jnWake   Judges ⚖️

We begin with some waves and congas before a dulcimer-ish instrument starts playing the main Aquatic Ambience arpeggios. Fun vibe to start, I don't think the congas' sound quality is particularly high but it still works fine. At 0:54 we move underwater and a somewhat loud clean guitar enters the soundscape. AA arpeggios continue on the background. At 1:52 vibe starts slowly shifting into some sort of reggae mood, which is established at 2:20. A synth lead plays the main Aquatic Ambience melody here, after 2 whole minutes! I feel the drums and bass are a bit soft here, but they get better after a few repeats. Love how this sections sounds, the laid back style with the synths playing melodies and flourishes is a great combo. There's another change at 3:15 with a big break. Arpeggios once again are the main element here but there's some bass wubs on the background. Guitar returns around 4 minutes in and after a bit of build-up we get distorted guitars! Mood is still quite chill though. A lead electric joins a bit later, playing the main AA melody. I love the change-up around 5 minutes in, sounds Tool-ish. At 5:16 the rock section ends and once again we focus on piano for the track's end. Arrangement is fantastic, we go through a ton of several moods during the 5 minute duration so it never gets boring and a lot of the sections are very memorable. I don't really have any nitpicks! It's great that people can still come up with fun ways to reinterpret these sources. Production is also mostly great, mix is clean and most samples and instruments sound good. Clean electric guitar, as pointed by Chimp's vote, is the main issue, it's super wide and also kinda loud (plus the mono issue she highlighted). Overall, fantastic track! I absolutely love the arrangement but sadly I think the one present production issue may be a dealbreaker. Rules don't really state anything specific about your track having to play well in mono but on the "Production" item we have the following: With this in mind, I feel a song not playing properly in mono may be enough to reject it, as much as it pains me. Like Chimp said I hope you can look at an alternative way to produce the electric guitar section since this NEEDS to be on the site. NO

Spooky! This one begins with some creepy pads and sound design. There's some string melodies in the background but I'm not sure they're echoing the source. At 0:30 we get a lead of sorts and some movement on the bass before we get some chords on whistle-ish instruments. At 1:07 we get the source's main arpeggio line on many different instruments for a while, until at 1:44 things settle down. Soundscape is really cool, every instrument sounds great and I love all the effects on the background. At 2:19 we get a new section that's quite fun and at 2:44 we get the main arpeggios back alongside some original writing. This section gets a bit noisy with all that's going on, makes it hard to focus. At 3:22 we get a repeat of the main arpeggio/melody of the source. Melody is on a sitar-ish instrument that doesn't cut through the mix all that well. At 3:51 there's a break, then The Shining reference and the track ends. What a spooky/tense track! Production is very well done, the mix is mostly very clear (only a few spots with a bit too much going on) and the sample choices fit the idea perfectly. I particularly loved all the additional sound design efforts with all the SFX and transitions. At some points, especially towards the "climax", the production reminded me of the Zerg Themes from Starcraft, maybe it'd be interesting to try cover one of them on this style! Arrangement will be the main point of contention here. While the track's structure is good, with enough build-ups and breaks to keep an interesting pace, source usage is quite on the edge. As per your own write-up, source is clearly used from 1:05 to 2:18 and then from 2:40 to 3:50, for a total of 2 minutes and 23 seconds. Since the track lasts 4 minutes and 19 seconds this barely scrapes the 50% "unofficial rule" but I don't think the source is really dominant on all those sections. In particular, from 2:40 to 3:22 while you can definitely hear the main arpeggios I don't really think the source is the main focus so I can't completely count that part as dominant source usage. Overall, while this is a really cool arrangement with great production, I agree with proph that source usage isn't dominant enough for this to pass. I think making source usage clearer from 2:40 to 3:22 or adding some more direct quotes of the "melody" from the source in earlier parts of the track would help. NO

