XPRTNovice   Judges ⚖️

Honestly this arrangement is fire. What a cool source tune, and you treat it well. I love the interaction of the synth with the faux-brass, and you spend enough time both on and off the melody to make a relatively short source sound not-repetitive. The slowdown is just delicious, especially when it very unexpectedly goes back into the speedup. Love the little breakdown at 2:20, but after that I feel like we are really missing some bass, because it sounds (to my ear) that you have your bass synth jumping up like 1-2 octaves for the next section all the way to 3:05. I enjoyed it for a second, but after more than a few seconds of listening to it my ear was clearly missing something. I might suggest that you double that bass instrument, because I think the high-octave bassline is very effective, but it needs some support. And the ending is great, I wasn't bothered by the length of it at all. I don't necessarily jive with the production critiques that are being made on the piece; I don't hear boominess in my setup (and I even complained enough about there not being enough). The first second of the piece is a little bass heavy, but since it sweeps out right away with the filter, it didn't really bother me. The only time I felt like the bass was a little much was right before the break/drop at :42, and even then it wasn't that offensive to my ears. Great job! YES

Hi Rebecca! Thanks for submitting. It's a cool, wandering melody that you translated into something that nicely envelopes the atmosphere/ambient nature of it while keeping it interesting to listen to. In fact, my only real critique with the arrangement is that it might be a little *too* interesting; there's too much going on that doesn't seem to jive with itself. There were many times where I felt I couldn't find the center because there were so many different things going on in different instruments...which is sort of like the source, but it was hard for me to feel like the arrangement was a cohesive story/piece. It all starts to feel a little bit like a bridge, or an intro, instead of a piece that has a beginning middle and end. The source, despite being ambient, has a strong melody and direction, but this arrangement is too far on the ambient side for me to feel like a complete piece. The violin used in the melody at :48 ish is pulling my ear, I think, because it keeps swelling in exactly the same way with every note of the melody. I would replace it with a steady legato, otherwise it almost feels like its pumping/breathing and it was distracting. When the bass comes in at 1:40 ish, it booms to me and is too loud. Adjusting this may give you more headroom to raise the overall volume. I might even suggest a frequency cut if you want to keep the presence, but I actually just think the bass doesn't fit in the mix due to the volume. The volume is the biggest production issue for me. I had to crank my speakers to listen to this; it needs a good compression and mastering pass, which I know you know how to do. The whole track is just way too quiet. NO

The buildup is really great, I love the ambiance and the delayed/multiple drops that lead into a 2 nd build phase at 103. All the introduction production is very solid, I don’t hear anything that tickles my ear, and then when Dracula’s Castle comes in at 1:25 it’s very satisfying. It makes it feel like one cohesive melody between the two sources. The melody really never gets lost, which is easy to do in a dance arrangement like this, and the countermelodies stand out nicely. Really love the wubs at 2:39, they keep the arrangement interested. I never found myself getting bored at all here. The short interlude 3:25 is excellent and very satisfying to the ear, but I couldn’t quite tell what was supposed to come out there, if it was a bridge you wrote, or if there was still some of the source left in there. Overall, this aces production and source usage. To offer a little bit of feedback: The part leading to that second drop at 3:26 loses some clarity for me; I am not sure what I am supposed to listen to because there is that saw lead that's taking over, but it's clearly not the melody. I feel like I hear something in the background that should be coming forward. I could use a little more volume, maybe literally like 2db, of the lead in the first section (1:36 ish). The arrangement is a *touch* on the repetitive side, but for a dance piece it didn't stand out enough that I'd feel comfortable really nitpicking at it. Great job! YES

