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

Source: Original from An OverClocked Christmas v.16 [Unofficial] Album What Was Submitted to OCR Judges' Panel Judges' Original Decision ---- I'll start this off by saying a big "thank you" to anyone willing to listen to this and give it feedback, or directly help me work on pushing this over the bar. I've had some interest in it from ZackParrish, but unfortunately he's been very busy, and I never want to feel like I am (or actually) monopolize someone's time in helping me deal with my work or get better at it. Next order, I'll try to give a truncated list of the impetus behind the writing, orchestration and composition of this song, and then summarize the Judges' and other people's general critique and comments on the piece from the first time I posted it up on the OCR Discord's #Workshop, up to the Panel decision. . . Feel free to read my write-up to the Judges for a more detailed explanation and framework for the arrangement, but here's a brief breakdown: NOTES ON THE PIECE: Based off the idea of big-budget classic Hollywood films, classical composers (primarily Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Tchaikovsky), and the songs "Carol of the Bells" / "Sarajevo / Christmas Eve" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra and instrumental versions of "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan", "Nemo" & "Eva" by Nightwish; Arrangement-structure is based off the old concept of Ancient Greek odes in tragedies and comedies; extreme storytelling material, hence the extensive use of foley and SFX with the composition; and, 'Storytelling' "elements" are based heavily on extended-universe stuff from the Mega Max X comics (as explained in the submission write-up), that gets into the backstory behind Blizzard Buffalo before and after he turned into a Maverick--so the context may or may not be lost on listeners, I'm unsure. . . Basically, this song is the BGM of Buffalo's decent into madness, as he continues to prowl the snow-ladened city streets, looking for victims to freeze into the very same ice sculptures he used to make for the children in the nearby village. The 'music box' motif is the only thing keeping his sanity in-check--even for the briefest of moments--and puts the beast back into slumber (an allusion to Christmas folktales, Grimm tales and stuff about Krampus, which is also a great horned monstrosity). The ending of the remix was supposed to allude to Buffalo having a quaint dream about his peaceful life as the ski resort guard before being infected with the Sigma virus. CRITIQUE: The pads and backing are too wide in the stereo-field (wet) and they're eating up a lot of the subtle resonances of what's going on above it; reverb tails too long (albeit the pads and backing were heavily-inspired from the Nightwish reference tracks, but I'd figured they'd need to be removed or replaced with something else more melodical that still has that "Nightwish-drive".) It is bad enough for people to barely tell what the woodwinds are doing or whether the strings are legato, pizzicato, or spiccato/staccato, and muffles the drumline entirely...so it is a massive issue. Confusion about the foley: Liontamer frequently equated the heavy, bestial breathing and subtle roars that ARE Blizzard Buffalo in the piece to "thunder" and "noise", despite the FX being fairly audible. OCR I know doesn't really like slow-burns / long intros, but I felt it was integral to building up the piece, hence the robotic stomping and trudging through the snow, and extra effort placed on music box transitions, etc. If I'm honest, this dichotomy of judges for and against use of SFX in music kind of puts a bitter taste to my mouth (it works in the remixes of, say, Michael Hudak and H36T, but it seemingly doesn't work here); I think some of that is why my remixes get flagged up as "complicated", "over-complex", and "hard to judge", and I don't know whether or not that is a compliment or something other than. But they were there in this song, in particular, for the storytelling. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I can rip them out, if they detract that much or don't add anything conceptually for listeners... Would make me extremely sad to do so, however, considering time/effort spent to mesh them and the musical elements together. Intro is interesting "in a vacuum", but is a slow-burn, not melodious, and "meanders" (I highlight this word in particular because this is probably the single-most reoccurring piece of vocabulary I see, even in remixes that get a pass; might as well replace my middle names with 'Meander Noodles' at this fucking stage, and makes me want to bury my head in hot sand every time I see it or hear it); Epilogue (section after the hefty orchestra) is chaotic and not very melodic. This was hugely improv'd on my part, in listening to a few alt. piano compositions/arrangements based on The Frozen City/Blizzard Buffalo Stage, and some shit I made up on my own. TO ME, it works, but just might need the added finesse I cannot give it due to lack of skill and practice to make it make sense, coherent, and flow correctly. Dynamics between instruments (something expressed by Zack and Hemo and H36T in conversations on Discord); they're there and some are expressed OK-ish, but the horns are buried by the strings, and the piano and woodwinds are peaking / have a pitchy-ness about them. This was more-so true for the original take than the submitted take, but it could be a persistent problem (based on Judges' commentary), which leads to; Blocky part-writing; strings are NOT expressing as they should to sound realistic (bow movements, attacks, too mechanical), and the brass and piano doesn't have an "orchestral flow/harmonic progression" due to it sounding like 'baby's first music sheet', with chunks of heavy chord-lines...I'd guess...(in looking at my MIDI). I did humanize velocities and shunt notes off-grid on purpose, manually and with some seed randomization on Reaper, but I guess the parts need more chops on them. I do not know. I've never written orchestral scores before nor am I used to getting synths to express in an overly-realistic manner with the articulations mentioned. . . So yeah, 'baby's first', is very correct in this instance, LOL. # As was said in the Panel decision, and further discussed with Prophetik Music in private, (and a few others are aware of this)--no...I am not classically trained in any music theory or the theoretics and practice of part-writing for symphony orchestra, or anything else, for that matter. Insofar as music is concerned, I had a brief stint for 3 years in Junior High School in band, and learned a few instruments either on my own or with an instructor/tutoring, but that's the extent of formal education. All this comes from vicarious learning, YT vids, reading and taking notes and listening to a lot of classical (and modern) orchestra, etc. I've always liked and have been fascinated by more..."unconventional" classical music, (which is where the comment about why does this sound and feel more archaic in nature, yet doesn't work to its fullest potential, comes from), and this is very much rooted in stuff like symphonic poetry and Greek theater. Admittedly, this piece wasn't my first foray into part-writing, but it is probably the first in exploring that concept on a wider scale, throughout the piece, and it's way more than just a simple chord prog slapped onto the VG melody in an EDM remix, or me futzing around with the melody by a few Jazz improv stuff here and there like glides, or chromatic/diatonic runs, or a couple added/changed up notes to keep the beat 'fresh'. Major parts of the opening/Intro of this arrangement, and the "waltzy jig"--sort of...foxtrot vibe...near the end were derivative of the melody and harmony of Blizzard Buffalo, but were written from the ground up by myself, solo. I would like to closely work together with someone to...better understand without misunderstanding Prophetik's (and others') original point about why the part-writing may be "interesting and unique" but doesn't hit strong enough because of the various other issues that bring it down, inclusive of the ending that's "too chaotic and disharmonious" to be the lighter, more whimsical epilogue of the piece. I'm open to the usual suggestions (e.g. having someone like Zack add broody guitar chugs or the dark, melancholy drumline he's known for), as that would lean into the favor of this being a TSO/Nightwish-inspired remix due to the usage of more boomy drums and electric lead/rhythm guitars along with the orchestral VSTi...but at the same time I'm hesitant to pull others into a project I poured a lot of heart and soul into like this, because I (for once) wanted to try and get a remix I've done BY MYSELF through the trenches, of its own merit . . In no way is there anything wrong with tag-team assisting on these, but I'm at that weird crossroads where I equally love to collaborate and learn from others, but at the same time am really trying to push myself and pray that solo ventures are equally as...cool...and able to pass the proverbial benchmark, or bar, or what have you. It feels like I'm 'piggybacking' when I do sometimes, and that's a bad/negative mindset to feel. OK...enough blubbering. 'Bout to hyperventilate and all I'm doing is posting this up on the community forum. xD TL;DR: help would be lovely, or some kind of lighthearted, extremely casual tutoring. I've done a lot more free-flow / from-scratch part-writing and mixing exercises with recent remixes, but...IDK... This one hurts just as much as NieR did, and more than some of the others with the reject, and for fear of massive upheavals to what's already here (besides ripping out the annoying backing and pads). But, if that's what is needed to make it 'successful', so be it. The distance and time away from this piece has only lessened the initial sting a little, but in having to re-read the decision and taking these notes on it, I find myself unable to know where to turn or how to start fixing this entire thing. There are fundamentals with the individual composition bits alone that make it disjointed and apparently "too far away" from the source, despite almost everything within BEING CREATED from said source, and the immense frustration I had felt before has returned. It hits me with the "you dunno what the Hell you're doing" vibe, so I'm lost, and anything at this rate would help. Thanks for reading all this... Can always PM me here or DM me on Discord more for private stuff, and I'm up for the back and forth publicly. My hope here is that this discourse and kind of...displaying step-by-step-wise progress on MMX3 will help others in the community who have similar struggles, be it with the "noodley" bullshit or classical mixing, writing and orchestration. I've heard people say they want more VGM remixes leaning into the symphonic rock and orchestra, so this'll add to that, too, if the decision is made to add the rock/metal-elements to it. :) Anyways, I look forward to the discussion! Cheers. ♥ The Vodou Queen - Sorrowful Bellows - MMX3 Blizzard Buffalo Remix (MASTERED).mp3

