MindWanderer

Interesting choice of source. For all the Chrono Trigger that folks love to remix, I don't think I've heard this one done before. I can see this arrangement in a survival horror game, all right, but during one of the open-air peaceful moments where you just sort of look around and appreciate the ruin. It's beautifully evocative. The jump in volume at 1:04 is pretty severe. I had my volume turned up to appreciate the beginning, and then had to turn it down a lot. Some dramatic differences in loudness are OK, but it should be comfortable to listen to the whole thing without turning the volume up or down, and this isn't. In addition, the loud section is overcompressed at points; for instance, there's some strong distortion at 2:53-2:58, and some brief distortion in other places. The strings are clearly inhuman, especially in the introduction where they're completely exposed. The long, droning notes (e.g. 0:40-0:48) are especially problematic. The choir is really synthetic as well. Over 3 minutes of basically the same thing, in a mix 5:44 long, is a lot. Some sort of variation in instrumentation, energy, etc. somewhere in the middle of that would be really nice, or you could just shorten in. I don't feel like it would be hurt much by cutting it down by a minute or even two. And then 4:17-5:20 is really static as well. As for source usage.... The original is really sparse and not very melodic. The arrangement is in a different key and starts in a different place, so I'm finding it extremely hard to identify where the melodies actually line up. It's certainly done in a similar sort of style, but I'm not at all sure whether this constitutes an arrangement of it by our standards. Maybe another judge will be able to make the connection better than I can. I love this atmosphere, and I love the challenge that you went for. There are some definite production issues which I feel are holding this back; other judges may be able to provide some other thoughts about the arrangement as well. I definitely think this has potential and would love to see it posted in some form, though. NO (resubmit)

I didn't hear the original, so I don't know if this entry is an improvement over it, but at least some of the major issues that judges described back then are still issues now. The orchestral elements are still rather, though not completely, robotic, especially the strings. Strings are a very hard instrument to get right because an actual human will vary each note in several different ways, not just in velocity and timing. The nice build-up at 1:42, for instance, sounded exactly like the OST from the Lunar games for Playstation, which was all very well and good for the time and technology, but unless you're clearly and intentionally trying to mimic PS1-style sounds, we're looking for a higher level of quality than that. The hats, while not totally on "autopilot" loops anymore, still use identical velocity and timing throughout, and they constitute all I can hear of the percussion. This leads to a lack of energy in the mix.Most of the synths, especially until 1:09, are also very vanilla and not very interesting. When you use generic synth sounds, there should generally be some sort of aesthetic reason for it, and I'm not sensing that here. The pad is also oddly dissonant; I don't have the music theory to tell you whether it's actually discordant, but it sounds unpleasant to me. The ending is still disappointing, with no climax, just trailing off on that vanilla bass synth. All that being said, I didn't feel like the synths and orchestral instruments were at odds with each other, like the judges complained about last time. The celesta was too quiet, and the filtered synth at 2:39 interfered with the other instruments' frequencies and sounded muddy, but otherwise I felt that they intermixed perfectly well. EQ balance was decent except again for the muddiness at 2:39, and the drums in general. The judges who reviewed this last time can say for sure, but this sounds much better than what they described before. So keep working at it, and don't be afraid to ask for advice in our WIP forums. NO

Interesting, liberal take on Magus's theme. It's almost unidentifiable; up until 1:04 I definitely wouldn't have pegged it without knowing in advance what it was supposed to be. Then it repeats the main hook twice, and the next section, I'm not sure if it's original or a heavily modified version of some other part of the source. Lavos's theme starts off with the famous intro, and then it goes off again into an interpretation I can't identify as a part of either source until it returns to Magus's theme. On the production front, there's some overcompression: it sounds like the kick and crash cymbal are causing some pumping in the other instruments. Also, the lead guitar is panned right a bit, and some of the cymbals are panned left, creating a distracting imbalance. You can see it in the waveform, too: there's quite a bit more headroom (about 0.3dB) on the left channel than on the right. There are some balance issues, too: for instance, in 0:35-1:00, the lead is buried behind the crash cymbals, rhythm guitar, and bass. There's some creative stuff here which I love, but the production and lack of identifiable source are bringing this down. NO

