jnWake   Judges ⚖️

Neat! I like how you arranged the song. Most transitions feel pretty natural despite the medley-ish nature of the mix. Only criticism I have is the sound of the kick drum. Since you worked on the song for quite a while I'm guessing this is the sound you wanted but I feel it is a bit too short and high-pitched. I also think some distortion guitar would enhance the mix (listening to the song a bit better I think there is one in some sections, it should be louder). FF battle themes are usually pretty suited for distortion guitars! Anyway, very nice effort! EDIT: Also forgot to comment that the ending is really amazing. You could even expand it into an independent mix.

Wow I didn't even know voice-chat was relevant to console gaming.

Lol I loved all the games people usually hate: Super Mario Sunshine, Final Fantasy 8, etc. Admiteddly, FF8 is probably my least fave of the FF I played, but I still thought it was super cool. One game from an awesome series I dislike is Nuts and Bolts. Mainly for 2 reasons: it isn't a platformer and it's on Xbox 360 (which I don't own) so I've never played it! The game may be fun (I've no idea) but it makes me sad that it doesn't follow the style of the other games from the BK series.

I also have to agree with magnum. The idea is very interesting, but you have to do adjustments. For example, in the first section, the A# from Stone Tower clashes too much, since one of the Clock Tower chords uses B. This type of dissonances can work well sometimes, but in this particular case, the notes are in very similar scales (if not the same), so the clash is way too noticeable. The section with Stone Tower's intro manages to avoid this problem since the notes aren't that close, so the notes that would disagree a lot don't sound bad. On the third section, I feel the clash sounds well with the exception of the second voice that plays the Stone Tower melody. The following two sections lack a bit of structure, they don't seem to have a purpose. On 2:00, it becomes very confusing, and for example, at 2:07, it sounds very bad. The "interlude" at 2:20 is interesting but then it gets very confusing again. Anyway, appart from that, everything sounds mechanical (especially the acoustic guitar). I'm not sure but the samples sound like taken directly from the game, which is cool, but I'd prefer better samples. Transitions between sections are usually weak since they are very abrupt. I'd think of adding a bass or drum that plays during most of the song, allowing to create better transitions. Overall, the idea is very very nice but execution could be polished! I think this is promising so you should work on it!

There are some heavy dissonances in many parts of the song. The idea is very nice and works on the intro, but stops working after it. Try to transpose the Lost Woods melodies into whatever tone the Chrono Trigger song is. Altering the key of a melody, while changing the mood a bit sometimes, keeps the feeling of the original and is a nice way to make different songs fit well together.

Very cool! I'm not sure what the sources are (only Eterna Forest?) so I can't comment on that. However, I think the song is pretty nice. I love the sound of the drums, even if the hi-hat sticks out a bit too much. I'd make the piano stand out more during most of the song. The delay/reverb effect you used is very cool but makes the piano a bit hard to heart. Give more volume to the dry sound. The bass is very low, it needs to stand out a lot more. To be honest I'm not even sure there is a bass in this song, but I think I hear one. It'd add a lot to the arrangement if you added a nice and playful bassline. The flute sound is a bit too loud in some sections: 2:41 and 2:48. Overall, it needs some balancing. I feel there is almost nothing in the bass/middle frequency and some instruments are a bit too loud while others are too quiet. Other than that, very cool!

I think I'll drop out. I fear I'll not have much free time the next couple of weeks. Better leave my spot for people that can do something good!

Nuts, I was beaten. It was fun while it lasted. At least I got more people to listen to my music!

It seems production is knocking me out. Oh well... Anyway, comments! Stealth Chameleon - Very nice song. I love how you turned Blaze Heatnix's metal song into a chill electronic poppy song. Use of Sting Chameleon is good, even if Heatnix is clearly used more than Chameleon. My only criticism is that the lead synth for the first sections is a bit dry. Unfazed - Cool song too. Sources are blended more clearly here than in ToN's track. I don't really have any criticism to make... Voting is very hard on this battle... I Am Terror - Interesting song, especially after your round 1 mix! A shame that Metal Man couldn't manage to finish his song. I like this one. Knowledge Representation - Production is nice. I'm not that fond of the piano sample used at the intro, sounds a bit fake. Other than that, source usage is fine. Arrangement is a bit repetitive but that kind of fits well with the style chosen. Fade out ending is the weakest part of the song. Superconductivity - That's mine! I essentially went for a progressive metal/rock arrangement, similar (but slower) than my previous entry. Seahorses, FOREVEH - Odd intro... Storm Eagle's melody sounds funny with the samples used. Song picks up at about 1:10. The samples kind of bring it down and it is very short. Drifter - Odd mix too! Quite a strange battle here... Section beggining at 1:07 has a weird tone. Overall, an interesting sound but production brings it down. It seems Toxic Seahorse wasn't an easy song to mix.

Cool! Sign me up as a novice. Samples of my work (both are posted on the WIP forums): - WIP ReMix of FFIX's Cleyra Trunk: http://soundcloud.com/jnwake/cleyra-trunk-v2 - - WIP ReMix of Wire Sponge and Infinity Mijinion: http://soundcloud.com/jnwake/forever-a-sponge-wire-sponge . Not sure if helpful, but I use Reaper for mixing and have a Korg M50 that I use to record synths and other stuff.