Thank you for your submission! Unfortunately there is not sufficient modification of the source to pass OCR’s standards for submission. In this case, the source material is indeed “identifiable and dominant” but the arrangement is not “substantial and original.” There are very few, if any, departures from the source material, with the exception of the key. It is approximately the same BPM as the original, and doesn’t change sections or involve any interpretation other than changes in instrumentation. This falls more cleanly into the definition of a “cover” than an “arrangement” or remix, and doesn’t fall into the spirit of what OCR has on the site. I encourage you to look at the submission guidelines and spend some time reviewing posted remixes alongside their sources, and noticing how vast the interpretations can be while still strongly representing the source. Production-wise, this sounds like a portion of it would be an excellent dreamy intro into an arrangement (adding a sweep filter as it rises into some kind of drop, for example), but with the dramatic amount of frequencies cut out (you mentioned high and low cut in your letter) it comes across like an unfinished piece of music, and lacks any body – I kept expecting a drop to come where the rest of the track comes in, but it never did. I would be interested in hearing what exactly you cut out; you might play with reducing the dramatic EQ bit by bit and also listening to other songs of the same target style at the same time (“reference mixing”) and see if you can’t get the sounds to start to match up. Training your ear takes time, and reference mixing will help you start to understand what happens when you move what lever. NO

I cannot tell you how much I love this idea. We do need more polka. But the production on this needs a lot of improvement before it can pass OCR’s standards, and the arrangement, though brilliant, could use some expansion. There doesn’t seem to be any volume/velocity variation between any of the notes, which creates a flat mix that’s very much in your face, and lacks nuance. The ears fatigue quickly under that kind of pressure. The samples used don’t seem to have much articulation options, which made it so there isn’t any legato in the clarinet or any other instrument, and the drums are at a constant, loud volume. I empathize that these sorts of arrangements are EXCEEDINGLY difficult to do with samples. You have your work cut out for you here. The solution for me when I started was to play the instrument, but that's not available for everyone. What IS available is a healthy dose of collaboration; we have a giant community of instrumentalists who are ready and eager to lend their skills to tracks. That's not always convenient or quick, so what I'd recommend is really just doing some google searching and exploring sample libraries, many of which are free, that can supply some insight. It's a question of humanization, which is hard but the resources available in modern day music making is endless and inexpensive. All that being said – the arrangement is astounding though a touch on the short side, especially when you consider that you have two sources that you can work with. Your instrumentation is spot on, and I think it really does create the character that you want to create with it, but there are more opportunities to incorporate the sources (particularly the Kirkhope piece) into the arrangement and extend it to tell a bit more of a story. That will also help with the in-your- face issue I described before; some variations in the arrangement will give you opportunities to play with more dynamics. If you go listen to a bunch of Polka, you’ll notice that although some is high-intensity like this, it often weaves back and forth. Please, please don’t quit on this – bring this sort of goofy energy to OCR. NO - RESUBMIT

I love this arrangement and it is so close, but I think that there are some production elements that could be improved to really make it shine. What I really want to hear is more of the low end throughout, particularly the kick drum and the bass guitar (I’m talking like 80-100hz). Reference mixing with some Dropkick Murphy’s or something like that - or even the band you reference in your submission - will help you zero in on how a full mix might sound with this instrumentation. Celtic rock is so much fun, but you also have some prog metal elements hear that would benefit from making that kick a little more snappy – try some high-ratio compression on that kick and experiment to your taste, but it definitely needs some more low end. Arrangement wise, there was only one thing that really bothered me - by 2:01, my ears are getting really fatigued from repetition of the main theme. I think that also has to do with me just not having enough depth in the production, because it was the high-end part of my ears that was tired . When it breaks down at 2:30 ish, I get a nice break and I start to feel interested in the tune again. The piece is long enough to stand on its own; it might actually benefit from simply cutting one of the repeated sections of the main theme in the beginning. Maybe I’m waxing philosophical here, but this happens a lot during Celtic pieces because of the way the flutes/tin whistles have all these mordents that make it seem like every note is the same note because you can never find the center. I love the source and I love the arrangement; it’s really fun, and you can absolutely bring this to passable with just a few tweaks. Some suggestions to help with both the ear fatigue and the production, which also may help the arrangement sound more complete if the ear isn't tired: I hear the tin whistle off to the right; since the guitars seem to be hardpanned, you could bring the tin whistle to center, especially since it is the main melody. At that point it would require that you bring it down, though, because now it'll be right dead center in your face. The cymbals (crash/splash) are also really crackly and high-end ish and could use some EQ. NO (resub)