What a challenging source to cover, basically just several modifications of one arpeggio... Anyway, we begin with some pads/synths doing the main arpeggio. It starts small and quiet but it quickly starts to pile up with a ton of frequencies accumulating on the higher end. To my ears it's a bit much if I'm honest, and a quick check on SPAN confirms that there's a TON going on above 5kHz, which is fairly unusual. In any case, around 0:20 a percussion joins the soundscape, initially high-passed it seems. At 0:44 we get the proper drop and there's no high-passing anymore. Percussion is very punchy, I dig it. There's not much bass here so far, but after a quick break we get A TON of bass around 1:11. There's a ton of fun bass/percussion interplay on this section with some fun beat changes. At 1:53 we reach a break and at 2:15 we reach a section with piano+choir that seems to resemble part of the source. From 2:37 we get a similar build-up to 0:20 with the high-passed percussion and at 2:59 there's a new drop. I'm noticing now that the lead is super dry, it sounds quite odd when some of the phrases ends since the notes just cut-off really quickly, some delay/reverb would help. The track gets super loud here and I'm not exactly sure but I may be hearing some artifacts near 3:25. There's a very sudden transition at 3:42 into a quieter section for the end. I like the idea of 3:42 but I'm not sure the execution nailed it completely, it'd feel better if the notes didn't cut-off before the glitch effect but rather stayed with it, as if the tape was getting paused or something of the sort. Arrangement is great, you took a very hard source and managed to turn into a fun heavy DnB jam. There's enough breaks and changes on the beat to keep it interesting for the entire duration. My only gripe would be with the transition at 3:42, I feel it could've been made smoother. On production, I think this is generally well made DnB. Percussion is very punchy and the bass sounds great, which is basically what we need the most. Samples are generally good although I felt the pads had too much content around the 2-3kHz range, which can get fairly annoying during certain parts of the track. My other sample related nitpick is that the main lead synth is too dry and at times it sounds odd when the notes cut-off so abruptly. Finally, I also have some doubts about how loud the track gets (consistently -4/5 LUFS during the loudest parts) and how much basically every frequency range is being pushed. This is a picture of SPAN during the 3:00 portion: As you can see, basically every frequency range is extremely high, with a ton of presence of super low stuff (some of it even below 20Hz) and also of very high frequencies. Now, the mix itself (despite the loudness) sounds good and one shouldn't simply rely on visuals to mix but in this case it seems like something that could be looked at to improve the mix, especially considering the loudest section may have some artifacts going on. Overall, I think this is a great take on the source, fun arrangement and generally solid production. However, I have some issues with the loudness and potential artifacts on the 3:20 section, so for now I'll wait for other judges to listen while I give some more thought to my final veredict. ? EDIT: I gave it some thought and I've decided to let my ears rule on this one. Although the sound near 3:20 is a little too distorted in my opinion, I'll not let that detail ruin what's generally a great mix. YES