Hey there, I am taking a guess that this is more a 1:1 cover of the sources Theme of Aya / Eve's Theme, in combination? I will say, I do like some of your new instrument choices, but I am...unsure if this is presented for feedback or as a possibility to submit to OCR? If it is for the latter rather than the former, the unfortunate thing is, because a lot of this sounds like an 'upgrade' to the sources, and not a cover or a remix, it would not be eligible. Your picking of the new instruments is on-point, but because you're using straight rips from the source, and this is not pure MIDI and sampling to make your own spin on the sources, it would get rejected in Panel. I would suggest--nay, encourage--you to explore different options in making these covers more expansive, and then treading into absolutely new territory with a remix. Firstly, in making a 1:1 cover, I would stick to a single source, because this Parasite Eve one is layering two sources together, and notes are clashing (as in, hitting sour notes and sounding dissonant throughout). Some of it is the instrument choices playing together, and some of it is simply that the two sources don't match in key. So I think it's in your best interest, especially if you're just starting out in making music, to use ONE source, and play around with it. Add chords, take away elements, play with SOLELY the MIDI of the piece, and change every instrument, and see what shakes loose. :) It'd do you a lot of good, as well as sharing your journey with others in a workshop. Those are my suggestions, but this is a great starting point and a good stepping stone.