This is really tightly produced, and I honestly can’t give any feedback on the mechanical side of things. You found a pocket and hit it dead on; there’s a great little mix of new age and 80’s synthwavy stuff going on here. If I were to offer some feedback, I would maybe say that the weird synthy panflute melody or whatever could probably stand to be more in front starting at :55 or whatever, and that continues to the cello (somewhat, the cello has dynamic variation and could benefit from some automation to just kind of make sure it's up front). I am just such a fan of the lead guitar playing, and it's a LIIIITTTLEEE too warm in the mix? But man I just attributed that to the style, it sounds like it's from the 80s. A touch more drum variation might help the piece, but overall I think it's solid. The arrangement is beautifully written, incorporates the source in a creative and interesting manner, and creates some really fun soundscapes with the varying use of virtual instruments. The guitar “performance” is really well done with little flourishes that keep my ear interested in what’s going on. Great job! YES

Let’s be honest – nobody has any idea what Dragonball is about. But that didn’t stop you from making a good arrangement of the music. It’s not quite ready for the site though – but it can be with just a fix of the ending. The smash cut at 4:05 needs to be smoothed out. It extremely abruptly transitions back to the A section of the piece without any transition, almost as though it was cut/paste. The same voice files were even used, and then the track sort of suddenly stops at the very end – and you didn’t let the effects bleed out before you set the rightmost export gate, resulting in reverb getting sliced off. Returning to the A section is a natural way to bring the tune home, but the transition to it needs to be smoothed out. Drop out the bass and let it breathe for a second and re-build it into the A. A fade-out might even work at the end (these are just suggestions – your taste will supersede mine.) I don’t have any issues with the production or source usage. Everything is really tightly EQed, and you have good control across all your sidechain compression. The panning is effective and clean, and your instrumentation is varied and fun to listen to. All this needs is for you to end the piece! You’re almost there. YES CONDITONAL (fix the ending)

The arrangement takes a source that doesn't have that much material and weaves it back and forth with some nice breaks in there to create some breathing room. The switching of the melody back and forth between vocals and other instruments creates variety, and there are some nice interpretations. I think there was room for more - with such a short source, it would have been easy to deviate from the melody and create some variations rather than use it verbatim each time it is used, especially considering you have a vocal as the main melody, but I'm not evaluating based on missed potential. Vocal embellishments are easy to incorporate, and would have helped solve one of my major problems with the arrangement, which is just that it's too long; I felt like the piece came to its conclusion with the fade out at 4:19, but then we came back in for another minute of essentially the same thing we have been hearing for the first 4 minutes of the track. The source is very, very repetitive on its own, so having it extend for 5 and a half minutes made it easy to lose interest in the track. Production wise, the elements are well mixed and balanced. The instrumentation is good, and so is the overall EQ. I think the vocals need to come back in the mix a little bit, and could maybe even use a little touch of reverb; it's very dry in comparison to the other elements you have going on, which tend to be very wet. I had a considerably hard time understanding the vocals, but that could be turned into a positive rather than a negative by using the vocals as an instrument rather than a lyrical device (see groups like Massive Attack for examples on that sort of use of voice-as-instrument). This part is purely an idea that you can take or leave, but I do think the vocals need to mesh better with the rest of the instrumentation. NO (resubmit)

Hell yeah! This is great! The complex timing you’ve got going on the drums is really amazing, the bass line is killer, and the organ really is the jelly in this PB&J of jazz. Your piano performance is stellar, the instruments are mixed well and appropriately, and the arrangement maintains a healthy addiction to the source while being varied enough to keep the ear interested, even at a 5 minute jazz arrangement. It’s like Soulive put on a red cap with an M on it and jumped off a cliff yelling WAHOO. Great job on this – I don’t have any other feedback! YES

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MOD REVIEW Hey there! So this is a really unique take on this tune with some really interesting sound choices. Taste wise, you might split the room a bit, but these are your choices and you should stick to them! It's a very unique sound. I enjoy the broken rhythms and the drums. My major nitpick is that sometimes I couldn't quite catch what the melody was supposed to be, particularly at 1:30 ish. There's the pumping pad in the back, and I think that needs to come back in the mix and have the melody ride more in the forefront. That happens again at about 2:10, where your wubbing bass kind of drowns out the interesting spooky lead you've got going on. Honestly, I think that's probably more of a personal taste kind of thing, and this could be ready for the judges without it. I'm marking it as complete; you can make the changes or tweaks, or submit it as is! Good luck /MOD REVIEW

