MindWanderer

It's definitely a medley, but it all flows together nicely. If it weren't a medley, each individual section might be borderline on interpretation; they're all presented in a very straightforward way. The orchestration is good but conservative. There's no question about source usage whatsoever; I recognize all but a couple instantly. Not Rebecca's most realistic instrument usage. It's right about where our bar is, I think. Definitely not good enough to fool even the most casual listen. It mostly doesn't grate on my nerves, but a lot of that is because it's so conservative that to me it sounds like a sound upgrade over the original 16- or 64-bit material. There are some string sections that are awfully mechanical, one of which is at the very end, so it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. 0:27-0:33 has this weird instrument that sounds like a lawn sprinkler. If that were present more than the 4 times I hear it (1 of them quiet), I'd consider counting it as a dealbreaker. It sounds like an artifact or other mistake. The rain stick, while identifiable, is also mixed quite loud, and that appears more than a few times; the tambourine isn't much better. This is very borderline for me. I like the arrangement a lot, but we've sent back remixes with realism issues right about where this one is. I'll see what others have to say. Edit: Eh, good enough. It doesn't bother me unless I'm specifically looking for it. YES

I had to listen to this a few times to hear the source connections. Probably the result of it being a remix of a remix. I wouldn't have noticed the lack of sax reverb on my own, but Brad's right, more would have been more correct for the genre. I lost a lot of the lyrics, but that's not a big deal. There's a smidgen of pumping, e.g. 3:58-4:01. Otherwise this is an easy vote. Great tone, tons of fun, really creative. YES

This is easily the most creative, expansive take on Fanfare I've ever heard. The arrangement is a masterpiece. Brad's right about the vocals being hard to understand, but I don't think it's because they're too quiet. The soundscape is overall pretty mid-heavy, and there's always at least one, sometimes two or even three instruments competing with the vocals. Sirenstar doesn't enunciate really well, either; I hear all her vowels and almost none of her consonants. There's certainly room for improvement in the EQ department, but I don't think the lyrics being hard to understand is a dealbreaker; this is true of a ton of professional music. But it's something to keep in mind. Otherwise this is great. YES Update 2/12: Without doing a direct A/B comparison, my opinions stand. The rap does sound more distinct to me, but it's still hard to understand. I think it's more an an enunciation issue than production. I can make out most of it. I still can't understand anything Sirenstar is singing, but it's no worse than before.

I came to the same conclusion as the above by the time I'd reached the one-minute mark, and that's less than halfway through! This basically coasts on the core conceit of just playing this track really really fast, and doesn't have enough additional ideas to flesh it out. Far too many loops of the main hook alone, and then the whole thing loops 2½ times. There needs to be more development. NO

When I saw what games you were combining, I knew instantly which track from Double Dragon 2 you were using. Best track in the game, IMHO, and so unique compared to the rest of the soundtrack. I don't know what it is about Mega Man that makes everyone put game SFX in their tracks, though. 2:26-3:05 is a pretty big chunk of repetitive mud. Six loops of the same melody on top of an extremely cluttered soundscape. I could make out some differences between the loops, especially the last two, but I had to pay close attention and I could tell there were layers I just couldn't make out. 1:40-1:52 and 4:24-4:37 have some weird syncopation in the percussion that I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around. I don't think those are dealbreaking issues, though. It's a great idea, and well-executed overall, though there is indeed a lot of room for improvement on the mixing front. YES

What a sound palette! The industrial synths combined with the woodwinds and the vocals make for something I've never heard before, and it sounds great! I would have liked more of the vocals: opening with them and then having them return only briefly a couple of times was a bit of a tease. This is lovely and creative. Strong work. YES Edit: Just rubber-stamping the 3/12 update. Still a YES.

Yep. Great take on these sources, and seamless integration. For a first time mixing electric guitar into a more complex soundscape, you did a great job; many veterans and even professionals don't do as well. There's some complex layered part-writing that was a ton of fun to listen to. Fantastic job all around. YES Update 10/23: The kicks are pumping a little, but they were nearly inaudible before, and overall things are cleaner. Still a YES from me.

Loud! I had to turn my volume down about 25%. Seemed like a pretty conservative approach for a while, especially with Mega Man 2003 already in the catalog. Gets a little muddy in places, e.g. 1:29-1:40 is a real mess. But my, that drop at 3:59 is juicy. I was worried about this justifying a 5:30 length, but that sure got my attention. Fun stuff. YES

Oh my yes. I don't have much to add; this is gorgeous from beginning to end, with beautiful expression and a dynamic arrangement that isn't content to sit in a mellow groove. This will be a favorite of many, I think. YES

I'm just not hearing the major issues described above. Yeah, some of the instruments are pretty mechanical; the staccato strings are particularly bad. But I don't expect orchestral realism in a piece like this. I'm not finding the vocals too loud for a vocal piece, but the enunciation is pretty poor; I didn't even realize until my second listen that it's in English. I think the arrangement is perfectly sufficient as well. I'm not the biggest fan of the change in genre at the halfway point, but even the first half has enough orchestration going on to pass our standards of personalization. It's creative and entertaining. YES