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

K so your synth oriented spree continues! We begin with slow pads, some SFX and a lead presenting the main melody of the source, nice mood on this section. There's some sort of sweep at 0:29 doing the transition to the next section but it seems oddly timed. In any case, on 0:30 we get a stable beat on percussion and the main source melody on various different samples. I enjoy the constant lead switching as it keeps things interesting. I'm not hot on the drums though, they feel buried in the mix. On synthwave-ish stuff I expect the kick especially to blow me away but the one here is barely squeezing through. Snare works better but I'd also like it a bit louder, but this may be more of a personal thing. 1:10 introduces a different melody, although the backing barely changes. When the bass plays very low notes it becomes a little hard to hear it properly and discern what notes it's actually playing. Layering another sample an octave above could help and also add a bit more drive to the bass sound. 1:51 introduces a new section which feels like a bigger reinterpretation of the source material. Soundscape feels very empty to me here, but it may partly be due to the percussion being so quiet on the mix. At 2:32 we return to the previous treatment of the source until the end. On arrangement I like this, I feel there's a good flow to it. A quick intro to set the mood, some repetitions, a break and some final reprises. Nothing mindblowing but it does its job. That said, I have a couple gripes. First is that the percussion/bass combo are extremely repetitive, basically the complete opposite of how you treated the leads. The bass line is kinda fun on the source so you shouldn't have much issue adding extra movement and licks to it. Percussion could use more fills or maybe a switch to the cymbals, I dunno. My second gripe is that the 1:51 section feels very empty. I enjoy the idea of a rhytm oriented section but it's not really doing it for me yet, maybe just because of the production though. On production, I think you achieved the synthwave sound reasonably well except for the percussion. The kick in particular is very weak, but really the entire kit isn't cutting through the mix as much as you'd want in a synthwave track. Other than that I dig the synth samples, the different sound effects and transitions. I would also take a look at the bass sample when it's doing very low notes too. Overall, I think this needs some more time to cook. Arrangement and production both seem like they're 80% there to me. One thing I've noticed in particular is that you've had trouble balancing the low-end of your synth oriented stuff so I hope you take the time to polish that section. I'll say I completely disagree with proph's general take on the genre/track above, I don't find this remix boring at all. I do agree with the notion of making the backing writing less repetitive though. NO

Ouch right in the childhood... Just like the source this begins with a winding clock SFX, but, unlike the source, we get a clean/acoustic guitar doing arpeggios after it. The chord progression makes me think of "Boss Bossanova" from DKC2 at first but the "Frantic Factory" rep kicks in quickly with a synth doing the main melody at 0:14. The guitar sample is a tad fake sounding but I'll allow it, the synth lead sounds nice. At 0:25 we have a synth doing a motif similar to the source's music box line. Percussion slowly starts to fade in until a small transition near 1:10. Rhytm kicks in strongly around 1:19 for a very rocking sound (although I'd give the bass some distortion for extra grit). Another melody joins at 1:30 and we then get a few repeats. Soundscape and samples remind me a lot of what zircon used to submit. 2:07 introduces a nice spooky break with a slower beat. 2:20 continues the slower beat with a different section from the source. At 2:40 we get another build-up with a mean piano riff. I was a bit surprised the riff didn't continue after the build-up ended but we got a cool sounding section instead regardless. At 3:15 we get a small "break" thanks to some fun filter usage but it quickly returns to full energy a few seconds later. "Boss Bossanova" returns at 3:37 as the track becomes quieter and slowly transitions into a spooky vibe with some creepy strings and laughs. Fade-out endings feel cheap at times but this was a creative way to do one. Arrangement is great here, source usage is creative but easy to identify and the song's structure is fun. There's ton of build-ups and small breaks that still keep the energy alive (I particularly liked the "filtered" section at 3:15 in that regard). As I mentioned in the comments above, it really reminded me zircon's work. Production is also great. Punchy percussion, good synth leads and the mix is very clear. If I were to be extremely nitpicky I would ask for some more aggresiveness on bass (a tad of distortion/saturation maybe?) and for the synth leads to be a little bit louder, I feel they blend into the mix a tad when they should be the highlight. Overall, excellent work! Fun arrangement that's very nicely produced. I also enjoyed the addition of "spooky tropes" all over the track, giving it a unique mood that's also fitting for the source. YES

