jnWake   Judges ⚖️

Sonic R has such a classic soundtrack... This begins with an orchestra hit and we then get an acoustic guitar that sounds like the MIDI soundfont of old Guitar Pro versions accompanied by some pads. The harmony here is rather odd, I'm fairly sure the pads are playing A-B-C as lowest notes but the guitar chords are F-G-Am, so they're not gelling well together. A synth bass of sorts enter a bit later and the soundscape gets very muddy, very hard to parse what each instrument is doing. At 0:29 the soundscape focuses on some chords without much evident direction. A piano melody joins in a bit later, not sure if it's echoing part of the source. At times there's new instruments added but they're usually buried behind the pad and guitars. Around 2:00 the soundscape becomes more sparse and I can hear the bass clearly finally. At 2:30 we return to a similar vibe than before for a bit, until a piano playing the main chord progression from the original joins in. I don't think the different parts fit together very well here, it sounds like a mass of unrelated sounds. I'll be honest, this is quite below our bar in both arrangement and production... On arrangement, this is a very repetitive piece without much clear focus or direction. The original track features a ton of melodies and different chord progressions yet I barely hear any of that here. Also, I'm not sure most of the parts really fit together during many parts of the cover: chords and bass that don't fit together, melodies on top of each other without any relation... On production, this falls on 2 main aspects: mixing and samples. Regarding the first, the track is very unbalanced, with the background elements (pads and guitar) being often extremely loud, making it impossible to really hear the other instruments. On the second, several of the samples used are of very low quality, like the acoustic guitar during the first section. I'd recommend going to our Discord and seeking advice in our #workshop channel, where people can help you understand more about arranging and production. NO

Kakariko Village as post-rock and death metal? Interesting pick! We begin with some guitars with a ton of reverb and quickly introduce the iconic arpeggios of Kakariko Village. I enjoyed the panning there. At 0:12 this turns into standard metal with the addition of drums and guitar chugs. At the risk of simply repeating what the rest said, the lack of presence of the bass here is a shame, as it's pretty much a must for any metal adjacent genre to have strong bass presence. It seems rather weird at first but cutting lower frequencies out of the guitar is a good technique for this, so consider a high-pass or using a shelf to give the bass some space. The kick is definitely more present in the general mix but also fairly weak in the lower frequencies. The main Kakariko melody is handled by a piano with a ton of reverb. At 0:34 we have guitar arpeggios for the B section and there's some shy appearances of the bass here. Section C at 0:57, as noted by seph, features a nice drive from the bass. There's a small break around 1:18 with guitar doing the main melody and some fun riffs introduced around 1:30. We move back into metal at 1:40 (with a very loud bass slide or something of the sort first). At 1:52 we start getting into crazy drums territory, first with crazy quick double kicks and then with a blast beat section. I won't lie, I rarely appreciate blast beats and this wasn't the exception, but that's a me thing. After the blast beats comes peace with the arpeggios being played on a clean guitar with a ridiculous amount of reverb, eventually joined by a lead with an even sillier amount of reverb. Track ends a little after as I almost feel absorved by the reverb. On arrangement this is fun, there's a lot of different takes on an iconic theme and most of them are cool. Transitions are generally well handled and everything flows well despite the big changes. Source usage is clear across the entire thing so no issues there. Production is, sadly holding this back. Main culprit is the unbalanced and uneven bass. Most of the track feels very weak on the lowend, with most of it being simply guitars. I didn't mention them earlier but drums are also fairly unbalanced, I think they could be compressed and pushed louder in the mix, while also making the guitars generally quieter. Finally, and this may be personal choice, the reverb is too much at times, especially on the section after the blastbeats. Overall, while this is a fun arrangement with ton of cool ideas, I think the mix needs a second pass. Focus on balancing the low-end and then doing some smaller balance changes so that the guitars aren't taking over the entire mix. I hope you submit an updated version! NO

