MindWanderer

OCR (and Game Music Initiative) is located in the U.S. and is subject to its laws. It doesn't operate businesses in other countries so it doesn't have to follow their laws. (This is unlike companies such as Google, which do have points of presence and child companies in other countries.) Now, if OCR content was mirrored in another country, the mirror host might be subject to those laws. That would be up to them; typically they'd open a dialogue with OCR about it.

Ditto, ditto. I'm not sure why kart-style remixes usually fade out, but they do, so I guess it's forgivable. It's easy to recognize the source and I don't have any problems with the production (kicks sound perfectly fine to me). YES

I felt mostly the same way as Gario: it's an unexpectedly chill arrangement, very simple and lo-fi, but still had me tapping my feet to its groove. It's a simple soundscape but it hits the full spectrum; I think it's adequate in that respect. That said, I'm hearing a lot more repetition than Gario did, specifically, that 3:32-5:28 is almost a copy-paste of 1:11-3:31--there's one extra loop in the first instance that isn't repeated in the second, but otherwise it's exact. That brings the amount of repetition up to 33%, and that's too much. Bring something new into the second half, maybe some different sounds to spice up the sound palette a little, and I'd be happy to have this on the front page. But this version I have to give a NO (resubmit)

Very nice acoustic arrangement. It doesn't go anywhere surprising, but there is a decent level of interpretation, and the performances are solid. But what is up with the rock/choral section? The soundscape is thin and muffled, the vocals are flat, and choruses don't work very well with just, what, 3 voices? without a whole lot of processing. Normally I wouldn't send something back for such a short section, but it's notably sub-par and really sinks the experience as a whole, especially since the rest of the soundscape is fairly static, so that one different part really leaps out. I like the idea of doing something different there to change things up, but the execution needs to be there. NO (resubmit)

I'm going to quote-vote myself from January 2017 when the project was first presented to us for approval: HeavenWraith's even better now, but this still sits with the best. One of the highlights of the album IMO, and an easy YES

Well, this just jumps straight into the thick of it, doesn't it? Great groove right off the bat. Really fun stuff... ...but at 1:43, it loops back to 0:27, and then goes into a full minute of fade-out. I'm afraid that's a dealbreaker for me; this comes across as incomplete. Don't get me wrong, what is there is great, but it's over after the breakdown. For something this short, it really needs a second verse and an ending, and a little bit more of an intro wouldn't be amiss either. I do really enjoy this, and I badly want what I hear to get posted. But without more meat to this arrangement I have to give it a NO (please resubmit!)

Pretty straightforward, for a Timaeus mix. The muted trumpets sit a little strangely in the mix, but otherwise this is spot on. A beautifully smooth integration of the themes, as usual. Great work all around. YES

Yep, I concur. Fully half of it feels like an intro, and about a quarter of it like a breakdown. And then it ends with a loop back to the intro and fades out. It would be okay in the context of, say, a remaster, where it's supposed to loop at that point, but as a standalone track it's lacking substance and structure. NO

Straightforward and competent. The ending repeats more times than I'd like but otherwise this does what it's supposed to do. I don't have any problems with the sampling, either: it's brief, and it's not from SquareEnix. If that's actually ProJared's voice, we should get his permission, though. YES

Fantastic work, guys! Maybe Scott can do "screamo" but this is pretty traditional rock ballad. And it's fantastic work all around, both as a remix and as a standalone track. It's one of those pieces no one would ever guess was a video game remix without knowing the source or being told. It's a professional job through and through. I do foresee complaints that it's too loosely derived from the source material. It's certainly a significant transformation. However, the guitar is always carrying a derivative of the source, always the same notes, if a (sometimes drastically) different rhythm. I'm personally fine with it as it stands. Aggressive stopwatching trying to match the source melody 1:1 will probably fall short, but anyone familiar with the source should be able to grok the connection easily enough. My only real crit would be the ending, or rather the lack of one. It could have used at least one final strum to signal a conclusion. Otherwise, I love this to pieces. YES