Some lovely instrumentation going on here. Such a peaceful atmosphere. Nice graceful ending. I have some balance concerns, though. At 0:50-1:01, the reed (oboe?) is too dominant, drowning out most of the other instruments, especially the melody; this is most severe at 0:54 and 1:00. At 1:30-1:44 it gets very busy, and the melody is buried by multiple instruments as well as sounding muddy. 2:08-2:20 is very busy and a little chaotic; I have a hard time keeping track of everything here. 2:45-2:57, the melody is again buried, this time by the flute and what sounds like a viola; in addition, this section is pretty muddy as well. The strings at 1:26 are pretty artificial, but otherwise I think the realism is above the bar. Work on balancing things out so the melody can be heard and all those complex accompaniments can be appreciated, and I think this'll be golden. NO (resubmit)

I didn't hear the original submission, but I felt the instrumentation, while still clearly artificial, was adequate. It was pretty busy in places, and there were a few brief moments where there was an accompanying instrument that was really hard to catch--the pizzicato strings, in particular, are nearly inaudible--bit I don't think this was enough of an issue to bring the piece down. It's a fun conceit, well executed, and I'd love to see it posted. YES

Agreed with Larry on all points. In addition, I thought the piano arrangement was really strange, with some unusual chords that I didn't feel fit the overall style or energy level at all. There are some clever ideas, and I definitely encourage you to pursue arranging in this direction, but the repetition and lack of realism here are significant issues that need to be addressed. NO

This one really took me by surprise because of the key transposition. Curse of Darkness's titular track is an amazing and overlooked source I was looking forward to seeing remixed more-or-less conservatively, so taking that and transforming it so dramatically was an unusual choice. And I thought it was pretty amazing that the arpeggio from AoS's "Inner Quarters" basically turns into Castlevania 1's "Out Of Time" when you change the key like that (and it has other similarities as well--I expect many comments to this effect from fans of the series). I agree with Gario that using that as the binding feature was a neat choice that worked really well. The connection to CV3's "Riddle" is barely noticeable to me, which IIRC is why I didn't vote for this entry in the compo, myself. (I'm not sure what Gario's hearing at 2:30, but it's not listed in the breakdown.) However, the bulk of the arrangement is very clearly from the other two sources, though it takes a second to think about it first. The leaps at 2:15 worked perfectly for me--the intervals are changed to fit the key change, but it's done in a consistent way that preserves the original meter and general pattern. The balance at 3:30-4:00 is a little wonky to me, where there's a new harmony line that's pretty loud and muddies up the melody. And the ending is a little anticlimactic--you have that complex harmony that sounds like it's going into a big finish, and then it's just one note. The trailing delay helps--I actually tried switching to my cheap headphones, which generally have a slightly tinny sound to them, which accentuated that tail and made the ending a little more dramatic. However, these are really minor crits. Overall this is not only a fresh and creative take on the two sources that I could actually hear, it's a really enjoyable piece of music. YES

Definitely too conservative. The added chords are very subtle. The choir is nice, but even with that addition, I really don't think this is sufficiently transformative for the site. Within the context of a game like this, with vaguely religious connotations, I expect a certain amount of separation of space. Usually the choir is meant to sound otherworldly, quite literally not in the same space as the other instruments. The issue is less severe for the piano parts, though it's definitely there. If the arrangement were on point I think I could probably forgive the mechanical/dry backing piano, but it's not. NO

I listened to the source for reference first, and was a bit dubious that you could create something interesting out of that, but you definitely succeeded in meeting that challenge. I agree with Gario that the instrumentation feels a little old by the time it hits 3:00, but like him that's my only critique. Arrangement and production are definitely on par. Nice job. YES

I only have two minor critiques beyond what Gario (correctly) mentioned: First, I found the sidechaining in a couple of places, most notably at 0:42, to be just a little heavy, but it was over before it began to really bother me. Second, there are a lot of places, like at 1:15 and 2:10, that have what sounds like a filter on an LFO, that I also thought were just a little too dramatic and distracting. Otherwise, yeah, an original take on an overused source. Lots of fun flourishes, tasteful use of SFX (I especially liked the drop into the warp effect at the very end and the underwater segment), just an enjoyable arrangement all around. YES

I'm amused that Larry and Gario made exactly the opposite comments about the two guitar sections, but I agree with both of them: The one at 0:16 etc. is on the loud side and muffles everything else, but the ones at 1:33 sound distant and muted, indeed like they were much further off than the rest of the instrumentalists. The vocals are just barely indistinct, although they are direct quotes from the game and will thus be familiar to players; they go on for long enough that I do think they should be clearer. If it were just a couple of lines, I don't think it would matter so much, but it's about a third of the mix. Gario's comments about where the mix is cluttered are spot-on as well. Like the vocals, if this wasn't an issue for quite as long, I could overlook it, but as it stands, it's a significant drawback, no small part because you have great stuff going on that's just inaudible and it's a shame. 1:55 and 3:55 are particularly unfortunate because the cello work is excellent when it stands on top of the mix, but it's competing with so much during these two sections that it doesn't sound good at all. The strong reverb in the ending is a little distracting, since it creates some dissonance, but that might be intentional--the backstory told by the echo flowers is meant to be unfortunate, after all. I never thought I'd send back an LBC remix, especially with such great collaborators thrown in, but the mixing really is bringing this down a lot. It's close, as Gario said, but I'm coming down just on the other side of this. Clean this up a little and it can go from borderline to amazing. NO (borderline, resubmit)