Always happy to see more Pikmin here! I also dig the concept of turning a calm theme and Smashifying it. This one begins with the source's intro on trumpet and we quickly move to the first section with the full band ensemble: strings, percussion, bass and piano. I like the energy you're bringing into the track with the percussion and string writing, although I feel the bass writing is a little uninspired, it seems like it's just playing the root note once per bar. If you're trying to Smashify a track and give it more energy, exciting bass writing is a great place to start! During the first minute we continue on more or less the same vibe, with some additional orchestral flourishes here and there. At 0:51 we move to the second section from the source, I'm not sure what instrument is playing the melody (it sounds like brass) but the sample doesn't do it many favors. 1:13 introduces the classic Pikmin jingle and at 1:27 we have a small piano only break reprising the first section. Orchestra slowly returns to the piece and at 2:09 we have a new section focusing on the main Pikmin melody. There's some stabs and around 2:28 we have a full repeat of the first section and we end on a fadeout. Although it makes sense for a "Smashified" track to end on a loop I'll agree with proph that it'd have been cool for the final ~40 seconds to be more interesting, featuring an actual ending for example. On production this is pretty good, everything sounds clean and is easy to hear. Quality of the orchestral samples varies, with flute/strings sounding fine/good and brass being much lower quality. There's a ton of free libraries that can be used to layer and get better sounds if you don't have access to the expensive libraries. In any case, that's more of a nitpick. On arrangement I enjoyed it but I have a few qualms. First is the bass writing, for future tracks I'd love more movement there. You can add a lot of energy and drive to a track with good bass writing, making it play in off-beats for example, or adding licks between chords to create anticipation. Second qualm is the ending. The final 40s or so being a repetition isn't ideal but I can accept it, the ending being a simple fade-out though is almost a deal breaker. Overall, nice concept and nice execution. You did well taking a very peaceful theme and transforming into something energetic, I honestly can easily imagine it playing in the Garden of Hope stage. I particularly enjoyed the orchestral writing and flourishes. Finally, although I'd love the final minute to be a little more developed, what's here is more than enough to pass. YES

While listening to this I was dreading an eventual Megalovania quote all the time. Somehow I was a bit disappointed there was none by the end. Anyway, this begins with some SFX while we build into a synthwave-ish sound that seems to be quoting Tallon Overworld. A synth lead enters around 0:23, it seems to sound a tad distorted and the melody is rather odd. At 0:56 we move to a different melody which I believe comes from Castlevania... wait, was the first melody also from CV? There's a very interesting contrast between the backing and the melodies, which several "spicy" notes. I do feel most of them sound very cool tho. We then move directly to Tallon melody on a plucky synth around 1:20 and then there's a repeat with a voice over and a cool chord progression. The synth lead returns and does a big melody over the backing. From 2:30 the remix takes a very atmospheric feel, the sources taking a bit of a backseat although still present. The 0:23 melody returns, there's some high frequency overlap between the synth and the plucky lead that sounds a bit harsh at times. Seriously how did you not add Megalovania at 3:25... and after that the track ends. I'm gonna start on production, since I'm quite torn on it. I really liked it during the first half, you went for a synthwave sound and mostly nailed it. I think the kick could have more oomph and the synth lead sounds a tad distorted but other than that the mix was great here. However, things start changing for me when you introduce the plucky lead and especially when it plays together with the synth lead. The mix starts slowly becoming very harsh and it tires my ears. You also start layering more stuff on the low mids and it also gets cluttered there. One of the things I'd look at is either decreasing the volume of the reverb or taming it with some EQ, since I feel it's one of the main culprits of how muddy the mix ends up sounding. On arrangement, this is an interesting track. As I mentioned earlier I like the vibe you went for and the arrangement supports that well. The combo of the bass and drums are a good background for the variations you create on top. I'll agree with both Proph and Hemo that some of the lead writing is rather odd, especially on the very first melody (0:23), where there's a lot of interruptions and some of the notes seem to play at random times. I wasn't really bothered by the spicier/dissonant notes but I can see why someone could be. Finally, I don't really mind the arrangement being kind of "meandering", it feels like that's what you guys wanted to create and it's an enjoyable ride (as the title and SFX imply!). Overall, I think this needs a bit more time in the oven. While I generally enjoy the arrangement I think there's some extra polish needed on the mix to make it sound less harsh and cluttered on the second half of the track. NO

