The Vodoú Queen

Just a heads up I won't be able to do this or participate for the foreseeable future. Need to back down and out for personal reasons. I am sorry guys. I hope this does happen soon and you all have fun with it. ♥ I look forward to voting on your creative mash-ups, at least. :)

Can't sleep. . . Dove back into it after the Office Hours and was informed after around the 3 minute mark, there were 5-7 instances of funky sounding notes that were souring spots, primarily in conflict with the Builder 8 source and the key change. Please can I get a quadruple check on this? I stripped it back down to the raw arrangement to try and functionally fix any MIDI notes and adjust any live takes via semitone pitch changes in Reaper. ...IDK if I fixed every instance, but I believe I did... ...I sometimes just don't trust my ears in these problems, but it isn't for lack of trying. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6rdsozkxrhqe5lpytv6ti/VQ-Shinobi-III-Rise-of-the-Robots-We-Built-an-Edifice-WIP-FIXED-NOTES.mp3?rlkey=sngy7j3ea4y7ymfv3vqw80b43&st=qyb62gzk&dl=0 I'd appreciate the extra ears to inform me either way, and if there's still issues, timestamps would be helpful. Thank you. . .

Need a vibe check, haha. Did a lot of work fixing this track, primarily eradicating dissonance and clashing / fuzziness due to too much shit going on in a single section, so I've been ripping unnecessary parts away, refitting/re-engaging others, re-writing the entire drumline and bass from scratch and with better loop samples that fit rhythmically with supporting the beat and low-end, etc. Took a lot of time and care in analyzing the previous rejection decision, absorbing what Josh, Hemo and Seph said in a previous Office Hours, and employing some needed, professional outside help and discussion on the track. Doing my best to try and write-up my own drums and beats with one-shot samples, drum machines or MIDI, rather than relying so much on loops that aren't hand-crafted. I hope it's a ton more feasible now and capable of being Panel-worthy. Still being mixed insofar as fine-tuning but I've reworked the entire mixing and processing FX and automation lanes. It's about 90% done. No side-chain or mid-side...uh...anything yet, but I had to rip them out and do them from scratch and didn't have time before Office Hours today. D: VQ - Shinobi III & Rise of the Robots - We Built an Edifice WIP (NEW).mp3

Hey. It's a consideration, and depends on how much of my surmounting work-load on current albums I can successfully navigate and swim through between August and September (not to mention doing theater work for an Oct/Nov show.) If people would like me onboard or would like whatever input I can put towards it / collaborate with me, let me know either here or in Discord and I'll join--more learning experience besides. :)

Sign me up, as per usual. :)

Hey all. This is gonna be relatively quick, because I wasn't sure if I'd present it or try to rework it again yet, but. . . SUBMITTED, MASTERED SONG: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ixEWhVdIC-Xj1y5YevPlgwfW9hTDTgYF/view?usp=sharing ORIGINAL DECISION: SOURCE TRACKS: Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master - "Inner Darkside" Rise of the Robots - "Prime 8 / The Builder's Stage" REFERENCE TRACKS: The Glitch Mob (Aesthetics / Vibe / Asian & Ethnic Influences) Mike Oldfield - "Tubular Bells (Theme from 'The Exorcist')" 'Theme from the X-Files' I uhm...don't entirely know what to do to resolve the critique points for this track arrangement-wise. *Mixing* I might be able to grasp on, but the basses are hell, and I need to find a way to rhythmically marry the two sources together better? Or--at the very least--the main issues I took from it are: 1) too much going on that sounds fuzzy, and 2) there's not enough variation on the main motif. . .and I guess the sources are very strange / weird / wack...etc. Any comments or questions or concerns would be great to discuss here and ask. ♥ I'm open to any ideas on how to redress this or...whatever. I'd hope maybe the way the song is built is alright, and maybe it's just the elements within in that are problematic and can be resolved for the better.

Hey. Mastered and Unmastered mp3 versions of both of these, in the context of seeing if anyone has anymore to add for the final stretch. ♥ ...Think Snowy Lambcow is just as tired of seeing me as I am of it. Feels like I'm crawling with a broken spine after dat boi trampled me on the way to the finish line... But I ain't frozen yet. I didn't hear no bell. ;) So, yeah. Any final pearls of wisdom or word of advice or cautionary tale on these before I ship it back into the lion's den would be immensely helpful, thank you so much. Time to crash out in the meantime, rofl. UNMASTERED: VQ - Sorrowful Bellows (UNMASTERED) MP3.mp3 MASTERED: VQ - Sorrowful Bellows (MASTERED) MP3.mp3

I am currently working on the mastering for this as well. Dunno how to really effectively master orchestra-centric pieces, but I can damn sure try and use some new techs I've learned for sub-processing and organization in REAPER to experiment on / with. So... I can have a chat about either end of it, be it mixing or mastering. I think the arrangement is pretty much solid and finalized because I had taken the advice during a previous Office Hours WIP Review session at face-value, to modify MIDI so that notes didn't clash, and I have cut some harmonies and countermelodies that I wrote myself--that I really did love in the piece, and out-of-context or isolated, worked in certain situations; but because I couldn't get them to work with everything else going on (muddying up support parts and taking away from focus / front-end parts) I...had no other choice. Logic-brain / emotional-disconnect prevailed. It was for the betterment of the piece, in the end, so folks who commented on that and the disparity caused by over-complicated part-writing were, indeed, correct all along. I'm saying this to prove the point I am listening, and to apologize for stubbornness and flying too close to the sun / being too married to some of what I had wrote. It's a huge amount time/frustrations/emotions sunk, clipped, and gone now, but the raw MIDI (meta-)data is around somewhere, probably, and I learned some stuff about how to compose for left vs right hand piano concerto. :) At least there's a silver lining to be had.