Jesus Christ...this does hit hard, and I love it. ♥ Sounds like something that would directly get placed in the Remakes (and feels like it should've!) It's very conservative and could be considered a 1:1 cover, but if you decide it at any time, I think this could definitely get through a submissions here on OCR. :) Would need a bit more of "you" put into it, like maybe an additional harmony line, or progression chords, and a solid ending, but what you've got here is hidden gold and I think if you do work on these talents you've got already, you can apply this to other sources and do something rad with them. I very much look forward to hearing more of these covers from you. :D If you need some help thinking up more to incorporate into this to make it OCR-applicable, just hit us up here or on the Discord. Pretty sure this one is a keeper, though, and TBF, won't need much added to it to make it, IMO. :3

Really hoping this one is eligible for OCR. Loving the Jungle/Breakbeat vibes, and it worked so well with the source material. ♥ Keep up the good work, and good luck on it getting through if you decide to submit it. :D

Hey there! Just had a listen to this, and I would definitely say I enjoyed it. Love the fact this is a faithful re-imagining of the original, whilst still putting a bit of your own twist onto it (like the swirly verbs echoing the violin/strings, heavy industrial/dark orchestral drums towards the end starting ~3:15, and the plucky acoustic guitar @ 2:00). The harp and piano combination is beautiful, as well. As a 1:1 cover, it does its job. If someone showed me this, and I did not know the original Ezio's Family track, I'd take this as basically either the original or an adaptation of it directly from / endorsed by Ubisoft. So from a rendition-standpoint, it's very lovely. I do ask, however, if you have more story to tell behind this or more ideas for it? Do you plan on submitting this to OCR? :) If so, you'd have to do a lot more to this to make it more your own personal take on the source, even if it's still a very conservative take more faithful to the source. If not, I'm curious as to how you ran into this source, and what compelled you to do a cover of it? :D

Heya Seth, here's my thoughts on it so far: Arrangement-wise -- right off the bat, @ ~ 00:48, the two distinct genres between your EDM and Industrial / change-up jarred me. IMO, they both work separately but not together. I think if you were to introduce your remix with the slow dance-like beat, and then rise it up to the hype / fast-paced beat, it would work better. Perhaps start with the violin, drop it for the plucky synths, and then re-introduce it later on in a sort of interlude / mixing the two genres, before the end? That might make your groove feel more fluid and coherent between the two styles employed here. Instrument/Mixing-wise -- I had no issues with your synths, really. I found them all to be nice-sounding in timbre and appropriate, even though they might be a little basic, but I am unsure if that is because these are still your stems from your original work from 2016 project, or because you had to rework/rebuild this from scratch and some of the sounds are currently placeholder. The plucky synth around 00:15 is a bit soft as well, but unsure how mixed this remix is currently...or how far in production. However, everything sounds clear, I love the vol raise and contrast you have with the additional synth playing the same melody with the plucky synth, and your bass and kick/drums are hella groovy. :) Hope this all helps. :D I look forward to hearing more work on this. :3 Good luck with it! o/

Voted. ♥ :)

Beautiful and edge-driven take on both of Aloy's Themes from the games. :) Only got to play the first one in full, but this pumping Cyberpunk (yeah I got the reference :P) vision of yours for it is rad as hell--all it's missing is a Gunship-style male and female vocal ballad, haha. Love the glitches. Keep it up, Trey. ♥

Voted! ^_^ 100% agree with Seph on every one of these, (so, ditto!) I wanna see them on dat Panel and passing! I LOVED every single one of them, (and all of y'all are killin' it.) ♥ Looking forward to the Final Round! :D

Won't say much here, considering the circumstances and can give in-depth feedback on each track if people would like me to (on here or Discord)... ...However, I wish both teams great luck, and Team Whips--lots of love and I'm cheering over here with pom-poms, for real. Unconditional support all around. :) *hugs* Also...Dracula Flow. ♡ *kiss*