What a cool source, the samples used give me big Ace Attorney/Ghost Trick vibes. After a car engine SFX we begin with some epic organ echoing the intro of the source and then a full metal band joins, with an epic supersaw synth doing the lead. At 0:30 we have the same riff on guitar and then a guitar/synth duo harmony that sounds pretty cool. Around 0:56 we move to the second riff from the source, which is more of a heavy guitar riff. I kinda wish the rhytm guitar was more present on the mix, I can definitely hear it but I'd love to hear more of it. 1:20 introduces a guitar tapping solo, a bit buried in the mix but it sounds cool. An extremely fast synth solo follows, excellent playing! I love that both solos are actually heavily quoting solos from the source, although I did miss the effect created from the delay on the original. 1:45 introduces the next riff from the source on guitar, which then repeats on acoustic guitar at 2:06 for a nice break from all the metal we've had so far. Source loops after this point and on your take we get a repeat from the intro on a slower beat, followed by a guitar solo. Like before, the lower notes get a tad buried on the mix. After a strange transition we get a cool synth solo. Riff from 0:56 then repeats for a bit and after another car SFX we get a new section around 3:38 where you go ham with variations over the 0:56 riff, I particularly love the take at 3:51. This madness is followed by a bass solo, awesome! Another repeat of the intro melody follows, now featuring a new chord progression and we then get a guitar/synth duet which is followed by another repetition of the 0:56 riff. Finally, the track ends on a repeat of the 2:06 sec, now as a guitar/synth duet. On arrangement, this is extremely cool! For the first "loop" you follow the structure of the original closely but add a lot of personalization through instrumentation and variations over the original material. After that we get increasingly creative variations over the presented material which are fun as heck. No complaints from me here, I particularly loved the section at 3:38 with all the quick breaks and changes. On production I don't really have much issues. Although there's many elements on the mix you can mostly hear everything well and the drums are punchy enough. My main nitpicks would be that the rhytm guitar could be more present in the mix and the leads get a bit lost when they go to lower notes. I imagine there's probably clashes on the mids between the leads and the rhytms, which could be tamed with mid/side EQ if you haven't tried that already. Overall, excellent prog. metal track! Fun arrangement with a ton of variations over the source, cool riffs and awesome solos. Easy vote! YES

Pretty cover! It starts very similar to the original and slowly deviates from it, although it's always fairly conservative. Well done! Just curious, what VST did you use for the flute?

Very cinematic cover, love the sound design and mood. Well done!

It feels extremely odd to me to be judging a Gario track but here we go! We begin very similar to the source with some orchestral samples that definitely show their age, remind me of the sound of the Final Fantasy Tactics or zircon's games. At 0:38 we get some glitches and I thought my PC was malfunctioning for a bit but it all made sense a few seconds later! What a fun way to do that transition from orchestra music to, basically, the genre named Gario. Now we have the orchestral instruments playing on top of a fun electronic/chippy backing. I feel the melodies have a bit of a hard time standing out sadly, mainly since the orchestral samples are a tad wet. At 1:31 a synth lead takes the lead and the music takes more shape immediately. Being nitpicky, the lead sample is a bit static, I'd love to hear some vibratto or something of the sort. I do love how the strings on the background are treated here, with the glitch effects and such, it sounds great. Somewhat abrupt transition to chiptune at 1:55 but at 2:00 we're back on the orchestra/Gario mix, here the brass sounds more clear. At 2:25 there's a quick break and we then continue on a slightly more chill vibe before a full orchestral break at 2:49. I like the upbeat timpani rhytm and the soft electronic elements present on this section. At 3:38 we transition back into the orchestra/Gario soundscape, fun transition and this whole section sounds great. There's a string ensemble "solo" at 4:13, interesting idea. After that there's a couple more upbeat sections with trumpet as lead and we close with a quick chiptune to orchestra moment. Arrangement is a ton of fun! I love the idea behind the soundscape, although you claim the synth+orchestra concept isn't as novel as it was back then it's definitely not something I hear frequently in the cover space and much less in your particular brand of sound. Structure of the arrangement is great, with a large amount of variations and breaks to keep it interesting. I'm fairly sure the arrangement could be trimmed down to be shorter but there's no section that jumps at me like something to be cut completely. Source usage is evident and present in basically the entire track, every melody is directly from the source. No doubts about eligibility. Production is where I'm torn. On one hand, the classic Gario electronic elements sound great, percussion is punchy and the trademark glitchy chiptunes and synths sound excellent, although I found the chiptune solos sounded a little dull. The main issue is, as you'd expect, the orchestral samples. They're definitely quite retro sounding, my main issue with them is they lack definition, sounding very airy and wet, which is a big contrast with the electronic sounds. In sections like the combination at 1:01 you can feel the struggle of the brass trying to stand out on top of the other instruments, and it becomes worse with other samples like the flute that comes later. Overall, I'm feeling very torn here. Despite the retro sound of the ensemble I like how it sounds (since it gives me PS1/PS2 vibes) but I understand if any judge rejects just on that. My main issue, however, is that the lack of definition on the samples makes the orchestral samples hard to hear on top of the electronic ones. I'm not 100% on my vote because there's definitely a lot to love here but I feel this would benefit a ton from layering some samples with more clarity on top of the current stuff or simply replacing the orchestral samples with more modern ones. NO