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

You really are in a big synthwave mood, aren't you? I dunno why of all themes possible you keep picking boss themes though! Anyway, this begins with some nice pads and synths until a melody from the source enters around 0:21. We then get a thumpy kick that's very heavily sidechained, and a bit later we get snare, hihat and a cowbell-ish thing. Eventually another melody from the source is thrown into the mix. It's a nice soundscape really, especially when it's "full" (around 0:50 onwards). As a nitpick, I feel the heavy sidechaining is too much at first, but it sounds great when the soundscape is fuller. I'd prefer if it was automated to become stronger when the track needs it rather than being so heavy all the time. There's a break at 1:11, I love the panning of the shakers (?). I've had some issues really figuring out how the melodies of the source are used at times but every once in a while a clear usage comes (like the synth at 1:35). That same melody is reinforced on a higher pitched synth on the following section, and some other parts of the source are also added as layers here. There's another break around 2:47 with some ethereal pads. At 3:00 a source melody kicks in and then we get one of the main themes of the source on a crystal-ish synth. I enjoy that you changed up the kick and hat pattern for this section, adds some nice variety. Around 4:00 the melody from 1:35 returns on the most regular synth of the entire track so far! There's one final break at 4:24 and the track ends peacefully. On arrangement this is an interesting track. I feel you nailed the mood you were going for and even managed to make it engaging for almost 5 minutes, a definitely bold length for a genre like this. Source usage moves between very evident and very hard to notice, but most sections of the remix definitely use the source so I don't think we need to invoke the stopwatch this time. My only "nitpick"/suggestion for the future is that the arrangement seems to imply the section at 4:00 is the track's climax (given its near the end and reprises an earlier melody), but the actual mixing/volume doesn't support that implication. If you indeed intended that section to be like the big climax/send-off I'd have supported that more, especially on the production side. Finally, I'll echo proph's comment on the ending pads cutting off rather strangely. On production this is very good, you did a nice job creating the various synth patches used in the track (or choosing presets, however you found the samples!). My only nitpicks really are the sidechaining being too heavy at first and that one synth has a very mid-heavy sound that bothers me a little (the one doing the melody in the entire section starting at 1:11). Both are far from dealbreakers though. Overall, another fun track in your synthwave spree! Solid production and arrangement make for an easy pass in my opinion. YES

Collabers: TheManPF, Ronin Op F So, my friend Naop (from Mega Mixtape) decided it'd be a fun idea to organize an album featuring regulars of the Dwelling of Duels community, focusing on the Donkey Kong Country franchise. As we've collaborated a ton in the past, he chose me as one of the project leads and, naturally, as a contributor of music! I've always wanted to cover "Crocodile Cacophony" so I finally took the chance to do it! I'll admit though that it was kinda hard to do, since choosing a direction for the remix was tough. The original theme is a menacing upbeat theme and I wanted to keep that but also add my own touch. I'm not really sure I actually kept the menacing part alive that much on my take but it's definitely upbeat at least! One of the hardest parts was figuring out how to use the source's intro, since it's quite chromatic. In any case, I eventually managed to settle into some ideas and ended up building a metal-ish take with a lot of transitions and variations! At first I was kinda imagining to take this on a more jazz/synth mood but eventually I realized I needed guitars so I contacted my friend and (also) fellow latino TheManPF. As usual, he completely nailed his parts, playing a nice solo! When I shared the track in the project's Discord server, Ronin offered me to add live strings and I obviously said yes! A couple days later I received like 10 stems that simulate a string ensemble and promptly inserted into the mix. In any case, lemme share a source breakdown: 0:00-0:31: Intro, chord progression is based on the section just after the intro (as is the string rhytm). 0:32-0:48: The piano line echoes the string line from 0:16 on the source. 0:48-1:04: Repeat with PF on lead. The melody there is based on the melody from Gangplank Galleon! 1:04-1:20: My take on the 0:24 funky section from the original. 1:20-1:49: My take on the 0:33 of the original, both times (piano and synth) with some reharmonization and timing changes. 1:49-2:04: Transition based on first riff. 2:04-2:14: Finally, the source's intro! 2:14-2:46: Another variation of the 0:24 funky section of the original, with a guitar solo on top! At 2:30 there's variation of the previous riff on the leads. 2:46-3:24: Big transition into the final melody of the source (0:41), first on piano and then on guitar. 3:24-end: Keyboard solo over the riff from 1:04-1:20 to finish the track. Hope you enjoy! Games & Sources