I don't think the mixing is as problematic as all that, but I did have to turn my volume down a lot. 1:47 - 2:58 isn't too bad, but 4:45+ is indeed way too loud, and distorted. The hits at 4:00-4:20 are pretty crunchy, too. Address the levels and I think this will be in good shape. NO

Really neat approach, and such a rich sound. I will say that the piano lead is awfully quiet, and is hard to hear in 0:53-1:22 and 1:50-2:24 under the big string swells. I lost a few notes in there entirely. While that's not exactly a nitpick, I think the strengths of this outweigh that one issue. Good job. YES

I concur with all of the above. I'd even emphasize the production issues here: the big boomy drums are introducing some audible pumping and distortion, to a point where even if the arrangement were transformative enough for our standards, I'd send this back for production alone. NO

I didn't have a problem with the guitar either, nor the repeat since it did different things with the chiptunes each time. There's nothing earthshaking here, but it's fun and it works. YES

It's a nice chill mix. The problem is that it's repetitive as heck. The main hook is 0:18-0:26, and it repeats 8 times unchanged, not counting the fadeout. After 1:35, there's no original content, it's just a loop of most of the first half. The sound quality is fine for what it is, it's just that this arrangement is effectively only a minute and a half long. Add some more content to hold the listener's interest and I think this will be in good shape. NO

This is mastered very quietly, with 6.66 dB of headroom for some reason. Easy enough fix but an odd decision. I have to turn my volume to almost maximum to hear it clearly. Better than clipping, I suppose. Otherwise, this is definitely an improvement. It's been lengthened, and the new material isn't just padding. However, the instrumentation doesn't change much throughout, other than the faux-instrumental intro and bridge, and 2:24-2:38. And then the last section is just the same thing, speeding up, with "hey" effects. For me, the overall presentation still falls short. The sound palette is basic and static, and there's still not enough dynamic interest to hold my attention. Still, strong work improving on the initial submission! NO

I don't hear the balance issue unless I pay close attention, and otherwise this sounds fantastic. Rich orchestration and lovely choices for electronic enhancement. I hear a tiny bit of crunchiness on occasion, but it's minor and easily overlooked. Excellent sound otherwise. YES

I have to agree. It's very conservative, basically swapping the chiptunes for some basic synths and adding a beat. The two loops are identical after a few seconds in. You've added some fun energy to the source material, but we're looking for remixes that are more transformative and sophisticated. NO

I'm afraid I'm also a NO mere seconds in. This is more heavily crushed and distorted than anything I've heard in recent memory. And as far as the arrangement goes, I'm in agreement with proph as well: I was itching for a change from that shrill, vanilla lead less than a minute in, and it didn't let up for the entire piece. This needs quite a lot of work in production, dynamic interest, and synth selection for starters. There are interesting riff ideas, but they need fundamentals to hold them up. NO

I love this series, the composition being one big part of why. Such lovely use of leitmotifs that mesh with the emotional storytelling. Hugely underrated. But we're here to talk about the remix, not Kan Gao. I'm not a pianist, so I can't really comment on the performance here except that it sounds good to me. I felt like the lighter touch at 2:42 was appropriate, though a more dramatic build to 3:15 and again at 3:32 would have been appreciated. And I thought the ending was just fine; an imperfect ending is a good homage to the source material. An enthusiastic YES

I don't know that I'd call this vaporwave, it's much more engaging and interesting than that genre implies. Really rich soundscape and a beautifully creative use of the sources. I love what you've done here. YES

Nails the brief. Genre-transforming approaches are always a pleasure to listen to, and this one is done expertly. Epic arrangement, fantastic performances. I couldn't ask for more. YES

Yeah, this almost sounds like it was created as a challenge to make something using a minimal set of tools. I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been made in something like Caustic or LMMS. Really basic synths (though you do a lot with them), few layers, and a static sound palette. I do think it makes stellar use of what it does have. The soundscape is rich, and the progression is structurally dynamic. You clearly have arrangement and production skills. You just need to put together a toolkit to show those skills off properly. NO

I can't remember hearing a better love letter to classic video game music. This was clearly made by someone with a real passion. I could listen to it over and over. I've been in a bit of a funk lately and took a break from judging because I found myself being too negative about everything. Listening to something steeped so much in positivity helped a lot with that, so thanks!

I usually don't vote out of submission order, but I saw this one was about to pass and wanted to listen to it first. Wow, what a wild idea! It doesn't sound like VGM at all until the melody kicks in, and then suddenly you realize how it actually was all along. It's clever as hell and sounds great. Fade-ins and fade-outs aren't ideal, but as long as they're not done in the middle of a melodic section, it's fine by me. Brilliant stuff. YES