What a beautiful source, fits the title perfectly. Before starting the review, please remember we request WAV files next time you submit! Anyway, we begin with an electric guitar and piano doing the arpeggios from the intro. Right away the volume catches my attention as this is very quiet (and it'll continue to be). At 0:13, the main sax line plays on guitar and, as you mentioned on the write-up, it basically plays the original melody as is. Piano provides the backing chords here, in contrast to the original's combination of acoustic guitar and strings. Chord progression seems very similar to the original but you actually added a ton of variations to the bass notes, like a big focus on G as the pedal note on the first few chords. There's a brief move to F on the bass around 0:27 (sounds kinda weird on the next chord at 0:30, personally I'd have moved to E like the source) and then we return to pedal tone G for a bit. From 0:40 you start following the original bass for a few bars but then return to the G pedal note on the chromatic E-Eb-D-Db-C section of the original, then it moves to B pedal note for a bit and resolves like the original. Cool! We reach the loop point around 1:18. Additional voices and some form of percussion join at 1:32. Mix here starts becoming muddier and it becomes harder to parse what's going on. The piano for example becomes almost completely buried and I can only hear a few bass notes here and there. There's also some plucky strings in the mix, also hard to hear. Second loop ends around 2:38 with some strings and we get a simple outro. On arrangement I have 2 main notes. Note #1 is that the structure of the arrangement and the melodies are basically 1:1 to the source, which risks our "reinterpretation" requirement a little. The variations you added to the piano background do have a ton of merit as some are pretty cool, but I'm not entirely convinced on them being enough by themselves. Luckily, the second half adds some additional voices and stuff that give your version a bit more identity. That said, I wish there was a more concrete flow to this arrangement, it's basically 2 loops of the source. I wish there was more tension or build-up or something of the sort. Production is, however, where this one fails more IMO. Electric guitar's fine, I like the tone and the performance. Piano, as proph noted, sounds quite far away and becomes very buried on the second half. Said second half is easily where the production's issues are felt the most, as the larger amount of voices makes it hard to focus on anything. I believe there's 2 guitars, a bass, some plucky string lines and the piano, but I can't really hear all of the elements that clearly. Also, as Gario above mentioned, there's a very "boxy" feel to the sound, with not much material on the lowest and highest frequencies. I think you can probably breathe a lot of life into the mix by looking at those areas. Finally, it's very quiet! I understand that this is a calm cover but it's quite below standard volume at the moment. Overall, while I mostly like the arrangement, I think you need some extra spice on the arrangement and a second pass on the mix for this to pass. NO