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

Generation IV has such good music... Anyway, we begin with an electronic and after 16 seconds we get the source on pads and bass... This mix is super quiet, as proph pointed out it has a ton of headroom and the LUFS is super low. Bass is very low on this section. We then get the main "melody" of the source on isolated piano and at 0:43 it's fleshed out a bit with some funky bass and simple percussion. There's then a repeat with some extra elements, pretty standard electronic stuff so far, with the source usage being fairly straightforward. At 1:38 I'm not particularly convinced of the bass/chords on the first few bars, the A minor with F# on bass sounds very strange since the melody goes to G#. The rest of this section sounds pretty good other than that. We reach a big break at 2:10 and a few seconds later we get a simple piano + percussion section. We slowly begin a build-up transition then with a creeping snare until at 2:48 we complete the move to the new genre. We have a slower beat now and the source has some variations on the main melody. I like the slightly distorted/aggressive bass sound on this section. This continues for a while and at 3:50 we get another usual break/build-up combo and at 4:21 we get the main section of the source again, it feels very similar to what we had around 1:08 but with a different bass sound. Not gonna lie, repetitiveness is starting to kick hard here. At 5:17 the melody is stripped from the soundscape and we close the track with just the percussion. On production this is good, I'm not an expert on electronic music by any means but everything sounded appropiate for the genre (although extremely quiet). Punchy percussion, nice bass (outside of the quiet one at 0:16). There isn't a huge amount of sound design stuff but what's there works well. Given the length of the track maybe there could've been more sound design details to create excitement or more variety in pads/backing. On arrangement I'm not as sold since this is very very repetitive. It feels like a very high percentage of the track is built over the same part of the source with very little variation. In particular, the entire genre shift and build-up leading to 4:21 was fairly disappointing as the "climax" at 4:21 was almost identical to what we had already heard at 1:08. In fact, I went back there and started swapping between those 2 sections and it basically felt like a copy/paste. Now, repetitiveness is common in this type of track and it makes sense with the idea of going from one genre to another one... Overall, I'm quite torn on my vote. On production this is good so no complaints there from me (other than the easily solved low volume of the track). However, the repetitiveness of the track, especially from 4:21 onwards, really put me off... For now, I'm gonna go with a NO, hoping that there's maybe a chance to make the final 2 minutes more interesting. NO

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

Thanks for noting the instruments on the write-up, otherwise I'd have assumed it was a 12 string guitar. Always fun to learn something new and to see a different genre here. Anyway, this begins with the melody that starts around ~1:02 in the source, now on tiple. I really like how the tiple sounds, very lush and clean, lovely! Around 0:25 we get a bigger ensemble with the introduction of the violin and a percussion. Violin takes the lead, doing the second melody from the source while the tiple now takes a rhytm role. As small nitpicks, I feel the both percussion and violin are a tad dry and the violin sound lacks attack, makes it sounds very synthetic. We then repeat the main melody with the flute doing some harmonies. After that there's a repeat of the second melody with the flute doing some harmonies and then a tiple solo, followed by a violin solo (I feel 2:11 has a wrong note on the violin). There's a fun chord progression change around 2:18 but the tiple playing has some sloppy moments there (2:20 specifically, sounds like you played the wrong chord and quickly fixed it). We then get a new melody on 2:26 (there may be a wrong note at 2:35 on the rhytm tiple? Same at 2:39) and we finish the track with a variation on an earlier section. Arrangement is fun, you did a nice job adapting the source to the new genre/rhytm/instrumentation. My only criticism here really would be that the cajon writing/playing is fairly repetitive, I feel there could be more fills added to make it more varied, even if the general rhytm doesn't change much. I don't have issues with the flute notes that Hemo pointed, I agree that they're a bit spicy but I like them. Production is good, the tiple recording in particular is excellent and the mixing is clear, although a little dry. As noted above I have some issues with the performance, with some off sounding notes in different parts. Overall, this is a great track! Fun idea to adapt the source to a "pasillo" and you executed it well. However, for this to be posted I'd ask for the artist to fix the wrong notes on flute/tiple, especially at the points noted above (2:11, 2:35 and 2:39). YES EDIT: I decided to revise my vote and leave it as just YES, not gonna let perfect be the enemy of good!

