MindWanderer

"Mellow Sonic" certainly lives up to their name here. The source was already pretty chill, but this remix turns that up a notch. Very pretty soundscape, and the production is dead on for the genre. It does get pretty repetitive, though. 2:33-2:52 is a rehash of 0:38-0:57, just with a different, bassier pad. 2:53-4:39 is largely static, consisting of very small variations (mostly of the pad) of a simple loop, which itself was first in 1:36-2:14, with the lead from 2:14-2:23 added. That said, nothing is ever exactly repeated, and the soundscape does have an evolution to it, subtle as it may be. I would have preferred some more dramatic transformations in the second half, but for what this seems to be trying to achieve, I think it's adequate as it stands. YES

I had a hard time evaluating this for almost exactly the reverse reason Larry mentioned: The intro up until 0:15 is completely at odds with what comes after, but I personally didn't care for the frenetic section from 0:15-0:26, which sounded like both the drummer and the guitarist were trying to play faster than they could really manage and had a hard time keeping in sync. The drums match the guitar work better in subsequent sections, though, until that section is reprised at 2:04, with which the arrangement ends abruptly. I didn't mind the voice clips--the way they were used was more typical of a techo arrangement, but I didn't find them to be a detractor here. I didn't hear anything of the SFV melody, either, but the drum section is a very close match for what was used in the remix. I wouldn't count percussion only as source usage, though. On the other hand, 0:56-1:07 of the remix seems to be loosely derived from 0:12-0:18 of the linked SFIII.3 source; given that it's borderline on source usage, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. If it weren't for the fact that the beginning and end were easily the weakest parts of this for me, I would have given this a YES without too much more thought. As it is, it's a much closer call for me. Given that Larry was generally positive about the drumwork, I'm willing to chalk up my biggest objections as personal preference and give this a YES

I'm not quite as stoked about this as Gario, but it's still very good. The lead guitar is significantly lacking in presence; it's nearly inaudible every time it plays along with what should be backing vocals (though fortunately this is never for long). On the other hand, the rhythm guitar is a little too loud when it competes with the lead vocals. Also, you on occasion have lead and backing vocals at the same time (e.g. 1:34-1:37), and as they exactly occupy the same space, they completely step all over each other. It's very difficult to accompany yourself with your own voice in any way other than word-for-word harmonizing; you need some sort of filter, EQ, panning, something to help separate them. The singing does get slightly flat, moreso further along into the track; by the end your voice sounds very strained. Gario's also quite right that lengthy portions go by which don't have much in the way of highs (e.g. 2:47-3:17); basically the whole instrumental break from the bass solo on feels lacking in highs due to the weakness of that lead guitar. I think this is extremely close, and I wouldn't mind at all if this passed. The arrangement is great, the performance is great. But I do think the levels need a little more love so everything can be heard more clearly, and to add some life to that lead guitar when it's carrying the whole show. NO (borderline, please resubmit!)

Fantastic concept, wonderful execution. I love the narrative, which works out perfectly, and the heroic Mario theme in minor key was brilliant (although a little dark to really sell the story). Great, evocative performance. My only crit is that this is mastered a little quietly, maxing out at about -1.7dB. Otherwise, great job! YES

I'd say it gets overly busy in more than a few places, occasionally triggering some slight overcompression, but otherwise this is pretty fantastic stuff. Lots of cool, creative, entertaining stuff going on here--it's never comes across as random, but still manages to keep tossing out the surprises. For a dance-ish sort of track, I didn't think the harmonies were overused at all. I'm looking forward to seeing more from you, too! YES

True, it's pretty conservative, but there are some switch-ups and some embellishments that make this interpretive enough, in my opinion. Pretty generic synth-rock, but it gets the job done. It is, however, pretty repetitive.1:03-2:17 is closely repeated at 2:18-3:33; there are some small differences in a few places but it's very similar even when it's not identical. That's over 1/3 of the arrangement being duplicate material, which is quite a bit. And then it just ends at the end of the second loop, with no real ending to speak of. It also gets really shrill, loud, and busy in the climax (2:03-2:17 and its repetition). The guitar and the synth arp are fighting for exactly the same space, and they end up distorting each other. I think if they were separated a bit, that would also help with the peaky volume issue. I don't think it would take too much to get this posted. Just go back to 2:18 or even 2:47 and go somewhere else with it from there. Get creative! There's plenty of source material here already, so you can afford to throw in a slick guitar solo of your own invention, for instance. Then clean up that one busy section and I think you'll have a real winner here. NO (resubmit)