Some of the Star Fox 64 themes have such weird melodies, Venom being a standout in that sense... In any case, we begin with some pads and voice clips. Backing is doing material from N64 Venom. Source quotes at 0:27 become quite evident. There's some fun toms (I guess?) here, with tons of effects applied that make them sound quite interesting. As usual in your tracks, there's A LOT going on in terms of sounds. Things build-up for a bit and it starts becoming very very LOUD, the waveform shows the limiting very clearly and the LUFS stabilizes around -7dB with occasional peaks of -5 and such. Around 0:55 the Venom 64 usage becomes even more evident with the additional synths. We get a transition with a voice clip around a minute in and then focus on a quick synth bass. Really love the dark electronic sound of that sample. At 1:22 the source returns and we get some nice moments of heavy electronica until a more syncopated section at 1:48. After that we get more heavy electronica with additional synths and tons of loudness. While the mix is clear sounding it also feels very heavy on the high frequencies (easy to check with plugins like SPAN). Section with violins at 2:16 is fun, nice change-up. We then return to more quotes of Venum with a lot of percussion and such. Around 2:51 there's a break and we move to SNES Venom for a few seconds before a cool variation of Venom N64 with Venom SNES as backing. Track then continues with quick changes and all sorts of Venom quotes. This is kinda like prog EDM at this point! At 4 minutes we get another voice clip transition and then we return to the mood of 1:22 and it's loud and busy as hell. There's another voice clip transition and the melody from 2:16 returns before the track closes off with some stabs. On arrangement this is super cool, I have no idea how one would label this but I'd describe it as dark prog EDM. Source usage is clear and there's a lot of fun and creative usages of the original themes. Some transitions are a tad abrupt but I don't really mind them, I feel this generally flows well and is quite interesting to listen to. Well done! On production I'm mixed but mostly because of one particular thing. Let me start with the positives though. Sound design is great, there's a lot of cool effects and fun treatment of the samples (like those toms in the first minute). Percussion is punchy and the bass, when it matters, stands out great. I also generally feel that the mixing is well done, with most individual things being easy to hear. There's 2 things that bother me about the production though. First, the mix is very very heavy on high frequencies and that makes listening to the entire track a little tiring on the ears. You use a lot of synths and it's easy for all those bright sounds to layer together and create a huge mass of shrill sounds that can get rough, I'd recommend trying to balance it out by ducking high frequencies on many of the samples. My main gripe, however, is that the master is ridiculously loud. A look at the waveform will clearly show that the limiter is being quite aggressive and checking with a LUFS meter indicates very high levels for most of the track. As a reminder, submission standards claim "Volume levels should be normal compared to the average recording". Overall, while I think the arrangement is very very cool and the production is 90% there, I feel this needs (at least) a second pass on the mastering (although looking at balancing the higher frequencies would be great too). I understand that electronic genres want to be very loud sometimes but IMO this is way too much, especially for the length of the track. NO

Hell yeah Fire Emblem Heroes! I haven't played in years but I still remember some of the music. Ok, so this begins with a calm pad and some arpeggios. The arp is somewhat reminiscent of the ones in Howling Gears but not that much. I like the vibe during the first minute, the "Shout" inspiration is clear in the percussion (love that track by the way). Bass enters around 0:52, I can feel its presence but hearing the actual notes is fairly challenging. From what I can tell, the chord progression doesn't seem to be any of the sources' (at least, not directly). Guitar enters with a simple pattern a bit later, I love its tone and what it adds to the track's sound. Rhytm guitar joins at 1:50, sounds cool but I feel the soundscape is a tad cluttered by now, maybe some automation to drop the percussion in volume a tad wouldn't hurt. There's some nice effects and a break at 2:30 with synth strings and a synth bass. At 3:10 we finally get an easily identifiable source quote on guitar. Really cool soundscape here, I particularly enjoyed the jump at 3:50 to a higher octave. Around 4:30 we return to the riffs and melodies from earlier in the track. Still a nice vibe. At 5:10 we switch into a slightly different vibe for the final riff. There's more of a bass focus at the end and I can now tell it's playing the bass line from Howling Gears. With how hard to hear the bass is I'm not sure if this has been going on for the entire time or just now... Anyway, I'll first talk about production. Generally I think this sounds great, most samples sound nice and there's a lot of small details on percussion and transitions that are neat. There's some times where it gets cluttered, not a dealbreaker but some automation to help the listener focus on the more relevant parts would be a nice idea. My main issue is the bass, I can tell it's there but it's VERY hard to hear what it's playing, which is especially relevant since it seems to be the main bringer of source material. On arrangement, I think it flows great. First couple of minutes create a nice mood, then we have a break followed by a new section and then a reprise to close. It's a long track but it manages to keep my attention and interest. The main question with this one will be source usage. Section from 3:10 to 4:30 is, without a doubt, playing the source, but the rest is much harder to notice IMO. As I mentioned on my write-up, I only really noticed the bass was quoting the main Howling Gears riff on the ending where it's playing isolated. Counting bassline as source usage would bring us closer to this being eligible for OCR but, being honest, I have such a hard time actually hearing the bass that I can't reliable count where the source bassline is present. I'll make my best effort here (based on your source usage description): Bass from 0:52 to 2:30 is doing a similar (at times equal) pattern than the main Howling Gears riff. To note, the chord progression here is completely original and the bass riff is clearly not the focus of this entire section (unlike the source where the bass pattern is very clearly highlighted). Bass from 2:30 to 3:10 is doing the same notes than in Howling Gears B section. 3:10 to 4:30 is clearly using the Howling Gears main melody (slight variation at least). There's some elements that you pointed out in your description I couldn't really hear like: Super saw/synth string (doing a diminished interval in the original) being present from 0:33. Same for the guitar chugs. Main arpeggios from the intro being taken from the sources. The descending arpeggios that play at times seems relatively similar to the ones that play on Howling Gears B but curiously you didn't listen them as source usage in your expanded description (but did list them on the first description). Counting the elements that seem taken from the source, we basically have source material present in some form from 0:52 to 4:30, basically 3:30 mins of a 6 minute track. While this is technically more than 50%, the standards state: I don't really feel the bass section from 0:52 to 2:30 is identifiable and dominant so, to me, it feels wrong to count it just to clear the technical 50% barrier (which isn't even an actual rule, more of a guide). I can only truly consider 2:30 to 4:30 as identifiable and dominant source usage. Overall, while I enjoy hearing this quite a bit and think it's generally well produced, I don't really think it has enough dominant (emphasis here) source usage for it to be posted. Others may disagree but that's my take for now. NO