That murkiness does stand out as an issue. The mid-lows where that nice idiophone (marimba?) hangs out are also home to some other instruments that get buried: strings at 0:24, some woodwinds starting at 0:30, 1:05 and 3:30, a flute trill at 0:36 and 3:24, and probably more--it seemed like every time I listened to it, I caught a hint of an instrument I didn't notice before. It seemed like there was some conflict in the bass range as well; I heard the plucked bass throughout most of the arrangement, and the bowed bass from 2:52-3:11, but at times (like 2:22) I could just barely hear what sounded like something else in that range, but couldn't make it out. The weird thing about that drum shot at 1:02 is that the plucked bass drops out completely at that moment, creating a disjoin. I kind of liked the effect, personally. I'm right on the fence with this one. The arrangement is great, but there are a lot of details that just can't be heard well, and I feel like this could be a whole lot better if that could be cleaned up a little. NO (borderline, resubmit)

Yeah, source is all there, substantially transformed despite being in a similar style, but still recognizable in inspection. I just have a few minor crits about the choir: The reverb on it is really heavy and results in a lack of clarity. It also gets buried a little in 0:53-1:00, 1:55-2:14, 3:13-3:22, and 3:46-3:56. Finally, in the end fade-out, the choir is more exposed and sounds much more noticeably fake. Otherwise, this is great stuff! YES

I agree with Gario--the harmonic structure sounds dissonant in a way the source doesn't, starting at about 1:45 and getting unpleasant at about 1:53. I'll watch Gario's post for his ongoing feelings about the music theory behind it before finalizing my vote. As for production, it sounds above the bar to me. The piano bass note is only used a couple of times, so having it be identical is scarcely noticeable unless you're listening for it, and the rhythm guitar seems adequate for a primarily electronic arrangement. Everything sounds crisp and clear except for 1:47-1:55 when the piano gets buried a little bit, and that's not too bad. This is a fun take on this source, and if it weren't for that dissonance I'd be totally on board. But I hear only a few brief moments of it in the source, after listening to it a bunch of times, and it bugs me a lot. I think the changes you made in the instrumentation and balance, and the original riffs on the melody, take a subtle problem with the source and make it much more noticeable. Update: Although OA's changes didn't end up improving the issue, I ultimately don't think it's enough to hold this back. YES

Depends on the age, the kid's personality, and their lifestyle. Most kids wouldn't want to pack around that massive tablet any more than I would, but the 3DS is pocket-sized. I have friends with very mature kids (usually teenagers, but some as young as 10) who I think could be trusted with a $300 game system if that was within the family's budget. And if their lifestyle is such that keeping it in a backpack (in a padded case) and pulling it out when they're waiting around for something, and they're not getting bullied or anything that would create a high theft/vandalism risk, then quite possibly. (My own kid is 2, but if this ends up being a 10-year console generation again, and a 2nd-gen Switch is tempting, she might inherit my old one.)

It's a pretty standard choice of instrumentation, but there's still some creative fun with it. The solo in the middle is a lot of fun, and despite the many Air Man arrangements I've heard, most of them for electric guitar, you managed to do some clever riffing on it in the last section that I'd never heard anything quite like before. I don't think the electric guitar sounds quite as artificial as Larry suggests; it's perfectly reasonable to me. I agree with Gario's comment about the low pass on it, though; it sounds oddly muffled because of it. I think you overcompensated a little bit on making the bass less loud, as it's a tad quiet now, but it's adequate. You do have some fun arrangement in that bass, which I had to listen a couple of times to catch. It was an odd choice to change keys for the transitions at 1:15 and 3:22, and I found it quite jarring. That's just a stylistic thing, though. So, other than being a little vanilla in both arrangement and synth choice up until 1:22 or so, I enjoyed the rest of this a lot, and I don't think any of the production issues are enough to knock this under the bar. YES