Some pretty cool ideas here, but it doesn't seem quite polished enough. The soundscape is lacking in bass almost throughout, giving it an empty feeling. The bassoon and the kettle drum are the only instruments occupying that low end, and they only come in for a few seconds at a time, a handful of times. In 1:10-1:17, the French horn and the flute are off doing their own things, conflicting with other in both rhythm and melody. Similar things happen at 2:24-2:33 and 3:05-3:10, throughout 1:36-2:04, and a few more brief sections throughout. In some cases it seems like they're trying to play complementary parts, but are too far off. These complex interminglings really need to have tighter timing to work; as it is, I'm not even sure some of the time whether they're hitting compatible notes because the timing is so far off. Otherwise, this is a pretty solid and creative arrangement, with excellent humanization and great production. I think this is really close, and just needs a push in a couple of areas to get it over the bar. NO (borderline, resubmit)

I... honestly don't know what you were thinking when you aimed for "appropriate with the setting of Final Fantasy Tactics" and came up with this. Interesting, yes--one of the strangest remixes I've come across. Mostly in a good way, but I do have some major concerns. First, the leads are consistently too quiet. The violin is the worst offender, but it's true for the other leads as well (except the vocalizations), especially but not only when the guitar is playing; for a rhythm guitar, it's way too loud in the mix. You need to rebalance your levels so that the lead comes through clearly at all times. Second, your interpretation of the Tavern theme is really liberal. Having been told in advance what the sources were supposed to be, I can pick up on the influence, but you don't use much more than the chord structure. Perhaps other judges will feel the connection more than I do, but I don't hear enough to call this predominantly based on the game music. Some of the note combinations sounded to me liked they clashed, but other judges will be able to give you more detailed feedback about that if I'm not imagining it. Overall this is pretty cool, and I'd love to be able to post it, but I definitely think the levels need adjusting, and I personally would have a hard time justifying the source usage as well. NO (resubmit)

Oh, yeah! Agreed with Gario on all points. It's unconventional as a remix, sure, but as punk metal, it's true to form. My only crit is that the rapping is a little too clean, not quite a match for the rest of the space and genre. The title's a little bland, too, given the genre and the name of the game. Otherwise, I love this, and I hope it will inspire imitation. YES

This is a fun little jazz mix, but is has some production issues that are holding it back. That lead trumpet is very quiet, as is the celesta when it takes the lead, and really get buried by the accompaniment. Also, most of the samples suffer from a lack of realism, although there's a pretty good effort made to humanize them. Other than those things, I enjoyed this arrangement a lot, and I'd really like to see it fixed up. If that lead cut through the mix better I think this would be all right, but as it is I have to give it a NO (resubmit)

Synth-rock-violin Mega Man 5? Good week for me! There's a lot here that I love, but what's killing it is the balance on that violin. All the high synths and both guitars are conflicting with it heavily, and it's just getting obliterated. It's your lead, it needs to shine! It's also super wet, the combination of which sounds like I'm in the studio with all the other instruments, but the violinist is in the bathroom next door. (Well, a really large bathroom, but hopefully you get the idea.) The bass was suffering from balance issues, too, covered up by some of the synths and some of the rhythm guitar. I think it was even more severely squelched than the violin, but because it wasn't the lead, it didn't stand out as much. The ending was also a little disappointing, not much of a climax there, just a guitar hit and a fade out at the end of a loop. Polish up your volume levels and EQ, and maybe come up with a more satisfying ending, and I hope you'll send this back to us. NO (resubmit) Update 10/18: Since this has gone up for a re-vote, I've listened to it again, and on new headphones, but I stand by my position. The violin is substantially drowned out, and I don't think a simple volume increase will fix it--it's hard to tell because of how quiet it is, but I'm hearing overlapping frequencies as well, and addressing those will take some equalization work, which is not a 5-minute fix. And please don't make everything but the violin quieter per Gario's suggestion, as the bass guitar is also already far too quiet. The ending of the arrangement is not a dealbreaker and not worth re-recording for, though I stand by my opinion about it as well.