Ah, this track... I'm very familiar with it and totally not salty. Anyway, this begins with some acoustic noodling to set the mood. At 0:40 we start getting source material, with the transformation of the intro into an acoustic jam. Main melody strikes at 1:05 on an acoustic duet. There's percussion in here but it's kinda subdued. Around 1:30 we get a small break that adds strings into the mix. Love the percussion fill at 1:54 as we reach the second main melody. I really like how it's played with a ton of repeated notes, adds a ton of character. After this we repeat 0:40 and then an extended version of 1:30. At 3:40 we move into a closing guitar solo that has an unexpected volume jump, On arrangement, this is pretty cool. You did a great job adapting an iconic and dramatic source into the "flamenco" acoustic style. As far as I could tell melody and harmony treatment was fairly conservative but the whole genre shift is enough personalization to pass OCR's criteria on my book. On production this is great, particularly the quality of the acoustic recording. The only gripe I have is the volume jump around 3:40, it seems unnatural to me. On closer inspection, it seems it literally happens at 3:43, a plugin throws a quick peak of around -4 LUFS there. Obviously not a dealbreaker but worth pointing out in case the mixer wants to take a look! Overall, a top notch adaption of a classic VGM track. Easy pass! YES

¡Siempre es bueno ver más chilenos en OCR! El review tiene que ser en inglés si jeje. Source is quite barebones, I'm interested to see how you covered it. Anyway, this begins with heavy guitars doing the intro, setting the tone for what comes after. At 0:09 we move to the first riff of the source, now featuring very intense drums and guitars. Makes it sound much more interesting than the original's soundscape tbh. Drums are super aggressive here, arguably too much. For this first section the source is translated pretty faithfully but the rhytm guitar has some neat variations that add a ton. Drum writing also adds a ton with the continuously changing snare pattern, from hitting on all beats, to hitting on beat 3, to the classic Stratovarius-esque fast pattern on 0:41. Rhytm guitars sound great, leads are well played but get lost in the mix at times, there's a lot of reverb in them. Riff around 1:13 is sweet. Around 1:31 we return to the main riff. On the 1:41 section it's easy to notice that the bass is very low on the mix, since the rhytms aren't playing too low and the bass isn't as noticeable as one would expect. After that there's a couple repetitions and we eventually reach a guitar solo around 2:32. Some sick playing here with the fast wah notes. After the solo ends the track, uh, ends as well. Anticlimactic ending really. K, so on arrangement. Source usage is pretty clear but there's a ton of transformation done through the rhytm guitar riffs and drum patterns. Source is very repetitive and there's a bit of that in your remix but I feel you managed to create enough variations on both rhytm guitar and drums to make this interesting during its runtime. If I was going to nitpick anything I feel the arrangement could've used a small (even if very) break at some point, it's short but VERY intense so it can get tiring. On production I am mostly positive, rhytm guitar tone is excellent and the drums are very punchy. However, as I mentioned above it could be argued that the drums are too aggressive, I'd lower the volume on kick/snare a tad, which would give other parts of the drumkit the chance to shine and make the track less tiring to listen to. Overall, this is a great, aggressive rock cover. You took a very (IMO) boring source and managed to turn it into something great. I have small nitpicks on production but is definitely a pass! YES