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

I've never played (or even seen) Croc, but I love all the stories surrounding it and how it supposedly inspired Nintendo to do Super Mario 64. I had never listened to the music either and it's pretty funny how much the Title Theme resembles the music from games like Super Mario 3D World. Anyway, this track comes fresh from Fresh Month so I'll take the chance to vote quickly since I already reviewed it for DoD. Begins with some classic Zack sounding acoustic guitar before a jumpy piano and bass join. Main melody from the Title Theme is played on flute at 0:20. It's a bit airy sounding but nothing major. There's a brass melody at 0:43, unsure if it comes from any of the sources and we then get a repeat of the main melody layered on flute, sax and some percussion. At 1:08 we move to the B melody from Title Theme and then we get some repeats of both until a break at 1:40. Great idea to change the pace and let the listener breathe for a bit. Snow Island is featured on this section, which closes with a sax solo over a very cool chord progression. We then get some more repeats of the main melodies but now an electric guitar joins the band for extra variety (plus, every band member also adds some extra voices and flourishes on these final repeats). Track then ends on a repeat of the intro with just acoustic guitar and bass. Arrangement is fun, the original theme isn't super varied so there's a fair amount of melody repetition on the first 1:40 here, but you did a good job switching up lead instruments and energy levels so that it doesn't feel repetitive. Adding Snow Island to break this was a good idea and gave the arrangement a good structure. Source tunes are present for most of the remix so there's no question about eligibility. Production is good, all the instruments sound clear in the mix and the recordings are mostly high quality (pan flute is a bit airy as noted above). I don't really have many notes here, the track sounds great and any criticisms would be just nitpicks. Overall, excellent work! Great production and performances bring to life an arrangement that wouldn't feel out of place in a modern Mario game. Y for Yazoo

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

For MAGWest 2025, DoD held Wii U Wiik, where the goal was to cover a theme from a game original to the Wii U. Among those was indie darling Shovel Knight and its amazing soundtrack so I took the chance to cover something from it. Since the deadline was tight I decided to pick the theme "The Starlit Wilds", a beautiful tune that plays on scenes where Shovel Knight dreams about rescuing his love interest Shield Knight. There's melancholy and hopefulness on those scenes so I kinda tried to capture both things on my take. As a silly story, the chord progression from the intro was born by accident as I was toying around with different chords for the main melody. I was playing a AMaj7 on my left hand but my ring finger slipped from C# to C and that accidentally created a beautiful major to minor progression that inspired the tone of the cover! This track features the great Emunator! I've been wanting us to collab again on one of my tracks after "Ambience of the Forest" and I'm glad we got to do it again, even if it was rushed. I mentioned earlier that the Wii U Wiik deadline was tight but real life made it even tighter for me, as I began the track a little less than 2 days before deadline. I sent Emu a WIP on wednesday night and during thursday he sent me stems for some instruments (piano, bass, pads) and SFX ideas, plus cool snare and kick samples. Unlike our work on "Ambience", I handled the mix this time, but I'll be sure to try and get him to mix for me again in the future! Quick breakdown: 0:00-0:36: The aforementioned chord progression (and some other chords) acts as backing of the only melody from the source. There's campfire SFX and other sounds as ornaments. The idea is that Shovel Knight is starting to fall asleep. 0:36-1:17: B section from the original (starts around 0:24) plays here on piano. Shield Knight is falling! 1:18-1:54: We move to a hopeful section, the chord progression changes to a brighter one and we get an upbeat rhytm (bless those 80s snares). Shovel Knight feels he can rescue Shield Knight now! The same elements from the source are covered again, with faster tempo. 1:54-end: It was all a dream though... First, piano plays the arpeggios that play at 0:34 on the source and then we get a repeat of the intro, campfire effects return as Shovel Knight wakes up and the adventure continues. Hope you enjoy! Games & Sources

¡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