Fantastic work! I have to admit not being a huge fan of the FFT soundtrack myself, but you've succeeded in making this huge and exciting! The slight sound upgrade to the classic fake FFT strings worked well to support the guitar work. Playing your own guitar work over the source's melody worked really well, too, to add life to the more ambient sections. There are some lengthy parts with no source I can hear, but the parts I can hear source are easily over 50%. It's just a little disjointed because there are so many different approaches here, but the transitions are smooth, everything seems thematically connected, and key elements keep returning to hold it all together. 4:35 is maybe an exception; that transition is pretty abrupt. The ending is a little abrupt, too. There are a few other oddities, but they're fairly minor. 2:08-2:32 features some very strange timing on the bass and percussion, so that it all sounds out of sync. The busiest sections (0:36-0:47, 2:21-2:31 and 4:55-5:08) get pretty crowded, and the synth violin and some of the percussion get lost, but it's all supporting elements that aren't critical to hear at all times. We do frequently lose some of the sweet harmonics on the bass, but that's definitely "nice-not-required." Definitely a winner here in my mind. YES

I like a lot about this trance-y take on one of my favorite sources, but what we have here is a loop. 0:16 is the start of the loop, and at 1:50 it returns to that, repeating itself verbatim one full time before fading out. That's not the type of arrangement we look for. It's also quite quiet. I see almost 2dB of headroom that you could be using. You don't need to balance it all the way up to 0dB, but I have to turn up my volume quite a bit to hear it well at all. Otherwise, this is pretty good stuff. If the second half branched off into something more creative and interpretive, this could well have been a solid mixpost. I hope we hear more from you! NO

Interesting. It's a pretty liberal interpretation, but well over half of it is clearly a transformation of the source. It helps that the source is so iconic, it's easy to recognize even when changed so much. Many of the synths aren't quite what I'd call 70's funk, but I can definitely hear the inspiration in the style and from the Hammond organ. It's unfortunate that the main synth lead (that comes in at 0:09) is a pretty bland saw that sounds like it desperately wants to be brass. The guitar is also clearly synthetic, and I'm not sure why you'd use a low-fi electric piano as a lead when you also have perfectly good actual piano as accompaniment. While I do really like this arrangement, I don't think the instrumentation is enough to do it justice. If you can find the musicians, this would be absolutely fantastic with the use of live brass, guitar, and piano. If not, well, then you get to really practice those production skills with samples/soundfonts. In a pinch, I think just a different selection of synths could get you by, but right now you're squarely in the uncanny valley of trying to be real instruments, and not. NO (resubmit)

For record-keeping purposes, "Tal Tal Heights" and "Ballad of the Wind Fish" are uncredited sources that play brief cameos here. Interesting approach. I was certainly not expecting it to turn into a rock ballad halfway through. It comes across as an extremely lengthy introduction for a very brief main section (1:25-2:15). I'd extend that middle section, which is the highlight and centerpiece of the overall arrangement; alternatively, shortening the intro would help (you could move part of it to the end, as well, but take care that the middle section remain the main section). It's also a little odd that the lead guitar that comes in after the main section is treated completely differently than the way it was before. It creates an unnecessary discontinuity between the different sections. I personally felt that the later section was a little too loud and piercing, but just a hair. If you match sounds in the end section more closely to thouse in the intro, the result would be a more cohesive arrangement and more effective bookending. The vocalizations are frequently flat. Since they're used as backing, a little bit of auto-tuning would clean that right up. The reverse reverb on the spoken verse is maybe a bit too strong, making the words difficult to understand. I don't think there's any one dealbreaking issue here, but the off-key vocals and the strange overall organization are both pretty substantial. I would love to see this back with those addressed, though, as I really do like the concept, the individual arrangement choices, and the musicianship here. NO (resubmit)

Hm... "Rock-a-bye Weasel" is very close to "Rock-a-bye Baby." I think it's probably different enough that it counts as a unique composition per our criteria, but I do think we should get the opinion of senior staff before giving it the OK. I'm really not a fan of the pad-like synth that plays throughout almost the whole arrangement (from 0:10-2:08). It sounds like it's supposed to be strings, but it's clearly fake and sounds completely out of place with the harp and lead violin. It's especially problematic at 1:51-2:07, where it's supposed to be playing under the music box, but instead swallows it up, and neither instrument sounds good there. I agree that the lead violin is not great, but I think it's more than adequate. For me, the question is whether those backing "strings" are a dealbreaker, since I don't hear any other substantial issues. The arrangement is otherwise pleasant and extremely creative. For now I'm just leaning on the side of saying it's OK, but it does bother me more the more I listen to this. If anyone else has any concerns about it, I'll listen to it again with fresh ears and could maybe flip my vote. YES (borderline)

Yeah, not a fan of that fade-out ending at all, but otherwise there's not much to dislike here. I think the rhythm guitar is just a hair out of tune, but the effect is sort of quaint and I don't really mind it. I don't hear any audio rips myself, though there are a couple of very similar synths. All in all it certainly works for me. YES

Fantastic arrangement of an unusual source. Absolutely does what it says on the box. I don't really have any criticism; this is just a really well-executed metal interpretation of the Thardus battle music with just a little of the title theme used for flavor. Let's get it up. YES