Interesting source to cover, it doesn't that have much material but a neat atmosphere. I think prophetik above did a good job describing each section so I won't expand much there. I generally agree with his take on source usage, your track is taking musical ideas similar to the original, like 3 note arpeggios on several sections making "melodies" with the highest note of the arpeggio, but at no point plays the source in a way that anyone would clearly pinpoint it being a cover. For example, on the intro you're doing a 3-2-1 "melody" on F minor while the source does 5-6-4 on D minor (plus the 3-4-2 flourish to end each phrase), you then change the "melody" to a different one that still doesn't clearly echo the source. The synth arpeggio at 1:08 is the closest to the source since at least it has the 5-6 interaction, but it's a minor part of the track so even if it counted as "source usage" we'd be left with an arrangement that's largely "original". As an aside, on the 2:03 you're layering a synth playing a melody on C# minor over the F minor arrangement and it doesn't really sound good to my ears. I'm assuming you're doing this contrast intentionally but it doesn't land well IMO. K, so on arrangement. First, this isn't fit for OCR on its current form as its not really an identifiable cover of the source. It'd definitely need retooling on that side to clear our submission standards. Besides from that I think the arrangement's quite good, sections are well constructed and it flows well. I do agree with proph that it's fairly repetitive though, there's potential to add some extra touches on repeats to make each section feel unique. I don't have many notes on production, I think most elements sound good and are easy to hear in the soundscape. Only instrument I felt could use some extra work are the low strings, it lacks some clarity that could be achieved with more attack on the sample or maybe layering an staccato string playing the same lines. Overall, I think this is a solid arrangement with good production. However, it feels more like an original song than a clear cover of the source, which disqualifies it for OCR. If you intend to resubmit it you'd need to rework the arrangement to make the source usage more clear. It'll be challenging with a source like this but there's elements that could be highlighted and expanded even on such a short track (the 5-6-4 "melody", the 3-4-2 flourish at the end of each phrase, the #7 that gives the arpeggio a harmonic minor feel). For now though, the vote is: NO

I remember this one from DoD (well, it wasn't too long ago haha). You guys already provided a pretty thorough source breakdown so I won't comment that much on that. Anyway, this begins with heavy guitars and a rock organ doing silly chords on top. There's something slightly corny about the organ sound that I can't really decide if I hate or love, but I generally love distorted organs so I'll go with that! At 0:44 we move into a heavy bass riff which is arguably one of the most liberal uses of the sources in here. As proph mentioned the DT vibes are insane, the riff at 1:18 feels straight out of one of their albums. Vocals enter around 1:30 and the usage of backing vocals also gives me heavy DT vibes. The note at 1:45 seems weirdly loud for some reason. Often in mixes we comment on vocals being buried by the instruments but here I feel there's a bit of the opposite, I think they could use some more compression as there's the occasional vocal peak that takes over the mix a tad. Riff at 2:25 is very cool. I hadn't commented on it yet but drum writing is insane, so many cool fills and details. Riff change around 3:05 is awesome but I found it odd to return to the same melody on vocals instead of changing it up for this section. Nice change-up at 4:00 and nice organ solo afterwards! As a mega nitpick I missed some more chords and slides on the organ solo for maximum organ cheese. There's a repeat of one of the main melodies around 4:52. There's a much needed break around 5:25, impeccably recorded and performed. This lasts around a minute and after a repeat of the intro we get into a "woaahh" section at 6:57 that sounds really good. Honestly the track could've ended just here. The guitar solo was cool still, nice ending! On arrangement this is really cool. I love how you took the sources and used them as "musical material" for your ideas. Some people are nitpicky about covers keeping the spirit of the original but I always enjoy the musical exercise of building something different with the musical ideas of the sources. My main nitpick about the arrangement is that it takes a lot of time for the break to arrive and there's a lot of repetition on the vocal melodies (DCP A section is sang a toooon of times), but still that's far from a dealbreaker. On production this sounds great, although I have a few nits. Main one is that there's points where the vocals take over the mix for a couple seconds. Second is (and I know Josh will hate me for this) that I feel the snare has too much high frequency content and I think that may be causing it to sound a bit squashed. If you look at the track waveform in some parts (as an example, the repeated hits around 1:17) you can see it peak very clearly on snare hits and if you isolate frequencies (I used a multiband compressor) you'll notice that the snare stands out a ton around the 1.5k-3k range. This is no way a dealbreaker but something that caught my ear. Other than those small details this sounds great, guitars and bass in particular have nasty tones that I love. Overall, this is a really good track! 8 minute tracks are tough to pull off and although I have some nitpicks this is clearly way above the bar. YES