Yeah, the mixing is pretty bad in that section. I would have fixed it if I had more time. I did that like at 4 am lol. Maybe I should raise the guitar one octave (or get a real guitar!). What do you mean by rigid? Everything is played live, but when I recorded the last sections I was a bit tired, so that may be it. Thanks for the comment by the way!

I agree I'll post comments soon, but most tracks are great!

I think that when you reach the point of "I can't imagine doing anything more", you're ready to either submit or take a break. If you don't feel ready to submit, then take a break of the song. Don't listen to it for a couple of days, then listen to it again. If you feel "this is a good song", submit it! Otherwise, identify what makes you unhappy and fix it. But don't become obsessed.

Source breakdown for my entry: 0:00 - 0:35: Chill Penguin's intro. There's a nod to Wire Sponge with the last sample. 0:35 - 0:49: Wire Sponge's "B theme" chord progression. 0:50 - 1:17: Chill Penguin's "A theme" over the same chord progression from Wire Sponge's theme. 1:18 - 1:47: The main synth plays a mix of Chill Penguin's "B theme" and Wire Sponge's "B theme". 1:48 - 2:31: Repeat of the 0:35 - 1:17 section. 2:32 - 2:47: Sponge's intro chord progression with variations over Chill Penguin's intro on the synth. 2:48 - 3:01: Piano plays melody from Chill Penguin (from the intro) and the icy sample plays a melody from Wire Sponge (A theme). 3:01 - 3:45: Synth plays a mix of Chill Penguin's "B theme" and Wire Sponge's "B theme". Icy samples repeat the melodies from 2:48-3:01. 3:46 - 4:14: Synth mixes Chill Penguin's "A theme" and Wire Sponge's "B theme". 4:14 - 4:53: Piano plays Chill Penguin's "B theme".

On first listen, Theory of N vs. Gario will be a tough battle. Very nice songs! My battle against Sir_Nuts will be weird, techno thing vs. rock thing. Your production is much better than mine

I managed to submit my entry. I didn't have much time to mix it (or to record everything properly), but it isn't that bad I believe. Hope you manage to send something Nuts!

Don't worry, I had no time to record today. This will be long...

Wow... I can't believe this works lol. It really needs a girl singing.

I wanted to participate but I didn't have time. And I just noticed I was also breaking the rule Rexy posted. Oh well...

Reverb is fine on the lead. I'm not a big fan of the sound you used though. I can't put my finger on it but it sounds like a "stretched" sound that never ends. Maybe attack is too long? There's some noise or something at 0:46 that doesn't sound good. Snare could use a bit more reverb or something. It is a bit too dry. The section starting at 1:28 is quite cool. I like the chords. Overall, I think it is a fine song. A tad short and lacks some variety between the different sounds (very noticeable in the 0:54 section with 2 'leads'). You could easily make it longer by incorporating more of Grizzly's theme. In particular I think you never use the melody that begins at 0:32 here.

Man, I wonder how you manage to make your waveforms look so pretty lol. I like the new fills between 0:30 and 1:00! The sample I criticized on a previous version now sounds better too. The flute solo is very similar to the piano-like sound solo before. Try to make them sound more like different solos. Your source breakdown helps me to identify the source now. It still seems a bit too liberal, but I guess it is fine. The song sounds amazing though and that's what matters!

I made this track for the first round of the GMRB and it got a good reception, so I want to polish it for an eventual submission! Link here: http://soundcloud.com/jnwake/forever-a-sponge-wire-sponge . Sources: - Wire Sponge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzqEEcrKItU . - Infinity Mijinion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5IVzmZYu1I . Source breakdown: - 0:00 - 0:30: Mijinion's intro with different backing chords. - 0:31 - 1:04: Sponge's A theme on the piano with Mijinion's A theme on the acoustic guitar. - 1:05 - 1:24: Sponge's B theme. - 1:25 - 1:48: Mijinion's B theme on the violin and Mijinion's intro chord progression. Ending of this section is taken from Sponge's A theme. - 1:49 - 2:20: Mijinion's solo guitar section. Sponge's A theme appears on the piano, and Sponge's B theme on the violin. - 2:21 - 2:53: Mijinion's A theme with Sponge's synth solo section backing chords. Synth solo is based on Sponge's song. - 2:54 - 3:05: Sponge's B theme with Mijinion's solo section chord progression. - 3:06 - 3:25: Mijinion's intro on the synth with different backing chords. Regarding the mix, I need to record some sections again (there are some slight mistakes on the synth solo). Also, Hakstock will record the guitar and bass sections sometime. Any feedback is appreciated! P.D. I'm looking for someone who wants to record the acoustic guitar sections.

Judges threads for accepted songs appear after the song is posted. Congrats btw! I agree with Emunator regarding the future of this project.

I haven't had much time either, but I'm somewhat happy with what I have. Some transitions are a bit bad, but whatever. I hope I can record most of the synths tomorrow and submit on Saturday.

I like this. You seem to be a fan of those weird low tuned rhytms! Mixing is a bit bad though. The drums are very underpowered, especially on the bass drum. I also miss a pad or something during most of the song. It is too guitar oriented and I feel it'd gain a lot with an atmospheric sound supporting the heavy riffing.