder is that the entire second half of the arrangement is basically a breakdown. It's well done, but it's very long, and meandering. At about the 2:38 mark I was thinking, "this section sounds really nice, I'm going to say something positive about it." By 3 minutes I had shifted to "okay, this has gone on too long, time for some more melody." And then it went on through the end of the piece. The use of dissonance starting at 3:11 was interesting and remarkable, though off-putting; again, a short section of it would have been neat but it just kept going. I love so much of this, the first maybe 60% of it is almost perfect. But I can't give my thumbs-up to the rest. NO (resubmit) Edit 5/20 to respond to Liontamer: I don't agree that a chord progression is sufficient. If I were to listen to the second half of this without context, I never would have pegged this as a Chrono Cross arrangement. And even though I don't hear the theme from 2:14-2:46, or 1:13-1:25, it's immaterial; including those would only bring it up to 49%. Besides, my greater issue is with the structure of the second half moreso than its source usage.

I'm not as huge a fan of the vocals. They sound muffled, like you're singing everything through clenched teeth, and they're hard to make out. I'm also not a fan of the fade-out ending; they usually come across like you just ran out of ideas, even more so since you're remixing a source that does have its own ending, rather than a loop. I also can't argue with Gario about the instruments. I don't think they're quite as problematic as he does--the sample quality is up there and helps a lot--but they aren't humanized almost at all. The long instrumental bridge makes it really noticeable, for example, the slight attack delay on the trumpet sounds strange in the rapid runs. The bass range of the piano is almost inaudible most of the time. Definitely a balance tweak needed there. I might--might--be OK with the mechanical instruments if that was the only issue. But it's not. NO