Actually I only used one of the drum loops. Speaking of which, you said all the samples except for one were from the original game. I wonder, how did they isolate the drum loops from the rest of the song? Were they just there on the game disc as separate files?
Yeah, this is definitely the kind of thing I would do for PRC but not MNP.
Also, thanks for the kind words. I was pretty happy with what I was able to achieve this time around. I added a few original riffs to the remix, which I'm not sure what I'll do with. Maybe I'll spin them off into new original songs or reuse them in other remixes. I do agree that the violins are too loud when they first enter, but I think the right solution is to turn up the other stuff (only before they come in) instead of turning them down, which achieves a more consistent volume level across the track and a more dynamic mix overall. I tried that after the deadline and it worked, at least to my ears.