MOD REVIEW Hey there. In the future, you can change the tag of your workshop post for READY FOR REVIEW and a mod will come and review it for you. While I will immediately admit that this style music is not the stuff I generally write or listen to, I can tell that this mix took a lot of care and feeding. You did a great job overall on it. A couple of things for feedback. - The mis-timed echo at the beginning and again at 3:30 is a little jarring; the background echo isn't in time with the foreground music, and while that might have been the intended effect, I just wanted to say that it made my musician ears kind of twitch a bit. If that's what you're going for good job. If not, I might reconsider making that background stuff be more in time with the foreground stuff. - Levels and panning all sound really good. There wasn't anything that stood out to me as too heavy or too light. Great job there. - Taking a short theme like this and making it interesting enough to listen to for 6 straight minutes is a hell of a feat and you should be proud of it. I was expecting it to drag on and make my ears really tired, but it did neither of those things. Bravo. - the drop at 5:20 could use some more oomph if you ask me. It sounded almost like it dropped out for a second, almost like it was a mistake; take a listen to that and see if there's something else you can do with it. Honestly, most of the above are nitpicks, and I think this is likely ready for the judges. Good luck! /MOD REVIEW

Thank you!

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I'll be totally honest, I'm loving this stuff, but I don't think it's for OCR. What I'm hearing is the original OST track with some great hip hop vocals on top and maybe a little bit of a changed beat. It's really cool, and I enjoy it, but I don't think this is the right place for this. I've asked other staff to see what they think.

Can you please post a link to the source before review?

[This is an automatically generated message] I've reviewed your remix and have returned it to Work-in-Progress status, indicating that I think there are some things you still need to work on. After you work on your track and feel that it's ready for submission to OCR, please change the prefix back to Ready for Review and someone will review it again. Good luck!

Hi there. Did you mark this as READY FOR REVIEW because you are trying to submit this to the OCR judges panel and want a moderator to review the piece? This seems like an advertisement for your short film, not an invitation for feedback.

Hey there - welcome to the workshop. Please read the workshop introduction rules so you understand what this place is for and what marking something "ready for review" means. This doesn't fall into something that you'd use this workshop for - we'd review one track at a time.

[This is an automatically generated message] I've reviewed your remix and have returned it to Work-in-Progress status, indicating that I think there are some things you still need to work on. After you work on your track and feel that it's ready for submission to OCR, please change the prefix back to Ready for Review and someone will review it again. Good luck!

Can you post links to the source and the Danny mix as well before I take a look?

*MOD REVIEW* Hey there Argentina! Welcome to the workshop. Okay. The intro - I think the drums need to come back in the mix and let the guitars shine a bit here, since the guitars are doing the movement and need the attention. When :30 hits, though, it really falls into place. It sounds great. Driving, the guitars sound awesome and are well performed and recorded. BUT I still think you can bring them more to the front, especially since the drums are sequenced and are of lesser quality than the guitars. You're clearly a great guitar player, so let it shine! Obviously don't bury the drums, but I think the guitars can come up in the mix without making it sound messy. 1:45 the drums drop out and give the guitars some room, and it's very satisfying. So I'd say bring that to the rest of the piece. I was disappointed when the piece sort of suddenly ended at 2:15 though. I feel like there's a lot more that can be done with it, and you clearly have the skill to write more. I'm not sure what I would suggest, but maybe since the arrangement you have right now is very true to the original, take the theme and do a variation on it. Mess with the timing, the key, or take that synth and bring it to the forefront for a while. You've got plenty of room to add some more meat to this mix, especially since the source is just about as long as the mix (which you hardly ever get in the NES era, so use it!). I'm marking as WIP mostly for the reason that the mix feels incomplete, but I'd take the opportunity to mess with the drum/guitar balance a little bit as well. It sounds great so far! *MOD REVIEW* I've reviewed your remix and have returned it to Work-in-Progress status, indicating that I think there are some things you still need to work on. After you work on your track and feel that it's ready for submission to OCR, please change the prefix back to Ready for Review and someone will review it again. Good luck!