I've been waiting for a good, high-energy remix of Spider Dance, and this is... well, almost it. The arrangement is great, I love the guitar work and the narrative progression. What I don't love is the pumping surrounding that kick. The intro (0:10-0:29) is the worst, but throughout the rest of the remix as well, all the synths duck each time the kick hits. It's a really strong, striking, and distracting effect, so severe that to me it's a dealbreaker. It sounds like there are some crowding issues as well. For instance, at 1:04-1:14, I can just barely hear a synth playing a sort of call-and-response to the guitar, but it's buried by the other instruments, including the percussion. The tom is especially problematic--for a percussion element, it's eating up a lot of your frequency space. I'm not a fan of that ending, either. Odd choice to end at that point in the source's loop, at an anticlimactic part, when there are so many more natural places you could have chosen, or just change the last two or three notes to end on the tonic. More of a climax would have been even better, but even a small change here could be a vast improvement. I'd love to see this revised and resubmitted with the compression improved and the instruments separated out more. I think the fixes that need to be made are fairly small considering the strengths of this arrangement, so please do send it back in! NO (resubmit)

Classicvania synth-rock with orchestral elements? Talk about hitting all my buttons! Some nice riffs and original content to keep an overused source interesting. I have only a few minor criticisms. At 1:39, a string note hits that's treated more like a pad, extending for a ridiculous amount of time until fading into a choir sample. It's dominating and unrealistic. Of course, the strings are unrealistic all around, but I expect that in an arrangement like this, and except in that one section and from 1:00-1:08, they're never in your face. 1:00-1:08 is a bit problematic also because there's a lot of frequency conflict between the strings and guitars, but it's only for 8 seconds. I think I caught a few clashing notes with the choir near the end--sounds like the tails of each note are a little long--but it's pretty subtle. Otherwise, this is really solid stuff and I hope we hear more from you! Edit: Unfortunately, Gario's right. I know this source so well that my brain sort of filled the lead in automatically, but if you're not doing that, then it's true--you have one saw and the guitar that come through pretty well, but there's a secondary saw and some other synths that don't. From about 1:24, only the guitar lead can be heard clearly. I'm afraid I have to flip my vote, but I hope you'll clean this up and send it back. NO (resubmit)

I was worried about this being a little too conservative at first, but after one loop through it definitely laid that fear to rest. Great original guitar sections and riffs, exceptionally well played, and the rock organ arrangements are really good as well. Fast and relentless, but I didn't find it fatiguing at all. It does get pretty busy, though. It's lacking in the low end, and several of the instruments are crammed into the mid to mid-high range; listen to 2:17-2:26 for a particularly striking example. The piano especially is just destroyed by everything; it's barely audible much of the time, and when it is audible it has so much depth smashed out of it that it sounds very thin (e.g. 2:05-2:09). The drum work is a little odd--if this were a live rock band, it sounds to me as if there were two different drum kits, with one's snare and cymbals louder and EQ'ed higher, and the snare and kick on the other further back. I think this can ride on the strength of the arrangement and the musicianship despite the production issues. I wouldn't mind some more clarity and separation, and some more bass presence, but I don't think it's enough to hold this back. Great job. YES

Nice! Lots of creative original guitar work. The "stretching" was perfectly appropriate and was done without making this feel repetitive. The intro being panned hard right was a little off-putting, but that was short lived, and otherwise I felt the stereo was pretty well balanced despite some extreme panning of individual elements. Ending is a little abrupt but not overly so. Overall very nice job. YES

The trap elements in such a relaxed, ethereal mix took a little bit of getting used to, but it works. The reverb is applied a little inconsistently, where some instruments (like the tubular bells) have much less than others (like the guitar), making them subtly sound like they're not in the same space. The ending was a little abrupt; it's not unusual for a chill arrangement like this to have little in the way of a climax, but this ending came out of nowhere for me. I only have those minor complaints, though. Overall it's a very pretty piece, and does what it's supposed to do perfectly well. YES

Speedrunners have gotten it down to under the 1 hour mark already. I kind of feel sorry for them, though--for them to be grinding speedruns in the first week to master it down to that level means they're not really spending time playing the game as intended. Well, to each their own.

Fun stuff! It's a little lacking in the low end, but not too badly. Some might find the fake guitar off-putting, but TMNT is all about that fake guitar, so it works for me. That ending is pretty rough, though, just cutting out at the end of a loop like that. As much as I dislike that ending, I think that even combined with the lack of bass, this arrangement is strong enough for a YES