Can't argue with any of that. It's a valiant attempt to draw 2:30 of remix out of 7 seconds of source, and a lot of it works well, but it's not enough. The slowdown and fadeout at the end emphasize the feeling that you just ran out of ideas here. Understandable but unfortunate. NO

I liked this as part of the album eval--at least, after it had been cleaned up a bit--and I still do. Earth Kid's dulcimer work is superb, the vocals are a beautiful touch, the electronica fits in well now, and the beat is infectious. It's quirky and delightful. YES

The source usage is indeed a problem. A whole lot is directly ripped--I disagree that it doesn't "take up too much space"--and 1:19-3:11 is original content that keeps only the source's (very basic) bass line and chord progression. When you look at the amount that uses the source at the level we expect, it's only 0:22-1:07 and 3:36-4:20, or 33% of the arrangement. And the second of those sections is what sounds like an exact repeat of the first. Any one of those issues--a long original section, a moderate amount of sampling, a lengthy repeated section--would be fine, but when you take all that out there's only about 45 seconds of what we primarily look for. I really liked the original riffing in the middle, the production is solid, the voice samples are used appropriately (though the use of both English and Japanese was confusing). Trim the fat and I'd love to see this on the site. But I have to give this version a NO (resubmit)

It's not all that close to the source. There are a lot of extra parts that are enough to make it stand apart. They fit in naturally, to the point where I was sure they were in the original, or at least an in an official orchestrated version, but I did some research and I couldn't find anything. Even on top of what I had in my head, there's some extra percussion added, a new intro, and a few extra parts such as the harmonica, pizzicato strings, and piccolo, even if their roles are brief. There aren't many surprises here but this does everything it needs to do. YES

It's a nice, chill arrangement, with good production quality, but it's very repetitive. It's basically two and a half loops of the same thing. There's a brief bridge, and there are some brief substitutions piano for flute a couple of times, but that's it. The accompaniment is unchanged; the square wave scales in particular are relentless. For me this needs to mix things up more, both in terms of overall arrangement and in terms of instrumentation. NO (resubmit)

Very slow burn intro, maybe a bit long at nearly 25% of the arrangement but not horrible. Once the bass kicks in, the leads are pretty quiet--you can make them out but the bass and especially the vox pad are stepping all over them. The square wave gets a little shrill, too. It's an enjoyable, energetic arrangement, but I think it really needs to breathe. The percussion, bass, and vox pad are relentless and almost unvarying. It just keeps building and building, and it's exhausting, especially towards the end when there are what sounds like three pads and three harmony lines, just in what I can pick out. Put in a bridge with some of that spacey work from the intro, add a breakdown, something to reduce auditory fatigue, and clean up that climax so the listener can appreciate everything that's going on in there. NO (resubmit)

No surprises here. Beautiful woodwinds, nice harpsichord work. Rubber stamp. YES

Why is this mixed so quietly? There's over 2.1dB of headroom on it. I had to turn my volume up quite a bit. It's a conservative approach, but the reinstrumentation is substantial. Performances are solid, for the most part, though the accordion is a little awkward at times. The relentless, static rhythm guitar could stand to be changed up. 2:00-2:57 seems to be identical to 0:04-1:02, other than a few minor performance differences. I don't think any one thing is necessarily a dealbreaker, but little things add up. Nearly a third of the arrangement being a repetition is too much for me (25% is about my limit), and that guitar really needs to take a break or do something different on occasion. Put together, the arrangement drags. It's not bad but it isn't engaging either. I'm close on this but I'm coming down on a NO (resubmit)

It's a perfectly serviceable trance track. Repetitive, of course, but one would expect it to be, both because of the genre, because of the source, and because that's what Synesthesics does. The percussion especially is unvarying except when it isn't playing at all. It's not what I'd call "progressive" but it also never exactly repeats. Does what it's supposed to do and the production is fine. YES

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).