As promised, I said I would update things here...instead of bombarding Discord #Workshop threads like a madwoman. xD As it currently stands, this is probably my last iteration on the song, fully done now and updated with everyone's kind feedback in mind and actioned--inclusive of the old critique from the past rejection. It is unmastered, and I'm sliding it in here to see if The Sages or @Dj Mokram or @Emunator has any further ideas to glint. More-so, I think...I'm just trying to catch people for a final vibe-check (in case my ears are shot), and see if it's ready for the Panel again, regardless of result. Dunno how to necessarily master it, but I mixed it to the fullest extent I could after doing a lot of research and video watching on orchestral composition/arrangements (and practice with other work), and limiting/reassessing the reference scope to primarily TSO with hints of Tchaikovsky and Chopin. I'm being hopeful...and trying to find and instill the confidence in my solo projects to try again. As most people are aware, I've been hammering at this in-between nonsense for a good long while throughout the process since the reject. I hope...I've compressed the lump of coal into an unprocessed diamond, and now have given it the cut and polish to push it over the goal-line. :) VQ - Sorrowful Bellows WIP (UNMASTERED).mp3

Also, FWIW, you are right in some regard on the length alone that it was too much of a slow-roll and overambitious to a fault. ...I don't know. It was a darling I wasn't willing to kill, considering some background circumstances / context behind this remix from the album itself that hits pretty close to home. ...It was a vision indeed, but not without its flaws. I'll just do better next time.

Hey there. That's a fair take, and I understand if and when people have a strong reaction to a beloved song or OST of theirs, and SeeDs/FFVIII is no exception. I'm...a bit upset by this, honestly, but you respectively are entitled to your opinion and feelings, and I'm sure you won't be the first or last in this regard. My music--as is obvious even on the Judges' Panel--is seemingly very...divisive...be it because of how I went about producing and mixing it or the composition itself. At the time, I was pretty chuffed and proud of this remix...given when it happened, the work it took, and the final result...but I'd be remiss to say that this amongst other things kind of hits me in a way where currently I have to disassociate my emotions from my logic brain...and all I can say is this: Thank you for your honesty in the end, and all I can do is apologize that this version of the Extreme doesn't resonate with you. Quite a few of my remixes, even if or when they make it past the bar, has that issue. Perhaps it's "growing pains", as people call it. This track was a first for many things for me: 100+ track mixing, in-depth vocal mixing that isn't just ad libs here or there or chopped loops, rapping to my own musical shit, etc. By no means is any of this an excuse to have what may in fact be a...less-than-stellar remix, and people will say I'm being harsh on myself in behind your retuned review, but I digress. It is what it is. ...I'm unsure if I'll ever come back to this and do a re-cut / deep-cut and change it drastically as I get better at this game, but again, I'm very sorry to you and anybody else who just couldn't or didn't vibe with this. I chose this track and the other sources I sewed into it because they, too, deeply resonated with me, as both a casual listener and as an artist. FF8 in particular is the dark horse / black sheep and underrated game of the series, and I chose SeeDs as my first jumping off point because at the time I felt brave enough to do so and I like the game and OST, despite its flaws, and equally my own flaws and trepidation to dare try. I...don't know. Be that as it may, I'm glad I did, I'm sad it didn't work for you, and I'll...just have to try harder and better next time. I, and I'm sure the rest of us here, appreciate your hard work in reviewing our tracks and being real with yourself in this instance to just tell it like it is to me. I'd rather have a genuine reaction than a falsehood to my work. People doubting it and me are inevitable and I'll just...try again to pick up the pieces and continue onward. I'm not letting another creative writing or art pursuit flop happen again. . . This is about as genuine and positive I can be in this moment in response to ya. . . :) And it's not a reflection on you, but on myself in how poorly I look at my OWN work and person. Introspection is a bitch. Thanks again. I'll take all of your points and do what I can with them on future projects or further revisions to past ones. Take care of yourself and speak soon. o/

Oh, snap!!! It's updated, @CJthemusicdude!! Thank you so much, @Liontamer! ♡

It is fixed now. Hope people enjoy it, and another big thank you to both GSM1 teams who were a part of its original creation and compositional/mixing growth. ♡

Thank you so much for your comment, CJ! :) Unfortunately, not long after your listening to it I went back and listened myself, and it's come to my attention that this version is not the one originally attached to the e-mail submission for ESD. I had actually went back and redid the vocal mixing and production on all the other elements across the board, in the spirit of making it be beyond its album incarnation and more for the OCR front page. ...I hope at some point, some day, that updated, re-tuned version will come to light on OCR, but for the moment I'm glad you really enjoyed the album version of ESD. ^_^; If it does, I hope you revisit this tune as well. ♡

First set of progress -- FIXING SOME MIDI GRID/POCKETING ISSUES AND ADDING NEW MATERIAL: [The added SFX/drum loops and eventual drum treatment are heavily-inspired by the epic shit @ZackParrish cooks up on his mixes. :) ] TY for the advice so far, @pixelseph. Will keep it movin' and groovin'. Next is FX sends, volume and reverb issues. . . Additional ears would be lovely. Tysm. ♥ VQ - Sorrowful Bellows MASTERED WIP.wav