I'm with Gario here: while this isn't the sort of thing I'd download for myself, I don't have much other than that to object to. I don't near any production issues. The arrangement is clearly of Qu's swamp but takes a creative approach to it. My one big concern is that it is on the repetitive side, especially when it runs though the main part again from 1:36-2:29, which is only distinguished from the first loop through by a brief subtractive section (2:04-2:17). Otherwise, each repetition does change something significant and interesting. I too think there will be a lot of negative feedback for purely matter of preference, but it seems to meet all our standards. YES

They might start offering more modular packages later on. Could be like the XBox One and Kinect; if people end up treating the thing just as a portable, they may start packing it without the dock for $50 less. Or they might pack it with a charging grip (the lack of one seems to be a gripe; I plan to buy one) or more onboard memory. I don't know how anyone lives without a portable USB battery pack these days. I rigged one with a belt clip so I can just wear it any time I go anywhere other than work for more than a couple of hours. I'm guessing Bleck doesn't travel much. My Wii U is one of my favorite systems I've ever owned. I don't need a hundred titles I want to play, I just need one every couple of months. I got more than that out of Nintendo's first party titles. Whether the market feels that way... well, time will tell. We definitely don't have another Wii on our hands, but I don't think we have another Wii U either. If it weren't for BotW, I would wait at least until Splatoon 2. And if it weren't for Splatoon 2 and Super Mario Odyssey, I would likely just get BotW on the Wii U. But I can't turn down that lineup. I have to admit, I'm a little hesitant to get a first-run model, but Nintendo tends to nail these. They've never had to re-issue a console the way Microsoft and Sony have (though they did discontinue the 8GB Wii U). About their biggest flub was the first-run 3DS and its need for the Circle Pad Pro, but even that, the users didn't seem to mind much. And since it's portable, there's a strong chance I'll end up getting a second-run model at some point anyway... my wife may be fighting me for the first one, and if it has as long a run as the Wii/PS3/360 generation did, I'll end up fighting with my daughter someday too.

I'm of like mind with my fellow non-musician judge. I definitely felt the lack of highs, and the semi-highs get muddy in places; 0:35-1:12 and 2:07-2:45 especially have some interesting stuff going on with the backing arps that I can only hear for a few moments when the other instruments are quiet. (They sound really good at 2:49 on when the lead drops out.) If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that EQ/frequency conflict is the reason for the apparent lack of energy: most of the mix (except for the breakdown) has a perfectly serviceable kick, but I hardly hear anything else in the way of percussion, it all gets lost in the mud. The breakdown (1:39-2:08) is perhaps a little too broken down, in my opinion. It feels empty, especially from 1:54 on. I can hear a pad of some sort there, just barely, but again it's competing with other instruments, so it doesn't serve to fill out the soundscape the way it should. I like this arrangement a lot, but I really do think it needs a good look at separating those instruments out so the listener can appreciate the complexity and feel the energy better. NO (resubmit)

Gario said nearly everything I was going to. You need to change things up more and master it more loudly overall. I thought the bass was adequate from 1:06 on, but nearly a minute of light bass coming right after nearly half a minute of no bass does end up feeling a little thin. The only thing I'd add is that the panning is unusual: it starts off with bass panned left, and the bass stays panned left, on and off, for much of the first third of the mix. Short spurts of imbalance for effect are OK, but I found it distracting and fatiguing. It's a good performance, and there are some good ideas, and I think if this did more to hold the listener's interest, it might pass or at least be very close. NO

