MindWanderer

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

Definitely achieved that epic feel you were looking for, nice job! The guitar chugs and energy level are very static, though, and I wish they let up from time to time. Also, the middle section is a little too busy once the vocals join in (2:30-2:51), there's especially conflict in the highs. I can live with it, though, with the rest of this as solid as it is. YES

Well, this is certainly interesting and creative. For all the wacky stuff in it, though, it's a very static arrangement. The percussion and the squeaky arp are pretty much on autopilot the whole time. The growling bass isn't quite as static, but close. It's also pretty repetitive on the larger scale: 2:14-3:04 is very close to a copy of 0:40-1:28--I think there are some slight differences, but they're very subtle--and the intro is 30 seconds of very small variations on a 2-second pattern. I think this needs more variety in terms of accompanying instrumentation at least, and more change-ups in the lead for the second pass wouldn't hurt either. NO

Normally, that's certainly true--they make the game and then shoehorn it into the timeline because they feel they have to for some reason. But in interviews about BotW they've said that this time they've put thought into it, it's definitely part of the timeline somewhere after Ocarina. That being said, they probably came up with that fairly late in the process and there may be logical inconsistencies. But I doubt very much that there's some master plan here. In other news, anyone having any trouble using amiibo? I don't have any BotW ones, but I used another to make a pile of random gear. Now I can't do it again, several real-world and in-game days later. I use the Amiibo rune and get the targeting circle, but my only option is B-Cancel.

It's a little light on the low end for 80's dark synths, but otherwise it definitely nails the era. Highs get a little crowded at moments, especially during the sweeps, but it's not a huge issue. The one huge issue I do have is with the original content. Other than some of the percussion synths, it's like a completely different song. It adds a guitar and completely changes the energy level. It even has its own introduction. If I were listening to this on an album, I would assume it was the next track and would have been completely surprised that it returned to the original melody afterwards. It's pretty good stuff as a standalone song, but it doesn't belong in this one. And it's a shame, because I really like everything else, and I like that one section by itself, but even though this only uses one game music source, I feel like this is a standards violation on sounding like "multiple songs pasted together." I'd actually recommend taking that original section, setting it aside to use for another piece of music in the future, and writing something new that's more compatible with the rest of this arrangement to put in its place. If you can do that, I think the result would be a great addition to the site. NO (resubmit)

I referenced Music for Airports myself, specifically to look into the low-end issue that Gario mentioned. There's one particular instrument, a sort of bass celesta, that first hits an awkward pitch at 1:13, that's deeply resonant, creating a loud and distracting hum. It's also panned left, which makes it even more distracting. I actually kind of liked the extra bass presence in this over Eno's version, like that deep note at 0:05, but that one instrument I found to be extremely problematic. Otherwise, this arrangement absolutely nails it and I'm totally on board. I think a fairly quick EQ pass can cut out the offending frequency--it might take slightly longer than the 5 minutes we use as a guideline for "conditional yes" votes, but pretty close. YES-Conditional

This sounds like it's been improved since the last album eval, but it still sounds overly wet and crowded. 1:44-1:57 is still too crowded to make out the individual instruments, especially the lead; 2:59-3:30 is also still too crowded and is also overcompressed; 4:09-5:07 is also a little crowded and overcompressed. I'm also still not a fan of the lead synth that comes in at 1:04, which sounds like microphone feedback. That might just be personal preference, though. I like the arrangement a lot--the creativity and energy are fantastic. But the production still needs some work. I'd start by killing your reverb and delay entirely, then add them back in gradually until it's just enough to achieve the depth of sound you want. Maybe lower the volume on the pads and sweeps as well; I feel like they're adding a lot of the muddiness, too. NO (resubmit)