I don't have Playstation Plus or even own any sort of XBox, so the fee for online services is a huge downer for me. Especially since the only thing I'm liable to play online--and the only game with online play announced so far--is Splatoon 2. But damn, that looks pretty great so far. Might be worth it just for that. What will actually make or break my decision, strangely enough, is whether the Switch supports 5GHz Wi-Fi or a wired connection (by USB is fine). My house is a 2.4GHz hell zone, and I have to wire my Wii U to be able to play Splatoon right now. At first I thought free Virtual Console games would be an adequate draw, but I thought they worked like PS+ or XBL. Apparently they take your free game away at the end of the month, though. Those Joy-Con controllers look pretty darn small, and reviews so far suggest they're uncomfortable even with the strap attachment, although so far no one seems bothered by the different positions of the stick and buttons on the two controllers. Fortunately, nothing I want to play uses them. And apparently they cost $50 each, or $80 for a pair? Eek. That's a high entry cost for multiplayer party games. No wonder their main tech demo game is 2-player. I thought I'd probably just get the Pro Controller, but apparently even it is $70. Crazy. They say the grip that comes with it is pretty good, though. 1-2-Switch looks pretty strange. You don't even look at the screen? Apparently the new, fine-tuned force feedback is a big part of it. I think you'd have to try this hands-on to get it. The wrist straps seem like it would be inconvenient as a party game. ARMS looks like a short-lived gimmick. They're trying to create a serious competitive game, but it's driven by the motion controls. Reviews say they're not nearly precise enough to make it work. I laugh at all those rumors that said Splatoon was just going to be a remaster/Director's Cut. This is clearly a complete sequel. Looks amazing. I love the new liquid splash effects. Mario looks great as usual. New Donk City is going to be a huge part of the lore/culture. I thought it was silly they called it open world and compared it to SM64. That just had a hub world, and it wasn't much of one. Zelda looks like it has a pretty deep plot. Good to know, since we've seen nothing about the plot so far, just people screwing around in the open world. I hope the English voice actors are as good as the Japanese ones. My wife is actually really stoked about Skyrim. It doesn't sound like it's the new special edition, but a portable version without needing a laptop or some weird portable PC? Maybe she'll actually get somewhere in the main plot now. I think for once in my life, I'll be pre-ordering stuff.

What he said. I love the concept, but it sounds like the message of this arrangement is "Hear how much better game music got," not "Hear how things changed." Gario gave some excellent examples of how to make straight up 8- and 16-bit arrangements full and enjoyable, so look into that. One sidenote: there's a dramatic jump in volume at 1:39 where it enters the 64-bit phase. It's not that you made anything louder per se, but that's when you began to make full use of the soundscape, so you're filling the space more. Everything needs to be brought up to that bar at least. I have concerns about the arrangement being too conservative as well, but it will naturally become less so as you improve the general soundscape issue, so work on that first and then see how things stand. NO

I appreciate the approach of recording on tape first, but that does result in some production issues. Most notably, the metal elements of the percussion (cymbals, and I believe a tambourine) have a hissy, staticky sound to them, beyond the usual tape saturation. The silent parts are completely silent, though, so the tape artifact isn't consistently applied. You can be proud of the creativity in doing it this way, and pulling it off fairly well, but I think you would have been better off with digital recording, or even less "cleaning up" so it sounds consistent. That ending... wow. I mean, you foreshadowed it at 2:12 and all, but still. Weird. I suppose it's not objectively bad, but can't imagine it will have many fans. The arrangement does get pretty repetitive. The drums in particular are very static, with only some very minor changes through the whole arrangement, but on top of that, the other instruments' lines, both leads and accompaniment, repeat several times, mostly unchanged. I disagree with Gario here; I don't think this is quite short enough to justify this level of repetition. Gario's production crits are spot-on--the thin and buried leads he mentioned are indeed cause for concern--although I can't pick out the clashing notes he mentions. It's a unique approach, but there are a lot of things that I think need to be improved here. NO

Gario pretty much nailed this one. Very heavy on the bass, very little going on in the mid-range. Synths are a mishmash of simple synths without any unifying theme. Something made entirely or almost entirely using the Korg has a certain appeal to it, same for chiptunes, but mixing elements like this just sounds disorganized. I actually don't think the square wave works here; I understand the decision, but even with the glitch effects, it doesn't match the rest of the soundscape. I think you would have been better off sticking to the Korg and adding only a few additional elements. As for those glitches, I appreciate the creative touches with them, but you have a heavy, consistent beat throughout, and the glitches are out of sync with that in what seems like a random way. Sometimes it lines up (e.g. 2:07), other times it doesn't (e.g. 0:16). Otherwise, again except for the ending, the arrangement works for me. There are a lot of good ideas here, they just need help with the execution. Hit up the Workshop forum with your ideas to get some production help, and I hope to see you back with another submission! NO

This part of a project, incidentally. I'm flagging it as such. Arrangement is firing on all fronts. The source is used clearly, and even when it takes a backseat to original content, you could insert those sections back into the original and it would make sense (with appropriate instrumentation, of course). I liked the brief quiet section, personally, and the abrupt transitions were exactly what I would expect in an arrangement like this. That robo-orchestra is easily the weakest element here. I felt like the brass was more of an issue than the strings, personally, especially right out in the beginning and again at 3:32, but the quick repeats, like at 1:50, sound terribly mechanical as well. Since you're specifically mimicking an album with the San Francisco Symphonic, it's a big deal. That is, however, the only significant issue here. These guys know their guitars, and the production is otherwise spot-on. I'm with Gario; I would love for some better humanization but I don't think it's strictly required to pass this. YES